Christmas Traditions and Violence

Ah, the holidays. I saw David Sedaris read this in person a while back and thought I'd share the heartwarming Christmas story. Here's part 1 of three--Happy Holidays, everyone!



Here's part two:



And Part Three:



And to all a good night!

How to Shoot at Someone Who Outdrew You--The Post-Love song

I'm home after posting grades and surviving a drive through freezing drizzle that coated the leading half of my car with half an inch of ice. In surfing the internet, I re-found the most wonderful, the best, rendition of "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen recorded, by Jeff Buckley (with no-doubt intentionally ironic use of the tritone in the instrumental interludes), on the only major label album released in the man's lifetime, before he drowned in the Mississippi River on my birthday over ten years ago.



The only person who's come even close to this is k d lang, in a live performance, sung for the Alberta centennial four years ago. The song in question comes in at about a third of the way through at 4:30 (with some slight synch delay):



It's one of the most transcendent sad songs written. And, having seen k d lang in Seattle in 1987, she's one of my major singing influences, for what little that's worth...

Anti-Annie? Answers Anon...

My sister expressed concern that I'd taken a contra-Annie platform. I want to assure her that that is not the case. In light of this, and apropos of revising a poem set in Venice's San Marco square, I include the following...

Asshat Auto Exec Syndrome

I don't want auto workers to lose their jobs, but I certainly want the execs that have been in charge of America's auto industry to lose theirs. If they were parents, one could almost get them for wilfull negligence.

Seeing their companies' commercials on TV this week, you'd think we were still in another time, like, say, 8 to 10 years ago. Cadillac Escalades. Hummers (with the ludicrous mention of improved mileage). Dodge has just come out with a new campaign that announces that their Pickup trucks have established a new, previously unattained level of luxury. Ahem--for pickups. There has been rather milquetoast-intensity pressure on them to increase their MPG rating and efficiency, but they have come back time and again saying that that would be too expensive, that that would hurt the industry, that that would only be attainable if the slope were less steep.

Well, it's certainly steeper now. But asshat syndrome is spreading. Get a load of this--Reuters has reported that there is now a megachurch pastor who has decided to get God involved. By bringing SUVs onto the stage (I refuse to call it anything else) and conduct a pray-in. you can read about it here. There is a picture here.

At least you can't say that the American auto industry doesn't have a prayer.

My New Favorite Song

Over Annie Lennox by far, this is the song I'm gonna be singin:



Caetano Veloso is the stuff.