How to Make a Pete Seeger

 Source

This picture was taken in May of 1921 in Washington, D.C., and shows Charles Louis Seeger, a composer, and his wife and three sons, including youngest son Peter holding his violin-playing mother's hand. The family had bundled themselves up into a car to go off car camping (that's their tented wagon trailer, above and below) as a way to see the world. The parents did small concerts to raise money as they traveled. Note the big water bag hanging from the lamp and resting on the running board.

Charles Seeger, father of Pete Seeger, was himself an anti-war activist whose brother, Alan Seeger, was killed in WWI at the Battle of the Somme. A poet, Alan Seeger wrote I Have a Rendezvous with Death. 

Source

The picture, above, was also taken in late May of 1921 in Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C., and shows Charles Seeger, his violin-playing wife Constance Edson Seeger, and their three children, including 2-year-old son Pete, sitting on his father's lap.

A May 22, 1921 article in The Washington Post about the family quoted Charles Seeger:

"We are trying to solve the problem of educating three boys, and at the same time lead a worth-while outdoor life."

Carry on Mr. Seeger; I am pretty sure you will not make a hash of this job!
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Behaviorism Joke

After sex, one behaviorist turned to another behaviorist and said, "That was great for you, but how was it for me?"

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Head Like a 9-Pound Hammer

Gideon in a hollow tree on a snowy day.
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Weekend reading

The kids have gone back to school, the weather is cooling a little and time is marching on. 



I finished the final reading of my book yesterday so that's been sent back to Penguin; hopefully it will be published in late March.



I took the opportunity last week to make more lemon cordial and gave these two bottles to Cathy and Sunny. Hope you have a  wonderful weekend. Thank you for

The Code Inside the Jack Russell

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Robert Reich For The Win

Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich writes:

HOW TO DEAL WITH LOW-WAGE EMPLOYERS. I met yesterday with a former executive of a big corporation who had a good idea. Taxpayers spend at least $55 billion a year on benefits (Medicaid, food stamps, etc.) to working people whose employers don’t pay enough to provide them and their families a decent standard of living. So in effect we’re subsidizing these employers – many of which (like Walmart) are large and profitable. His idea was to tax these employers by that amount. It would be easy enough to do since the IRS and the states have the Social Security numbers of all employees who receive these benefits, and can connect them to their employers. Not only would this “lousy-pay” tax be fair to other companies that pay higher wages and don’t get the subsidy. It would also help replenish federal and state budgets. And it would prod these low-paying corporations to raise wages so their employees don’t have to rely on taxpayer-financed benefits. What do you think?

What do I think? Genius!
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Budweiser's Super Bowl Ad FAIL

The musical voice here is Passenger (aka Michael David Rosenberg), who has been featured on this blog in the past.

I have several problems with this ad.

The first is the "puppy adoptions" sign. 

That's an expensive and permanent sign, and those dogs are NOT being "adopted" -- they are pure bred dogs being SOLD.  Nothing wrong with that, but do not piss on my leg and tell me it's raining. 

When you are selling pure breed retrievers (the most common pure breed, so no points for free thinking there Budweiser shill-meister), you are not in the ADOPTION business, but in the cash-and-carry business. 

The word "adoption" here is cynical marketing malarkey designed to "dog wash" this ad from the stigma that is now attached to breeding pedigree dogs.  

The second problem I have with this ad is that this stupid blonde lady seems to have a lot of trouble keeping her dogs watched and in a pen.  This is supposed to be cute.  It's not.  It's reckless endangerment.

My third problem with this ad is that it is incoherent, both as a story and as a marketing vehicle.  What is it saying?  What is the product?  Are they selling horses?  Puppies?  White bread romance between model-perfect people in a dream-like setting? 

This ad has NOTHING to do with the product it is selling.  It's bad story with a forgettable label slapped on at the end.  In short, pure crap, stem to stern.

Now Passenger?  That's a great voice and a great song. But that's the ONLY redeeming part of this ad. 

Poisoning and Profiteering

A quick photo from Charleston, West Virginia, where I was yesterday.

The local headline, below, is a reminder that law and regulation are why you can drink your local water and eat your local food without fear of poisoning.

Most companies are doing good honest work, but what do we do with those that don't?  

Gresham's law says "Bad money drives out good," but the same is true for conduct. 

If a company can sell a 15-year roofing shingle as a 30-year shingle, competitors are forced to decide whether they will follow suit or go out of business as their competitors rob them of contracts based on knowingly dishonest bids.

And what about companies that engage in reckless disregard of consumer safety by failing to inspect their storage tanks, or which dump effluent into public waterways?  Is it all to be given the Big Wink?

Laws to protect the people from liars, cheats and thieves are supposed to be promulgated by both federal and state governments.  The 10,000 gallons of toxin that leaked into the Elk River last week is a reminder there are still big gaps in law and regulation, and even bigger gaps in enforcement.  Will West Virginia move to bridge those gaps?  Time -- and the state legislature -- will tell.

