Saturday night's alright for fighting

Who said that everything must be appropriate ?!
Who said that every poem should be rich ?!

Someone who was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight (he later changed his name) wrote a music where these words fit...

"It's getting late have you seen my mates
Ma tell me when the boys get here
It's seven o'clock and I want to rock
Want to get a belly full of beer

My old man's drunker than a barrel full of monkeys
And my old lady she don't care
My sister looks cute in her braces and boots
A handful of grease in her hair

Don't give us none of your aggravation
We had it with your discipline
Saturday night's alright for fighting
Get a little action in

Get about as oiled as a diesel train
Gonna set this dance alight
`Cause Saturday night's the night I like
Saturday night's alright alright alright

Well they're packed pretty tight in here tonight
I'm looking for a dolly who'll see me right
I may use a little muscle to get what I need
I may sink a little drink and shout out "She's with me!"

A couple of the sound that I really like
Are the sounds of a switchblade and a motorbike
I'm a juvenile product of the working class
Whose best friend floats in the bottom of a glass"

          in "Saturday night's alright for fighting"

This was written of course by Bernie Taupin.
Published in Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" sometime in 1973. When he changed his name, he chose "Hercules" for middle name, supposedly from the horse name in the British sitcom, "Steptoe and Son". Elton and John come from merging the names of saxophonist Elton Dean and musician Long John Baldry.

Bacolod

In the Philippines, the "City Of Smiles", or Bacolod.

It's the hometown of one of my greatest friends. I won't ask her opinion... she's obviously biased. She doesn't live there anymore, but that's where she is today.

This is me wishing her a safe journey.

The first betrayal

It happened.

Under the balcony(*), there were some zigging & zagging(*) but it happened.

The first one. Recorded.
Hopefully to be forgotten.

Right now, I'm getting ready for another sort of events. The eventual wounds will be examined later and I shall see if any real harm was done. I will acknowledge the depth of the sting.

(*) - this is no nonsense; I know what I mean.

Wind for Catherine

My dear friend Catherine started her blog way before I started mine. It was a breath of fresh air... properly named "The Wind in the Trees" (translated from Portuguese).

She's been absent (yes, some of us do miss her) and that's why I've transcribed a poem from Pablo Neruda. I posted it on her blog and I'll post it here again, hoping to make some kind of pressure for her to return to her writting/posting days... pleeeeeease!

"Me gustas cuando callas porque estás como ausente,
y me oyes desde lejos, y mi voz no te toca.
Parece que los ojos se te hubieran volado
y parece que un beso te cerrara la boca.

Como todas las cosas están llenas de mi alma
emerges de las cosas, llena del alma mía.
Mariposa de sueño, te pareces a mi alma,
y te pareces a la palabra melancolía.

Me gustas cuando callas y estás como distante.
Y estás como quejándote, mariposa en arrullo.
Y me oyes desde lejos, y mi voz no te alcanza:
déjame que me calle con el silencio tuyo.

Déjame que te hable también con tu silencio
claro como una lámpara, simple como un anillo.
Eres como la noche, callada y constelada.
Tu silencio es de estrella, tan lejano y sencillo.

Me gustas cuando callas porque estás como ausente.
Distante y dolorosa como si hubieras muerto.
Una palabra entonces, una sonrisa bastan.
Y estoy alegre, alegre de que no sea cierto."

          - Pablo Neruda, Poem XV

I had planned this post a couple of weeks ago, but I postponned it to make it coincide with Catherine's birthdate. Today, she's 5 months away from being 33... meaning that we probably met some 23 years ago. Are we that old?

Straight jacket

The long history of this jacket touts from medieval times to famous magicians to modern use in hospitals, prisons and even some infamous movie scenes. It is made of a very heavy duty washable canvas with heavy leather locking straps across the back and a crotch strap for more restraint. It is the ultimate in bondage for both the bonder (for its aesthetic and authenticity value) and the bondee (for its superior upper body restraint).

The magician/illusionist Harry Houdini first thought of introducing the straightjacket into his act while touring an insane asylum in Canada. Peering into a padded cell, he saw a maniac struggling against the device, rolling about and straining each and every muscle in a vain attempt to free himself from his canvas restraint. Houdini began experimenting the next day, and soon the straightjacket, with all its sadistic fascination, had entered into his repertoire.

