It must have followed me.

The wind moans at me in human tones through the gaps in the bus stop rain cover. It is cold as death this night. The devil is on my back! I jump as a leaf scrapes by on the pavement. Such chills.

I shouldn’t have opened that door in the theatre basement.

Feast of Fools Variety Pack from Magic Hat

The Feast of Fools variety 12-pack comes with three bottles each of four different ales, the #9, Lucky Kat, Winter Odd Notion 09, and the Howl (click each beer for my full review).

The variety of beers in this sampler pack is impressive. The Howl and the #9 are about as far apart on the flavor spectrum as you can get. The Howl is a black-as-night winter seasonal with pungent coffee, chocolate, and smoke flavors. The #9, on the other hand, has an incredibly strong apricot flavor.

At $14 for the 12-pack, I think the Feast of Fools is a good deal for anyone who is a fan of Magic Hat. If you aren’t a fan of the #9 or Lucky Kat, I would recommend picking up a 6-pack of Howl this holiday season. In my opinion, it is by far the best of the bunch.

A 6-8 page paper to write on the epidemic “Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever” for English 191 by Monday – Exhausting to say the least. I deserve a break to blog a little bit, I’d think. Last night (Friday) was semi-eventful. Kaela and Dirim [Friends from UMD] came up and Carl, Mike and I (+ Dirim and Kaela) all went to Perkins really late and hung out for a bit. Carl got a bit sick so they walked home before Mike and I. Immediately after we went back to our dorm (Shoemaker) and watched “Howl’s moving castle” with Nathan and Jena, his girlfriend. I fell asleep so they decided to call it a night.

~Today I’ve done nothing but work on that paper, oh well. Nathan gone til late. Carl is homeworking. Leila is with her sister, Emily. Maybe we’ll all do something later tonight. For now, I’m going to try and do nothing.Thanksgiving break is on Wednesday of this week! I’ll get to go home, [work on homework], see Hannah, Amelia and Leah! Eat food that isn’t from bags or that doesn’t come in mass supply…Ahh, I’d say that break is really nice.

  

Beatus Vir Qui Suffert Tentationem

.Rin.

 

 

 

The NEW Tundra exhibit at the Toronto Zoo

The ArCtiC WoLf

Also called the Polar Wolf, a cousin of the Gray Wolf, you can catch the Arctic Wolf in the new Tundra Trek exhibit at the Toronto Zoo.

OR if you’re feeling adventurous, you can also find him in the Canadian Arctic, Alaska, and the northern part of Greenland. The Arctic Wolf has really thick fur because they can live in SUB-ZERO temperatures and are exposed to the frigid cold for long periods of time—days, months, even years! They can survive up to five months in total darkness! They can also live without food for weeks! They roam around LARGE areas of land, hunting for food. They are the ONLY mammals that can withstand these kinds of conditions. The Arctic Wolf travels in packs from 2 to 20!

Similar to the Grey Wolf, Arctic Wolves are a bit smaller with smaller ears so they can trap in as much body heat as possible.

Did you know?

To keep themselves warm, Arctic Wolves grow a second layer of fur to protect them from the harsh conditions.

Good luck finding one this winter! They are all white so they will blend in easily to the winter snow and are pretty shy around humans.

The Arctic Wolf

Check out this cool You Tube video of wolves HOWLING

Did you know?

Wolves howl because it’s how they keep the pack together. It’s how they communicate and bond with each other.

Howl Winter Seasonal by Magic Hat

The Howl page on Magic Hat’s website is so damn cool it demands a look. Here is Magic Hat’s description of their dark black ale.

“Born of dark, cold and snow in the MARROW of the North East’s longest night, HOWL comes in on WAILING winds with winter-weary eyes, burning holes in sunless shadows. In it’s darkened depths our inner voids are warmed. HOWL will remain until your bones are thawed, your spirit is freed… and until there is no longer a NEED…”

That certainly got me excited to sample this black ale.

The Howl pours as black as a demon’s soul with a large, caramel colored head. I opened the bottle and set it about two feet away and all of a sudden I was smacked in the face by strong coffee, chocolate, and smoke aromas.

Like the smell, there are chocolate and coffee flavors with hints of roasted malt and smoke. The howl has a pretty low ABV at 4.6%. I was shocked that the ABV was this low after drinking half the beer. There is not a strong alcohol presence, but for as flavorful and dark as the beer is, I just assumed that it was at least 7%.

