What If I Got Nothing

What If I Got Nothing

WhadifIgutnuthin? Not a pleasant thought. OTOH, material things treasured, in the end can't be given away... "That's OK, I still got my guitar" - Jimi Hendrix.

Where the Truth Lies

Where the Truth Lies

A very fine Internet crank passed away the other day. John "Birdman" Bryant. His website has some pithy observations about truth in the abstract. However, when he applied them to certain subjects... watch out. Not for the easily offended. And yes, my ox got gored too upon occasion.

I was run over by the truth one day
Ever since the accident I've walked this way

- opening lines to Adrian Mitchell's poem, To Whom it May Concern. A counterculture classic from the counterculture decade. From time to time, YouTube has a clip of him reciting it in the Albert Hall. Very groovy, to borrow a phrase of the day. Adrian Mitchell passed away last December.

Desert Storm

Desert Storm

Not Operation Desert Storm, just a desert storm. Was the first operation desert storm really almost 20 years ago? How time flies. Saddam has met his Allah. The rout of all that old Soviet supplied hardware contributed to the collapse of the USSR. The cold war met its end... in the desert, you could say. There's some irony for you. Hey, I should have saved this fracky for Remembrance Day. Whoops!

Art

Art

That? Yes, actually. "What is Art?" I don't believe there's a definition that can sum it up in one sentence. Rather, we have bits and pieces. Is a beautiful sunset art? Is craftsmanship art? Art is Italian for skill. Art is whatever an artist says it is. Which begs the question. Please, question, pretty please!

The tale is as old as the Eden Tree, and new as the new-cut tooth
For each man knows ere his lip-thatch grows, he is master of Art and Truth;
And each man hears as the twilight nears, to the beat of his dying heart,
The Devil drum on the darkened pane: "You did it, but was it Art ?"

- excerpt from The Conundrum of the Workshops, by Rudyard Kipling, 1890

I wont give away his punchline, but I'm sure you can use Google to find the poem and read it for yourself. If I didn't know better, I'd say Rudyard was being very sly. What do you think the title of the poem refers to?