Da End O Da Woild

Flowers are beautiful.

Art is meaningless.

Some people seek love.

Others expect the end.

Tesla sought perfection.

Edison gave them a lightbulb.

Lightbulbs suck.

I like bones.

Big Hair Naked

You bet I would.

If only in my dreams.

Menage A Trois En Secret

Someone in this photo doesn't know what's what.

Omnia Vincit Amor

Omnia vincit amor or 'love conquers all' comes from Virgil (70 BC – 19 BC), Eclogue X, line 69

Over two thousand years ago.

True then.

True now.

Neo-Droid Hands

Comic book characters rarely had all their fingers. Many artists are unable to draw a hand, which I've always deemed to be the cause for the advent of abstract expressionism. Most recently I went online to look at wedding bands for a friend. The website offered this image.

Not really a hand.

Then again nothing on the internet is real.

Just zeroes and ones.

Binary number system developed from the I Ching

It holds the power of the known universe.

For man and hands.

120 Years Of Economic Repression

Last night the Empire State Building was lit up red and green to celebrate the 120th years of the Dow Jones' existence. The colors symbolized the ups and downs of the market. The darkness between them represented the loss of the wealth for the majority of Americans and people around the world. While the .0001% fear tax increases, their greater worry should be the Guillotine.

It's an idea who's time has come again.

Off with their heads.

No green.

Only red running in the gutters.

Best Minds Of My Generation

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of the night. - alan ginsburg - howl To listen to Alan Ginsberg reading HOWL, please go to the following URL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVGoY9gom50

The Love of Gladiators

My older brother's school was a trolley ride away from our suburban house. Boston College High School excelled at sports and academics. I wanted to join my brother in the following class of 1970, except I won a full scholarship to Xaverian Brothers located only ten miles away from our exit on Route 128. The distance seemed small to my parents, but I ran track and once the school bus for my hometown left the parking lot, my only option to get to 109 Harborview Road was to hitchhike from the East Street on ramp of 128.

My hair wasn't long. I was good-looking in my school uniform and blazer. Balding men stopped for me. They smelled of Aqua Velva. After a few minutes on 128 the drivers never failed to ask, "Do you like gladiator movies?"

"No," I said, fearing an escalating series of homo-erotic suggestions and the drivers dropped me at the dreaded I-93 cloverleaf.

Several long walks to the 138 exit taught me that saying 'yes' was better than 'no'. I never told my parents about these or that Brother Jerome the school's librarian asked the same question during Reading 101.

After graduation I didn't hear that line until I saw the movie AIRPLANE in 1980, when Peter Graves of MISSION IMPOSSIBLE fame asked a young boy, "What do you think about gladiator movies?"

Every man in the audience laughed in solidarity. None of the women broke a smile. This was our little secret and males my age recognized the influence of gladiator movies on our pubescent libidos.

I don't care what anyone thinks.

Steve Reeves the Hercules of the 60s wasn't gay.

Tony Curtis on the other hand was very gay in SPARTACUS.

A slave to a Roman master played by Larry Olivier.

Very out and when GLADIATOR was screened in 1980, I saw the first show. My friends and I went to dinner and told the maitre de about the movie.

"It doesn't sound like a real gladiator movie." Marvin sniffed with disdain. He was 6-1 and weighed 145. Mussels were a dish served on a plate not on his bones. "They're never a real gladiator movie unless two men wrestle naked."

"Oh."

That comment certainly shone new light on the wrestling scene between Alan Bates and Oliver Reed in the film adaptation of WOMEN IN LOVE. They were gladiators too, if only for that scene.

Naked men and gladiators might say something to some men, but Steve Reeves was not gay.

No way, but that didn't stop him from being an idol.

To many.

THE FLIGHT OF HISTORY by Peter Nolan Smith

At Xaverian High School outside of Boston Brother Phelan taught history without any deviation from the path of the textbook. I was Brother Phelan's # 1 student, since I had read the textbook from beginning to end during the first week of the semester. During class I stared out the window, thinking about my cheerleader girlfriend, Kyla. A month into the semester the old boxer requested his students to write essays about the Magna Carta, Napoleon, and the Civil War. My classmates turned in papers of various lengths.

"Smith, help me grade the papers." Brother Phelan waved for me to join him after class.

"Yes, brother."

He was no greasy chickenhawk.

The robed teacher and I gathered up the reports and we walked down the corridor to the stairwell. I thought we were going to his office, but the broad-bellied brother stopped at the stairwell and commanded, "Toss the papers one by one up the stairs."

I didn't understand the why, but like I stated earlier Brother Phelan had been a fighter.

Heavyweight.

They earned respect and I did as I waas told.

After two minutes forty odd hand-written and typed papers were scattered up the steps.

