Richard F. Thomas, a professor of the Classics at Harvard University and a big Bob Dylan fan, has written a book called Why Bob Dylan Matters (2017).
Why Bob Dylan Matters is an interesting title, one that presupposes that Dylan does matter. Certainly he matters to this author; and in some 300 easy to read pages, you can get a pretty good idea why that is so. I enjoyed learning from Mr. Thomas, but would like to focus here on what I hope is constructive criticism.
Late on February 15, 2018, in the United States – February 16 in much of the world – the new moon will mark the end of the Year of the Rooster and the beginning of the Year of the Dog on the Chinese and other Oriental calendars. As you probably know, each year is symbolized by one of twelve animals and each of those animal years cycles through affinities to the five elements – fire, earth, metal, water and wood. This will be the Year of the Earth Dog, which occurs every 60 years.
For the past several years, I have posted predictions for what may occur in the world during the upcoming year. Rather than claiming to be any more (or less) psychic than you are, my approach has been to assume that the traditional cycles are valid. Then, by looking at what occurred in previous Dog years, we should be able to extrapolate predictions for the coming year. The posts of previous predictions are available for review, and most have been quite accurate.
Now, you wouldn’t expect a great song about, say, Nebraska to be written by Hannah Montana.
And Tennessee Ernie Ford wasn’t known for his songs about Rhode Island.
And who would think John Denver would give us a song about West Virginia.
U. Utah Phillips
Well, that last thing may have happened …
Nevertheless, we are going to consider a Colorado song – the “Colorado State Song” – that was written by Mr. U. Utah Phillips.
Phillips, who passed away in 2008, at the age of 73, was sort of a latter-day Woody Guthrie, hopping freights and riding Greyhound Buses across the country to sing songs, tell stories and act as a labor organizer for the Industrial Workers of the World (the “IWW” or “Wobblies”). Wikipedia has a nice little piece on Mr. Phillips, so rather than repeat what has already been written, I will refer you to that article.
Although the “Colorado State Song” is a good song, the only recorded version of which I am aware is on the first album by the local group, Grubstake. That brings up another name to know: Harry Tuft. Continue reading
For the past several days I have been thinking of the song “Holy Are You” from the Release of an Oath album by the Electric Prunes. I had considered filing this with the “Colorado Songs,” but decided that would not be appropriate.
Why would I even think of this as a Colorado Song, you may ask. Well, if we accept that God is omnipresent, then God is here in Colorado (which may be a good song title for someone). For a better reason, though, let us look briefly at the Electric Prunes.
The group was essentially four or five high school kids who played psychedelic-surf-garage rock and were fortunate enough to sign a contract with Reprise Records under the name Jim and the Lords. A very successful recording engineer named David Hassinger was assigned to produce their album. This was at just about the same time Hassinger was producing the first Grateful Dead album. He thought the group needed a more catchy name, so they decided to be the Electric Prunes, and Hassinger became the owner of that name – sort of taking advantage of the kids.
In late 1966 and early 1967, the Electric Prunes had two minor hits with “I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night” and “Get Me to the World on Time.” Hassinger believed that they were very close to great commercial success, and decided (for some reason) that it could be achieved by expanding the group’s horizons and having them become a psychedelic-surf-Gregorian Chant -garage rock band. His suggestion was joined by their manager and the Electric Prunes agreed to do a concept album, which would be a mass – Mass in F Minor – composed by classically trained musician David Axelrod, and sung in Latin with fairly intricate instrumentation.
The group began the recording, but soon found the music too difficult for them. Hassinger – who owned the name, as you recall – augmented the Electric Prunes with other more polished musicians, and Mass in F Minor was released in January of 1968. Although it was only a minor (get it?) commercial success, it did become a cult favorite. The cult following was increased the next year when the “Kyrie” was used in the Easy Rider film.
The record’s reception was good enough for Hassinger, though, and he decided that the Electric Prunes (the name he owned) should try again. So, once again, David Axelrod composed a complex set of songs; once again, the “real” Electric Prunes found the music exceedingly difficult; and once again, David Hassinger brought in other musicians so “his” Electric Prunes could complete the work.
