Billie Holiday Stories
How ‘Strange Fruit’ Killed Billie Holiday turned up in a facebook feed yesterday. The article states that Harry Jacob Anslinger “the first commissioner of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Federal Bureau of Narcotics,” ordered Billie Holiday to quit performing “Strange Fruit.” When the chanteuse declined, Mr. Anslinger had her arrested for heroin possession. Later, Mr. Anslinger was allegedly responsible for busting Miss Holiday on her deathbed.
The Hunting of Billie Holiday was the source given for the claim about Mr. Anslinger and “Strange Fruit.” The Politico article does not say that Mr. Anslinger ordered Miss Holiday to quit singing “Strange Fruit.” It does say that Louis McKay, one of the many no-good men in Miss Holiday’s life, narked her out. The bust was in 1947, after she had been performing “Strange Fruit” for several years. (Lady Sings The Blues says that Louis McKay was not in Miss Holiday’s life in 1947.)
Politico had one comment that set off the bs detector. “One day, Harry Anslinger was told that there were also white women, just as famous as Billie, who had drug problems—but he responded to them rather differently. He called Judy Garland, another heroin addict, in to see him.” Frances Gumm was well known for having substance abuse issues. The heroin business was news to a lot of people.
Johann Hari was the author of the politico article. At the time, he was promoting a book, Chasing the Scream, about the war on drugs. Johann Hari has a spotted reputation. “The author used to be the Independent’s star columnist, a prolific polemicist and darling of the left, until his career imploded in disgrace when it emerged in 2011 that many of his articles contained quotes apparently said to him but in fact lifted from his interviewees’ books, or from previous interviews by other journalists.”
The final bust, as Miss Holiday lay dying in the hospital, is part of the legend. A google search does not show what agency was responsible. Harry Anslinger may have been involved, and it may have been someone else. By this time, Elanora Fagan was in bad, bad shape. Years of drinking, and hard drugs, had worn her out. While the hospital bust may have hastened her demise, it is a bit of a stretch to say the Harry Anslinger killed Billie Holiday, because she sang “Strange Fruit.”
This is a repost. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
Lady Sings The Blues is the autobiography of Billie Holiday. PG read it in 1978, and pulled it off the shelf recently. The copy he has is was a 1972 paperback, issued in conjunction with the movie. A picture of Diana Ross is on the cover, as well as a price sticker from Woolco. The book sold for $1.25. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. The spell check suggestion for Woolco is Cool.
William Dufty was the ghost writer. His prose is easy to read, with the story flowing out like a Lester Young solo. The 1956 copyright is assigned to “Eleanora Fagan and William Dufty,” using the birth name of the singer. Mr. Dufty was a newspaper writer. “Dufty had one son, Bevan Dufty, with first wife Maely Bartholomew, who had arrived in New York City during World War II after losing most of her family in the Nazi concentration camps. She settled near Harlem where she met her best friend and Bevan’s godmother, Billie Holiday.”
“Bevan Dufty would agree. He’s one of the childless singer’s two godchildren. … “Holiday said motherf — all the time, in her gravelly elegant way,” recalled Dufty, sitting in his City Hall office. His mother, Maely, a Czech Jewish immigrant who loved jazz, was close to many musicians and even managed the unmanageable Charlie Parker for a spell, learned to curse from Holiday. But with a European accent. Much of what Dufty knows of Holiday comes from his late mother, who was married to actor Freddie Bartholomew before her brief marriage to William Dufty, one of her seven husbands. Maely, who took her infant son by train to Philadelphia every day to attend yet another of Holiday’s drug trials, was so distraught by the singer’s death that she dedicated herself to helping recovering addicts. A number of musicians lived at the Duftys’ place while kicking the habit (William and Maely Dufty divorced not long after Holiday’s death, and he later married actress Gloria Swanson, who inspired him to write the book “Sugar Blues” about the dangers of processed sugar).”
