BusterStronghart@Gmail.com

"The steamships bound for New York left from Hamburg. The old three-masted, bark-rigged sail ships still left from Bremen. The steamships made the crossing in two weeks, the sail ships in six. But the sail ships were cheaper. They arrived in Bremen with their between decks loaded with cargo. After the cargo was discharged, crude accommodations were readied for poor travelers seeking outward passage. When the between deck held living cargo it was called "steerage class." The worth of incoming cargo was realized on arrival and thus was cared for accordingly. The value of the steerage passengers ended with their purchase of a ticket."

Nick Tosches "King of the Jews."

BusterStronghart@Gmail.com

"Oh yeah?, " said the big man, try this. He reached his huge fist up to the highest shelf and brought down Habana Caliente Caliente! It was a tiny bottle shaped in the image of Fidel Castro. My sinuses began to open and water... My eyes teared before the bottle cap was unscrewed.

mek

We made brothers into others and others into brothers.

mek

BusterStronghart@Gmail.com


I was at physical therapy for my shoulder late this afternoon. After some discussion the therapists had agreed to play The White Stripes on the sound system,and my fellow patients were pulling ropes, lifting medical weights, having ice applied, you know, the usual stuff. My therapist, Sara, a nifty 25 year old woman was gently massaging my shoulder and was deep into her work.

Suddenly someone opened the door and shouted: "Michael Jackson Not Guilty on All Counts! "

Without missing a beat Sara said, "Put on 'Beat It'."

mek

BusterStronghart@Gmail.com


A skull is more interesting than a naked woman.

______________________________________


One must live -- until the plague takes him.

.............................................................................Ingmar Bergman.....

BusterStronghart@Gmail.com dialog from Ingmar Bergman,

(the Knight notices the Priest behind the confessional's bars)

(Knight)
I want to confess as best I can.
But my heart is a void.
The void is a mirror.
I see my face...
I feel loathing and horror.

My indifference to men has shut me out.
I live now in a world of ghosts...
A prisoner in my dreams and illusions.

(Priest)
Yet you want to die.

(Knight)
Yes, I do.

(Priest)
What are you waiting for?

(Knight)
Knowledge.

(Priest)
You want a guarantee.

(Knight)
Call it what you will.
Is it so hard to conceive God with one's senses?

Why must He hide in a mist of vague promises and invisible miracles?
How are we to to believe the believers
When we don't believe ourselves?
What will become of us who want to believe but cannot?
And what will become of those who neither will nor can believe?
Why cannot I kill God within me?
Why does He go on living in a painful, humiliating way?
I want to tear Him out of my heart.
Be He remains a mocking reality
Which I cannot get rid of.
Do you hear me?

(Priest)
Perhaps there is no one there.

(Knight)
Then life is a senseless terror.
No man can live with Death
And know that everything is nothing.

Most people think neither of Death nor nothingness
Until the day they stand on the edge of life and see the darkness.

(Priest, with longing)
Ah....the day.

(Knight)
I see.
We must make an idol of our fear
And call it "God."

(Priest)
You are uneasy.

(Knight)
Death visited me this morning.
We are playing chess.
This respite enables me to perform a vital errand.

(Priest)
What errand?

(Knight)
My whole life has been a meaningless search.
I say that without bitterness nor self-reproach.
I know it is the same for all
But I want to use my respite for one significant action.

(Priest)
So you play chess with death?

(Knight)
He is a skillful tactician but I have not yet lost one piece.

(Priest)
How can you outwit Death?

(Knight)
By a combination of Bishop and Knight.

(The Knight looks up at the Priest and realizes that it is Death not the Priest. )

BusterStronghart@Gmail.com

In his Press Conference yesterday, did President Bush say:

"Detainees have been trained to disassemble. Disassemble is a word than means not to tell the truth."

That's what I heard--but then my ears may may be biased.

BusterStronghart@Gmail.com

We are in the middle of a thunderstorm on the first day of the hurricane season. Last year's four big ones put everyone on edge and all kinds of preparations are being made that were never made before.

In Florida when it rains people act like people do in New York when there is an eight inch snowstorm. Dinner dates are cancelled, theater tickets are given to the maids and doormen, and every one stays inside.

Florida has rescinded (for a week) the sales tax on anything related to hurricanes, so this is a good time to buy plywood, batteries, and plastic sheeting. I must look at the list to see what else is on the tax free list. The state is advertising tax free sales so much that if I were a retailer I would leave everything at full price, which I am sure most retailers are doing.

Maria and I have half of the North Atlantic tuna catch cached in a closet here along with enough water to supply the most of the elephants at Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey.