Beck doet Leonard Cohen’s Suzanne, en niet zo zuinig ook!.

Beck heeft een hele plaat volgespeeld met covers van Cohen, net als hij pas geleden ook deed met covers van de Velvet Underground.

New (Devil’s) Hairkut:

Parece mentira, pero esta chica, vestida con plumas y harapos, que te ofrece té y naranjas y te enseña a mirar entre la basura y las flores ya ha cumplido 40 años.

Y sigue emocionándome como la primera vez que la escuché. Más ahora, quizás, que puedo ver a Cohen cantándola con su guitarra, con una voz mucho más profunda y una mirada más sabia.

Y junto con esta chica, caótica y maravillosa, la primera de las muchas referencias del poeta a Jesús. Como casi siempre, un Jesús humano, a la espera de que el mar le libere. Como todos.

I’ve heard so many people lately angry, bitter. People who are wondering who are upset over how this current economic times are treating them.

Life isn’t perfect in my household but I have my health, I have my husband, I have 3 gorgeous children who are all healthy. I have wonderful in-laws who give us new-to-us pianos and TVs.

I still have my mother to talk to, though her health isn’t perfect. I have a beautiful and generous sister. And because of the loss of my 2 brothers, I can appreciate my last sibling more. Because of the loss of my father, I am grateful each day for the time I have with my mother and know that we don’t have forever.

We may not all be sitting in the lap of luxury. But my kids have food. We have a roof over our head we are not in danger of losing anytime soon. My husband works hard to support us and I work hard to support my home. I know what I believe and my eyes are wide open.

So, I guess, I am typing this message as a reminder to myself that no matter my daily struggles there is always someone out there going through some other struggles, different then mine, possibly worse than mine but still maintaining their faith.

I can complain I can’t afford all the best food for my child, but out there is someone who can’t afford any food for their child.

I can complain that I get no sleep with my infant or that I have not been blessed with a girl–but out there is someone who gets no sleep because they can’t conceive or carry ANY baby.

I can complain that my baby nurses constantly, but out there is a mama who would do anything to nurse her child and was unable.

I can complain that my husband is gone all night and I miss him terribly, but out there someone doesn’t have a husband or their husband is gone for months at a time.

So, really, yes we can all complain, but out there is someone who would like to be in our shoes and we should be thankful for all our blessings, especially as we move into Thanksgiving.

So, I am thankful I have found good friends. I am thankful for an amazing husband. I am thankful for my faith and belief in Jesus and praise him always. I am thankful for my beautiful boys. I am thankful that I figured out all I had to be thankful for before I didn’t have it any longer.

And I am praying for Suzanne. A beautiful mama raising saints in my neck of the woods who is now facing Stage IV cancer. Please Lord give her the strength to get through this trying time and Don Alvaro please grant us a miracle and give her the time her kids need with her.

So Marika and I were smoozing at a fun fashion event recently at the Art Institute’s Graduate Fashion Show which  highlights their Fashion Design & Merchandising graduates. I personally love going to these events because you never really know who is the next up and coming. Plus its so interesting to see the designer’s personal style influence what they design for men and women.

The students did a great job focusing their show around celebrating diversity and cultural influences. Some of my favorites were the wedding dresses and Twlight inspired men and women’s designs ( I’m so serious.) As much as I enjoyed relaxing in the comfy seats of the Red Robinson’s theatre and sipping on a glass of champagne…the real point of this blog is to talk about the irritating….chatty…loud mouthed…annoying…irritating ( wait, did I mention that already?) …ladies, ahem..I mean girls, behind me. Seriously. the . whole. time….chatting, making fun, mocking, being inappropriate giggly girls, who thought they were all that and a freakin bag of chips ( is that even a saying?). No seriously. I was ready to turn around and smack em.. hard. ( I’m not even going to write what Marika wanted to do!) Who does that? Obviously they were there to support their girlfriend in her design- but if you can’t appreciate someone else’s hard work and creative focus- then what the HELL are you doing there?

All I have to say is…get a life…and be mature…didn’t your mama teach you anything? sheesh! As much fun as the fashion event was, I have to admit that it was definitely an “interesting” experience with these do do heads ( yes, I actually called them that!) behind yes..sheeesh!

Artichoke's Heart by Suzanne Supplee

Artichoke’s Heart by Suzanne Supplee is a fabulous (my favorite word, I know) book and it is one of the 13 KBA nominees for this year. The main character, Rosemary, is smart, funny, and strong, but she is very overweight. She is so used to being judged by her appearance that she has basically given in to it, but through meeting a new and very genuine friend, discovering a boy who likes her for who she is, and finally recognizing how lucky she is to be surrounded by loving, supporting people, she begins to view herself in a different life. This book deals with some serious issues, but there is a lot of humor and charm in the way it is written. I recommend it for girls who want a romance mixed with a realism and humor.

