Yeah, Gerard, I get it. We want to sing again; meet each other in public again; take the damned mask off. What I really want to do more than almost anything is to go an entire day without talking about “the ‘C word'” and the effect that it has had on every part of our lives. I want to hope.
But I’m not there yet. I’m afraid that we have more, and more substantial, pain to suffer in the months ahead. The virus ain’t going away. It is morphing. The economies around the world…ours near the top of the list…are in very bad shape. We–the globe–have built bubbles inside and alongside other bubbles and they’re all going to burst near-simultaneously. My gut tells me that life is about to get hard…very hard.
What can I say? As long as you let them use The Bad China Cold to define and delimit your life, expect more of the same throughout the foreseeable future.
I admit, I underestimated how many would die from this virus. I also underestimated how foolish state and local governments could be in setting up many of those deaths.
But we do have vaccines, and they seem to be working without significant side effects. This is good news. More are being produced and distributed. Some are being wasted, but it is a very small number.
We also have news that a particular steroid seems to be very effective in reducing severity. It’s a common steroid used by asthma patients. It may reduce hospitalizations by 90 percent. That’s huge!
Hydroxychloroquine/azithromycin/zinc is still being used by many, many medical folks, who ignored the Orange Man Bad propaganda. It may reduce hospitalizations 50 percent.
Finally, the progress of the virus seems to be following typical virus progression through a population. Yes, there are new variants. That is also typical. There is no evidence that the new variants are more deadly, or that current treatments don’t work for them.
Yet Fauci/Osterholm et al are telling us to hunker down for the foreseeable future. I do not get this. These experts had a virus pandemic plan in place, but threw it out. Yet this virus seems to follow the expected path.
It reminds me of global warming. There’s a ton of money involved here, scientists get to strut on TV, and tell the rest of us how to live. The fact that the warming they promised has not happened does not dampen their ardor. Are we developing a Covid religion the way we have developed a global warming religion?
I completely wore out three Deutche Gramaphon LP’s of Von Karajan, and the Berlin Philharmonic 1961 recording of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. It’s in my top three pieces of music, along with Bach’s B minor Mass, and Mozart’s Requiem. Von Karajan’s lead in to the chorale feels like you’re coming on to a dose: you start high, and just keep getting higher. This one feels like grief slowly melting.
Interesting how this conductor brings out so much melancholy in the opening. When the violins come in, that sadness near broke my heart.
Right now, I’m fighting tooth and nail against a host of demons, both inner and outer. And I do not use the word, “Demons” in anything like a figurative sense. AZ Libertarian is probably correct. So much for outer demons. The inner demons feed on it. Right now, it’s kickin’ my ass.
Ludwig Von knew demons. He took the pain they dealt him, and metabolized it into some of the greatest beauty the world has known. I’m no genius, but I did the same once with my own host of goblins. Just prayin’ I can chain them to the stone one more time. Tomorrow my buddy, John, and I are going to assemble a new carving table. Tools are fifteen years rusty, but what the hell? The stone is waiting.
JWM
Bill JonesFebruary 11, 2021, 10:42 AM
Well Gerard, I see you number the crazed with fear among your readership.
That is how Countries are stolen.
EX-Californian PeteFebruary 11, 2021, 11:15 AM
What a powerful and joyful and powerful display of a truly awesome song.
Thank you, Gerard.
BunnyFebruary 11, 2021, 11:25 AM
It’s enough to make you cry, watching those videos. A preponderance of people have drunk the Kool-Aid and killed off the best of being human. It’s not the virus.
Lance de BoyleFebruary 11, 2021, 12:24 PM
“I believe I’ve at last achieved complete mask protection.”
“Really?”
“You bet.”
“What is your procedure?”
“Easy peasy lemon peasy. I strap a mattress to my mug. And by ‘mattress,’ I of course mean my wife.”
“How’s THAT supposed to work?”
“Well, neighbor, there ain’t no one on Earth harder to penetrate than that old bag.”
Rob De WittFebruary 11, 2021, 12:36 PM
Bunny, it does make me cry, and always has, seeing humans of all ages so profoundly moved by great art. This is music which has survived and triumphed solely through the truth it embodies, totally without hype and promotion.
