I hope to have some interesting musicians, actors, songwriters, artists, and creative people featured, so please, check the blog often!

This Tuesday, I leave with my friend, Jed Marum, for a 7 day tour to Okeechobee, Florida and back. We’ll be performing at O’Dalley’s Irish Pub in Mobile, Alabama Tuesday Night. Then we’ll be at the Battle of Okeechobee Seminole War Reenactment Feb. 4-5. I’ve attached that flier for you.  Then we perform at the Keg and Barrel Brew Pub in Hattisburg, MS on Tuesday, Feb. 7; on Feb. 8, (Wednesday) at the Natchez Coffee Company (Natchez, MS) for lunch, then Enoch’s in Monroe, LA from about 8-10 p.m. Thursday night, Jed and I will be at Fenians Pub in Jackson, MS.  As is typical when we tour together (this is our third tour together), we try to pack our schedule full.  Jed is an internationally known and respected Celtic and Civil War folksinger, with a wonderful voice and a mind-boggling finger-picking style.  Be sure and check out Jed and his CD’s at his website, http://jedmarum.com/

I just saw a movie, Passchendaele. Here’s the movie’s website: It’s about a military campaign of WW I. And what a touching movie!  It also captured the emotions of that terrible war through this Canadian Unit’s eyes effectively. As the film ended, I heard Sarah Slean sing, “After the War” and determined that it was another song I needed to add to my Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day programs I do. I couldn’t find where to purchase the song, but there’s a good YouTube video the song here:  You can read about the talented and beautiful Sarah Slean on her website here:

I also somehow encountered the Italian film genre of Giallo.. This website, defines Giallo as the Italian mystery/horror genre that was most prominent from 1970 to 1975. It takes its name from the term for the mystery novels being published in Italy around the same time. These novels had yellow covers (Giallo is Italian for “Yellow.”) The films eventually gained a reputation for gratuitous violence and sexuality and their murder scenes served as a big influence on the American Slasher film. I decided this was a film genre I wanted to explore, as well as Grand Guignol, which seems to be similar in some ways.

Carefully researched, Ms. Grey’s writing style kept me intrigued until the very end. I was able to walk with the characters through cold nights “full of murder and monsters” ( (81). The protagonist, Arthur, a vampire, is both the subject and narrator. He is by his own admission a man who “wasn’t polite company” (7). He meets Avalon, a dark-haired beauty who obsesses and distracts him. She is quite complicated and you’re never sure about how his pursuit of her will go until the very end because of a key conflict: He is a vampire and she a vampire hunter. He says, “Of all the women I’ve had in my time, I fall in love with a vampire hunter. Of course” (86).  Though he knows his obsession of Avalon is self-destructive, he says, “This was love. This agony. This suffering. This sinking feeling in my chest. Feeling unable to live without her. Knowing I could not live without her. Knowing I would do anything for her, even if it led to my own ruin, for I was nothing without her” (187).

At no point did I lose interest in this sexy, vampire tale, and at no point did I feel I left Victorian England, in spite of the anachronisms associated with Steampunk fiction.  I highly recommend this novel. It’s not your typical vampire read, and the skilled craft of O. M. Grey will keep you reading till the very end.  You may even be motivated to show up at a Steampunk conference or read more in this genre. You can read more about Olivia Grey here (O.M. Grey is a pen name for Christine Rose): http://christinerose.wordpress.com./

Order her book on Amazon here:

I underestimated the quality of Sizer’s writing and the impact this book would have on me. I appreciate an author who teaches me things–and Sizer added vocabulary, historical facts, and cultural insights that can only enrich my school programs and my appreciation of the story of Texas. She weaves the people, history, myths, and legends associated with the King Ranch and the Rio Grande Valley with such skill that the reader will want to know more and see for him or herself the places she writes about.  Having grown up in South Texas, Sizer knows the land she writes of. After I read her book, I realized how much I still had to learn about Texas.