This is where we finally get back to Colorado. As the core of the added musicians, Hassinger recruited members of the Colorado band, Climax, some of whose members had previously played in Colorado’s own surf band, the Astronauts.
This album, released in November of 1968, was called Release of an Oath, referencing the first song on the album, “Kol Nidre.” Kol Nidre is a Jewish prayer of sorts, recited in Aramaic on the first night of Yom Kippur. It annuls any vows or oaths which might be made to God during the coming year in order to avoid the sin of breaking an oath. The other songs on the album are a mixture of Jewish and Christian influences that do form an interesting and cohesive whole. The best of those songs is “Holy Are You,” which could arise from any monotheistic tradition.
For a project that was called “Tao Te Ching Tuesdays,” I wrote a series of essays commenting on one chapter of the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing) each week for 81 weeks. This page has links to each of those essays.
TAO TE CHING CHAPTER INDEX
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 |
| 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 |
| 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 |
| 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 |
| 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 |
| 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81 |
Interstate Highway 70 (I-70) is a major East-West highway running from western Utah to Baltimore, Maryland. It passes through ten states. In a sense it is the alpha and omega of the interstate highway system. That system was initiated by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, signed into law by President Eisenhower on June 29, 1956. Less than 90 days later, paving began on a portion of U.S. Highway 40 in Kansas, which became a part of the I-70 and was the first work performed under the 1956 law. The very last part of the the interstate system, as originally planned, was completed in 1992 with the opening of the portion of I-70 passing through Glenwood Canyon in western Colorado.
Besides being a major cross country thoroughfare, I-70 is the primary route for people in Denver and the Front Range to access the recreational opportunities of the Rocky Mountains. Driving westward out of Denver, one has access to Lookout Mountain, Evergreen, Idaho Springs, Georgetown, the central Colorado ski areas, through the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel ( at an altitude of 11,158 feet, the highest vehicular tunnel in North America and one of the highest in the world), Silverthorne and Breckenridge, Vail, Eagle, Glenwood Springs, the Colorado River, and on to Grand Junction and beyond. Not surprisingly, on weekends and holidays the highway becomes an extended traffic jam causing drivers to spend several hours to travel 50 miles or less.
I would like to paraphrase Yogi Berra and say that nobody uses I-70 anymore because it is too crowded, but that is not true. Everyone still uses it, and though there are frustrations, many appreciate that they are able to enjoy the beauty and ruggedness of The Rockies because of this smog-generating engineering marvel. Jim Dalton seems to be one of those people.
Jim Dalton is a singer, songwriter and musician who is involved in several bands in Colorado and nearby states. It seems that he spends most of his time these days as the lead guitarist of Tempe, Arizona – based Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers and he is one of the founders, with Johnny Hickman from the band Cracker, of the Hickman-Dalton Gang. Before becoming involved with those bands he started a group called The Railbenders with bass player Tyson Murray. The original group included drummer Gordon Beesly and guitarist Chris Flynn, but they have since been replaced by Graham Haworth on drums and Tony Asnicar on guitar.
The Railbenders first got together in 2000. Westword Music Showcase named them Denver’s Top Country/Roots Band in 2002 and 2003. In 2004, the Denver Post chose them as “Best of the Underground” and Coors Brewing Company named the band the Coors Original 2004 New Sound Throwdown Champions, which included a sponsorship.
In 2006, the Railbenders released an album called Showdown that included Jim Dalton’s song, “I-70 Westbound.” The group has played regularly in the Denver/Front Range area since then and the song has become sort of a favorite of their local fans. Essentially, it tells us that we can drive west on I-70 and enjoy the mountains.
It is hard to believe that Donald Trump has only been acting as president for about two weeks, and it is already getting tedious to think about his attacks on civil liberties and his actions making travel unnecessarily difficult. Of course, Trump is not the first president to 
infringe on our rights in those areas. Today, I want to look back at the REAL ID Act, signed into law by George W. Bush in 2005, and which will soon start having a large impact on many Americans. You may read the text of the Act here.