Visit Suzanne Supplee’s site at http://www.suzannesupplee.com/index.html

poezia asta nu este despre mine
este despre cel chemat de o fată suzana
jos lângă rău într-o scoică încărcată cu maci
seminţe de cafea mere roşii şi mană
într-o noapte pentru aţipeală
cel chemat avea încredere în ape
fata avea încredere în el
somnul lui părea ba mustos ba lemnos
era bun de iubit de plutit cu ochii spre calea lactee
stranuntand de la praful înalt

să călătorim împreună l-ar fi rugat ea
prin semne într-o orbire mare
el ar fi înţeles aerul cum se zbate în juru-i
ce bună la pipăit era scoica rece închisă
ce bun era de mângâiat obrazul ei

dumnezeu ar fi urcat şi el laolaltă
s-ar fi odihnit cât ei băteau valurile
atât de fericiţi printre stropii ăia curaţi
se spune că era închis într-o carte cu foi netăiate
învelită în ţiplă şi încă ferecată într-o cupă de aur
ar fi sclipit de la stele pentru culegătorii de raci
dar ei dormeau de-a binelea pe mal cu mâna sub cap
nu vedeau socoteau în somn când se va crăpa de ziuă
câţi arginţi vor strânge mâine la târgul de peşte din port
flăcările pâlpâiau pe chipurile lor aromite
racii săreau în căldări

cel chemat i-a spălat tălpile cu grijă
pulpele ei miroseau a tăciuni şi alge
dintre coapsele ei curgeau mărgăritare piper
se revărsau cascade de petale de roze
să ne pregătim i-ar fi spus cel chemat în gând
să ne punem în ordine toate câte au fost şi vor fi
în linişte să nu-i trezim pe luntraşi
să nu-l întristăm pe cel zăvorât
am pus o aripă de înger la scoica ta de femeie
să pornim aşadar în aval fără teamă
dă-mi mâna cât va ţine botezul şi nunta
cât ne va ţine mersul pe ape

după aceea ne întoarcem
cu ochii spre calea lactee
să aţipim strănutând
de la praful înalt

…

Many moons ago, I posted my favorite single line of song lyric and asked people to share theirs. Now we move from the micro to the macro! My question: what is your favorite song lyric?

To clarify: I’m not asking for your favorite song necessarily but what song you think has the best lyrics considered as a whole — as opposed to a line or two from the song. For example, the music might be total ass but all the words taken together could be awesome.

I choo, choose Suzanne by Leonard Cohen

Suzanne takes you down to her place near the river
You can hear the boats go by
You can spend the night beside her
And you know that she’s half crazy
But that’s why you want to be there
And she feeds you tea and oranges
That come all the way from China
And just when you mean to tell her
That you have no love to give her
Then she gets you on her wavelength
And she lets the river answer
That you’ve always been her lover

And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that she will trust you
For you’ve touched her perfect body with your mind.

And Jesus was a sailor
When he walked upon the water
And he spent a long time watching
From his lonely wooden tower
And when he knew for certain
Only drowning men could see him
He said “All men will be sailors then
Until the sea shall free them”
But he himself was broken
Long before the sky would open
Forsaken, almost human
He sank beneath your wisdom like a stone

And you want to travel with him
And you want to travel blind
And you think maybe you’ll trust him
For he’s touched your perfect body with his mind.

Now Suzanne takes your hand
And she leads you to the river
She is wearing rags and feathers
From Salvation Army counters
And the sun pours down like honey
On our lady of the harbour
And she shows you where to look
Among the garbage and the flowers
There are heroes in the seaweed
There are children in the morning
They are leaning out for love
And they will lean that way forever
While Suzanne holds the mirror

And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that you can trust her
For she’s touched your perfect body with her mind.

Why do I admire these lyrics? I love when art is both personal and universal, subverts and re-articulates our expectations and conventions, and uses structure to convey or support meaning. All of this happens in these lyrics.

At the beginning, this song seems to be a poignant but quirky love song. By the end, it subverts that expectation and, at the same time, the cultural trope that man equals mind and woman equals body.

It does this with a beautiful revisioning of the Jesus narrative: arguably, the most important account of the union of body and spirit in Western culture.

Structurally, the Jesus stanza operates in this song the same way Jesus himself is meant to operate in human history: as the bridge between body and spirit and as the vehicle to a new covenant with God.

Furthermore, the comparison with Jesus transforms Suzanne from a crazy-woman-novelty-fuck into a quasi-prophet-soulmate. This in itself is a commentary on how men and women come to love each other.

Ack. If I start parsing individual lines,  I could go on and on. So I will stop here.

Please, what is your favorite complete set of lyrics and why? Please post the lyrics in question as well

For more posts like this, click here.

Ich hab auch mal wieder was fertig und das sogar im Doppelpack.

Beides ist aus Wollmeise Suzanne Wild Thing gestrickt.

Nachdem ich das Sockenpaar (natürlich für mich) fertig hatte, waren noch 78g auf dem Knäuelchen.

Aus diesem Rest habe ich mir dann passend zu den Socken den Fallmaschen- Baktus gestrickt. So ein super einfaches, aber effektvolles Muster. Gefunden bei Ravelry Fallmaschen-Baktus .

Ich wünsch Euch allen ein schönes Wochende.

As the clouds roll in and the humidity continues to rise, dip your toes into the sounds of these new folk sounds. Take a ride to the rugged coast of Kerouac’s Big Sur with the Jay Farrar & Ben Gibbard; be mesmerised by the messianic tones of Cohen as he tames the crowd at the 1970 Isle of Wight festival and rug up in the snow storm of Bon Iver’s Blood Bank. You won’t regret it…

Jay Farrar & Ben Gibbard – Big Sur

Taken from the soundtrack to the new Kerouac film, One Fast Move or I’m Gone, this is a sweet slice of folk from the pages of Big Sur. And while Kerouac was more of a jazz man, I can see him driving along some mid-west highway, arm out the window, nodding approvingly. There is an ache in both Farrar & Gibbard’s voice that lends an authenticity to Kerouac’s words and the arrangements distill Kerouac’s bummed-out prose beautifully.

Leonard Cohen – Suzanne

Forty summers ago, Cohen stepped on stage at the Isle of Wight festival. His set followed Jimi Hendrix (touted as one of the best of Hendrix’s career) and the audience was close to rioting. Standing in the centre of what had become a political maelstrom, Cohen looking like a ragged messiah, stood undaunted and delivered a set of songs and poems that brought the crowd to a stand still. For the first time, this set has now been released along with DVD footage of the concert and a documentary by Murray Lerner. After his mesmerising tour earlier this year, this is on the must have list.

Bon Iver – Blood Bank

After the release of the much lauded For Emma, Forever Ago, many wondered whether Bon Iver mainmain, Justin Vernon would be able to capture the beauty of his lovelorn debut. Blood Bank puts all those doubts to rest… The warmth of Vernon’s voice sits somewhere in the chest cavity and reverberates, longingly. Images of stacked up cups of blood, snow storms and secrets that fuck with your honour are pieced together to create a song that sweeps you away. Breaking up has never sounded so good…

Grey Jay is about helping you and your organization optimize health through a variety of methods.   We work to bring out assets in an individual or company in order to better enable you to find success. 

We find that often the knowledge is already in place: people and organizations know what they need to do to be healthy. Sometimes people are unable to accept this knowledge, or perhaps they do not have the ability to make a full commitment to incorporate change.

That’s where Grey Jay Consulting helps
individuals and organizations succeed.

So explore this site at will, but ultimately you should call.  If you think about it: real consultants concern themselves with people, not websites. 

The grey jay (also known as the Whiskey Jack or Canadian Jay) is known as a year-round bird.  It befriends humans easily and it is well known to be resourceful and clever.  It has an incredible ability to survive over long winters because of its ability to hide food in a variety of locations (and remember where all the food is stored).  The Algonquin people thought of the grey jay as a trickster…and while we hesitate to connect with the mischief of a trickster, you have to admit that sometimes we all need a little (ethical) trickery to make change happen. 

So we admit that we might use some ethical trickery and being clever and resourceful is part of the business.  We hope you’ll let us fly into your world and see what we can do to help.

All my best,

Suzanne Jolly
Director

Mad Men Season 3, Episode 10:  The Color Blue

Hmmmm….this week’s episode is building had an exciting plot twist.  We learn that Sterling Cooper  is getting sold, Betty learns a bit about Don’s past (or so she thinks) and Don continues his affair with Suzanne Farrell.

The episode opens with Don explaining to Betty that he has work with Hilton and isn’t spending the night at home, but where is really going to be?   You guessed it, Suzanne’s place!  Suzanne wants him to stay the night and he is very comfortable with her, so much more than with his own wife.  I like Suzanne, but she might be just under Don’s spell.  We know he can’t change his ways, but after last season, I didn’t think he would want to jeopardize his family.  Oh hell, never mind, Betty is crazy!

At the office, Don hears pitches from Kinsey and Peggy on the Aqua Net account.  When Don comments that Kinsey’s idea is too wordy, Peggy chimes in and shortens it on the spot.  Don likes it and Kinsey grows upset with Peggy.  Kinsey is so threatened by Peggy, rather than working with her, he insults her and storms off. 

Later that evening, Don is at Suzanne’s house, when her brother knocks and interrupts them.  Don is worried, but is put at ease.  Suzanne wants Don to meet Danny, Don wishes him well and rushes off.  Danny suffers from epileptic seizures and Suzanne is always there to help.   Danny isn’t really impressed with Don-he calls him arrogant.

