Saturday tunes

Saturday, 5:52 pm

By Kate

Was editing and updating my playlists and thought I’d share a couple of my favorites.

 

Richie Havens at Woodstock way back in 1969. This song was apparently improvised after he’d run through his repertoire, kept being called back for encores, and was desperate for material. It launched his career. Thank goodness.

 

Havens sings the same song, 40 years later, with greater subtlety, nuance, and depth. I could watch this all day long and still be endlessly fascinated by what he does with that guitar.

The pressure is on

Friday, 8:41 am

By Cyn

Just got word they published my blog entry and changed it to say “why I am SPEAKING” here Enough is Enough.  No pressure or anything.  I need lots of help from my friends.  And you are my friends!! ;) I am sure it is supposed to be short and sweet, but still.  God help us all...........

Enough is Enough Rally in Washington, DC

Thursday, 2:02 pm

By Cyn

OK, while I have been AWOL from Cider Press Hill, I have been busy!!  I got hooked on Facebook and tend to do all my ranting and raving there.  Don’t believe me??  Just ask Linkmeister as he knows!!

There is going to be a ‘by the people, for the people’ type Enough is Enough Rally on October 29 in Washington, DC and I will be there!!

Last time I did anything on this scale (and I am assuming this will turn into a large scale event--at least I surely hope so), was back in the 60’s when we marched against Viet Nam........never ever against our soldiers and veterans, but against the war.  And that is a story for another day!!

However, I am one of thousands of “Coffee Party Members” and to that end, they and a few other organizations have decided there will be a People’s Rally on the 29th.  I decided we would go and combine it with a visit with our older son and his girlfriend....nothing like inviting yourselves to someones’ house and saying BTW, we are participating in a March/Rally on the 29th!!  But they know me and love me in spite of my decisions!!  And my husband is on board for this one as well.

I was asked, as many others are being asked, to write a blog piece for the event and I just did.  I wish I had Kate’s way with words, but below is exactly what I sent.  Not sure where it goes from here, but somewhere I am sure. (Circular file??)

Why am I coming to the Rally on October 29???...........I wish I had some incredibly intellectual answer or could say a lightbulb (a real lightbulb) went off in my head, but it is simply a response to everything that has been happening in our world; it’s the right thing to do and the place we need to be. 

I am but one of the thousands, millions, more likely, long considered the ‘silent majority’.  We hate what is going on, are dismayed by the machinations of the people who have been elected to serve the people, yet we continue to sit silently by while they destroy everything past generations believed in and worked so hard for. It is no longer enough to just rant to your friends, to tweet or sound off on Facebook.  I think we need to be there, be seen and be heard.  Perhaps by standing up and speaking out, more and more will follow suit.  It is time to drown out the rhetoric of those who would have you believe they speak for us and, in fact, only speak to their own lives and their own wallets and the people who continue to line those wallets.

The time to be silent is long gone.  When I listen to elected officials, who were elected by the people to serve the people openly admit their main goal, their only goal is to defeat President Obama in 2012, you know something is dreadfully wrong.  Really?  Defeat our President??  What about the thousands of children in this country who go to bed hungry and get up hungry each day.  what about the people who cannot get (and if the tea party has their way, will never get) medical insurance?  Did they forget about the people who are unemployed, who have been for 2 years or more and probably have little or no hope of finding employment that will allow them to provide for their families and live with dignity.  Many Republicans don’t care.  I care. We should all care.

Democrats are far from perfect, we have bad apples too; however, this current crop of ignorant Republicans, particularly the tea party members, campaigned on JOBS.  They were going to be the party that set the country back on the right track.  Well, what they neglected to say was the track was a track for the top 2% to more wealth, a track for the ultra rich, many of whom have never done an honest day’s work in their life. Their wealth?  Garnered on the backs of the rest of us.  Oh wait, they are not the ultra rich, they are the ‘job creators’...and if you believe that one, then you deserve to have someone like Michelle Bachmann, Rick Perry, Sarah Palin or, better yet just throw all their names in a hat and pick one, running the country.

They have turned our political processes into a joke and I am fed up.  We need solutions, not rhetoric, We need people to come together for the good of this nation, not for the good of corporations (who, by the way are not people) and we need these politicians to remember why they were elected.  It is time to take back our country from the fat cats, the special interest groups and work together to build our country back to what it can and should be.

I have so much more to say, but I think this is enough for the moment.  We have to start someplace and this is the place.  I can only hope and pray we have not put it off too long.