I was born in Texas, I love Texas, and I admire writers who can capture the soul, mystery, and truth of my beloved state like Sizer has done.  If you want to hear a fascinating but little told story of Texas, you need to read her book. You can order it here:

This was a novel with fiction writers as characters.  Irving’s character constructs are powerful and part of what makes the novel’s plot  work so well. I do believe that if you are a writer, this novel will inspire, rattle, and perhaps terrify you a bit as Irving takes you deep into the lives, styles, and souls of these writers.

The numerous themes of the novel are evocative and intense.  The study guide’s questions are excellent writing and discussion prompts on marriage, humiliation, the writer and writing, change, and photographs as symbols and talismans.

Here are just a few of my favorite quotations that I underlined:

“It was the sound of a typewriter–the sound of storytelling” (19)

“He used to say that darkness was his (Ted Cole’s) favorite color” ( 21)

“Brave means that you accept what happens to you–you just try to make the best of it” 130).

“There are few things as seemingly untouched by the real world as a child asleep” (151)

“But one must never not write a certain kind of novel out of fear of what the reaction will be” (318)

“[H]e wasn’t a bad boy–just an ordinary one” (377)

“If you’re a writer, the problem is that when you try to call a halt to thinking about your novel-in-progress, your imagination still keeps going; you can’t shut it off” (380)

“It was for children that one wanted heaven . . .” (456)

John Irving’s official site is here:

Biscuits & Blues by Rickey Pittman

VERSE ONE:

New York was always too busy,

In LA I couldn’t breathe,

San Francisco was a little too weird,

I moved on to Tennessee.

I always dreamed of Mississippi,

Couldn’t shake that part of me,

I kept looking for a way to come back,

I’d seen all I wanted to see.

CHORUS:

I wanted biscuits and blues in the morning,

Walking hand in hand with you,

I need a forever love,

I’ll give you a heart that’s true,

Now it’s biscuits and blues in the morning,

And singing the blues at night,

Blue moon in that Natchez sky,

Tells me we’ll be alright.

VERSE TWO:

They turned on the lights this evening,

On that Mississippi bridge,

We saw it from under the hill,

Then from the cemetery ridge.

I could see the streets of Vidalia,

And the bluffs above the town

Hot air balloons anchored and waiting

For the dawn to come around.

CHORUS:

VERSE THREE:

Some come to Natchez to look for ghosts,

Others for the history,

Artists pushed here by hurricanes,

Writers for the mysteries.

I remember Angels on the Bluff,

A bright night much like this,

We walked by the Turning Angel,

Who turned her head when we kissed.

CHORUS:

by James Ronald Kennedy & Walter Donald Kennedy

No doubt but that the title of this article will initially be rather infuriating to many conservatives. This is because too many Americans today equate nationalism with patriotism. These words do not carry the same meaning and when applied to national politics they produce very different results as it relates to the preservation of personal liberty, limited government, and respect for the constitution.

The inability of conservatives to distinguish between nationalism and patriotism was driven home recently when a local DJ on WWL (“Rush Radio” New Orleans) morning program made a vicious attack on Representative Ron Paul. The DJ accused a Ron Paul supporter of being “lead around by the nose” by CNN! The insulting manner in which Ron Paul’s supporter was handled would be understandable if the DJ was a liberal/progressive/socialist but the DJ claims to be a true blue conservative whose main interest is to find a Republican presidential candidate who will be able to defeat Obama.

The DJ’s main complaint against Ron Paul is that he was an isolationist who wants America to retreat back within our borders and leave the rest of the world alone, thereby allowing extremists to ultimately destroy ancient cities and civilizations in the mid-east—without America’s footprint all over the world, according to this logic, evil will triumph and be free to do horrible things to lands, cities, and people far away. This DJ views America as a force for “good,” ready to compel others to abide by our dictates or else suffer the military consequences.

While it might be relatively easy to define “force” it becomes more problematic to define “good.” The DJ’s definition of “good” would most likely be radically different from Obama’s definition, whose definition would be different from John McCain’s definition, whose definition would be different from Sarah Palin’s definition etc, etc., etc. Using the DJ’s standard America would be a force for good all over the world but the definition of good would have to change every time America changed presidents or the control of Congress or maybe even every time the Federal Supreme Court changed!

