Sunday, May 6, 2007

Was a Sunny day

.
K & L

Was a sunny day
Not a cloud was in the sky
Not a negative word was heard
From the people passing by
'Twas a sunny day
All the birdies in the trees
And the radio's singing songs
All the favorite melodies


—Paul Simon

LAST NIGHT, Jan and I hosted a party in honor of Ken, a student in my Intro to Philosophy class during my first semester at Irvine Valley College—many years ago.

Now, Ken has a doctorate in philosophy and, recently, he was offered a tenure-track position in the philosophy department of a state university on the Central California coast.

Oh, what a lucky man!


A good time was had by all. Even the normally shy Sunny Girl came out to visit—with the lovely Laurie, who, in fact, is mom to Sunny's two kittens, who are now 16 years old and living the good life, with Laurie, in Laguna Niguel.

After several hours, we moved inside, and proceeded to watch rare videos of the Ramones, Patti Smith, Elivis Costello, and Jonathan Richman. Jan drank Glenlivet (I never touch the stuff), then Laphroaig. This inspired him to demand that I play The Modern Lovers. I obliged the fellow, blasting forth Roadrunner (1972), to the delight of all:

Alright!
I'm in love with modern moonlight
128 when it's dark outside
I'm in love with Massachusetts
I'm in love with the radio on
It helps me from being alone late at night
It helps me from being lonely late at night
I don't feel so bad now in the car
Don't feel so alone, got the radio on
Like the roadrunner
That's right!

TODAY, Sunny and I spent some time outside, enjoying the sunshine and the spectacular view. I sat in my SUN chair. Sunny hunted bugs and ate grass. We listened to the Modern Lovers' Jonathan Richman.

Do yourself a favor and check out this loony video, set to a wacky Richman tune.

It'll make you smile, I promise!


And, oh: Sunny says "Hey!"


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

FRENCH SAY NO TO SOCIALISM


"Sarkozy elected French president

Sun May 6, 2007 2:15 PM ET


By Crispian Balmer

PARIS (Reuters) - Conservative Nicolas Sarkozy won France's presidential election on Sunday, beating his Socialist rival Segolene Royal by a comfortable margin and extending the right's 12-year grip on power.

Within minutes of polls closing, Royal conceded defeat in a speech to party faithful in the heart of Paris.

"I hope that the next president of the republic fulfils his role in the service of all French people," she said.

Forecasts by four pollsters showed Sarkozy, 52, a hard-line former interior minister, won around 53 percent of the vote in the second-round ballot and will succeed fellow conservative Jacques Chirac, who was president for 12 years.

Turnout was predicted at about 85 percent.

Sarkozy's face flashed up on television screens after polling stations closed at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT), signaling his victory and setting off jubilant scenes among supporters gathered in central Paris.

Across the city at Socialist headquarters there was gloom and sorrow after the party crashed to its third consecutive presidential election defeat. It now faces the prospect of tough internal reform to make itself more appealing to voters.

Although opinion polls regularly suggested voters preferred Royal, who was seeking to become France's first woman head of state, they saw the uncompromising Sarkozy as a more competent leader with a more convincing economic program.

Sarkozy, the son of a Hungarian immigrant, presented himself as the "candidate of work", promising to loosen the 35-hour work week by offering tax breaks on overtime and to trim fat from the public service, cut taxes and wage war on unemployment.

He is expected to take office on May 16 or 17, and will be the first French president to be born after World War Two.

He will then name a new government and immediately launch into campaigning for June's parliamentary election, where he will seek a clear majority to implement his reform plans.

The president is elected for five years, is commander-in-chief of the armed forces, nominates the prime minister, has the right to dissolve the National Assembly and is responsible for foreign and defense policies.

ROYAL GAFFES

Royal started the year as favorite, but a string of gaffes over foreign policy raised doubts over her competency. Deep ideological divisions in her own camp meant she could never enjoy unified support from the Socialists.

She served up a gutsy performance in a television debate with Sarkozy last week, but he appeared more precise and controlled, further strengthening his status as front-runner.

Sarkozy's own personality has been questioned. Critics say he is impulsive, authoritarian and likely to exacerbate tensions in the poor, multi-racial suburbs that ring many French cities.

The Socialists accused Sarkozy of fuelling 2005 suburb riots by promising to rid neighborhoods of what he said were the "scum" responsible for the troubles. Royal said on Friday a victory for her rival would fan "violence and brutality".

Thousands of extra police have been drafted in to patrol sensitive suburbs, especially those close to Paris.

By backing Sarkozy, voters showed they wanted a strong leader to resolve France's many problems, including high unemployment of at least 8.3 percent, falling living standards, job insecurity and declining industrial might.

He has promised a clean break with the policies of Chirac, once his political mentor, and says he will curb the powers of the unions and toughen sentencing for criminals.

On foreign policy, Sarkozy is more pro-American than Chirac, but has made clear he opposes the war in Iraq and will find it hard to ally himself too closely to Washington because of anti-U.S. sentiment at home.

He has said one of his first acts as president will be to visit Berlin and then Brussels to lay out plans for a mini treaty to replace the European Union constitution that French voters rejected in a 2005 referendum.

After months of grueling campaigning, he has also indicated he will take a rest next week before returning to Paris to work on his new government. Former Labor Minister Francois Fillon is widely expected to become prime minister.

Roy Bauer said...

I see the FUR ("Friends uv Raghu") is flyin'!

Anonymous said...

The video is a riot!

Jonathan K. Cohen said...

I think that Sarkozy's victory is the result of the alternative being a weak candidate (Royal) who never truly articulated her position on the issues, relying instead on her genial persona. The difficulties with the French implementation of socialism were incidental to the result. But why are we talking about socialism to begin with? Isn't it a bit of a straw man, given that this country has reverted to a stage coeval or prior to the development of socialism?

Anonymous said...

Are we in France now?

What gives?

Anonymous said...

Capitalism: the predatory stage of human evolution.

Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...