Billie Holiday’s bio, ‘Lady Sings the Blues,’ may be full of lies, but it gets at jazz great’s core Autobiographies are, by their nature, self serving. This one has a great opening line… ” “Mom and Pop were just a couple of kids when they got married. He was eighteen, she was sixteen, and I was three.” (“Her parents were never married. When she was born, her mother was 19, her father was 17 and they never lived under the same roof.”) Another source adds: “Some of the material in the book, however, must be taken with a grain of salt. Holiday was in rough shape when she worked with Dufty on the project, and she claimed to have never read the book after it was finished. Around this time, Holiday became involved with Louis McKay. The two were arrested for narcotics in 1956, and they married in Mexico the following year. (March 28, 1957) Like many other men in her life, McKay used Holiday’s name and money to advance himself.”
Louis McKay is at the center of another misunderstanding of facts. The Hunting of Billie Holiday claimed that Mr. McKay narked out Miss Holiday in 1947, and set up her first drug bust. LSTB tells a different story. Here, Miss Holiday meets Mr. McKay very briefly in 1931. Someone was trying to rob Mr. McKay. Miss Holiday said “He’s my old man,” and chased off the robber.
Fast forward twenty five years, and Miss Holiday connects with Mr. McKay. “I hadn’t seen him since I was sixteen and he wasn’t much older and I was singing at the Hotcha in Harlem.” The two were married in 1957. They got busted as LSTB ends. Either Politico is wrong about the 1947 bust, or Miss Holiday did not tell the whole story. Either way, Harry Anslinger is not mentioned in LSTB.
Tallulah Bankhead is another missing piece of the puzzle. Reportedly, Miss Bankhead and Miss Holiday were close friends, and possibly lovers. That was over by the time LSTB was written. “When “Lady Sings the Blues” was being prepared, Miss Bankhead got an advance copy, and was horrified by what she saw. A fierce note was sent to the book’s publisher, and scenes were edited out. Miss Holiday was outraged. The letter that resulted is a poison pen classic. “My maid who was with me at the Strand isn’t dead either. There are plenty of others around who remember how you carried on so you almost got me fired out of the place. And if you want to get shitty, we can make it a big shitty party. We can all get funky together!”
Miss Bankhead does make an appearance in LSTB. On page 117, Miss Holiday is describing playing a maid, in a movie. She was not pleased at the typecasting. “Don’t get me wrong. I’ve got nothing against maids – or whores – whether they’re black or white. My mother was a maid, a good one, one of the greatest. My stepmother is Tallulah Bankhead’s maid right now, and that’s a part I’d even consider when they do her life story.” (Miss Bankhead had her own domestic help problems. In 1951, Evyleen Cronin, Tallulah’s maid and secretary, was accused of stealing $10,000-30,000 from Tallulah during her employment. … The case went to trial (much to Tallulah’s embarrassment) and Cronin was convicted.” Many embarrassing details about Miss Bankhead’s life came to light during this trial. Fanny Holiday, the stepmother, is probably a different person than Evyleen Cronin.)
Whatever it’s factual challenges, Lady Sings the Blues is a powerful book. Miss Holiday had a tough life, to say the least. As the singer for Artie Shaw’s big band, Miss Holiday was an integration pioneer, and every two bit cracker wanted to make trouble. Later, she was addicted to heroin, got busted, served time in prison, only to get out and suffer some more.
Three years after LSTB came out, things went from bad to horrible. “In early 1959 she found out that she had cirrhosis of the liver. The doctor told her to stop drinking, which she did for a short time, but soon returned to heavy drinking. … On May 31, 1959, Holiday was taken to Metropolitan Hospital in New York suffering from liver and heart disease. She was arrested for drug possession as she lay dying, and her hospital room was raided by authorities. Police officers were stationed at the door to her room. Holiday remained under police guard at the hospital until she died from pulmonary edema and heart failure caused by cirrhosis of the liver on July 17, 1959.” This is a repost.
Sedevacantism
@LearningthePath “Not enough of you are concerned about the Charismatic Roman Catholic Sedevacantist Dispensationalism of William Tapley, and it shows.” @chamblee54 “too many big words” @LearningthePath “This time, that was intended to help make the joke. Charismatic – Believes in continuing Apostolic Gifts (prophecy, healing, tongues, etc.) Sedevacantist – Believes that the office of the Papacy is Empty.” This is a repost.
