The Friends of California Libre...

24 March 2008

Get Down Off That Cross and Praise the Goddess

Greetings, friends,
Why am I in such a good mood?  One of my teeth disintegrated on Friday, and the next morning I finally had someone tell me to fuck myself in the Burbank Public Library, a first.  Then that afternoon I rode my bike right into a swarm of bees.  Maybe it's because the tooth doesn't hurt, the bees didn't sting, and I LOVE being told to fuck myself.  The Goddess is propping me up this spring.  I wish I could fly back in time 23 years and find myself out in the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge.  "What are you doing out here?" I'd say to the 20 year old in the trench coat on a nice sunny day, looking down at the water.  "You're a Los Angeleno, and an eternal optimist.  You can't join these people in their eternal suffering.  Live your own life, and you'll find enough suffering to share with your true friends."

"You're right," I say to my future self, laughing at the ridiculous spectacle of myself in a trench coat among the joggers and tourists, and walked back through Golden Gate Park.  I bought a Venus Fly Trap at the Conservatory, and kept it by my bed to remind me that, whatever trials Berkeley had for me, I was a superior being, the first in my family to go to college, taught that Jesus and the Goddess both were on my side.  And so here I am, friends, ready to serve you and bring you the good news.

I begin this spring by honoring those who changed our lives for the better:
Arthur C. Clarke, 90; scientific visionary, acclaimed writer of '2001: A Space Odyssey'
By Dennis McLellan
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
Arthur C. Clarke, who peered into the heavens with a homemade telescope as a boy and grew up to become a visionary titan of science-fiction writing and collaborated with director Stanley Kubrick on the landmark film "2001: A Space Odyssey," has died. He was 90.
The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-me-clarke19mar19,1,6788445.story

And maybe for the worse....
Kurt Eberling, Inventor of Spaghetti-O's
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Eberling%2C_Sr.

I'd also like to send a good word to the Goddess for two men who brightened my life with music, anyway:
Cachao López, 89, Cuban musician credited with creating mambo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cachao_L%C3%B3pez
Richie Hass
http://laist.com/2008/03/21/the_music_commu.php

Part of my good spirit is in knowing that, for the first time, I can unequivocally give myself over to a person who wants to lead this greedy, selfish country of mine.  If you have any questions about Barack Obama, I'd suggest you listen to this speech; it is almost 40 minutes long, but I found it riveting.  Not only is it well-crafted, but the person reciting it believes what he is saying.  That's refreshing.
"A More Perfect Union"
Remarks of Senator Barack Obama
Constitution Center
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031808A.shtml

You can also find this video in a slightly different form on my webpage, www.joelrane.com .  Please feel free to redistribute to anyone who might be interested.  Many other people have reacted to the forthcoming nature of this speech:
Mr. Obama's Profile in Courage
The New York Times | Editorial
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031908K.shtml
Edwards Joins Obama Supporters in New Antiwar Effort
By Walter Alarkon
The Hill
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022508G.shtml
They're Republican Red, and True Blue to Obama
By Mark Z. Barabak
The Los Angeles Times
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022508M.shtml

It was so good it made me forget that today is the birthday of Nick Lowe, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, "Fatty" Arbuckle and Clyde Barrow:
Fiesta de Cumpleaños
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TgNy_x_LqA

Let's not get carried away, however; this country is still full of idiots:
Many Voting for Clinton to Boost GOP
By Scott Helman
The Boston Globe
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031708D.shtml

But we will have the last laugh on them:
Conservatism Is Dying
By Eric Lotke
Campaign for America's Future
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031508E.shtml
Breaking the Final Rule
By Gary Hart
The Huffington Post
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/030908A.shtml
Senator, You Must Correct the Wrong Done to Obama
By Keith Olbermann
MSNBC "Countdown"
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031308A.shtml

Because, surprise, we proud Europeans have the most to gain if the world is free (thanks, Geri):
http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/full-list-of-stuff-white-people-like/

All right, and Trisha wants YOU to know that her old man is also supporting the cause:
see Jesse's new painting(painted day of Deadheads for OBAMA rally here in SF ) --anyone interested in ORIGINAL painting   and or prints can go to     jessemosher.etsy.com   or his myspace  ARTIST JESSE myspace.com/jessemosher  where they will be offered for sale --part of proceeds got to OBAMA campaign --30% do ! He was featured on the KRON NEWS 4 Channel here outside of the Warfield before the show .... or just email   jessemosher@yahoo.com   to buy a poster and help the OBAMA campaign   --the Original painting will go for 600.00  that means 200.00   to the Obama Campaign of that --- VOTE people !!!

