Beati Pauperes Spiritu

I sit here in the mournful final hours of 2019. The death knell of the year and decade is quite welcome. Things can only get better, right? I have New Years Rocking Eve on the idiot box. These mindless poseurs and their followers are quite depressing. Although I do like the song "You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morissette. That was the exception. These people are absolutely uninteresting to me. Is the world full of crashing bores? I'm sure they would think I am one.

I have been reflecting on the death of Ric Ocasek on September 15. It still stings me deeply in my heart and soul. I suppose I will never truly get over it. As in any death, the world keeps on spinning. The clock keeps ticking. That is the way of life. I saw Ric's first solo album "Beatitude" was released on December 30, 1982. What a wonderful gem of an album.

Watching these charlatans on TV and contemplating Ric's album, made me think of  The Beatitudes from the Gospel of Matthew. I am certainly not an overtly religious person. I think The Beatitudes are beautiful and very much map out a way to live one's life. I aspire to rise to the nobility of these profound scriptures. Life always seems to a find a way for me to fail. Disappoint is what I do best.

The Beatitudes

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the Earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

                                                                        Time Bomb

                                                    The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores

Gone: Not Forgotten

                                                                                                               10/27/1967  -  12/3/2015

Scott Weiland was a true force of nature. It's hard to believe he died four years ago today. He was tremendously gifted and severely flawed, that combination produced a musical artist with few peers. Unfortunately for us, his light no longer burns. Fortunately, we still have his music, which will live on forever. Still thinking of you Scott.

                                                                      Big Empty

                                                                        Plush

And Burden's My Name

                                                          I'm a dog on a chain

Our Moz has a new album coming out in March of 2020. It's going to be called "I'm Not A Dog On A Chain"  I am very excited to hear new music from Morrissey. It's going to be a long three months till March. The Title of the album intrigued me. I happened upon the Bob Dylan song "Only A Pawn In Their Game" which Morrissey covered on his "California Son" Album. Check out the lyrics to the song. Pictured below is Byron De la Beckwith, who murdered Medgar Evers.

                                                                          To kill with no pain
                                                                        Like a dog on a chain
                                                                        He ain't got no name
                                                                      But it ain't him to blame
                                                                 He's only a pawn in their game

Rock Me

again and again and again and again and again and again!

                                                            You're only human

We Look To Los Angeles

                                                       We won't vote Republican

We All Lose

"One drink is too many for me and a thousand not enough"

"I am a drinker with writing problems"

Drink is bad for you!

Yours Faithfully,

Edna Welthorpe. (Mrs)

or

Mary Whitehouse

as you like.

But I'm no

Pierre Delecto

A Poem By A Man Named Lear

The Owl and the Pussy-Cat

I

The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea

   In a beautiful pea-green boat,

They took some honey, and plenty of money,

   Wrapped up in a five-pound note.

The Owl looked up to the stars above,

   And sang to a small guitar,

"O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love,

    What a beautiful Pussy you are,

         You are,

         You are!

What a beautiful Pussy you are!"

II

Pussy said to the Owl, "You elegant fowl!

   How charmingly sweet you sing!

O let us be married! too long we have tarried:

   But what shall we do for a ring?"

They sailed away, for a year and a day,

   To the land where the Bong-Tree grows

And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood

   With a ring at the end of his nose,

             His nose,

             His nose,

   With a ring at the end of his nose.

III

"Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling

   Your ring?" Said the Piggy, "I will."

So they took it away, and were married next day

   By the Turkey who lives on the hill.

They dined on mince, and slices of quince,

   Which they ate with a runcible spoon;

And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,

   They danced by the light of the moon,

             The moon,

             The moon,

They danced by the light of the moon.

Edward Lear

Dear Sir or Madam, will you read my book?

A Man named Lear

                                                           What's New Pussycat?

When Will You Die?

                                                                       April 8, 2013

                                                      Margaret On The Guillotine

The Moonlight Ain't So Great

                                                                 Since you're gone.

Sunday evening I was doing my usual routine. Dreading going back to work Monday and aimlessly surfing the Internet. I clicked on twitter and was horrified. I saw a tweet stating Ric Ocasek had died in his New York townhouse. I nervously began searching my timeline (All the while thinking, please don't let this be true.) and it was confirmed by several other tweets from reputable news outlets. I couldn't breathe, my mind raced, a teardrop started forming in each eye. Ric was really gone. A man I had adored since my youth was no longer with us. Memories flooded my mind of good times and bad times. So much of my life had been shaped because I was fortunate enough to find a musician, poet and artist named Ric Ocasek.