First, let me engage in a little personal digression. As I write this, my wife and daughter and grandchildren are visiting Southern California for a few days. When we woke up this morning, there was freezing fog and freezing rain and multiple accidents on the highways. It was a harrowing drive to the airport, and the plane was delayed in taking off, but they made it safely to their destination.
For some reason, our family seems to pick days like this to have to go to the airport. Back in September of 2013, our daughter, Suzanne, and son-in-law, Jeff were flying out of town, and the time for scheduled departure coincided with the worst rainstorms and flooding Denver has experienced in more than 100 years. There were trees washed away, roads flooded and closed and multiple travel advisories. Nevertheless, I drove them to the airport. It took longer than usual, but we made it. That is not the happy ending, though. When we arrived at the terminal, Jeff realized that he had forgotten to bring his driver’s license and had no identification. Because of the road and weather conditions, it would take at least an hour’s driving each way to go back to get the license, and he would miss the plane, anyway. Luckily, our son, Michael, was in town that day, so I called him and had him go get the license and bring it to the airport. It all occurred timely, and that is the happy ending.
At least we knew that his driver’s license would be accepted for identification. The situation would have been more complex if not for that given. However, in the not-too-distant future, many of you are going to learn that your driver’s license will no longer be accepted. We can thank the REAL ID Act of 2005 for that result.
That law essentially makes state-issued drivers’ licenses the equivalent to a national ID Card. Certain documents must be provided and other requirements met before the license may be issued. The license, itself is required to have certain information and be in a machine-readable format , which will facilitate the setting up of a nationwide database. The information in that database is to be shared with our friends the Canadians and with Mr. Trump’s “bad hombre” boogeymen in Mexico.
Half of the states are not yet in compliance with the law (it is “voluntary,” after all), though the effective date has been postponed several times, and a number of the states have been granted extensions.
Presently, January of 2018 is the date that is important for identification at airports. It seems that after that date, drivers’ licenses from Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Washington will no longer be accepted because those states have not complied nor have they asked for an extension.
An extension until June 6, 2017, has been granted to Alaska, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, and Virginia. If they have not become compliant by then, drivers’ licenses from those states will no longer be accepted for entry to federal buildings and facilities.
An extension until October 10, 2017, has been granted to California, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Rhode Island, and Texas. Similarly, if they have not become compliant by that date the drivers’ licenses from those states will not be accepted as identification at federal buildings and facilities.
As the effective dates get closer, we may look at the civil liberties issues that should be addressed. For now, consider this a heads-up so that you in the affected states can start working on getting your alternative identification documents together. Alternative documents include U.S. passport or passport card; DHS trusted traveler cards (Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, FAST); U.S. military ID (active duty or retired military and their dependents, and DoD civilians); U.S. passport or passport card; DHS trusted traveler cards (Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, FAST); U.S. military ID (active duty or retired military and their dependents, and DoD civilians); permanent resident card; border crossing card; DHS-designated enhanced driver’s license; airline or airport-issued ID (if issued under a TSA-approved security plan); federally recognized, tribal-issued photo ID; HSPD-12 PIV card; foreign government-issued passport; Canadian provincial driver’s license or Indian and Northern Affairs Canada card; transportation worker identification credential; U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Employment Authorization Card (I-766); and U.S. Merchant Mariner Credentials.
The new moon on January 27, 2017 (in the United States, which will be January 28th in many parts of the world) marks the beginning of a new year under the Oriental lunar 
calendar. As you probably know, each year is symbolized by one of twelve animals and each of those animal years cycles through affinities to the five elements – fire, earth, metal, water and wood. This will be the Year of the Fire Rooster (or Fire Chicken, as it is called in Vietnam), which occurs every 60 years.
For the past several years, I have posted predictions for what may occur in the world during the upcoming year. Rather than claiming to be any more (or less) psychic than you are, my approach has been to assume that the traditional cycles are valid. Then, by looking at what occurred in previous Rooster years, we should be able to extrapolate forecasts for the coming year. The posts of previous predictions are available for review, and most have been quite accurate. If you would like to check what was prognosticated for 2016’s Year of the Monkey, you may do so by clicking here.