Speaking of Barack Obama and Jesse Mosher, I happened to catch "The Miracle Maker" once again this Easter, my favorite Claymation version of the Passion, and a Spanish-dubbed "King of Kings" with adorable Jeffrey Hunter (for whom Joel Jeffrey Rane was named) as the big JC.  The later was especially psychedelic as I was lying on the couch, high on Vicodin AGAIN, suffering that disintegrated molar.  I'm sticking my tongue in the hole RIGHT NOW, and you can read about all the hot Jesus flicks in this blog post of mine.

Thanks to my folks, I am a religious observer of both the Resurrection and the Academy Awards.  In fact, for a few years in the early 1990s, when I was a smirky Man About Town, I even put on a monkey suit and crashed the B list parties.  Hey, it's like a holiday here in Los Angeles.  The movie business should probably make all their parties open that night, and maybe we'd forgive them their bullshit the other 365 days a year (this year, anyway...happy Leap Day to my three, seven and eleven year old Leap friends.)  I still try for a party and an Oscar pool every year, and this year lost both to pathetic circumstances.  This was also the least watched of the modern Oscars, and I blew my picks.  But I enjoyed it anyway.  I scored so poorly because the Academy actually went out on a limb and made some bold choices.  Too bad they split the anti-Iraq vote by nominating two documentaries (and gave a win to the super-strident "Taxi to the Dark Side".)  Nor did they select my favorite film of the year, "Persepolis ".  I did pick the documentary short, "Freeheld", a strong film about how gay marriage is not a joke (thanks, Steph).

Although it made no sense to the American critics, I was pleased to see my European cousins do well.  It's cute to see Marion Cotillard, the bubbly French girl who played Albert Finney's daughter-in-law in "Big Fish", get up on stage and shock all the jaded Industry people (even a bemused Forest Whitaker.)  She earned it too, overcoming the favorite of 60s Hollywood (Miss Christie) and the indie crowd (Ellen Page) by playing Edith Piaf.  But we'll see who gets the "cute" award in La France when Audrey Tautou plays Coco Chanel later this year.

I can, in fact, trace much of my affection for the French to Edith Piaf.  I never forget that "Padam Padam" cured me of my perpetual love sickness.  Here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4Fj8tKui20

And my rough translation of the lyrics (which I would appreciate any corrections to, my French friends):
http://www.joelrane.com/inspire.html

Here's another song that will sour you on love, "Serenata" by the Mexican cumbia band Los Super Reyes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHd2B3E4iXs

Anyway, I also relished that moment of surprise when Tilda Swinton finally got the Oscar she deserved for "Orlando" fifteen years ago.  It's the equivalent of seeing one of your craziest friends, the one who was a total acting geek in high school and then spent the next two decades going through weird relationships and creepy experimental theatre, suddenly thrust into the limelight (and take it with a smirk.)  The Academy didn't go for the cross-dressing Dylan or giving Ruby Dee the Oscar she earned for "A Raisin in the Sun" and the consequent four decades of crappy TV roles, but instead they wanted to see what Tilda would say.  I hope they weren't disappointed (she dropped the Scottish smartness she saves for interviews.)  Here's a little something of the weirdness she typically engages in:
Tilda Swinton reading from the experimental "The Raw Shark Texts"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h73f3LWZALE

