Last year about this time I spent a delightful weekend on Star Island, a rocky speck off the cost of New Hampshire, and this weekend I’m doing it again.
Why leave the charming seaside village of Wellfleet, and all the comforts of home, for spartan accommodations on a remote, craggy islet? It’s because I have an old friend, a gifted musician (and very successful songwriter and record producer), who once or twice a year arranges a retreat for about two dozen of his closest musical pals. We leave the world behind, and spend a few days doing what we love the most in life: playing music together (and eating and drinking and generally making merry). We’ll work up arrangements of some of our favorite old tunes, and play them for the other people staying on the island, and jam into the wee hours.
I don’t think there’s any wi-fi out there, and anyway I’ll be pretty busy having fun, so I doubt I’ll be posting anything before Tuesday or so (maybe some pictures, if possible). Anyway, what is there to say? The world’s just going to hell as usual, and I’ve said it all already.
Feel free to chat amongst yourselves. The floor is yours.
22 Comments
Happy retreating!
Sounds fun! Kind of makes me want to hunt up my old dulcimer.
The world will still be “snafu” when you return.
Eh … Whitewall?
How do y’all Carolinians pronounce the name of that there dulcimer you conjurin’ about hunting up?
I’m just generally int’rested mainly, you understand, a’cause here in Arkansas’ hill parts we gots this ol’ festival where them things makes appearances.
http://www.ozarkgetaways.com/things-to-do/arkansas-folk-festival/
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Wellfleet … Wellfleet … now where was I reading where I noticed somebody from nearabouts where I saw the last panther (mountain lion) as the VA bus took the long way down to Little Rock?
Oh yeah …
I never heard tell of the hillbilly Sharon Blair that now, or at least did, come to land in Wellfleet Malcolm but, maybe you did?
http://www.arktimes.com/arkansas/ArticleArchives?author=862037
Pretty “rough country” Leslie Arkansas, gots razorbacks theresabouts too.
JK, it is formally called the Appalachian Dulcimer…vowels are soft and 3 syllables with accent slightly on the first. We shorten it to just dulcimer, partly because of newcomers to the region who can’t properly pronounce “Appalachian” as well as natives who have never learned to spell it.
The dulcimer I describe should not be confused with the Hammer dulcimer. Not even close. The hammer dulcimer is a complex instrument compared to the other one. The hammer dulcimer takes a long time to build and a long time to learn. That woman shown early in the video with her dulcimer on her lap looks very much like mine. One major distinction though is mine no longer has a price tag hanging from the end.
I’ve never been to that festival of course but I “know” every one of those people, if you know what I mean…and I’m sure you do. That young girl playing the fiddle near the end is playing tunes straight out of Ireland. We have a great many such festivals here in NC all year long. Some are huge with participants coming from New England and into Maritime Canada, the UK and even Germany and Japan!
These sort of people and this olde style traditional music are a comfort in our “gone to hell world”. Music and the people survive.
Yeah I know what you mean.
Amen sometimes down there at the festival you’ll hear “dooclimber” with the ‘b’ mostly silent. Depending on the moon generally speaking.
Hope, I’ve not heard that pronunciation as far as I can recall.
No? Well like I said it seems to be associated with the moon. The not necessarily always at nighttime moon. The moon traffic court judges sometimes refer to as, The Harvest Moon.
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Onto something else.
Finished a on-target article directed toward Comey, appropriately enough methinks but alas I felt it was only proper that if, I put the one just finished on offer, almost necessarily I ought include another I’d also read on the site but hadn’t, bothered with trying to memorize the title of.
(I’d suggest to any who might need to Search the site – mind the keywords.)
http://observer.com/2016/09/dont-let-comey-put-a-criminal-in-the-white-house/
The less recent;
http://observer.com/2016/09/mainstream-media-defeat-trump-by-attacking-his-supporters/
I read the Austin Bay article late yesterday and he is correct.
The second piece sounds like the media thinks only it can pick an enemy and destroy them. If the media crosses the line from obstacle, to opponent and then to enemy…well, they did it. The media is not immune to its members becoming enemies themselves. At that point, the media no longer covers a story, they run for cover themselves because at that point, they will reap what they have sewn.
sown
Johnny Appleseed not Betsy Ross :)
Henry. Not my fault…I blame my keyboard, spoken in my best Hillary voice.
Robert, HRC would have given some bullshit excuse for why she actually meant what she said. And if that was rejected she would have screamed, “What difference does it make?!” And then she would have gone completely berserk!
Yeah, something like. “I don’t remember, besides it was more convenient to use the “e” as it was closer to the “s” and “w”.”
Good going guys … & gals … (I can still type that “gals” can’t I?)
Anyway that C-Span video link I posted to Malcolm’s Paul Gottfried on the “Alt Right” t’other day? Urging, if y’all felt so inclined to, make a call?
Obama in the interim threatening “Veto.”
Well, it passed the House unanimously which, if I recall my Civics correctly would be “Veto Proof”?
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4619471/us-house-passes-justice-sponsors-terrorism-act
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On a somewhat related note I’ve noted both Obama and Hillary charging all manner of .. uhm .. “ill considered” Trump’s suggestion that we (the US) ought to consider cooperating with Vlad’s Russia where Syria’s concerned?
I guess Gary Johnson’s not knowing what the heck a Aleppo was (not that JK is more particularly concerned with the shit-city on Erdogan’s border than I am with say, the more important shit-city [for the US] of Dayr az Zawr)
Anyway Mister Johnson’s not knowing a Aleppo from a hole-in-the-head was as they say, “a gamechanger”?
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-kerry-idUSKCN11F0HC?il=0
My guess about that can be pretty much explained by my only mentioning the possibility that “our ally Turkey” moving its tanks – and very likely soon, aircraft across from Turkey into Syria’s frontier focused our feckless Obama/Hillary strategy team like bigtime “laserly.”
TheBigHenry?
I honestly don’t know so I’m asking – is “laserly” a proper word?
JK, yes you can type “gals”. Just don’t say it out loud. If you need for “laserly” to be a word…then it is. It’s Saturday and nobody is looking.
“It’s Saturday and nobody is looking.”
Yeah Robert. Like Sec/State Kerry noticed how good it worked for the FBI last Friday and so he whispers in Lavrov’s ear, “Think we could get away with some more of that shit?”
JK,
“Lazerly” is not a “proper word”, but it is a proper noun. And it’s for sale for a cool £899.
Here.
Retreating from reality makes sense, because it re-orients you toward actual Reality, and avoids the toxic brain poisoning of a dying civilization…. and maybe you’ll catch some fish!
” and maybe you’ll catch some fish!” Now that’s my calling!
I dealt with the so-and-so issue a decade ago.
Jeffery Hodges
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By now it is just possible that Malcolm etal may have cooked up a new song fit for air play. With You Tube, it can happen. Next thing you know, tour dates will be listed.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/09/07/what-obama-doesnt-want-you-to-know-about-uzbekistan/
http://observer.com/2016/09/wikileaks-guccifer-2-0-obama-sold-off-public-offices-to-donors