"Here." Brother Phelan handed me a small notebook and said with a Connemarra accent. "Record the name and the grade."

He started at the bottom.

"D-."

He cleared the stairs and midway up he said, "C-."

This went on until he reached the top, where he gave an A+ to a thick tome of thirty pages.

"Aren't you going to read them?"

"What for? I grade them by weight. The heavier ones go farther. The lighter one less so."

"So everything they write is unimportant."

"You could think of it that way. The Magna Carta was signed by King John and he killed all the nobles.

"With the help of foreigners."

"Correct." He tapped the papers into a neat pile and came back down the steps.

"Napoleon loses at Waterloo."

"Able I was ere I saw Elba," I repeated the fallen emperor's famous palindrome to his English doctor on the remote South Atlantic island.

"You show great promise, but I didn't find your paper in the pile."

"It wasn't there."

"Any reason."

"I didn't feel like rehashing history as we know it." I reached into my bag and pulled out a treatise on the 1848 Revolution titled UP AGAINST THE WALL. I hadn't wanted any of my classmates to see it. America was at war with the Viet Cong. My friends hated commies. I was an atheist. They hated us even worst.

"Four pages?" He flicked the paper like a poker player waiting the last card on stud.

"Succinct."

"A C- according to my grading scale."

"Better than failing."

"I supposed you're right, boyo, but I'll give it a read."

He bid me well. I had a track meet that afternoon. I ran the 440 and relay along with doing the long jump.

I finished 4th in the first, the team won the second, and I hit seventeen feet off the wood into a sawdust pit. Brother Phelan helped me to my feet. No one beat that distance.

"Now that's history."

"Yes, it is," I answered, because history was all about how long history flew through time.

And time lasted forever for teenagers of the 1960s.

Dumber Than A Bucket Of Mud - Brits

Here are some stunning examples of how uneducated people are from THE GREAT BRITISH QUIZ CONTESTANTS

UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE (BBC2) Jeremy Paxman: What is another name for 'cherrypickers' and 'cheesemongers'? Contestant: Homosexuals.. Jeremy Paxman: No. They're regiments in the British Army who will be very upset with you

BEG, BORROW OR STEAL (BBC2) Jamie Theakston: Where do you think Cambridge University is? Contestant: Geography isn't my strong point. Jamie Theakston: There's a clue in the title. Contestant: Leicester

BBC NORFOLK Stewart: Who had a worldwide hit with What A Wonderful World? Contestant: I don't know. Stewart I'll give you some clues: what do you call the part between your hand and your elbow? Contestant: Arm Stewart: Correct. And if you're not weak, you're...? Contestant: Strong. Stewart Correct - and what was Lord Mountbatten's first name? Contestant: Louis Stewart Well, there we are then. So who had a worldwide hit with the song What A Wonderful World? Contestant: Frank Sinatra?

LATE SHOW (BBC MIDLANDS) Alex Trelinski: What is the capital of Italy ? Contestant: France. Trelinski: France is another country. Try again. Contestant: Oh, um, Benidorm. Trelinski: Wrong, sorry, let's try another question. In which country is the Parthenon? Contestant: Sorry, I don't know. Trelinski: Just guess a country then. Contestant: Paris.

THE WEAKEST LINK (BBC2) Anne Robinson: Oscar Wilde, Adolf Hitler and Jeffrey Archer have all written books about their experiences in what: - Prison, or the Conservative Party? Contestant The Conservative Party.

BEACON RADIO ( WOLVERHAMPTON ) DJ Mark: For 10, what is the nationality of the Pope? Ruth from Rowley Regis: I think I know that one. Is it Jewish?

UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE Bamber Gascoyne: What was Gandhi's first name? Contestant: Goosey?

GWR FM ( Bristol ) Presenter: What happened in Dallas on November 22, 1963? Contestant: I don't know, I wasn't watching it then.

121

PHIL WOOD SHOW (BBC RADIO?MANCHESTER) Phil: What's 11 squared? Contestant: I don't know. Phil: I'll give you a clue. It's two ones with a two in the middle. Contestant: Is it five?

ROCK FM ( PRESTON ) Presenter: Name a film starring Bob Hoskins that is also the name of a famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci. Contestant: Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

JAMES O'BRIEN SHOW (LBC) James O'Brien: How many kings of England have been called Henry? Contestant: Er, well, I know there was a Henry the Eighth .. ER. ER ... Three?

THE VAULT Melanie Sykes: What is the name given to the condition where the sufferer can fall asleep at any time? Contestant:

Nostalgia.

LUNCHTIME SHOW (BRMB) Presenter: What religion was Guy Fawkes? Contestant: Jewish. Presenter: That's close enough.

STEVE WRIGHT IN THE AFTERNOON (BBC RADIO 2) Wright: Johnny Weissmuller died on this day. Which jungle-swinging character clad only in a loin cloth did he play? Contestant: Jesus.

Christians can find Jesus everywhere and Jesus is always the right answer to any question.

Cheers, Britain. The USA is right with you.

Aye Aye War Ships

In my youth my father drove our family north from Falmouth Foresides to Bath to witness the launching of various warships into the Kennebuc River. We were always impressed by the massive steel hulls sliding down the slipways to the river and the crowd always applauded an addition to the US Naval Fleet.

America was great in the 1950s.

Always right and never wrong.

In April the USS ZUMWALT was launched from Bath Iron Works for sea trials off the coast of Maine and most recently the Navy turned over command of the 8$ billion sleath missile destroyer to Capt. James Kirk. USN and is planning on two other Zumwalt-class destroyers to join the fleet.

At $8 Billion each.

Or 200,000 Dodge Hemi Chargers for 200,000 lucky Americans.

8 billion beers

Or day cay for millions of mothers.

I know who wins and it won't be beer drinkers, a motorheads or needy mothers.

War always comes first in the USA.

Always.

Dan Hicks I SCARE MYSELF

In 1967 the songwriter/guitarist/vocalist DAN HICKS formed Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks with David LaFlamme later of It's A Beautiful Day, two female back-up singers and another guitarist to steady the bassline. Sherry Snow and Christine Gancher doubled on percussion. I loved this band and especially their great classic SCARED MYSELF.

Dan Hicks bailed on the fame and fortune trip in 1973 saying according to wikipedia, "I didn't want to be a bandleader anymore. It was a load and a load I didn't want. I'm basically a loner... I like singing and stuff, but I didn't necessarily want to be a bandleader. The thing had turned into a collective sort of thing – democracy, vote on this, do that. I conceived the thing. They wouldn't be there if it wasn't for me. My role as leader started diminishing, but it was my fault because I let it happen; I cared less as the thing went on."

I'm a big fan of apathy.

And even a bigger fan of Dan Hicks

Sadly Dan Hicks was promoted off the planet, but he lives with his music.

Same as all of us.

To listen to SCARED MYSELF, please go to the following URL;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0h6FBbw8jY

ps the girls in the band were hot.

We could say that back then.

And for good reasons.

Because it was the truth.

So Faithless - Pieter Bruegel

"Because the world is so faithless, I go my way in mourning."

Pieter Bruegel

Dinah Willis - Playboy Miss December 1964

I left Barbie for her.

Barbie Does Boston

Playing with dolls was considered a sin for boys in the 1950s. Anyone caught playing with one was endangered of being labelled a queer and that accusation was impossible to erase from your peers' permanent record.

All that changed when Mattel's came out with Barbie 1964. The statuesque teen doll possessed Jayne Mansfield's curves and a waspish waist unlike any women in you town South of the Neponset River. My friends and I were on the cusp of pubescence and Barbie was our first girlfriend, although only when our sisters were not at home. They would not have liked what we did to their dolls; Barbie and Ken. The unspeakable was saved for Midge. We had no respect for her. At the end of my 'play' session I would redress the dolls and put them back where I found them with a warning to Barbie..

"Don't say anything."

Silence was always their answer and my sisters would ask the dolls, "Why aren't you talking?"

They knew something was wrong and told my parents that someone in the family was abusing their dolls. I never admitted to the truth and Barbie kept her mouth shut even after I abandoned her for a Playboy featuring Dinah Willis as the centerfold. Barbie and I were done, but somewhere in my heart exists a atom of love for my first girlfriend.

Barbie had such tiny lips for a kiss.

Oh Barbie.

The first love is always the best.

El Phoenix Bar - Boston

My friend Jorge posted this photo and I thought 'pink elephant'.

Only one place had one and it was in Brighton, Mass.

In college I drank in a Commonwealth Avenue establishment with a mural of a naked woman riding a pink elephant over the bar. THe El Phoenix Room offered draft 'ganseets at 25 cents and drinks for $1. You could play three pinball games for a quart and got the same amount of songs from jukebox for two-bits. The regulars were Irish trolley drivers and the girls attended BU.

The Irish owners ran a Mexican restaurant up the short step of stairs. The cook was a one-armed woman from Monterrey. I tasted my first tacos and enchiladas there. Rosa served the spiciest food in Boston for years.

It closed years ago.

There is no trace of the El Phoenix Room online.

Ah, the memories.

The owners also had a bar underneath the Forest Hills train station.

Concannon and Sennetts'

Neither dive is there anymore.

Ah, the memories.

Hillary With Her Friends

Barry Goldwater 1995. She had campaigned him in 1964.

With the war criminal Henry Kissinger.

Her old buddy GW.

At Donald Trump's wedding.

ps check out bill hand on Mrs. Trump's hip.