And back to sappy love songs, I just want to say all maudlin-like, that "Once" was the most adorable fucking movie that might ever be made about two adorable musicians in Dublin, which is an adorable city in an adorable country that should get an Oscar every year for that alone.  If you were watching the Oscars you heard Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová get the biggest applause of the night, and they both made adorable speeches.  The indie crowd won that one (up against not one, but THREE huge hits from the Disney Channel.)  Anyway, this wasn't a huge surprise to me (and the easiest of my 8 winning picks) as I try to keep up on Irish movies and this one was big (though it didn't get nominated for anything in Ireland other than best song, which it lost.)  Unlike my favorite soap opera, "Ros na Rún", which has been nominated as best Irish TV series four times since I saw it in 2001, and done much to encourage the revival of the Irish language.  Maybe in Ireland they're also a bit more jaded about Glen Hansard, who's fronted the popular Dublin band The Frames since 1990.  He only recently formed The Swell Season with Irglová, who PS is only two years older than The Frames!  So any analogy to other performing couples or "family bands" I know isn't going to work.

I know you WANT to hear "Falling Slowly" again, so here you go, before they sell out Coachella; it's The Frames at the Henry Fonda in Hollywood; the song is SO huge that Hansard brings a girl up on stage and she nails it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MnbJaTd8vc

Hmm...I suddenly feel a screed coming on...maybe it's the pain in my tooth, or something else...
Mobile Phone Radiation Wrecks Your Sleep
By Geoffrey Lean
The Independent UK
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/012208HA.shtml

Maybe it's because, even when people make the right decision, they suffer for it, like my friend Jesus:
Panel Rejects Toll Road Through San Onofre State Beach
By David Reyes and Dan Weikel
The Los Angeles Times
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020708R.shtml

Maybe I'm just worried that I'll be fighting my neighbors for food instead of fighting them though the aisles of Trader Joe's pretty soon.
What's Your Consumption Factor?
By Jared Diamond
The New York Times
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/010208EC.shtml

Yeah, Easter is over, spring is here, and appreciate it while it lasts:
Scientists Identify "Tipping Points" of Climate Change
By Steve Connor
The Independent UK
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/020508EA.shtml
2007 a Year of Weather Records in US
By Seth Borenstein
The Associated Press
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/122907G.shtml

It seems like there is nothing but "hot news" from the poles and the mountaintops...
Glaciers Suffer Record Shrinkage
BBC News
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/031708EA.shtml
NASA Data Shows Thickest and Oldest Arctic Ice Is Melting
Reuters
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/031908EA.shtml
Escalating Ice Loss Found in Antarctica
By Marc Kaufman
The Washington Post
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/011408EA.shtml

And it's not just ice that we're losing...
The Lowdown on Topsoil: It's Disappearing
By Tom Paulson
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/012308EB.shtml

The results are more apocalyptic than any Christian could conjure...
Government Reports Warn Planners on Sea-Rise Threat to US Coasts
By Cornelia Dean
The New York Times
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/031208EA.shtml
Arctic Warming Could Result in Armed Conflict: Naval Expert
By Peter O'Neil
The Ottawa Citizen
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/030108D.shtml
Global Warming to Alter California Landscape
By Noaki Schwartz
The Associated Press
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/123107EA.shtml

In some places there will be too much water, and in others...
Energy, Water In "Catch-22"
By John Fleck
Albuquerque Journal
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/032108EA.shtml
Lake Mead Could Be Within a Few Years of Going Dry, Study Finds
By Felicity Barringer
The New York Times
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/021308EC.shtml

But rich bastards still have an income to protect, don't they?
GM Exec Stands by Calling Global Warming a "Crock"
By Kevin Krolicki
Reuters
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/022508EA.shtml

Well, I'm sure any executive of GM has a fully-stocked larder...
Feed the World? We Are Fighting a Losing Battle, UN Admits
By Julian Borger
The Guardian UK
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022608P.shtml
Food and the Spectre of Malthus
By Mark Thirlwell
The Financial Times
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/022808EA.shtml

And if we lose food crops, we also lose our oxygen crops:
Amazon's Rescue Reversed
By Tom Phillips
The Guardian UK
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/012508EB.shtml
Rain Forests Fall at "Alarming" Rate
By Edward Harris
The Associated Press
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020308G.shtml