And now, they emailed to say that since they are going to make this an open mike event (with hopefully Dylan Ratigan, Jon Stewart and others) for the ‘people’, would I consider speaking… Oh.My.God.  Just what they/I need.............Send me your thoughts so if I do, I can speak for ‘my’ people!! ;)

So stay tuned, this ride could turn into an interesting one!!

Ciao’

Early Evening at the Beach

Tuesday, 4:09 pm

By Kate

Saturday at Hampton Beach, NH, just up the road from where I live. Maybe 7 or 8 miles. This was early evening...around 7:30. Two fishermen with their lines in the water. Tide is way out. Taken with my cell phone.

Looking down the beach. Pretty pink clouds.

Looking up the beach. Some fog beginning to roll in. These expensive houses sit on the raw edge of nothing. I’m sure the owners hope those heavy rocks prevent more beach erosion and don’t end up in their living rooms during some fierce ocean storm.

Charlie Sheen

Saturday, 2:53 pm

By Cyn

I figure unless you live in a cave in the depths of a mountainous region, relatively unvisited, you obviously have heard, seen, read about all of Charlie’s exploits.  It is virtually impossible not to.  I have not searched out any information about him, haven’t picked up an article specifically to read about him and yet, I probably could pass a test all about him!!  I loved Two and a Half Men from the day it came on the scene and still, juvenile as it can be, like it.  Makes me laugh much of the time.

I cannot help thinking, though, that while Charlie has obviously fried his brains over the years - and only he knows the extent of that - I personally think he is crazy...........like a fox.  A very sly fox.  If I were in a position to bet money, I would put it on him, he is going to come out of this smelling like a rose and probably will get most everything he is looking for.

Got an email yesterday from Sirius Radio (I have a subscription for my car), inviting me to listen to a new station.........Tiger Blood Radio, about, who else--Charlie Sheen.  PUH-Leese.  I really can think of better ways to spend my time. 

And that brings me to the point of my rambling--most of you are too young to remember or know anything about a movie from the late 60’s called “Easy Rider.” Was my favorite back then, loved the song track (”...don’t bogart that joint my friend...") and the movie.  If you are too young, google the movie and you will see what I am getting at.  Now, you cannot tell me Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda were choir boys.  In fact, if the things we heard then--and more recently, on a graveyard tour in N’Orleans--were true, then they might make Charlie look like an amateur!! 

The only difference I can see between then and now is we did not have the ability to hear about things happening the second they did, there was no such thing as the internet, cells phones--forget that, TV was so limited--so if you heard any stories, most likely it was because you knew people who were there.  We had friends involved in the industry back then, my best friend was living in Santa Monica and so yeah, we heard stories.  But nothing like the way we get information today.  So for those who are getting all bent over this and tsk tsking about his behavior, he really isn’t doing anything that hasn’t been done--and maybe better, who knows.  The media, entertainment media and the ones who call themselves newscasters(??) have latched onto this and feel this need to blast the airwaves with updates every 10 minutes or so.  Heck, a show that I always thought was pretty reputable spent an entire hour the other day rehashing everything he has said and done.  Get. Over. It. !!  I am just grateful he is not my son, my brother, my nephew; other than that, I intend to sit back and just wait to see who wins.  As I said before, my money is on Charlie!!

And now the sun really is out and maybe it will jump up to 60 the way they have promised all day, so I am heading outside!!

Ciao’

How to convert a Witch to Catholicism--or something like that....

Saturday, 1:30 pm

By Cyn

Five hundred years ago, the Catholic Church had a simple way of dealing with witches: It burned them alive. The Vatican still views these broom botherers as a danger, but is now calling on Catholics to eliminate the neo-pagan problem in a more moderate manner.

According to a new booklet from the Catholic Truth Society—the U.K. publishers for the Holy See—the faithful can convert Wiccans by following a few simple steps. The pamphlet, titled “Wicca and Witchcraft: Understanding the Dangers,” suggests that Catholics spark up conversations with these unbelievers about shared concerns such as the environment, The Telegraph reports.

And if you bump into a witch in a bar or coffee shop, the book adds, it’s important to recognize that “Wiccans are on a genuine spiritual quest,” providing “the starting point for dialog that may lead to their conversion."

I did not read all of the article, but what little I read did not mention what to do when you meet one on the campaign trail..........

Here is a link if you just cannot resist reading more....--Wicca and Witchcraft--