Ramblin' with Roger

A whole bunch of rallies yesterday, all in the name of Cindy, still camped out in Crawford. The mother of the late Casey Sheehan is the cover story in the Albany newsweekly Metroland. Will any of this change American policy in Iraq? Maybe not in the short term. But as American casualties mount (59 U.S. fatalities in August 2005 at last count, and we won’t even talk about the Iraqi deaths, and with the Kurds threatening to pull out of the Iraqi government, one continues to get the feeling of the q word: quagmire.

When the war started in March 2003, I predicted that there would be an independent Kurdistan within five years. The “no-fly zone” enforced by the U.S. and U.K. between 1991 and 2003 created essentially an independent Kurd state. I’m inclined to stick with my prognostication.

Still, I wish I knew the solution to the mess that W hath wroth.

Fiddle great Vassar Clements died this week. If you don’t know who he was, I hope you take an opportunity to find out. I was fortunate to see him play while I was in college at New Paltz, and he was extraordinary. Lung cancer-DAMN!

Write a couple sentences and win a free graphic novel. One of the choices is a book by the great Will Eisner. Anyone can do it! But you must do it before midnight tonight in the East. Four more chances on Thursday through Sunday for different GNs.

NAME: Eddie Mitchell
BLOG NAME: Renaissance Geek
NAME OF CD: Just a Buncha Stuff I Like
NUMBER OF CUTS: 24 (not really); 19 and 5 very short empty spaces
RUNNING TIME: 75:59
COVER ART: Simple but effective
SONG LIST: His post of July 3
SUBSEQUENTLY REVIEWED BY: Gordon on August 24
GENERAL THOUGHTS: Eddie seems to have more 2004 and 2005 tunes than just about anyone. He is really hooked into the quality of the lyrics. His descriptions of the songs on his webpage are wonderfully evocative.
THINGS I PARTICULARLY LOVED: Pretty much the whole first half: The Kaiser Chiefs, Merediths, Rilo Kiley, Brave Combo, Edith Piaf! Also Teen Idols, Stanley Thompson.
ON THE OTHER HAND: I’d have flipped the order a little in the third quarter of the disc: a couple tunes were a little too similarly quiet and blended in my mind sonically, though distinct lyrically. Maybe just switching Gautier and Chambers.
OFFICE FRIENDLY: I suppose some of the topics might be off putting to some (Porno Shop, I Spent My Last Ten Dollars on Birth Control and Beer, e.g.), but they didn’t bother me.
ONLY VAGUELY RELATED: The fact that Eddie recognizes that Emmylou Harris is a goddess is a good thing.

OK, stay with me here.

Go to the link for today (August 17) to see Fred link to my previous story about visiting him, which I posted on THIS blog. So, why bother directing you there? PICTURES! A picture of my daughter with her mother and me. A picture of my daughter with Fred and Lynn’s daughter Julie. It’s just Fred’s way to make sure I keep checking for his tipoz.