Before, After

Take a look at the town of Ryongchon, North Korea: where the train exploded a couple of weeks ago.

Poem In Your Pocket

According to Liliputian Lilith, yesterday was "Poem in your pocket day" (the last day of Poetry Month). So, to celebrate...

Here's Bob:

Bob wants the wind to blow constantly
because as a kite
he'd be happy
on a string in the sky
pulling against the ground forever

he'd be the only one happy
"why does the wind blow so much?
only good for kites and sailboats
and damned if i got a sailboat."

...

beef jerky is
   leather
   soaked in salty beef soup
   for a hundred years
is what bob wishes
he could have for dinner
every night for a week
...and pepsi

...

what if one day the sun didn't set
but stayed out all night
like a lost cat

that found it's way home
late the next day
but scared everyone silly
the whole night long

we'd remember that night
for a long time

that's what bob wants
for the day when he dies
that the sun will stay out
all night long

so everyone will "remember
when bob died?
the sun didn't set
but stayed out all night
like a lost cat...
"

...

when the sun went down
the cat stayed
out all night, bob found out
by waiting on the steps till daylight

but later after a bit
the cat came back
and meowed at bob
scolding him
for not letting her have her freedom
she felt trapped
lately
and needed some time to herself

now bob sulks on tiptoes
to give the cat space
while the cat looks at him
and shakes her head
men

...

bob's brother says "Bob,
when i was a kid
i had this girl
   and how
and she dumped me
and i thought about killing myself
   i thought she was something special, then
but i never quite did

and now that i'm older i'm glad
i never quite did it
cause since then
i've got to dump plenty of chicks
and i never talk to them again

so i don't know but
but, i kinda hope
that they felt like killing themselves
cause that's what it's all about
you know?
that's how it always ends up

but you gotta be the one dumping
cause feeling like you want to kill yourself
over losing someone
that's the worst
worse than anything
cause dead seems like the only place where she isn't
but it's too scary to go there.
so Bob,
don't worry about the cat
there are other cats. God."

-- '93-ish, me

via

Post-apocalyptic

"What will tourists think of a habitat of denuded trees with desperate, starving koalas roaming the damaged landscape?"

Sounds like a children's version of Mad Max.

More, here.

Welcome, to 1990!

The iPod is in a grungy mood this morning. The last seven songs were:

• The Fastbacks: "Beaujolais' The Beat", from the great Estrus "Half Rack" compilation
• Nirvana - "In Bloom", from Nevermind
• Nirvana - "Spank Thru", from the "Sub Pop 200" compilation
• Led Zeppelin - "Bron-Yr-Aur", from Physical Graffiti
• Dickless - "Saddle Tramp", from Sub Pop's "The Grunge Years"
• The Wrens - Thirteen Grand, from The Meadowlands^*
• Sonic Youth - Silver Rocket, from Daydream Nation

It's like being in college again, but without the unappreciated lack of responsibility.

OK, a few songs past that, and it's played another Sonic Youth song from Daydream Nation (the perfect SY album, IMO), another Nirvana song, and a song from my first college band, a grungy little rock combo that played a few Nirvana, Sonic Youth and Mudhoney songs.

I think it's trying to tell me something.

* Sure, The Wrens song is a new one, but it fits right in with its neighbors.

Yuk

I normally avoid Lileks because I find his politics obnoxious. But, when he avoids politics, he can be clever and funny (at the same time!). Oh, why can't we all just get along?

Anyway, here he is going over recipies from the 50's: Gallery of Regrettable Food. Some of these things are truly horrific, like Mashed Potato Surprise, which he describes thusly:

Okay, here we go. It's “Mashed Potato Surprise.” The recipe calls for a special kind of mushrooms: canned mushrooms. Which you feed to the dog. The trick is get him to throw up right in the middle of the mashed potatoes.

Enjoy.