SC is celebrating their 40^th anniversary and Roger and Cooper are reminiscing about the good ole days.  Don has to make a speech and Lane encourages him to make it great.  It really bugs Roger that Don is receiving an award for some sort humanity thing, but all Cooper does is liken the party to a funeral.

That evening we see the Draper family at home, Betty and the kitchen table with Sally doing her homework, while Don is in the Den with Bobby.  When Sally answers the phone and is quickly hung up on….Betty and Don both think twice about it.

There is a scene that shows Don putting cash away in his desk drawer.  He locks it up and puts his key in his bathrobe when he is startled by Baby Gene’s cries.  Can we say foreshadowing?

The next day, Suzanne boards Don’s morning train to the city.  She discreetly sits next to him and he clearly shocked.  Don asks her if she called last night, but she answers no.  Suzanne makes it clear that she is doesn’t care about his marriage or work, she only cares that he is with her.  Is this really going to work out?  Suzanne tells Don that she got her brother a job and he is leaving shortly.

While Don is at the office, Betty calls Henry Francis to ask if he called last night and hung up.  He says no and tells her that if she wanted to talk to him, she shouldn’t make up an excuse.  Who called last night then?  Just wait-another bombshell!  Betty finds Don’s key while doing laundry.  She opens the desk drawer and finds the money, plus the box of Don’s mementos, including family photos, dog tags for Whitman and Draper, deed to a house, plus the divorce papers on Don and Anna Draper!  What story is Don going to give her?  She clearly upset and spends the evening waiting for Don.

Meanwhile at the office….Kinsey is awakened by his secretary in his office.  He spent the evening working on pitches for a telegraph account.  Peggy recorded her ideas on the Dictaphone, but Kinsey drank himself silly, chatted with the maintenance man and is struck with an awesome idea!  Unfortunately the next day, Kinsey cannot recall it.

Lane was featured quite a bit this episode.  He had to deal with his emotional wife who longs for London.  He is also trying to fine tune the 40^th anniversary party (the big shots are coming), convinces Cooper to attend the event, all while learning that SC is for sale.  This party needs to be awesome—better for business, they need a buyer.

Poor Betty is at home waiting for Don, but he is at Suzanne’s house.  Danny is leaving for Massachusetts; Don offers to take him there.  Danny shares that he is not interested in another menial job; Don gives him some money and drops him off.  When he returns to Suzanne’s home, Don tells her he took him to the job at the VA hospital.  They kiss and embrace, but that’s it.

The next morning, Don calls Betty about the evening’s agenda.  He will be home at 5:30 and they should leave within the hour.  She claims to be feeling ill, but Don expresses that he wants to show her off, the stunning Betty Draper. She is still a bit raw; she asks where he was the night before, he blames it on Hilton.

Paul and Peggy meet before presenting to Don on the telegraph account.  They both have nothing, Kinsey tells her he lost his idea, but shares a Chinese proverb, “The faintest ink is better than the best memory.”  Peggy is sympathetic to Kinsey.  When Don dismisses Peggy’s pitch, Paul clams up.  Peggy tells Kinsey to tell the truth-he didn’t write it down-Don totally understands… it happens sometimes.  They all talk it out and incorporate the Chinese proverb…Kinsey learns a lesson on teamwork.

While en route to the party, Lane confesses to his wife that SC is being sold.  We also see a funny exchange with Roger and his mother-she confuses Jane with his daughter, Margaret.

At the party, Roger addresses the crowd and speaks of Don’s heroic acts in Korea and states that he looks forward to working with him in the next 40 years.  Don is greeted with applause, before he takes to the podium, he kisses Betty.  We see the SC family, plus the London big shots.  The episode ends with Don saying, “I’m very honored.”

When is Betty going to confront Don?  Will something terrible happen to Danny?  What will become of Sterling Cooper?

Interesting thoughts….

• How come the Drapers don’t need to go to church every week?
• How do I know what I see as blue, is the same as it is to you?
• Ms. Moneypenny/Mr. Hooker is such a toad!
• Forty years as the average life span of a Mad Man
• Peggy belching on the Dictaphone…sorry about that Olive
• Churchill arousing or Hitler arousing?

After a number of eventful car journeys with Vegas and two sick covered car seat, oh yeah and Dan`s jeans, we decided it would be safer for all that we got a second cage for the car.

The cage was worth every penny and now there`s no stopping us!

Saturday was a great day for everyone really, drove up to Wetherby and walked along the old railway line (covered about 4 miles in total) and due to the steep bankings on both sides of the path we did think this was a perfect time to let Vegas of the lead. TOTAL SUCCESS, she didn`t run off !

Suzanne and Vegas walking !