Being 4.6% definitely makes this a drinkable dark ale. If you are looking for a flavorful, dark seasonal brew to have before hitting the town, this is not a bad option. You will have a HOWL of a good time.

Brewery website: http://www.magichat.net/

Placeholder for a long post. 1955. I would likely not exist if it weren’t for this book.

Buy Cheap Halloween Snow Village HOWL Radio

Buy Low Price From Here Now

LIMITED EDITION to 8000" Wonderfully handcrafted of high-quality resin and ceramic, capturing a wealth of intricate details. From the Department 56 Original Snow Village® Halloween Series and a delightfully haunting addition Arrives in an Original Snow Village Halloween box 10 x 7 x 11.5"…….

Readmore

Technical Details

- LIMITED EDITION 8000
See more technical details

Images Product

Buy Halloween Snow Village HOWL Radio Now

acho tão, mas tão doido.

Here’s a video I put together because I think it sounds awesome. Combining a reading of ‘Howl’ by Allen Ginsberg (not the entire thing obviously) with a cover of ‘Knights of Cydonia’ by a group called Kings of Lounge (look them up on YouTube) that I called ‘Howling Knights’ (for want of something better).

There is no actual video, just sound. Visuals aren’t needed, just listen.

Hope you enjoy

Well, not really, but they were still ringing by the time I went to the MastoKlok Con Fire tour a few nights later. As somebody in some writeup of Eyehategod’s return to the Middle East in Cambridge on Oct. 25, “I was happy to see that the club was zero percent hipster and 100 percent scumbag.” Yes, what a blessing indeed.

My experience with the Nahlins wreckin’ crew has been limited to some post-bar blackout-drunk listening sessions and a brief period when I was 14 and couldn’t quite grasp their druggy atmosphere. I went for the awesomeness of Goatwhore, the novelty of Anal Cunt, and because nothing else was happening that particular Sunday night.

So as an EHG-neutral attendee, I can report that it was awesome. They played their hits “That Slow One,” “The Slower One,” and “Sister Fucker.” I’ll be gosh darned if I could hum you back even one of their songs, but the vibe was killer. The crowd was like one big drug-addled organism. The band looks like they’ve done as many drugs in person as they do in pictures (except Jimmy Bower, who looks like he’s eaten more chicken wings up close than he did on the big stage at the House of Blues). The sheer volume really made their set awesome for me, and I left with the satisfied feeling you get when your whole body has been vibrating for an hour.

Goatwhore, the real reason I went, were fantastic. Just great. So many raised fists in the crowd. Like I said about Behemoth when I saw them in August, these guys are a like fucking steamroller right now. They’re much tighter, much more confident than they were when I saw them a few years back, after A Haunting Curse came out. I was lukewarm about Carving Out The Eyes of God before, and now I’m all about it.

My only regret about Goatwhore that night was that I failed in my quest to get Sammy Duet to autograph this picture of himself:

The Biggest Pussy in Metal. (Haha, see what I did there? I'm totally kidding by the way. I love Sammy's work, he's awesome, and he could probably put some kind of Cajun hex on me. Totally kidding. Really though, there's a tenderness in his eyes that's pretty, well, not metal.)

I had the copy of Decibel on me and everything, I just couldn’t sack up enough to do it after he gave me the Satan stare and shoved his guitar in my face. He ruled.

Lightning Round about the other bands:

Speaking of Satan stares, Seth Putnam gave me the stink eye just for recognizing him at his own merch table. What he was so angry about, I can only guess, but it might be because he’s still alive. Anal Cunt was a fucking joke–an amusing joke–but a total fucking joke, as they always have been. Also, heroin is bad for you.

Strong Intention played. They are a hardcore band. That’s about all I have to say about that.

Howl was cool. I liked their riff (zing! But I actually do really like them). They don’t have the stage presence or confidence to be a marquis band yet, but I think it’ll get there. I think a bunch of the songs they played are going to be on their full-length, which I believe is due early next year. Get excited, cheah!

~ Liam

]]> http://blog.ridgewine.com/2009/11/02/zoot-and-poetry-and-wine-and-jazz-and-steve-martin-and-the-muppets-and-jack-kerouac/ Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:08:53 +0000 christopherwatkins http://blog.ridgewine.com/2009/11/02/zoot-and-poetry-and-wine-and-jazz-and-steve-martin-and-the-muppets-and-jack-kerouac/

My apologies for being a bit late with this, but I didn’t want to let the birthday of Zoot Sims go by unheralded. Zoot, one of my favorite jazz sax players, was born on October 29th, 1925, and I for one would like to honor him!