Nationalism celebrates force; it frolics in force; international status is nurtured and grows with force.  Force expands the nation’s control over its own people every time it is successfully applied to an enemy; therefore pure nationalists seek enemies to destroy. Nationalism looks beyond the nation’s borders for opportunities to expand the nation’s  influence—be it economic, ideological, commercial and/or military influence or, when the opportunity allows, not just influence but absolute control.  Notice that this new “nation of force” will ultimately look and act more like an empire than a simple nation.

Patriotism, on the other hand, is local; it looks inward to a community with local traditions. Patriots see the nation as a means to protect local communities that compose the nation.  Patriots are members of local communities and their primary desire is simply to be “let alone.” Patriots view people residing outside of the nation’s borders as possible trading partners in which they can engage in voluntary exchange—an exchange in which both sides gain. Patriots rally to the flag to defend the nation because the nation is necessary to preserve and defend local communities. Whereas nationalists need and ardently seek to create and expand a strong centralized supreme and ultimately oppressive national government.  Patriots, on the other hand, seek to create and maintain local self-government that allows for maximum liberty (i.e. minimum taxation, regulation, etc.) for we the people at home in our local communities.

This sense of “minding our own business” or being “let alone” can be seen in John Adam’s warning that America should “… not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy.”; or  Thomas Jefferson’s admonishment that America seeks to be “… friends with all nations—entangling alliances with none.”; or George Washington’s advice to avoid “foreign entanglements”.  Nationalists, DJs and others, seek to paint this traditional American view as somehow being un-American.

The truth is that personal liberty, limited government, and a constitutional republic cannot exist when nationalists make up the nation’s ruling elite. Nationalists will use any means that will allow them to consolidate power—thereby taking power/control away from “we the people” at the local level and transferring it to the centralized, nationalist, (big) government.

At this point one can almost hear the nationalists howling, “How would you isolationists deal with the 9/11 attack on America?” First, we are not isolationists—we want to engage in voluntary exchange/commerce with people all over the world.  We have no desire to build a wall around America in order to shut ourselves off from the world. Nationalists use the term “isolationists” the same way PC liberals use the word “racists”—they both use their magic words to shut down civil discourse because they have no logical argument. Secondly, we knew who attacked us on 9/11, we knew where their headquarters were and we knew what country was providing them aid and comfort. An ultimatum should have been given—“Hand over the leaders and all of their followers in your country within 48 hours or else.” The “or else” would consist of a mushroom cloud over the training camps and every military and terrorist instillation in the country. Nationalists would argue that we could not afford to do such a thing but according to nationalists we could afford thousands of American soldiers dead and wounded (soldiers drawn primarily from mid to lower income families) and costing a trillion dollars at a time when families in our local communities are suffering from a failing economy. All it would take is one example and no other country would allow such organizations to operate in their country! But one quick and overwhelming strike would not serve the primary purpose of nationalists—to increase the national footprint around the world while restricting liberty at home—all in the name of national security!

This is a warning to all conservatives who believe in the primacy of personal liberty, limited government and constitutionalism. Nationalists of both political parties never allow a crisis to pass—they know how to rattle the saber in order to rally patriots around the flag and then convince limited government conservatives to “violate the free market in order to save it” or to surrender just a little privacy in order to be more secure. Yet each year the free market is less free, more regulated and less able to grow a productive, jobs producing, economy; government has its hand deeper in our pockets (and now even in other private personal places); and the only thing that is secure is the system of supreme federalism that provides nationalists ruling elites of both political parties with almost unlimited perks, privileges, and power—all paid for by an increasingly oppressed and once free people.