Sedevacantism (SV) is weird business, even by Catholic standards. The word literally means the seat is vacant. SV believe that the post-Vatican II has strayed away from the correct faith. The Pope is not Catholic enough to be the Pope. The last legitimate Pope was Pius XII. He died in 1958, after looking the other way during the Holocaust.
This video uses fancier language, to say the same thing. “satyakant ism/said of account ism (you tube transcripts are not inerrant) is the position of those Catholics who refuse to recognize for gay bergoglio (Jorge Mario Bergoglio, aka Pope Francis) as a true Pope. The seed of a canister(?) found that the Copt is vacant on account of the apostasy from the faith on the part of the official hierarchy since the promulgation in 1965 of the documents of the Second Vatican Council.”
If you search for SV on google and youtube, you will find lots of material. Dealing with a Sedevacantist Priest is a video of a radio show. The caller is concerned about some of the things a priest is saying to the flock. Bible verses are trotted out, and used to justify opinions. This is true of all the SV videos. The tone is heavy, heavy Catholic. If you come from a Protestant background, you might think you’re watching science fiction.
Sedevacantism Is Modern Luciferianism is a rather lurid discussion. Alas, there is a bait and switch here. “With the crisis in the Church since Vatican II, many comparisons have been drawn with the Arian crisis of the 4th century, when the majority of the Church’s bishops fell into the heresy of Arianism. … There is the remarkable similarity between today’s sedevacantists and a group of schismatics who were spawned during the Arian crisis: the Luciferians. The Luciferians were less nefarious than their name implies. Rather than being devil-worshipers, they were simply followers of the schismatic Bishop Lucifer of Cagliari.”
There are memes, both SV and anti SV. There is a twitter account: @animesedevacant Anime Sedevacantist ☩ Lover of Pius XII and Anime! SV Singles is another manifestation. Brian-sede is “Seeking Sedevacantist Catholic Woman”. Alas, even here, man just can’t seem to get it right. “Sedevacantist Singles” Employees Not Sure Whether To Recognize Authority. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. The spell check suggestion for Sedevacantism is Antisemitism.
Without Lawful Authority
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I will be featuring Friday Feb 5 at They Call Me Mitch zoom open mic in San Francisco. 10 pm Eastern/9 pm Central/8 pm Mountaitn/7 pm Pacific Zoom link: Room ID: 911 062 3109 Password: 383 ~ fabulous furry freak brothers ~ Move to Your Trash? Items in your trash will be automatically deleted after 30 days. You can delete them earlier from your Trash by going to Activity Log in Settings. ~ January 25, 2021 Ibram X. Kendi openly discussed how “horrifying” it would be if his daughter were trans and how society must “protect” children from gender “ideas” coming from the trans community. ~ my daughter came home and said she wanted to be a boy you know which was horrifying uh for my wife to hear myself to hear and so of course you know we’re like okay what affirmative message is about girlhood you know can we be teaching her to protect her from whatever she’s hearing in our home or even outside of our home that would make her want to be a boy um and i suspect it’s the same thing with you know kids of color in which they’re regularly hearing these messages that maybe may want them to want to be white um or even white children who are like i’m happy i’m white i tried to see an event, ihad to go though eventbrite, it almost got quite bent, i must have been a sight ~ pictures today are from The Library of Congress. ~ selah
Gloomy Sunday
Billie Holiday had a hit with Gloomy Sunday in 1941. The legend is that people would listen to the song, and kill themselves. As a result, the song was banned from the radio. Or was it?
Gloomy Sunday was written in 1933 by Rezső Seress. Additional lyrics were later written by László Jávor. It became known as the “Hungarian Suicide Song”, and was reportedly banned in Hungary. An english translation (which is said to not do justice to the original Hungarian) was rendered.
Gloomy Sunday has a melancholy sound, even as an instrumental. The story is about a person…it is not gender specific…who decides to join a loved one who has died. A third verse was added, to the english version, where the singer says it was all a dream.