And jwm, I share your taste in great music. Part of what is so tear-inducing for me is the unlikelihood of a fatherless, abused little boy ever getting to be part of that, and being paid for it. Seeing the awe and wonder in the faces of the audience at hearing humans – not speakers – make music in the moment, in their presence, is an enormous gift. It was given to me. The musicians I’ve worked with have almost without exception come from homes with parents and support for their studies. I did it myself because that’s what there was to do.
I became a Catholic ten years ago out of gratitude. Even in the midst of the current governmental horror we’re being presented, that never goes away.
a wife who loves me and negotiated the perils unscathed.
I wish I could lose the weight I regained as fast as it fell off me then.
Karma-Shave.
JewelFebruary 11, 2021, 5:35 PM
I found a great classical music station out of Norway. They play the most beautiful pieces without cutting off the ending with palaver. Beautiful music has kept me sane. The bubble of serenity seems to be shrinking. I seldom venture out of my neighborhood anymore, except to go to the store or to church occasionally. Church used to be a bastion of hope, but it seems so depressing to go into a church that has ceased doing its rites. No singing, No communion on the tongue, no holy water. Masked. Stay 6 feet apart. Every. Other. Pew. No one talks afterwards. It’s not Christian.
Gordon ScottFebruary 11, 2021, 5:54 PM
I read the article, Ghost. There’s nothing in it I disagree with, except perhaps about masks. Masks *Might* work, a little, temporarily. But there’s no solid evidence that they do. Viruses which can be airborne, as Covid is, can and will spread on the wind.
Now they want to wall off Florida, and restrict travel in other ways. But only for the proles. John Kerry can slip in on his private jet to combat global warming as he likes, and pro athletes and entertainers won’t be inconvenienced, of course. Not New Jersey or New York, which have done much worse. Probably South Dakota also, just to stick it to Kristi Noem.
I sit and watch Joe Biden, or whoever’s pulling his strings, piss off a third of his voters, and he’s less than a month in office. A friend said we should do something to get Pelosi out. Hell no, she’s the key to winning back the House in 2022.
NoriFebruary 11, 2021, 7:19 PM
Not sure which was more pleasing-the wondrous music,or the joy on the faces of everyone in the crowd. Joy.Delight. Sparkling eyes and big smiles,everyone.
Demons have always been among us,sometimes in us,but this is different. Trump enraged them so much they spent 5 years tearing off their goodfellow masks to reveal their true nature:pure hatred.
This demonic worldwide masquerade is payback for all the years they had to hide behind theirs.
Thanks,Gerard,for this glorious reminder of the human spirit. Blessed water for a parched soul.
RoscoeFebruary 11, 2021, 8:55 PM
They can’t overcome us as long as we have Beethoven.
Again womderful, had to revisit this. Lived in Spain many years as a younger man, the Spanish are a fun loving musical folk. Seemed like every town had its own flavor of music. We would go to Chippiona every Sunday on the train to Toppa Hop, drink, and listen to the many street concerts.
I grew to adore Spanish music, after recognizing that many flavors existed, and the fact that as a conquered nation by the moors, the Romans and just about everybody else, the only thing ” except a few building remains” was the music, from their past.
I grew to love Gypsy music, powerful!. And Moroccan music. We spent a lot of time in Moracco, we’d go for the culture the food and the music. I was Navy then, my job allowed relaxed grooming standards, back then nobody asked, didn’t matter, we would camp on the beaches near Casa Blanca with sometime thousands of different nationalities, what a time to be a young man.
Also grew to love the African women, my god they were passionate!. Dam near killed me a time or two. But the music of the world is what brings me back to these memories. Music the love for it, has talked me off the cliff more then once.
Real World Address for Donations, Mash Notes and Hate Mail
Gerard Van der Leun
1692 MANGROVE AVE
APT 379
Chico, Ca 95926
Green Pants Interior by Klahn
Who Am I? by Carl Sandburg
My head knocks against the stars.
My feet are on the hilltops.
My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of universal life.
Down in the sounding foam of primal things I reach my hands and play with pebbles of destiny.
I have been to hell and back many times.
I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.
I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.
I know the passionate seizure of beauty
And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs reading “Keep Off.”