I didn't sleep a wink Sunday night. I tossed and turned thinking about how Ric enriched my life and now that special person is just a memory. I, of course, was a nerdy, geek of a teen. Tall, skinny with acne, few friends and no particular purpose in life. I had no musical interest. I just listened to whatever was on the radio. I had a friend I used to visit regularly, I heard his older brother listening to some strange music in his room all of the time. It was different but something drew me to it. I finally got up the nerve to ask him. He told me it's The Cars, Zit Face, now get out of here. My life changed. I was able to get a hold of their albums and began to listen over and over. It was as if a whole new world opened up for me.

The band was led by this tall, lanky, odd looking fellow named Ric Ocasek. I thought he doesn't look like any rock star I have ever seen. Most bands I had thought were led by super alpha males like David Lee Roth, Brian Johnson, Robert Plant etc. Here was this skinny guy who dressed weird and had a warbly vocal delivery that I had never heard anything of the like. I was instantly drawn to him because it gave me hope that as much of a loser that I was, here was someone that made it to the heights of musical stardom and he relished being different.

Besides Ric's looks and presence, the music absolutely stunned me. I had no particular music leanings, just whatever was on the radio. The first time I listened to The Cars first album, the first track was "Good Times Roll", Ric leapt out of the speakers, grabbed me and shook me. I had literally never heard anything like this. Grinding guitars meshed with pulsing synthesizers with a steady backbeat. I was entranced and hijacked for life. The music was mesmerizing. I heard "Moving In Stereo" for the first time, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. It was mystifying, unusual and to this day I get chills when I hear it. I listened repeatedly to all of their albums, The Cars, Candy-O, Panorama, Shake It Up, Heartbeat City. What else does an ugly, skinny kid have to do?

The music of The Cars was enthralling to me. All of their songs were written by Ric. The music was superb and the words that went with the music created a delectable dish I dined on regularly. Many of those songs touched me in my heart and mind like nothing had ever done. They soothed me when I was lonely. They made me laugh. They gave me hope when I was heartbroken. They held my hand when I thought no one cared or knew what it was like to be a geek. There was one person out there who did know, it was Ric. He was a geek when he was young and turned his geekiness into a successful music career. The lyrics were full of satire, sarcasm, irony and metaphor. They have been sort of a cocoon I could always weave my way into, to help explain and get though this nasty world. His lyrics have given me an insight and a way to look at life satirically, sarcastically, with much irony and a little bit of laughter for good measure. Thank you Ric.

Ric Ocasek was more than just the leader and driving force behind The Cars. He produced numerous albums for example, Weezer, Hole, No Doubt, Nada Surf. Bad Brains, Suicide, etc. He was quite the prolific artist. He had done many Art shows in the last several years. He also had a successful solo career, not as well known as The Cars but with some very beautiful songs. He also wrote many books of poetry. He was a creative force. He was a true original. Unique and talented. He said to find music outside of radio. Which I enthusiastically embraced. This led me to many other fine musicians and bands that weren't on pop radio. This led me to Morrissey and The Smiths. I have found only 2 musical artists that I think are true originals. (I'm sure there are others). Ric Ocasek and Morrissey. I love them both dearly. They both have been driving forces in my life. Now Ric is gone. I can't thank him enough for enriching my life with his words and music. I will never forget him and how he soothed that lonely, lanky, nerd. He also gave me the courage to be different and not care what others think. Ric, I will miss you, I love you, there is a little piece of my heart and my soul that is missing, since you're gone.

Ric's sons found this drawing on his arm chair on the Sunday he died. It was his last piece of art for us mere mortals.

Tennis Court

My poor attempt at recreating The Moz T-shirt picture.

How Soon Is Now

You're Going To Need Someone On Your Side

Never Again Will I Be A Twin

It's wonderful to see Our Moz back on tour again. He played a marvelous show last night at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium. He wore a glittering green suit, could we call him The Green Lantern? Sorry, just a bad pun. New York is "Tennis Central" this weekend. Our Moz at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium and the finals of the US Open are this weekend at Flushing Meadows. The setlist was intriguing as always, with some pleasant surprises. If you need to see the set list, why don't you find out for yourself?  Another bad pun, I see a trend here. As always, I am pleased to see Morrissey back on tour but this time it is tempered.

The counter balance to my happiness that Our Moz is back on tour is that my Mom has been in the Hospital for 3 weeks. She had been having a had time mentally after an operation. They think the anesthesia affected her. She took a full bottle of pills that were prescribed to help her. She was rushed to the hospital and was in a coma for three days. We had no idea if she was going to die or ever wake up again. Fortunately, she did wake up but her mental state has not improved. She was in a skilled nursing facility for a week and now has gone into an inpatient Psychiatric unit. I hope she can get the help she needs. Mental Illness is brutal. No one can see the problem, like you can a broken leg. The treatment is trial and error and you don't really know if it will truly ever work. I visited her yesterday and she seems better. I hope she can return to normal.  What is normal?  Does anyone really know?

Tennis Court