The creatures that inhabit those wild places are in peril as well...I'm glad that one of my old friends is using the law (for once) to fight for their rights:
Polar Bears Vie With Oil for US Government Focus
By Deborah Zabarenko
Reuters
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/010708EA.shtml
US Misses Second Deadline to Protect Polar Bears
By Deborah Zabarenko
Reuters
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/021408EB.shtml
Environmental Groups Sue Bush Administration to Force Polar Bear Protection
Natural Resources Defense Council
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/031108EA.shtml

Other creatures may not have a chance:
Chinook Salmon Vanish Without a Trace
By Felicity Barringer
The New York Times
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/031708EB.shtml
Warming May Have Caused Salmon Collapse
The Associated Press
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/030408EB.shtml
Salmon Arriving in Record Low Numbers
By Jane Kay
The San Francisco Chronicle
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/013008EC.shtml
Feds Warn Entire Salmon Season Could Be Halted
By Peter Fimrite
The San Francisco Chronicle
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/031208EC.shtml

Sources of food and predators alike:
Fishing Pressure Pushing Sharks Toward Extinction
Environmental News Service
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/021908EB.shtml
Coral Reefs and What Ruins Them
By Cornelia Dean
The New York Times
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/022608EC.shtml

We have to fight just to preserve the other sentient beings that rule this planet:
Greenpeace: Japan's Whale Kill Halted
The Associated Press
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/011408EB.shtml

To the point of ridiculous point/counterpoint:
Navy Must Cut Sonar Use off California
By Kenneth R. Weiss
The Los Angeles Times
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/010708EC.shtml
Navy Resumes Use of Sonar off California
By Gordon Lubold
The Christian Science Monitor
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/012508EC.shtml
Judge: Bush Can't Exempt Navy in Sonar
The Associated Press
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020508O.shtml
Court Holds Navy to Rules Safeguarding Marine Mammals
By Kenneth R. Weiss
The Los Angeles Times
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/030208D.shtml
Navy Must Comply With No-Sonar Rule
The Associated Press
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/020508EC.shtml

Other creatures are going to prosper in these lean times:
Tropical Disease May Become Threat to US
By Tony Pugh
McClatchy News
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/011408HA.shtml
"Serious Questions" Open the Way for a Ban on GMO Corn
By Gaëlle Dupont and Hervé Kempf
Le Monde
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011408G.shtml
FDA Says Food From Cloned Animals Is Safe
By Andrew Martin and Andrew Pollack
The New York Times
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/011608HA.shtml

But truly, our whole way of life is in question:
Rethinking the Meat Guzzler
By Mark Bittman
The New York Times
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/012808EB.shtml

The world of cheap meat, cheap oil and cheap foreign goods is over for all of us:
True Scale of CO2 Emissions From Shipping Revealed
By John Vidal
The Guardian UK
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/021308EB.shtml

The world of the $1000 car, hopefully, will never exist:
Can the World Afford the Tata Nano?
By Andrew Buncombe
The Independent UK
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/011108EB.shtml

Indeed, I think that the demand for a better life will not end, but create a new way of thinking about everything, such as these $1000 cars:
Thank Carbon for Air Cars
Green Energy News
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/022108EC.shtml

This is the future...a new way of thinking about the world.
Coming Soon - The Carbon Economy
By Kelpie Wilson
t r u t h o u t | Report
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/030408A.shtml
Carbon Output Must Near Zero to Avert Danger, New Studies Say
By Juliet Eilperin
The Washington Post
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/031008EA.shtml
UN Security Council Urged to Punish CO2 Offenders
By Haider Rizvi
Inter Press News
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/021308EA.shtml

It's happening right now:
British Columbia Introduces Carbon Tax
By Jonathan Fowlie and Fiona Anderson
The Vancouver Sun
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/022108EA.shtml

Not that Canada is perfect; they have much to gain from global warming and from the high price of oil:
"The Biggest Environmental Crime in History"
By Cahal Milmo
The Independent UK
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121107G.shtml
Most Destructive Project on Earth: Report
By Mike De Souza
Canwest News Service
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/021908EA.shtml

