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S*** happens
Of course, I was way on the outside looking in, but in Jimmy’s final days he gave to us a wonderful lesson on how to die well. Something we all hope to do.
Below is a link to the article in the Austin Chronicles about his passing. Very sad day indeed. I cherish each and every performance of this great musician I was able to see.
Last weekend Robin and I made a pilgrimage to the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The reason for this pilgrimage was because Jimmy LaFave was going to be playing there. Jimmy is at the top of my list of favorite musicians. I have been listening to him for 20 years, and if I do not have all of his CDs, I have the vast majority. His music speaks to me on so many levels. The fact that he is not more famous than he is, says more about the music industry Continue reading “We Need Woody Guthrie and Jimmy LaFave”
Spent a few hours today with my mother, who is on the Alzheimer’s path. . .on a “good” day, she knows something is not right, and tries to figure out what that is. . .she is one smart lady. . .tough and practical. . .she did not know where she was going to sleep tonight. . .I tried to reassure her without triggering her. . .at one point, she looked at me and said, “When we were younger, the things we thought were hard were really pretty easy.” I am still making my back into the solar system after being blown away by that observation from a “demented” person. . .Mom, I am developing more and more admiration for your courage as a practicing human being dealing with what life has delivered to your front door step. . .I hope on some level you are aware of that fact. . .
A note from my brother James Michael
To The Best of Our Knowledge is interviewing Steven Spiro, a Buddhist Chaplain, on mindful dying. He has five things to say at the end of life.
Not bad things to say at any point of life.
John the Philosopher aka Mr. California asked me to comment on the following:
“Ignorance rules the unreflecting herd.” 1
Ignorance is defined by the dictionary as: lack of knowledge, education, or awareness.
My first thought is that this falls under the rubric of “Nothing new under the sun”. A Google search on — quotes ignorance of the masses — revealed many similar thoughts. Here are a few that I cherry picked:
“Five percent of the people think; ten percent of the people think they think; and the other eighty-five percent would rather die than think.” ~~ Thomas Edison
“It’s much easier not to know things sometimes.” ~~ Stephen Chbosky
“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” ~~ Isaac Asimov
“The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.” ~~ Sir Winston Churchill
“Any formal attack on ignorance is bound to fail because the masses are always ready to defend their most precious possession – their ignorance.” ~~Hendrik Willem van Loon
And I could go on.
My next thought Continue reading “Mr. California Wonders About Ignorance”