Much like his handcuff and rope escapes, Houdini's basic straightjacket escape required both technical know-how and brute physical strength. But the major difference was that he usually performed it in plain sight, at once increasing the drama and convincing the audience that there was no "trick" involved. In his 1910 book "Handcuff Escapes", Houdini described how he did it:

The first step necessary to free yourself is to place the elbow, which has the continuous hand under the opposite elbow, on some solid foundation and by sheer strength exert sufficient force at this elbow so as to force it gradually up towards the head, and by further persistent straining you can eventually force the head under the lower arm, which results in bringing both of the encased arms in front of the body.

Once having freed your arms to such an extent as to get them in front of your body, you can now undo the buckles of the straps of the cuffs with your teeth, after which you open the buckles at the back with your hands, which are still encased in the cavas sleeves, and then you remove the straitjacket from your body.

The dry, technical nature of this description belies what the escape actually looked like. As old film clips show, Houdini looks like a madman writhing and jerking about; it looks painful and one gets tired just watching it. Doubtless this was part of the fascination.

Houdini often turned his straightjacket routine into a public spectacle by performing it upside down, suspended from one of the towering new skyscrapers which had begun to dominate city skylines. While requiring more strength to undo the buckles, this actually made it easier to get his arms over his head, the key to the escape.

With more difficult straightjackets, Houdini would perform shielded from view. If using a jacket he supplied, this enabled him to used specially designed devices built into the jacket; if the jacket was supplied by someone else, he was sure to have a concealed or hidden tool to cut the laces or help himself some other way.

The prisoner

"He comes with Western win winds, with evening's wondering airs,
With that clear dusk of heaven that brings the thickest stars.
Winds take a pensive tone, and stars a tender fire,
And visions rise, and change, that kill me with desire.

But, first, a hush of peace – a soundless calm descends;
The struggle of distress, and fierce impatience ends;
Mute music soothes my breast – unuttered harmony,
That I could never dream, 'till earth was lost to me.

Then dawns the invisible; the Unseen its truths reveals;
My outward sense is gone, my inward essence feels;
Its wings are almost free – it's home, its harbor found,
Measuring the Gulf, it swoops and dares the final bound.

Oh! dreadful is the check – intense the agony –
When the ear begins to hear, and the eye begins to see;
When the pulse begins to throb, the brain to think again;
The soul to feel the flesh, and the flesh to feel the chain".

          - in "The Prisoner", by Emily Brontë

Dressing a tight dress...

It's a little over 3:30 here and the news NBA Stars are in Houston. Tonight it's the Triple Contest (Dirk Nowitski became the first 7-footer to win this) and the Slam Dunk Contest (5'8" Nate Robinson won, 20 years after Spud Webb, a trophy that should have been handled to Andre Iguodala - mainly because his behind the board rebound dunk from an Allen Iverson pass). After the Rookies vs the Sophomores yesterday (where Andre Iguodala acoumplished some wild moves), tomorrow it'll be Ming, Duncan, Gasol, Bryant, McGrady, Wallace, Iverson, etc.; and although I know there's going to be a great show, I can't stop missing Bird, Magic and Jordan.

So, let me add another story.

On his final All-Star Game, Michael was not voted as a starter. He was playing good, but not like before... not MVP material. He was selected as a reserve for the first time in his career.



For our ears delight (and eyes too!), Mariah Carey sang "Hero" and dedicated it to Michael, using a (really really really) tight Wizards dress. She also appeared with a Bulls uniform, but it was this one that was somewhat breathtaking. And a little too tight.

And after Mariah's performance (and kiss goodbye), Toronto's forward Vince Carter, who had been voted to be a starter, gave up his spot in the starting lineup for Michael. And the rest was almost business as usual.

Michael had a good game, surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the All-Star all time leading scorer, and hit the winning shot over the Suns forward Shawn Marion. A great shot in a tight game (read NBA.com recap).

But Pacers Jermaine O'Neal fouled Lakers guard Kobe Bryant on a 3-pt shot and he sent the game to second overtime, making two out of the three foul shots. On the second overtime, Wolves forward Kevin Garnett took over the game and won MVP honours.

After, MJ's comments were: "I thought it was the game-winner, but anything can happen in an NBA game". And anything did happen.