In the United States, the answer is to bury our heads in the dust of our dying planet:
Can States Cut Carbon? EPA Says No.
By Brad Knickerbocker
The Christian Science Monitor
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/030608EA.shtml
California Sues Government for Rejecting Bid to Curb Emissions
By Margot Roosevelt
The Los Angeles Times
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010208R.shtml
Climate Plans by New York, Florida Prod US on Global Accord
By Jim Efstathiou Jr. and Adam Satariano
Bloomberg
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/013008EA.shtml
US Given Poor Marks on the Environment
By Felicity Barringer
The New York Times
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/012308EA.shtml
Reid: Renewables Shorted by Bush Budget
By Phoebe Sweet
The Las Vegas Sun
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/020708EA.shtml

And not just the health of the world, but own livelihoods depend upon change:
CEOs See Green Energy Policies Preserving US Jobs
By Nichola Groom
Reuters
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/031708LA.shtml
A Green Energy Industry Takes Root in California
By Matt Richtel and John Markoff
The New York Times
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/020108LB.shtml

As I realized buying my first $4 gasoline, the days of oil are finished:
Oil Hits $100 a Barrel for the First Time
By Jad Mouawad
The New York Times
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010308N.shtml
Oil Closes Above $100 Per Barrel
By Andrew Clark
The Guardian UK
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022008C.shtml
$4 Gasoline? It's News to Bush
By Maura Reynolds, Michelle Quinn and Ronald D. White
The Los Angeles Times
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022908F.shtml
The Bad News at the Pump: The $100-plus Barrel of Oil and What It Means
By Michael T. Klare
TomDispatch.com
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031108I.shtml
World Oil Supply May Have Already Peaked
By Lester Brown
People and Planet
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/020608EA.shtml
Cheap Oil Is Over: Kiss the Gas-Guzzling NASCAR Era Goodbye
By James Howard Kunstler
Chelsea Green Publishing
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031108S.shtml

The price of oil is more than just an inconvenience; for many, it will be death:
Why the Price of "Peak Oil" Is Famine
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
The Telegraph UK
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/020708LA.shtml

We take tentative steps...
House Votes to End Big Oil's Tax Breaks
By Steven Mufson
The Washington Post
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022808M.shtml

There are no options buried in the ground:
The Rising Price of Coal
By Kelpie Wilson
t r u t h o u t | Environment Editor
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032108R.shtml
Nuclear Power Gets Boost From Candidates
By Judy Pasternak
The Los Angeles Times
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/123107EB.shtml

Or growing in the fields:
Corn Can't Save Us
By David Pimentel
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/031908EC.shtml
Burning Biofuels May Be Worse Than Coal and Oil, Say Experts
By Alok Jha
The Guardian UK
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/010408EA.shtml
Studies Say Clearing Land for Biofuels Will Aid Warming
By Juliet Eilperin
The Washington Post
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/020808EA.shtml
Europe May Ban Imports of Some Biofuel Crops
By James Kanter
The New York Times
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/011508EB.shtml

Or on the bottom of the ocean:
Japan Mines "Flammable Ice," Flirts With Environmental Disaster
By Shigeru Sato
Bloomberg
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/122607EA.shtml

Perhaps the ocean itself will save us...
Oceans Eyed as New Energy Source
By Brian Skoloff
The Associated Press
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/021508EB.shtml

Our own ingenuity:
"Bioplastic" May Become Third Option to Paper or Plastic
By Tony Azios
The Christian Science Monitor
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/121907EC.shtml

Otherwise we may be waiting thousands of years for life to return to normal...
Doomsday Vault for World's Seeds Is Opened Under Arctic Mountain
By Lewis Smith
The Times Online
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/022708EA.shtml

Unless, of course, Jesus really comes back to tell the punch-line of the joke (thanks, Robert):
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/space/03/21/exploding.star.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

Vive le screed!

3 comments :

Anonymous said...

Dear Author www.californialibre.com !
Useful topic

Anonymous said...

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And you et an account on Twitter?

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