Gloomy Sunday became popular in the United States. And the suicide stories started to spread, along with rumors that the song had been banned from the radio. (It was indeed banned by the BBC.) There are indications that these rumors were part of a publicity campaign.
The urban legend busters snopes. calls the story “undetermined”. Legends like this get a life of their own. A grieving person hearing this song on a dreary Sunday is not going to be uplifted. One thing is known for sure…the original composer did take his own life. Rezső Seress jumped off a tall building in Budapest in 1968. The legend is he had never had another hit song after writing “Gloomy Sunday”. This repost has pictures from The Library of Congress.
Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin
Today is the 212th birthday of Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin. This used to be a holiday in the US, along with Washington’s BD on February 22. The two were combined into President’s Day.
It is unlikely that the two met, or knew much about the other. “On the origin of species” was published in 1859, as the United States teetered on the brink of catastrophe. There is a certain “Darwinism” in the way the unpleasantness of the eighteen sixties went down. The northeast quadrant of the United States gained dominance over a large chunk of North America, at a horrible cost. The concept that a human being could literally own another human being was banished.
There are two other anniversaries of note today. On February 12, 1733, James Oglethorpe landed a boatload of debtors on the future site of Savannah. This was the start of the Colony/State of Georgia.
There is another that continues the symmetry of Darwin/Lincoln, and was exactly 100 years later. On February 12, 1909, the NAACP was founded. On February 12 1904, Ted Mack, host of the Original Amateur Hour, was born. To make room for all this talent, on February 12, 1942, Grant Wood (painter of “American Gothic”) went to that village in the sky. He left the pitchfork behind.
This is a repost. Pictures are from The Library of Congress
Jordan Peterson Goes To Russia
Sometimes, things go beyond the like/dislike binary. Some stories are just so weird, that the only reaction is to observe in wonder. Just how can real life could be so bizarre? The recent chapter in the Jordan Peterson story is an example. Dr. Peterson is a Toronto psychologist/professor, and youtube personality. His signature work is a book, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos.
Mikhaila Peterson, the daughter of the professor, released a youtube video on February 7, 2020. “Dad was put on a low dose of a benzodiazepine a few years ago for anxiety following an extremely severe autoimmune reaction to food. He took the medication as prescribed. Last April when my mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer, the dose of the medication was increased.” This went on for a while, until he went into rehab. This article, about the first rehab, is dated September 20, 2019.
“After several failed treatment attempts in North American hospitals, including attempts at tapering and micro-tapering, we had to seek an emergency medical benzodiazepine detox, which we were only able to find in Russia. … He’s had to spend 4 weeks in the ICU in terrible shape, but, with the help of some extremely competent and courageous doctors, he survived.”
“She and her husband took him to Moscow last month, where he was diagnosed with pneumonia and put into an induced coma for eight days. She said his withdrawal was “horrific,” worse than anything she had ever heard about. …Jordan Peterson has only just come out of an intensive care unit, Mikhaila said. He has neurological damage, and a long way to go to full recovery.”
This raises a few questions. Why Russia? France ranks as the number one healthcare system in many rankings. The World Health Organization, in their ranking of “Overall efficiency in all WHO member states,” puts Russian Federation at 130, out of 191. (The United States is 37.) USNews ranks Canada as number one. Jordan Peterson is famously Canadian.
Pride goeth before a fall. Jordan Peterson is not a humble person. It is bad manners to celebrate the misfortune of others. However, when the fallen person is famous for promoting 12 Rules for Life, it is tough not to speculate. This story has inspired some creative types. “deep in the Russian wilderness, an unholy experiment is underway. for years Peterson has attempted to transmute himself into the exalted lobster, king of the animals. but there’s been a malfunction—he’s stuck in the interstitial stage, forever to live as an eldritch abomination.” @MenshevikM “Jordan Peterson is incredible because most right wing hacks are very boring career hypocrites, whereas he went from nobody to living in Russia with brain damage in about 3 years by practicing what he preached”
There are hundreds of hours of Jordan Peterson talking online. These videos are a gold mine of ironic comments. Chamblee54 had a post about a Peterson appearance in June 2018. (The video is no longer available.) Apparently, this was after he started taking Benzos. Two quotes that stand out. “What stupid things am I doing that is making my life wretched?” “The next rule is to not let your children do anything that will make other people not like them.”