My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
Duty, Beauty, Liberty, Country, Honor, Family, Faith — Plus a few simple easy to follow rules for guys
Men saw the stars at the edge of the sea
They thought great thoughts about liberty
Poets wrote down words that did fit
Writers wrote books
Thinkers thought about it
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
Many’s the road I have walked upon
Many’s the hour between dusk and dawn
Many’s the time
Many’s the mile
I see it all now
Through the eyes of a child
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
And close your eyes
Leave it all for a while
Leave the world
And your worries behind
You will build on whatever is real
And wake up each day
To a new waking dream
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Change, change come over
Change come over
Talkin’ about a change
Change, change
Change come over, now
Change, change, change come over
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
Gerard Van der Leun
Comments on this entry are closed.
Yeah, Gerard, I get it. We want to sing again; meet each other in public again; take the damned mask off. What I really want to do more than almost anything is to go an entire day without talking about “the ‘C word'” and the effect that it has had on every part of our lives. I want to hope.
But I’m not there yet. I’m afraid that we have more, and more substantial, pain to suffer in the months ahead. The virus ain’t going away. It is morphing. The economies around the world…ours near the top of the list…are in very bad shape. We–the globe–have built bubbles inside and alongside other bubbles and they’re all going to burst near-simultaneously. My gut tells me that life is about to get hard…very hard.
What can I say? As long as you let them use The Bad China Cold to define and delimit your life, expect more of the same throughout the foreseeable future.
One face diaper good, four face diapers better.
Awesome!
Jazz Thrusday here, Jimmy
I admit, I underestimated how many would die from this virus. I also underestimated how foolish state and local governments could be in setting up many of those deaths.
But we do have vaccines, and they seem to be working without significant side effects. This is good news. More are being produced and distributed. Some are being wasted, but it is a very small number.
We also have news that a particular steroid seems to be very effective in reducing severity. It’s a common steroid used by asthma patients. It may reduce hospitalizations by 90 percent. That’s huge!
Hydroxychloroquine/azithromycin/zinc is still being used by many, many medical folks, who ignored the Orange Man Bad propaganda. It may reduce hospitalizations 50 percent.
Finally, the progress of the virus seems to be following typical virus progression through a population. Yes, there are new variants. That is also typical. There is no evidence that the new variants are more deadly, or that current treatments don’t work for them.
Yet Fauci/Osterholm et al are telling us to hunker down for the foreseeable future. I do not get this. These experts had a virus pandemic plan in place, but threw it out. Yet this virus seems to follow the expected path.
It reminds me of global warming. There’s a ton of money involved here, scientists get to strut on TV, and tell the rest of us how to live. The fact that the warming they promised has not happened does not dampen their ardor. Are we developing a Covid religion the way we have developed a global warming religion?
I completely wore out three Deutche Gramaphon LP’s of Von Karajan, and the Berlin Philharmonic 1961 recording of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. It’s in my top three pieces of music, along with Bach’s B minor Mass, and Mozart’s Requiem. Von Karajan’s lead in to the chorale feels like you’re coming on to a dose: you start high, and just keep getting higher. This one feels like grief slowly melting.
Interesting how this conductor brings out so much melancholy in the opening. When the violins come in, that sadness near broke my heart.
Right now, I’m fighting tooth and nail against a host of demons, both inner and outer. And I do not use the word, “Demons” in anything like a figurative sense. AZ Libertarian is probably correct. So much for outer demons. The inner demons feed on it. Right now, it’s kickin’ my ass.
Ludwig Von knew demons. He took the pain they dealt him, and metabolized it into some of the greatest beauty the world has known. I’m no genius, but I did the same once with my own host of goblins. Just prayin’ I can chain them to the stone one more time. Tomorrow my buddy, John, and I are going to assemble a new carving table. Tools are fifteen years rusty, but what the hell? The stone is waiting.
JWM
Well Gerard, I see you number the crazed with fear among your readership.
That is how Countries are stolen.
What a powerful and joyful and powerful display of a truly awesome song.
Thank you, Gerard.
It’s enough to make you cry, watching those videos. A preponderance of people have drunk the Kool-Aid and killed off the best of being human. It’s not the virus.
“I believe I’ve at last achieved complete mask protection.”
“Really?”
“You bet.”
“What is your procedure?”
