As much as the various Christian churches have attempted to co-opt the pagan celebrations that existed before the creation of Christianity they have persisted. Easter is one of those co-opt attempts but much like Halloween it has remained rooted in its BC beginnings. I am happy to see all these homes happily displaying these Eostre devotionals.
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Egg trees have been sprouting all around the east end. This is a growing spring holiday decorating that I love to see. This is another pagan festival that the Christian church hasn’t been able to obliterate. As far I know there were no hard-boiled eggs or rabbit pie at the Last Supper đ
festive hedge
hot magenta
happy dangle day
let’s get sticky
more danglers
bejewelled
egg-flation
someone left an egg out in the rain
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Growing up we had a frequent Sunday night family game with card games & board games. I donât recall exactly when it started but may bother & sisters were included. We would play in the dining-room, which we rarely used for dining. The table was large enough & was usually clear of stuff. Card games were simple enough Hearts, Crazy 8s. I was told by my Dad not to try too hard to win to my siblings had a chance.
We graduated to Rummoli. I checked it out online & the fold out board is familiar but the rules for the various elements boggle the mind. I recall Cribbage mainly because keeping score was a pain. Gin Rummy was another but that too was a point counting challenge. I usually let someone else keep score for both.
Although we had Monopoly & Scrabble, the board games I recall best are Stock Ticker & Careers. Both were dice games with playing pieces. In Stock Ticker one bought & sold shares as they went up & down with rolls of the dice. The game had its own paper play money. It could go on forever, I think. Or maybe it was over when all the play money was gone or someone had gone bankrupt. The one with the most money was the winner.
Careers was a sort of Monopoly variation. Rolling dice. Moving your piece around the game board & landing on good or bad squares. There was also a form to fill in of what you wanted: fame, money etc. The winner was the one who first fulfilled what they filled in on their form. I was fond of going for all love or all fame as $ wasnât as lasting đ
With the lockdown I hope more families are trying to this old school games. I have tried the computer/video versions of some of them but I like the simplicity of the hard copy đ Card games are too fast even if the computer keeps score. The electronic sound of dice rolling or cards shuffling isnât as satisfying. Besides you canât ask the desktop to get you a sandwich while itâs up đ
(games photos sourced via yahoo images)
Eggs Rule
there were more eggs
than the eye could see
they stretched from one door to the next
from one telephone pole to the next
balanced on electric wires
dangling from the tips of tree branches
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eggs of all colors and sizes
robinâs blue so simple and pure
lumpen grey brown emu
shells that couldnât be cracked
shells that cracked at a slight breeze
eggs in mailboxes on street corners
rolling around with nothing to do
aimless without purpose
loitering without intent
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eggs looking to be scrambled
to be fried by the right pair of eyes
the temptation to let them all hatch
had to be resisted
too many feathers
the gritty remains of shells under foot
was irritating enough without
moulting and feathers in the equation
feathers that held microbes mites diseases
eggs were harmless
as long as they remain intact
it was hard to avoid them
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eggs on the subway
leaning over your shoulder
hinting they wanted to sit down
trying to nestle in your pockets
for warm incubation
eggs on tv telling
newsmen what to say
controlling the weather
refusing you a loan at the bank
spinning dizzy
at any hint of being interested
in anything you say against them
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eggs rule the world now
we might as well accept that
put down that spatula
donât go near that whisk
eggs are in control
so surrender
this is their world now
it always was
we have been forced out of denial
the truth can finally be told
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eggs invited the light bulb
made the first Atantic crossing
landed on the moon
all history books are to be revised
to reveal the awful inadequacy of humans
in the face of facts
that showed our greedy eagerness
to hog all the fame acclaim glory
that belongs soley to the egg
the egg that wrote the ninth symphony
the gg that found the first the rose
the egg that invented the book of love
and now wants
to tear out all the pages
wants to break our hearts
to serve them sunny side up
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This mp3 compilation is devoted to soundtracks & music related to soundtracks. On it are Midnight Cowboy – John Barry: Nilsson, Elephantâs Memory; Zabriskie Point (Expanded) Pink Floyd, Jerry Garcia; Zachariah – James Gang, New York RockânâRoll Ensemble; Batman & Robin: Sun Ra; New York RockânâRoll Ensemble: Reflections, Manos Hatzidakis; Billy Ocean: Love Zone: When The Going Gets Tough; Ghostbusters.
The last time I tired to watch Midnight Cowboy I couldnât sit through it. Hoffmanâs twitchy performance irritated me, but the music is great. The bulk of it, by soundtrack specialist John Barry, is fine. But Nilssonâs Everybodyâs Talking To Me out-shines all of it & the harmonica reprise emotionally appealing. Elephantâs Memoryâs songs are proto-psychedelic fun. Yes, they later backed up John & Yoko.
I will never forget seeing the slow-motion house debris floating to Pink Floydâs music in Michelangelo Antonioniâs Zabriskie Point. The bizarre desert love scene to Jerry Garciaâs music is memorable too. Here I have the expanded version of the soundtrack that has more of the Garcia, Floyd & unused music commissioned for the soundtrack. A strange, counterculture film with an amazing soundtrack. I do have the dvd of the film.
Another counterculture film is Zachariah (written by The Firesign Theatre.) An anachronistic, hippy, western parody that opens with the James Gang playing on the horizon; New York Rock Ensemble appear playing a number in the bordello scene. The plot is secondary to the gonzo film making. Great music, a fun soundtrack that also includes dialogue from the film – which I havenât seen since it was released, not even on TCM.Â
Speaking of the New York Rock Ensemble I have their Reflections with music by Manos Hatzidakis. The movie connection is Manos Hatzidakis who got an Oscar nomination for âNever On A Sunday.â The Ensemble are a Juilliard trained string quartet who become a rock band combining both (before ELO did similar). Reflections is a sweet collection of songs more chamber rock than anything else. Well worth your searching out.
I downloaded this Batman and Robin music because it was performed by the great Sun Ra. Solid jazz work & fun. Billy Oceanâs Love Zone, features When the Going Gets Tough – a song from âThe Jewel Of The Nile.â Ghostbusters was a huge seller thanks to Ray Parker Jr.âs iconic title song refrain âI ain’t ‘fraid of no ghost.â
Creak
âThey found another elbow in the park.â
My mother was doing something to eggs on the stove. The scrape of the spatula dull on the frying pan as if she wasnât fully paying attention to anything.
âI said they found ⌔
âHuman remains. I heard you dear. Iâm afraid they have to be scrambled.â
I hated scrambled eggs. I would cook my own breakfast but even when I started she would hover then take over as if she was doing me a favour, saying something like âBoys shouldnât cook.â
âLeft or right?” She asked.
âHuh?â
âThe elbow, was it left or right.â
âI didnât hear.â The eggs were a yellow clump with browned edges. âThat makes the the forth or fifth this month.â
âSoon theyâll hav enough for a whole body.â My mother sort of half laughed. âHow are the eggs.â
âYummy.â
âCan that tell much anyway?â She sat, stirred her coffee. âAfter all itâs just an elbow joint isnât it.â
âYep.â The eggs were fine. âSevered clean. I think thereâs enough for them to tell itâs an elbow from the the way the joint moves.â
âOoo.” My mother shuddered. âGives me the creeps to think of an elbow like that, of some csi guy manipulating with their hands.â
She manipulated an invisible elbow in the air over her coffee cup.
âWould it squeak like a rusty door, I wonder?â She made a weird squeak with her voice.
âCreeeeeaquee.â
We both laughed. I finished my eggs.
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