On November 29, 2018, Peterson was on the Joe Rogan Experience. Rogan “you have the schedule that you have and the amount of energy and enthusiasm you maintain with the schedule is very remarkable cuz you’re not stopping you’re not slowing down I mean you’ve had your foot on the gas for like two solid years now” Peterson “make hay while the Sun shines I guess is that how you feel about it well you know when you have an opportunity that’s completely preposterous you’re a fool to take it for granted … Tammy and I have been to a hundred cities since January.” Dr. Peterson was raking in the dough, and did not want to get off the merry go round. “What stupid things am I doing that is making my life wretched?”
Dr. Peterson started to make appearances after his first bout with rehab. PG saw a video, and noticed a difference in his appearance. PG has written about Dr. Peterson two times, in addition to the 06/13/18 post. There was a commentary about a video at Prager U. When you click the original link to that video, you get a message: “You just hit a route that doesn’t exist… the sadness.” Dennis Prager is another snark-worthy public figure.
The other video is about an appearance Dr. Peterson made in Aspen, hosted by Bari Weiss. John McWhorter asks a question. Dr. Peterson does not have a slick answer. This is a repost. Pictures, for this tabloid view of academia gone awry, are from The Library of Congress.
Another Message To #Resist
‘Resist White Supremacy’: A sign. A farm. And the fury that followed. This story floated onto facebook. The easily amused PG took the bait. Someone put a sign in the yard, saying #resist white supremacy. Some people did not like it, and said so on facebook. We are required to have an opinion.
“Maybe we should change ‘rise and resist’ to ‘resist white supremacy’…,” Lily Cox-Richard texted her. “That way, if someone takes a picture of one of our signs to post and says they are ‘saddened’ or ‘disappointed,’ they will be explicitly revealing themselves as the racist that they are.” … The vitriol only intensified in the hours that followed, which baffled Aaron. Who, other than a white supremacist, would be offended by a message condemning white supremacy? She also understood, though, that this is America in 2018, a time of such fierce division that even voicing opposition to the ugliest beliefs could be twisted or taken out of context.”
Putting labels on people, and using that label to justify badmouthing them, is an ugly practice. In Christianity obsessed America, what you believe is more important than what you do. When a person says, “Yes, generally speaking, we are comfortable excluding white supremacists,” the next step is to identify these horrible people, so you can hate on them, and feel good about yourself for doing so.
There is another reason for not appreciating the #rws message. Cox Farms appears to be located on a busy road. People have things on their mind when they are driving through there. The idiot behind you is upset because you are not driving fast enough. Your boss is insane, your co-workers are insane, and you are starting to fit in. Can I get ten percent off my auto insurance?
And now, some social justice poser is calling you a white supremacist. Did anyone ask for their opinion? Why should you care what those self important people think? This is just one more attack on your peace of mind. It is not always appreciated. And if you object, you must be a RACIST. Remember, RACIST is the worst thing you can say about someone in today’s America. If someone does not enjoy your unsolicited opinion, you respond by calling them the worst insult possible.
The average person sees thousands of messages a day. Most, though not all, are filtered out. Everybody is shouting, and very few are heard. When they don’t get the required response, they shout louder, and insult you for not having the correct reaction. Do we really need some self described hippie lecturing you on white supremacy, when you are just trying to go to the grocery store?