After the unfortunate close of the War for Southern Independence, General Robert E. Lee predicted that if a system of federal supremacy eventually governed America, the country would become “aggressive abroad and oppressive at home.”  Is the current system of supreme federalism and the domestic and international policies it enforces conducive of personal liberty, limited government, and a constitutional republic? Or have we rejected traditional patriotism and converted to nationalism and in the name of national security become aggressive abroad and oppressive at home? Do we have a right to be the world’s international policeman in order to force the world to be “good” according to our temporary definition of “good”? And when nationalists answer yes—the next question is: “Can we afford it?”

by Rickey E Pittman
It is said by those who heard the tales from the old men and women of Celtic lands, who heard the story first from those who had memories of the Druids and even Arthur’s sword, it is said that on those late summer afternoons, when the sun is still shining hot and strong and rain drops fall from the blue sky, fall warm on your skin, it is said that if you sit in a quiet place of rocks and trees and if you shut your eyes, you’ll hear a harp’s melody, soft and sad and sweet as a harper using golden strings.

The harper is no less than Thomas the Rhymer, bold and gifted and impulsive, and a man who had a heart as passionate as his music. He had journeyed to Wales, into the mountains of Snowdonia, to perform for particular noble and to create a song by which the occasion would always be remembered.  His daughter was a young lady , named Aleena, with eyes blue and wild and golden hair who heard him.  She clung to every note, to every word of his verse. Thomas watched her close her eyes and echo-whisper the lines of the poem. He ended the song and began another. The music shifted from praising the king to extolling Aleena’s beauty. He wove the words he found in the well of his heart and declared his love for her.  He sang stanza after stanza. It seemed he could not stop and sang for the rest of the night.  When the meal was finished, the young maiden rose, looked at Thomas, then at a stairwell. He nodded, laid down his harp, and followed her.

There in the stairwell, they kissed and declared their love. Thomas spoke to her father and he gave the couple their blessing.  Oh, those were times of such music!  Thomas’ heart swelled with new melodies for his new love.  He envisioned a life with her, she traveling with him as he won the world with his harp and verse.  This would require money, for though Thomas could easily bear the hardships of the road, he would not inflict that lifestyle on his new bride.  Thomas vowed to enter and win a harp competition, some say it was in Cardiff, others say it was in Ireland, and  return for her with prize money in hand.  Months went by, but Thomas never returned. Aleena was sick with worry. These were not happy days in Wales. Longshanks’ armies invaded to crush Llewellyn’s rebellion as he had the rebellion of the Scots.  Those nobles who weren’t killed, were taken captive and sold into slavery.  Aleena was one of them.

When Thomas finally returned, he found Aleena’s home burned to the ground, and the land of Wales filled with death, hunger, and lamentation for those slain and missing. He slung his harp on his shoulder and trudged back to Scotland. As you know, he was seduced by the faerie queen and vanished from the land for seven years.  Oh, there were many adventures there and it was there he was given “the tongue that could not lie.”  The queen of the faeries took him to Belenus, the sun-god of the Celts. The sun god asked Thomas, “Have you ever been in love?”
Thomas said, “Yes. So in love that I was lost. So in love that I felt I would never need another muse. But she was taken from me.”
“Tell me her story in a song, harper.”
Thomas sat on a stone. tilted the harp against his left shoulder, brushed the strings of his clarsach with his left hand, and began. In a minor key, he told the sun-god the story of Aleena, his love for her, the plans they had, his returning to find her gone, and he knew gone forever. He told of how his heart had cracked, and how he had fallen into despair, and become almost mad with grief. When he was finished, the sun-god’s palace in the Otherworld was silent. Belenus leaned forward, covered his face with hands and wept, and the sun-god’s tears fell through the Otherworld to the earth. It was a beautiful sunny  afternoon, and that was the first time mortals had ever seen rain fall when the sun was shining. And today, when those warm teardrops touch your cheek like a kiss, and you look up into that bright sky, know that it only means the sun-god has once again remembered the sad story of Aleena and Thomas and he weeps again.  And if you close your eyes and listen closely, you’ll hear the sad notes of a harp.

And that my friends, is why the sun cries . . .