March 24, 2014

Good Morning!

Today is the birthday of Harry Houdini (1874 – 1926) who said:

"My Brain is the key that sets me free."

and

"What the eyes see and the ears hear, the mind believes."

It is also the birthday of Lawrence Ferlinghetti (1919 - ) who wrote:

“If you're too open-minded; your brains will fall out.”

and

“I am awaiting

perpetually and forever

a renaissance of wonder”

and

“Poetry is eternal graffiti written in the heart of everyone.”

and

“Pity the nation whose people are sheep,

and whose shepherds mislead them.

Pity the nation whose leaders are liars, whose sages are silenced,

and whose bigots haunt the airwaves.

Pity the nation that raises not its voice,

except to praise conquerors and acclaim the bully as hero

and aims to rule the world with force and by torture.

Pity the nation that knows no other language but its own

and no other culture but its own.

Pity the nation whose breath is money

and sleeps the sleep of the too well fed.

Pity the nation — oh, pity the people who allow their rights to erode

and their freedoms to be washed away.

My country, tears of thee, sweet land of liberty.”

and

“I am signaling you through the flames.

The North Pole is not where it used to be.

Manifest Destiny is no longer manifest.

Civilization self-destructs.

Nemesis is knocking at the door.

What are poets for in such an age?

What is the use of poetry?

The state of the world calls out for poetry to save it.

If you would be a poet, create works capable of answering the challenge of apocalyptic times, even if this means sounding apocalyptic.

You are Whitman, you are Poe, you are Mark Twain, you are Emily Dickinson and Edna St. Vincent Millay, you are Neruda and Mayakovsky, and Pasolini, you are an American or a non-American, you can conquer the conquerors with words.”

Happy Birthday to Dario Fo (1926 - ) who said:

“Know how to live the time that is given you.”

and

“A theatre, a literature, an artistic expression that does not speak for its own time has no relevance.”

Birthday greetings to Steve McQueen (1930 – 1980) who said:

“The Navajos have a saying they live by: ‘A land where there is time enough and room enough.’ I want that, too.”

and

“When I believe in something, I fight like hell for it.”

It is the birthday of David Suzuki (1936 - ) who said:

“Every breath is a sacrament, an affirmation of our connection with all other living things, a renewal of our link with our ancestors and a contribution to generations yet to come. Our breath is a part of life's breath, the ocean of air that envelopes the earth.”

Finally, it is the birthday of Nick Lowe (1949 - ) who wrote and sang (though made more famous by friend Elvis Costello):

“And as I walked on through troubled times,

My spirit gets so downhearted sometimes,

So where are the strong?,

And who are the trusted?,

And where is the harmony?,

Sweet harmony

'Cause each time I feel it slipping away, just makes me wanna cry,

What's so funny 'bout peace, love, and understanding?”