In the end, it did not really matter. “On Monday, Aaron wrote a follow-up post, thanking the thousands of people who had offered support (and who vastly outnumbered the critics)” This was a waste of time. This is a repost Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
Furnace Filter
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@cuntanon ~ accuweather ~ blaming barcelona ~ peter bart ~ body count
kenya ~ cuban sandwich ~ peggy sue ~ gaza ~ kenya
poverty inc. ~ vic oliver ~ chaos/despair ~ lip sync ~ Jo Ann Castle
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That moment when you call for the authorities, because someone said something unkind about Harry Hay. ~ AITA for telling my brother-in-law to stop shitting in the bathroom with the door open while eating food? ~ island-dwelling ghoul, cruel lesbian cohost, social justice fool, heteronormative boast, grotesque Seattleite, stonehearted TERF”, condominium catamite, purple hair smurf ~ The writing workshop prompt was for an acrostic. The title phrase was Furnace Filter. The topic was an effort to replace the local furnace filter ~ Fumbling through the crawl space, Under the creaking bedroom floor, Replacing the filter is the goal, Not where i thought it would be, Another youtube video tells a lie, Crawl over the sewer pipe while being, Extra careful under the water input, Falling is impossible when you are on your belly, Ignore the cramping in my left leg, Lose the duct tape holding it together, Try to find the flashlight now that you need it, Embarassment at being so stupid, Remember to wash the dirt out of your hair ~ pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. ~ selah
Poverty, Inc.
Poverty, Inc. is a 2014 documentary about the do-good industrial complex. Governments, agencies, celebrities, and just plain folks are the players. They see a need in the third world, and rush in to help. Often, they do more harm than good. As the person in tsunami-hit Thailand, said to the man in earthquaked Haiti… you survived the disaster. Now lets see if you can survive the aid.
P,I was part of a documentary discussion series. The group used to meet in a church, watch the show together, and break into groups to talk. Now, the group sees the movie on their own, and meet on zoom. When asked how he likes to “give back,” PG says that he mutes his microphone when he is not speaking. This is also true of real life … mute yourself when it is not your time to speak.
One story is about rice in Haiti. The island nation used to have an indigenous food industry. Then big brother flooded the island with subsidized rice. The native industries could not compete, and faded away. The cycle of dependency moves on.
Someone (most of the Africans on camera spoke English) gave the analogy of a bonsai. One tree is outside, and grows very tall. The inside tree has a similar seed, but only grows to a meter tall. It cannot get taller, because the small pot cannot support a large tree.
What this analogy does not mention is the 99.9% of seeds that never get to germinate. Even if they do become a plant, the forest is a competitive place. Most trees never get to grow tall. The bonsai is in a controlled environment, with limited growth opportunities. Even at a meter tall, it does get to live. That seed did better than almost all the rest.
A viewing service was used to view P,I. The movie was supported by advertising. These commercials seem to be inserted at random, sometimes in the middle of a sentence. It is jarring to be watching a first world/third world story, and then be interrupted by a flashy sales pitch for auto insurance. There is an irony of using third world suffering, to draw eyeballs to 21st century capitalism.
The old story of the emperor’s new clothes comes to mind. Many of the people in the poverty industrial complex work for the emperor’s tailor. The travel the world, and make a good living. It is in their best interest to keep the racket going.
Bill Clinton makes an appearance. He says, in effect, that he tried to help, and wound up creating more problems. We cannot expect to hear anything like that from Donald J. Trump. P,I was filmed in 2014, when Mr. Trump was a reality tv star. Perhaps by doing little to help the do-good industrial complex, Mr. Trump wound up doing less harm.
Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
What Is Dirty About Louie Louie?
The sixties were a great time to be a kid. As long as you were too young for a Vietnam Vacation, there were kicks to be had.
One of the more enduring legends was the dirty lyrics to “Louie Louie”. Recorded by an obscure band called the Kingsmen, the song was a massive hit in 1963 (It never was Number One). When WQXI put out lists of the greatest songs of all time, “Louie Louie” was at the top of the list. This is despite, or because of, the raucous sound. The song was recorded in one take, when the band thought they were playing a rehearsal. The vocals are difficult to make sense of, and rumored to be obscene. No one was ever quite sure why. With the garbled sound on the record, the listener could hear almost anything they wanted to.
The Governor of Indiana, Matthew Welsh, banned radio stations from playing the song in that state. On February 7, 1964, Attorney General Robert Kennedy got a letter from an outraged parent about the lyrics to “Louie Louie”. An F.B.I. investigation followed. After thirty months of investigation, the Bureau concluded that they could not make sense of the lyrics.