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Sowing seeds in trays

Frugal vegetable gardening starts with seeds. If they're seeds you've collected yourself from last year's crop, that's even better. If you want to save seeds after every season to plant the following year, you'll need to start with heirloom or open pollinated seeds. F1 seeds will not reproduce true to type. Seed saving is an easy skill to learn and it's vegetable production at its most authentic

Pete Seeger, RIP

The great Pete Seeger has died.  A popularizer of folk music from all over the world, and a troubadour for civil rights, workers equity, and the environment, he was 94.

Back in 1990, Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie, produced a double album, and one of the songs on it was written by Pete, with lyrics by Lee Hays, who was one of the members of the The Weavers folk group, and who also wrote "If I Had a Hammer," and "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine."

The song is entitled In Dead Earnest. Lyrics below:

In Dead Earnest 

If I should die before I wake
All my bone and sinew take
Put them in the compost pile
To decompose a little while
Sun, rain and worms will have their way
Reducing me to common clay
All that I am will feed the trees
And little fishes in the seas
When corn and radishes you munch
You may be having me for lunch
Then excrete me with a grin
Chortling, There goes Lee again
'Twill be my happiest destiny
To die and live eternally

- by Lee Hays, 1981. Lee died August 26 of that same year..

Sowing seeds for the vegetable garden

Food production in the backyard is a simple activity that takes in a few elements of the simple life philosophy. It helps with debt reduction and saving, it encourages sustainability, self-reliance, organisation and preparedness, it helps with food security and waste (compost) and it is one of the things that will help slow you down. I'm really excited about our new season kitchen garden. A

Signs of the Apolcalypse?

In a ceremony that was supposed to highlight the need to end violence in Ukraine, Pope Francis released a pair of doves at the Vatican.

In perhaps an ominous sign of things to come, the doves were immediately attacked by a hooded crow and a seagull.  Please post your best theological explanations in the comments.

A Liability Lawyers Dream

The dual dog retractable leash.  Stupid on a stick, and a disaster on 10 legs.  Lawyers are standing by awaiting your calls!  Thanks to Sarah B. for forwarding this link!

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Fox Hunting as a Virginia Brand

You know you're in Virginia fox hunting country when both the police and the real estate agents brand themselves with it. 

 

Special sauce:  the American foxhound is the state dog.  To be clear, however, this is not the AKC dog, which is one of the rarest dogs in the U.S. due to the lack of utility, but the cross-bred fox hound to be found running in fox packs from one end of Virginia and Maryland to another.

 

Fox hunting in Virginia rarely results in the death of a fox due to the tremendous number of groundhog burrows which provide cover. 

 

In an case, the red fox in these parts is a European import -- one of the dreaded non-native species that we are told (by other descendants non-native Europeans) must be extirpated.

 

 

That Time of Year

Creating your ideal world at home

We have been delighting in that wonderful, relaxed time before the real business of the year starts in ernest. We had enough food to keep us going, there were no deadlines looming - well, I had one, but I that was under control, and our days have been our own to do what we please. I've been making lists of ideas and projects for the year, I think Hanno did the same, although his big project is

What Does the Fox Eat?

What does my yard fox eat?  Thanks to a massive load of free Milk Bones from my son, they are mostly getting a lot of those these days, supplemented with a little sunflower seed that spills over from the bird feeder.  The Milk Bones came free to my son, so re-gifting those to the fox is a free for all.

The Majesty of Mother Nature

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Some Explaining to Do

"Honest officer, the shovel, machete, saw, and bloody tarp in the back of my truck is just because I hunt with terriers. I was seen digging holes in the woods?  Well, yes, that's part of terrier work too. Honest."

Whatcha Been Doing?

Several folks have called and written

 and asked "Whatcha Doing?"

I've been invited to a "sew in" B-Day bash soon

 and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to

work on a quilt I started YEARS ago.

I used to sew all the time and then life, 

issues and other interests got in the way

 and I stopped quilting entirely.

I love the fabrics in this quilt..very much

my old primitive favorites but it will still

go quite nicely in my blue and brown bedroom.

It requires 96 blocks and I am at 64 as of today.

Every block is random and includes plaids and checks

in browns, beiges, blues and a touch of yellows.

I opened the basket where the blocks and strips

 were stored and just 

threw them out on the chair and desk

 and started sewing.

I'll see how far I get before the sew in and

then an entire day there just may "get er' done"

Sew a side, trim/turn, sew a side, trim/turn

and so on.

A Log Cabin

I just toss them to the floor as they are completed.

Funny they look crooked here but they're not. I did 

not cut the strips with anything but abandon 

so the plaids and checks do not always run straight.

I wanted it that way, to appear primitive and I 

will most likely overdye it when finished also.

 I was thinking I will add a solid border with some appliques 

perhaps because I love doing those also.

I miss doing needlecraft.

Maybe this will resurrect my first love.

Needle and thread

A painters pallet of fabrics

It is all connected

In other news I shared a lovely day on Monday

with a photographer Tracey Perry, 

who shot my home for a Holiday Book 

to hopefully be published next year.

It is a major undertaking and I will keep 

you posted as I proceed.

I am thrilled to be able to get 

Christmas taken down, and do some more purging

and a thorough cleaning of the house.

I have NEVER had it up this long before,

it has made me a little antsy.

Because of my organized box system

it will come down lickety split.

WOOT!

So that's my story

What's yours?