Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving


Part 1


Part 2

"If ya wanna end war and stuff, ya gotta sing loud." - Arlo Guthrie


Every Thanksgiving for as long as I can remember, at 12 noon, KZOK (our local classic rock station) has played "Alice's Restaurant." No matter what we are doing everything stops so that we can listen; for 18 minutes and 20 seconds.

Having had the ability and honor of seeing Arlo live a couple of years ago, and hearing him sing it live, has increased my appreciation for the genius of Arlo Guthrie, Woody Guthrie and the entire Guthrie family.

The prior Arlo quote - "If ya wanna end war and stuff, ya gotta sing loud," is one of my all-time favorite sayings. I believe it, in all of its incarnations. It is true no matter how I look at it...if we want to change the world we cannot be meek. Silent bitching in the privacy of my own home makes no difference. It is only in putting myself out there and participating in ways that I am not always comfortable - it is only in taking that risk that I can make a difference - that we can make a difference.

I tried to find some of the best versions of "Alice's Restaurant" - but they are all good. For those interested, here are the links to the scenes from the movie:

Dump Closed

Draft scene 1

Draft scene 2

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!! I hope that today is filled with much love and happiness for all of you.

We were to have a small party tomorrow, with the turkey and all of that, but, I am too sick to do it. We have postponed until Sunday. I am on an antibiotic, so hopefully my immune system will not be as screwey as it has been and the antibiotic will fix me fast. I hope so. I am really pissed that my [way too expensive, free range, organic] turkey is waiting. I would like to eat it now.

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