PG had a neighbor named Carol. A tomboy who could whip most of the boys, she had a pet skunk named Napoleon. Carol claimed to have heard a band at Lenox Square play “Louie Louie”. “He said the words real slow so you could understand them. I can’t repeat what he said, but it was dirty”.
Louie, Louie Oh no, me gotta go.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, said, ah
Louie, Louie Oh, baby, me gotta go
A fine little girl she waits for me Me
catch a ship for cross the sea.
Me sail that ship all alone Me never think how I make it home.
Ah, Louie, Louie No, no, no, no, me gotta go.
Oh, no. Said, Louie, Louie Oh, baby, said we gotta go.
Three nights and days I sail the sea Think of girl, oh, constantly.
Ah, on that ship I dream she there
I smell the rose, ah, in her hair.
Ah, Louie, Louie Oh, no, sayin’ we gotta go.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
but, ah, Louie, Louie Oh, baby, said, we gotta go.
[Yelled] Okay, let’s give it to ‘em right now! [instrumental]
Me see Jamaica, ah, moon above.
It won’t be long, me see me love.
Take her in my arms again, I got her; I’ll never leave again.
Ah, Louie, Louie Oh, no, sayin’ me gotta go.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
But, ah, Louie, Louie Oh, baby, said, ah, we gotta go.
I said we gotta go now, Let’s get on outta here.
[Yelled] Let’s go.
Transcribed by David Spector Sept. 2000 Public Domain. If anyone reading this can explain what was so dirty about this song, please leave a comment. Thank you Wikipedia for your help in assembling this. This is a repost. Pictures by The Library of Congress
A Historical Perspective
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My Favorite Book (& What It Might Teach Aspiring Writers)
Dead of the Day 01/18/69 Playboy After Dark CBS Studios West Hollywood CA
Where surveillance cameras work but the justice system doesn’t
What Parler Saw During the Attack on the Capitol
A Gimp circle tutorial: How to draw a circle in Gimp
Talking with Glenn Loury about ‘Woke’ Culture and Racism Today
They Thought They Were Free The Germans, 1933-45
Law School N-Word Controversy Is More Complicated Than It Appears
Text messages exonerate Jessica Mulroney after she was cancelled last summer
Sample Snitching: How Online Fan Chatter Can Create Legal Trouble for Rap Producers
AITA for telling my roommate that she can’t clean her piercing with pasta water??
Some People Can Make a Roaring Sound in Their Ears Just by Tensing a Muscle
Memory-Hole Kamala Harris’ Bad Joke About Inmates Begging for Food and Water
Chuck Schumer says Senate Trump instigated an “erection”
Dead of the Day: January 22, 1968 Eagle’s Auditorium Seattle, Washington
Tales from the Backside: Poop Horror Stories
Worst Cooks in America winner and her husband arrested for ‘beating girl, 3, to death’
video forced Texas suburb to confront racism. A ‘silent majority’ fought back.