And of course, in honor of our blog, I would like to prove the wine connection. In Zoot’s case, there are actually a few points of intersection. First off, Betty Blake. She recorded a lovely version of the fine James Shelton song “Lilac Wine”, on which Zoot plays tenor saxophone, and there is a lyric in there that I think in many ways perfectly sums up the labor of love that is true winemaking. Substitute grapes for lilac, and you could have our philosophy in a phrase:

I made wine from the lilac tree
put my heart in its recipe

Wonderful!

OK, next, Jack Kerouac. Famed writer of “On The Road”, “The Dharma Bums”, “Desolation Angels” and more, often considered the “King of the Beatniks”, the original down-and-out hipster. In truth, he was a serious, serious writer, but also a morose and self-destructively flawed human being.

In the end, say what you will about him, when you separate the myth from the man, it’s hard to deny his influence on literature, and culture in general. So, regarding wine specifically, Jack Kerouac very famously was busy supplying the room with wine when Allen Ginsburg first read “Howl” in public (at the  Six Gallery in San Francisco in 1955); an event which is often credited with launching both The Beat Generation, and the San Francisco Poetry Renaissance. Anyhow, back to Zoot. Kerouac made a number of audio recordings over the years, usually of his poetry, and Zoot played on what I think is probably the best of them, an album called “Blues and Haikus.”

So that’s that. Oh, and by the way, jazz music gets namechecked in the first (and certainly most famous) stanza of “Howl”:

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by
madness, starving hysterical naked,
dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn
looking for an angry fix,
angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly
connection to the starry dynamo in the machin-
ery of night,
who poverty and tatters and hollow-eyed and high sat
up smoking in the supernatural darkness of
cold-water flats floating across the tops of cities
contemplating jazz.

Next, the Muppets. One of the members of the Muppet band (the saxophonist, of course!) is named Zoot, after Zoot Sims.

And Zoot is in The Muppet Movie. And one of The Muppet Movie’s funniest scenes involves champagne. So there. Oh, and in that scene, Steve Martin plays the waiter. And Steve Martin’s first big commercial success was “The Jerk.”

And one of the more famous quotes from that movie is about wine:

Waiter: Would monsieur care for another bottle of Chateau Latour?
Navin: Ah yes, but no more 1966. Lets splurge! Bring us some fresh wine! The freshest you’ve got – this year! No more of this old stuff.

So there, again!

Which all OBVIOUSLY goes to show you that wine, jazz, and poetry go together beautifully. Happy Birthday Zoot!

I first read “Howl” a long time ago, but when I  re-reading it, I noticed how blunt Ginsberg is about sex and homosexuality, and it is interesting thinking about the time that it was written and how this poem would have been perceived by a lot of readers in the mid-fifties.  Most American families just didn’t talk about sex; it was too much of a taboo subject to talk about.  Homosexuality was even more taboo; America is now starting to give homosexuals more rights, but back then it was just not proper to talk about and definally not in the crude language that Ginsberg uses.  I find it very brave of Ginsberg because he knows that people are going to percieve him in a light that was defially considered bad back then and being proud and open about it.  I find it very cool and interesting.

Howl (Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, 2005)

Intro: per la spiegazione del perché e del percome della peraltro deliziosa collana “Zeros”, si veda questo post. Per le puntate precedenti, cliccare qui.

BRMC: non sono più giovanissimi manco loro

Per rifuggire dal calderone tritatutto che li aveva già presi, masticati e sputati, pronto a farne polpette per innalzare qualcun’altro a Nuovo Salvatore del Rock’n Roll (almeno per i successivi quindici minuti), i Black Rebel si sono rannicchiati in un angolo. Con loro una chitarra acustica, un po’ di poesie e di libri che hanno definito l’epoca “beat” e una nuova etichetta. Il risultato è per l’appunto “Howl”, un disco venduto già attraverso le pubblicità europee come “il ritorno dell’era dei grandi musicisti beat”. Se mai fosse esistita una definizione tale, beninteso.
Se “Shuffle Your Feet” potrebbe solo essere un’introduzione pacata e la title track “Howl” un richiamo alle faccende più riuscite del disco di debutto (pur con un’importante digressione finale), la splendida “Devil’s Waitin’” non lascia scampo: attorno a un fuoco, in un punto imprecisato del grande nulla che accerchiava la fu Route 66, i Black Rebel Motorcycle Club riscoprono lo stile americana. Un pezzo senza urla e con una chiusura che mette in bella mostra tutta la voglia di gospel dei nostri.

Illustrazione del retro/interno di "Howl"

A seguire quella che in altri periodi sarebbe stata una semplice e azzeccata puntata di chitarre elettriche infuocate, che qua invece vengono in parte sostituite da armoniche a bocca e un lavoro puntuale e granitico della batteria: “Ain’t No Easy Way Out” è tanto efficace quanto contagiosa. Una miscela perfetta di quel che era il sound del gruppo e di quello che sarà, almeno in questa terza avventura discografica. E seppure qualche episodio rischia di finire in zona macchietta (“Still Suspicion Hold You Tight” può seriamente instillare apatici momenti di abbiocco incontrollato), i picchi sono decisamente più numerosi dei punti questionabili. “Fault Line” offre una splendida accoppiata di voce e chitarra pizzicata, graziata da una produzione e da un mix che rendono l’ambiente caldo, accogliente e di gran classe. Come tutto l’album d’altronde.
Dalla parte dei Black Rebel c’è anche la saggezza, quella che li consiglia sempre al meglio sui pesi e le misure: raramente si lasciano andare a sconclusionate code o a passaggi fin troppo pretenziosi. “Promise” ha ancora il gusto del primo disco, arricchito da un pianoforte che ha senso solo all’interno di “Howl”. “Complicated Situation” è quanto di più energicamente vicino al debutto del gruppo e “Gospel Song”, pur non azzeccata quanto altri pezzi dell’album, lascia intendere nel titolo la direzione verso cui si muovono senza paura i momentanei paladini di un’esplosione folk che, purtroppo (per loro e per noi) durerà giusto lo spazio di un paio d’anni. Con il successivo “Baby 81″ (2007) si torna a uno stile più vicino a quello dei successi di classifica, senza grande arte e neanche troppa parte. Soprattutto memori della splendida “The Line”: chiude il sipario e regala la corona ai regnanti del 2005.

Gli altri classificati:
Un anno discreto, quel 2005. Sul podio salgono di sicuro i Daft Punk con “Human After All” e probabilmente anche i Death Cab for Cutie col debutto per una major di “Plans”. Degni di menzione anche gli Eels di “Blinking Lights and Other Revelations” o la Tori Amos del pesante e interessante “Beekeeper”. Amabili anche i Depeche Mode in formato rock di “Playing the Angel”, il divertito Beck di “Guero” e i meno precisi Queens of the Stone Age (“Lullabies to Paralyze”) e White Stripes (“Get Behind me Satan”).

Fai lo share!

The lunatics are running the asylum here at Disturbia this Halloween; because with every order over £30 we’ll throw in a FREE mystery tee in your size! !

This offer will run until midnight Friday 6th Novmeber, and cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. Free tees are non-returnable.

Dogs are one of the intelligent animals among the domestic pets. They have the ability to communicate with humans, other dogs and even other animals. They do this by using body signs and different vocals. The signs are made with the help of body movement involving eyes, ears, eyebrows, head, mouth and tail. Different vocals include barks, howls, growls, whimpers and whines. Dogs do gestures whose meaning can change depending on the situation. Like if a dog pants, it can mean that the dog is feeling hot or the dog is happy or anxious.

Confident and higher ranked dogs have a high held tail. Dogs have the feeling of submission and dominance in them. This is because the dogs live in packs, in the wild. They have hierarchy within the group. The weaker dogs submit themselves to the stronger dog. That is the reason why dogs lower their tail when they feel insecure. When the dogs fight for dominance, the fur on their tail stands up. They and even other animals, do this to increase their size in front of their enemy.

When the dog is in a confused situation, it wags its tail slowly. They are in a process of figuring out whether they should accept the situation or time or else, they have still not accepted the situation completely, but are in the process. Excited dogs wag their tails very fast. If the hip moves along with the tail, it means the dog is ready for submission to a dog of higher rank.