“Easy peasy lemon peasy. I strap a mattress to my mug. And by ‘mattress,’ I of course mean my wife.”
“How’s THAT supposed to work?”
“Well, neighbor, there ain’t no one on Earth harder to penetrate than that old bag.”
Bunny, it does make me cry, and always has, seeing humans of all ages so profoundly moved by great art. This is music which has survived and triumphed solely through the truth it embodies, totally without hype and promotion.
And jwm, I share your taste in great music. Part of what is so tear-inducing for me is the unlikelihood of a fatherless, abused little boy ever getting to be part of that, and being paid for it. Seeing the awe and wonder in the faces of the audience at hearing humans – not speakers – make music in the moment, in their presence, is an enormous gift. It was given to me. The musicians I’ve worked with have almost without exception come from homes with parents and support for their studies. I did it myself because that’s what there was to do.
I became a Catholic ten years ago out of gratitude. Even in the midst of the current governmental horror we’re being presented, that never goes away.
“For heights and depths no words can reach, music is the soul’s own speech.”
And, as Rob points out, you can see it in the listeners’ faces. Beautiful.
Thank you, sir.
Gordon, take a look if you dare:
https://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=241549
@ Lance
Another great laugh for me. Thanks !
two of the big pre-cons going in.
a wife who loves me and negotiated the perils unscathed.
I wish I could lose the weight I regained as fast as it fell off me then.
Karma-Shave.
I found a great classical music station out of Norway. They play the most beautiful pieces without cutting off the ending with palaver. Beautiful music has kept me sane. The bubble of serenity seems to be shrinking. I seldom venture out of my neighborhood anymore, except to go to the store or to church occasionally. Church used to be a bastion of hope, but it seems so depressing to go into a church that has ceased doing its rites. No singing, No communion on the tongue, no holy water. Masked. Stay 6 feet apart. Every. Other. Pew. No one talks afterwards. It’s not Christian.
I read the article, Ghost. There’s nothing in it I disagree with, except perhaps about masks. Masks *Might* work, a little, temporarily. But there’s no solid evidence that they do. Viruses which can be airborne, as Covid is, can and will spread on the wind.
Now they want to wall off Florida, and restrict travel in other ways. But only for the proles. John Kerry can slip in on his private jet to combat global warming as he likes, and pro athletes and entertainers won’t be inconvenienced, of course. Not New Jersey or New York, which have done much worse. Probably South Dakota also, just to stick it to Kristi Noem.
I sit and watch Joe Biden, or whoever’s pulling his strings, piss off a third of his voters, and he’s less than a month in office. A friend said we should do something to get Pelosi out. Hell no, she’s the key to winning back the House in 2022.
Not sure which was more pleasing-the wondrous music,or the joy on the faces of everyone in the crowd. Joy.Delight. Sparkling eyes and big smiles,everyone.
Demons have always been among us,sometimes in us,but this is different. Trump enraged them so much they spent 5 years tearing off their goodfellow masks to reveal their true nature:pure hatred.
This demonic worldwide masquerade is payback for all the years they had to hide behind theirs.
Thanks,Gerard,for this glorious reminder of the human spirit. Blessed water for a parched soul.
They can’t overcome us as long as we have Beethoven.
Food for thought
https://gatesofvienna.net/2021/02/31-reasons-why-i-wont-take-the-vaccine/
Again womderful, had to revisit this. Lived in Spain many years as a younger man, the Spanish are a fun loving musical folk. Seemed like every town had its own flavor of music. We would go to Chippiona every Sunday on the train to Toppa Hop, drink, and listen to the many street concerts.
I grew to adore Spanish music, after recognizing that many flavors existed, and the fact that as a conquered nation by the moors, the Romans and just about everybody else, the only thing ” except a few building remains” was the music, from their past.
I grew to love Gypsy music, powerful!. And Moroccan music. We spent a lot of time in Moracco, we’d go for the culture the food and the music. I was Navy then, my job allowed relaxed grooming standards, back then nobody asked, didn’t matter, we would camp on the beaches near Casa Blanca with sometime thousands of different nationalities, what a time to be a young man.
Also grew to love the African women, my god they were passionate!. Dam near killed me a time or two. But the music of the world is what brings me back to these memories. Music the love for it, has talked me off the cliff more then once.
DW