COVID-19’s Death Toll: A Historical Perspective
bee podcast ~ triolet ~ cancel culture ~ dogz ~ f1 – f12
handwriting ~ the shards ~ jacques futrelle ~ pj and thomas ~ hank aaron
repost ~ podcast ~ Battersea Poltergeist ~ grindr ~ spinal tap
From GENERALISSIMO BRYAN FRANCO to Everyone: 09:53 PM Awaken the Poet Within writing practice group meets from 11 AM to 1 PM Pacific time zone, every Saturday. Zoom link Nice to meet you this evening. Join Zoom Meeting ~ Four More Years – Presidential Inaugurations. I was listening to a podcast about the American withdrawal from Afghanistan. We brought war to that country in 2001. Our primary motivation was revenge for 911. We are still there 19 years later. I was working on a graphic project while I was listening. I got to a stopping point on the project, and walked away. I looked at a clock. It was 12:06 pm. The Presidential transition was consummated. This is the fifth Presidential inauguration for the war in Afghanistan. ~ Thank you for your story. There are many today who do not fit into any of the popular binaries. I am an individual, not liberal/conservative, democrat/republican, woke/racist, or any of the other pigeonholes. I feel Mr. Trump was a mistake, but fear that Mr. Biden will be only cosmetically better. ~ I was working on a project today, and listening to a podcast. The show was about the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, nearly twenty years after 911. I took a break, looked at a clock. It was 12:06 pm. The transition of Presidential power had happened. The troops are still killing people in Afghanistan, as though the Trump Presidency had never happened. ~ @chamblee54 .@GlennLoury .@JohnHMcWhorter @staceyabrams led a group to the state capitol to try to overturn election results @NikemaWilliams was arrested, and is now in Congress ~ Bret speaks of disdain for the assistant of Terry Schaeffer, in the episode about his lunch date. Now I see this: “I am Todd Michael Schultz aka Bret’s Assistant” ~ A writing workshop had us writing triolets: boo who out and about today, move along nothing here to see, la tarantula on the way, boo who out and about today, excuse me was all i could say, breathing hard and living to be free, boo who out and about today, move along nothing here to see ~ pictures today are from The Library of Congress. ~ selah
Conversations I Am Tired Of Having
There was a post a while back, 10 Conversations On Racism I’m Sick Of Having With White People The original started at The Chronicle, but LiveJournal is kind of weird, so a mirror image will have to do. There are comments, at the sourced post, that illustrate some of the points covered today.
I got to thinking about “10 Conversations”, and a reply began to take shape. I started a list of conversations the I am tired of having, and before you could say affirmative action, there were a dozen items. Many of these incidents have involved people of color, or POC. Many others have not. Often, the ethnicity of the other person has little importance to the discussion. Therefore, the title of this feature will not be racially specific. This monolog will probably not go viral, or even bacterial. Washing your hands might be a good idea when you are finished reading.
Meetings where one person does all the talking The word conversation implies that more than one person says something. Often, this does not happen. One person will talk for a while. Before person two finishes a sentence, person one will interrupt them.
This does not work. When the other person is talking, shut up and listen. Don’t be thinking of your clever comeback, but pay attention to what the other person is saying. What the other person says is just as important as what you say.
Listening is not valued in our culture. It is seen as a loss of control, a sign of weakness. It is really a sign of strength. If you are weak, you don’t want to allow the other person to say anything. Have you ever heard anyone boast about the clever things that they say to someone? Of course you have, just like you never hear anyone talk highly about himself because he is a good listener.
My question is not an excuse to make a speech. Some people have an agenda. Whatever you say is an obstacle to the message they want to broadcast. When you ask a question, some people think you are handing them the talking stick, to do whatever they want. When your eyes glaze over, they plow on, in total disregard to your discomfort, and lack of comprehension. It is almost as if they are talking to hear the sound of their own voice.
I’m not talking to you. If you are screaming something, anyone with earshot can hear you. Do not get offended if there is a reaction to your words, especially if it is subtly directed at the person you are not talking to. This applies to the internet as well, where all of humanity is *privy* to your innermost thoughts. Keep the farmyard meaning of *privy* in mind when sharing your innermost product.
Conversations should be with people. If you are a business, and you want to tell me something, send me a written message. Please refrain from using robocall machines. I feel very foolish talking to a machine, especially one that doesn’t understand southern english.
You don’t have to shout. The amount of truth in a statement is not increased by the volume of expression. If you are standing next to me, the odds are I can hear you in a normal tone of voice. If you are across the room, come stand next to me, rather than shout across the room. If your normal tone of voice is shouting, then you have a problem.
The same principle goes to controlling your temper. When you choose not to control your temper, you show disrespect to yourself, and the person you are talking to. There is no situation that cannot be made worse by angry speech.
Privilege Racial polemic is getting more subtle these days. We are not quite post racial, although there are rumors of a PostRacial apartment complex. The phrase that pays these days is Privilege. This is always something owned by the group you do not belong to. Last summer, I heard this quote in a discussion, and nearly fell out of my chair.
This is getting longer than the attention span of many readers. It might be continued at a later date. This is a repost. Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
Chamblee54 
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