This year I am taking a slightly different approach and dividing the prognostications into two parts. This first part is intended to be general, and look at matters in different areas of the world, which is pretty much the format I have used in the past. The second part will focus on the political situation in the United States since it seems that will have a major influence on what occurs this year and for many years to come.
First, let me say that this Oriental system of astrology is not really intended to make detailed predictions based on years. The system is actually much more complicated and there is an animal-element rulership of each hour and each month, in addition to that of the year. When looking only at the year, as we are doing here, one can imagine a pervasive annual vibration that interacts with the vibration that each person acquired from the year of his or her birth. When those two vibrations come together, the resulting wave forms may be considered positive, negative or neutral. Still, they only set the underlying tone. It is the actions of each person that ultimately lead to a good or bad result for the year. Continue reading
The new moon on January 27, 2017 (in the United States, which will be January 28th in many parts of the world) marks the beginning of a new year under the Oriental lunar calendar. As you probably know, each year is symbolized by one of twelve animals and each of those animal years cycles through affinities to the five elements – fire, earth, metal, water and wood. This will be the Year of the Fire Rooster (or Fire Chicken, as it is called in Vietnam), which occurs every 60 years.
For the past several years, I have posted some predictions for what may occur in the world during the upcoming year. Rather than claiming to be any more (or less) psychic than you are, my approach has been to assume that the traditional cycles are valid. Then, by looking at what occurred in previous Rooster years, we should be able to extrapolate predictions for the coming year. The posts of previous predictions are available for review, and most have been quite accurate. If you would like to check what was prognosticated for 2016’s Year of the Monkey, you may do so by clicking here.
This year I am taking a slightly different approach and
dividing the prognostications into two parts. The first part was fairly general, and looked at matters in different parts of the world, which is pretty much the format I have used in previous years. This second part will focus on the political situation in the United States since it seems that will have a major influence on what occurs this year and for many years to come. Continue reading
Wouldn’t it be great if this blog was written by a prize-winning poet? Wouldn’t that give it a little bit of class, perhaps a sense of gravitas?
You bet it would. So, I would like to say that Nobel laureate Bob Dylan 
will be writing several ….. Oh, never mind. I would like to say that, but wouldn’t be true. If Mr. Zimmerman won’t return the Nobel Committee’s phone calls, I don’t have much chance of talking with him.
I guess the only way a prize-winning poet is going to write something here is for me to go out and win a prize, myself. How would I do that?
Well, there is a gentleman named Frank Kinslow, who is a chiropractor with extensive transcendental meditation training turned guru of sorts. He has written half a dozen books, which have been translated into many languages, teaching what he initially called “Quantum Entrainment” or “QE”; which has now expanded into the “Kinslow System.” This is not the time or place to try to explain that system. Let us just say that he recognizes a state called “Pure Awareness,” which is likened to David Bohm’s concept of implicate order. It is also similar to Tao and Advaita in that it is that from which both consciousness and matter arise.
Even though Pure Awareness is always and everywhere with us, most people do not know or recognize it. Dr. Kinslow’s books teach that it is possible to become aware of Pure Awareness, and we can start in the space between our thoughts. As a part of becoming aware, one experiences what Kinslow calls a “Eufeeling.” That is a made-up word that combines the Greek prefix “eu-,” meaning well or good or pleasant, with the word “feeling.” It is supposed to be the feeling that comes with the first glimmer of individual awareness of oneself as both separate and a part of a single unbounded field. Dr. Kinslow wrote a whole book on Eufeeling, so I won’t try to explain it any further.
Anyway, a few months ago I received an email newsletter about the Kinslow System, which included an announcement of a contest seeking poems on the subject of Eufeeling. I felt like writing a haiku that day, so I wrote a “Eufeeling Haiku.” Whoever the judges were, they liked the poem enough to award it third place and I am to receive an autographed copy of Dr. Kinslow’s book on Eufeeling. The winning poems are not yet on the Kinslow System website, but I will include a link when they are posted.
For now, let me share the poem with you:
Eufeeling Haiku
In silence, nothing.
Breathe, pause, feel — and nothing blooms:
a perfect flower.