When the dogs get aggressive they show their fangs. If the teeth are visible, it indicates that the dog is ready to bite or attack. They also show teeth when they smile and this is an indication of submissiveness. Observing the number of teeth on display can differentiate a smile. Smile reveals only the front teeth, but when the dog snarls, all his teeth and gums can be seen. Ears are good indication about the attention levels of the dog. When the ears are erect and forward facing, means the dog is concentrating. But when the dog fears something, it lays down its ears. Some dogs hold the ears in forward and horizontal direction when they are happy.

In majority of the cases, barking is done to scare away stranger and to make the owner aware of an intruder. They also tend to bark while they are playing. They use to even convey emotions such as pleasure, fear, stress and suspicion. When the dog is excited or is playing, the barks are sharp and short. When they are stressed out or anxious, they bark repeatedly in a high pitch tone. They also bark to communicate with other animals such as cat, deer, squirrel, fox and other dogs. But the sound of barking is different.

Growling is done to threaten or to show superiority. Dogs howl when they make long-range communication. A dog yawns when it is bored and needs to be left alone. It also yawns when it is sleepy, stressed out or confused. When the dog pants with a full open mouth, it is happy. When it pants with a slightly open mouth, it needs to be played with. Dogs lift one forelimb up, when it wants to play. It will stamp its front limbs when it is excited. They scratch objects they want. Domestic dogs are trained for handshake, like human beings. They hold out a paw forward and exchange a handshake. If the dog tilts its head in a particular direction, it means that it is trying to concentrate and recognize an unfamiliar sound.

Many thanks to any twitter followers who stumble on this page, especially those who have given me so much love and support over the last week .
True empathy and sensitivity, understanding and wise insights are indeed rare gifts and I am blessed to have met some genuine people who have demonstrated these qualities to me and supported me during this distressing time.
I will not be driven away from blogging and/or twitter due to the pathetic twisted antics of an over indulged, childish and twisted mind/s.
I quite simply shine the light and reflective mirror into this individual/s bitterness and behavior on all levels and in all dimensions.
I pity them.

Pity them, because as soon I have found them out, through their lies and veiled manipulations that they so quickly scorned in others found that they are guilty of the same themselves, and in this duplicity revealed themselves..and in their actions since have compounded this.

My only regret is I did not act in my intuitions sooner as I watched this persons two faced behavior again and again as well as abusive behavior towards another online victim..several months ago

But thanks to the power of intuitive guidance, and guided protections, I was shown who they truly are, I have cut them out of my life on all levels, and in all dimensions, and in all ways.
All energies, manipulations and abuses sent my way are reflected back to them, three fold, as karma works it way into the core of their actions.
I thank the Goddess and those who guide and protect me for the Justice that is being meted out .
Let it be done.
For the good of all according to the free will of all
and so mote it be.

The Beau Brummels – The Wolf of Velvet Fortune

The air is full of strangeness,
An unfamiliar breeze blows
From deep within a forest.
I think I’ll go to see.

What’s this before me
In shadows where no wind blows?
A crying, frightened flower
Without a gentle breeze.

She’s crying for the sunlight,
That shadow left behind him.
She’s crying for the coolness
Of wind she’s never seen.

The day is getting longer.
The day is slowly dark now.
The moon a silver bubble
That watches all it sees.

Delight! Delight!
The wolf of velevet fortune is upon his merry flight!
Goodnight! Goodnight!
He travels in the beauty of the silver-glowing night!
Delight!

The flower speaks in silence.
She bends herself in sorrow.
His eyes behold her wildness,
Electrifies the air.

He moves the earth around her,
Confiding her with whispers.
He takes her from the shadows
And thickness that is there.

Swiftly! Swiftly!
Through the brush and bramble land
Under! Over!
Flashing in and out, they fly!

Moonlight! Moonlight!
See the bright star shining so
Clearly! Clearly!
Floating in the sky!

He brings her to a meadow
where the grass is tall and waving.
A tear comes to her eye
As she looks upon her throne.

And in a distant murmur,
A breeze begins its blowing.
The sun begins its rising.
The velvet wolf has flown.

Delight! Delight!
The wolf of velevet fortune is upon his merry flight!
Goodnight! Goodnight!
He travels in the beauty of the silver-glowing night!

This came to me like a message  the way things do , sometimes so apt.  A post will follow that perhaps will only mean something to me and  no one else..but I was walking in  the woods on Wednesday and given wisdom and advice and guidance there… during turbulent times its reassuring to be warned and protected.