Have You ever seen the Rain?

Someone told me long ago theres a calm before the storm,
I know; its been comin for some time.
When its over, so they say, itll rain a sunny day,
I know; shinin down like water.

I want to know, have you ever seen the rain?
I want to know, have you ever seen the rain
Comin down on a sunny day?

Yesterday, and days before, sun is cold and rain is hard,
I know; been that way for all my time.
til forever, on it goes through the circle, fast and slow,
I know; it cant stop, I wonder.

Who'll Stop the Rain

Long as I remember
The rain been comin' down.
Clouds of myst'ry pourin'
Confusion on the ground.
Good men through the ages,
Tried to find the sun;
And I wonder, still I wonder,
Who'll stop the rain.

I went down Virginia,
Seekin' shelter from the storm.
Caught up in the fable,
I watched the tower grow.
Five year plans and new deals,
Wrapped in golden chains.
And I wonder, still I wonder
Who'll stop the rain.

Heard the singers playin',
How we cheered for more.
The crowd had rushed together,
Tryin' to keep warm.
Still the rain kept pourin',
Fallin' on my ears.
And I wonder, still I wonder
Who'll stop the rain.

Have a wonderful Monday~ and be careful out there! Slippery roads~ it's real live weather out there!

You owe it to yourself to see this movie, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.
“I have decided to never feel sorry for myself again. There are two things, besides my eye, that are not paralyzed ~ my memory and my imagination”. Jean-Dominique Bauby

Simply put this is the story of Bauby, the editor of Elle magazine, who suffered a stroke in 1995. He awakes from a coma with “locked in syndrome” mute and completely paralyzed except for one eye, which he can blink. A therapist develops a “blink for a letter alphabet” communication system, which eventually leads to the autobiography he dictated.

The film, which takes it name from the bestselling book, is directed by French artist Julian Schnabel, with cinematography by the always amazing Jarusz Kaminski. Mathieu Amalric is Bauby, Marie-Josee Craze as his therapist and Max von Sydow stars as Baubys father. All of these actors knock it out of the ball park, but the phone call between father and son is not to be missed.

The story is told as if you are Bauby~ the world is how he sees it. The diving bell represents his physical condition and the butterfly his memories and his imagination.The photography is a feast for the eyes, with sly nods to Fellini’s fantasies and the male libido, the results are imaginative and astounding. At one point Bauby finds that one of his eyes must be sewn shut, with latex and some creativity we see as Bauby must have seen it, the needle going under and up his lids, the string being pulled taunt….chilling.

In the end this is not an inspirational “brave gimp” movie~ it merely celebrates the heroic human spirit. If you have ever thought “I could not survive that” or “Just not my sight”~ this film drives home the point that yes you can, with what maybe your best before you. Roger Ebert said it eloquently, so I’ll leave you with his words: “…in the end one realizes that the human consciousness is the great miracle of evolution and all the rest (sight, sound, taste, hearing, smell and touch) are simply the toolbox that consciousness has supplied for itself”

Rated PG 13, nudity, sexual content, some “language“, with subtitles, it scores a resounding 94% at rotten tomatoes.com from the critics and a 96% from film fans
 

 

Odetta the woman Dr. Martin Luther King called "the Queen of American folk music", passed away at 77. What a voice and what a force she was...

The first video is a short taste of a young Odetta at the Newport Festival. The second is her singing the Leadbelly classic "Cotton Fields".

larger view

“Goodwill towards men…”

Like many people in town, it was a busy weekend for us, full of friends, family food. Lots of comings and goings, some shopping and in the end we made a mistake that lead to a less than optimal start of the Christmas season.
It could have been much worse; really, I should be glad that it took this long for the first theft to happen. I put on the morning coffee, fixed breakfast and went outside for the morning paper~ Mr. Sage’s truck toolbox was wide open, that with all the hustle and bustle he forgot to lock.  Thankfully, the Snap-on tools were in the truck, and only a few torches are missing,and a few minor tools. The worst part is our routine is to double check each other and last night we were on “auto-pilot”.
So, in essence Merry Christmas! , to the opportunistic thieves that helped themselves to the contents. I hope your Christmas is bright~ and we are committed to helping you “stay straight” by never giving you another opportunity to practice your skills set.
So take this seasonal story to heart folks~ be safe out there, lock up everything, never laugh at yourself for checking ,twice,that you really did turn the stove off.
It could have been much worse …

Here is a handy lock idea.