Pig’s Going On Sabbatical

I was checking over the terms of my contract last night and I noticed that, after writing the blog for three years, I am now eligible for an all-expense paid trip to Kerguelen Island.  I think we’ll go.  Of course it does get a little cold down there but – hey – it gets a little cold up here.

Besides, Patrushka wants to go somewhere where she can wear her furs.  Don’t worry, they’re all heritage furs.  The original ermines were accidentally shot by Prince Kropotkin one morning in 1911 while he was out as usual  trying to trying to assassinate the Czar.  The Czar, riding by in his sleigh,  noticed the little guys lying in the snow and brought them home for his little daughter to play with.  My Princess Patrushka inherited them along with all the other truck – the Faberge eggs and stuff she leaves lying around the house right where I’ll stumble over them when I go out for a glass of chocolate milk.

So, where was I?  Oh yes, my sabbatical.  I want to focus more on my novel-in-progress, The Syndicate of Eternal Friendship, which had been proceeding at a snail’s pace lately.  Plus I want to organize my autobiographical pieces on the blog and see if they might hold together as a book.

So we’re heading for dear old Kerguelen.  The French Navy says they’ll have a launch waiting for us on Reunion Island, so we just have to figure out how to get there.  It’s going to be great.  No more distractions.  Just Kerguelen cabbages as far as the eye can see.  And the rabbits of course.  And the scientists dropping by every five minutes for coffee with the Princess.

Oh well, you just can’t find perfect solitude any more.  When it gets too noisy in our Quonset hut I’ll just go  for a walk and watch the albatrosses carousing up in the grey sky.

Pondering Pig’s Survival Tips

As a public service, we at the Pondering Pigsty want you to survive until we all get rich again.  If I had a car (and hands to steer it with, of course) I would keep this article handy:

How To Live In Your Car

Odetta Done Gone

Odetta died in New York City on Tuesday.  That big, rich, powerful voice will thrill us live no more.  She was a mighty rod and an inspiration.  She could turn simple words into an epic declaration of insufferable injustice and give us some spirit to fight it. She made me want to sing the big kind of folk music.  May sweet Jesus ease her passage.  Her like won’t be seen again.

Another man done gone
Another man done gone
Another man done gone
From the country farm
Another man done gone.

He had a long chain on
He had a long chain on
He had a long chain on
From the country farm
Another man done gone.

I didn’t know his name
I didn’t know his name
I didn’t know his name
They did him just the same
Another man done gone.

Here’s the link to her obituary in the Los Angeles Times:

Odetta Holmes dies at 77; folk singer championed black history, civil rights

Thanks to If Charlie Parker was a Gunslinger, Ther’d Be A Whole Lot of Dead Copycats for the heads up and photo.

Yea for Paul Volcker!

In an exciting development, President-elect Barack Obama today announced, “At this defining moment for our nation, the old ways of thinking and acting just won’t do. They call for us to seek fresh thinking and bold new ideas from the leading minds across America.”  That’s why he’s decided to hire 81 year old new thinker Paul Volcker to honcho his new Economic Recovery Advisory Board.  Paul joined the staff of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in 1952, so he’s had a lot of time to use up his old thinking and come up with new ideas.

He’s already been an under-secretary of the Treasury, a vice-president at Chase Manhattan Bank, and Chairman of the Federal Reserve under both Jimmy Carter and his successor Ronnie Reagan -  when, and I quote Wikipedia, “Volcker’s Fed also elicited the strongest political attacks and most wide-spread protests in the history of the Federal Reserve (unlike any protests experienced since 1922), due to the effects of the high interest rates on the construction and farming sectors, culminating in indebted farmers driving their tractors onto C Street NW and blockading the Eccles Building.”

Good luck, Paul.  I’m hope you’re the guy who can figure out how to get the bailout bucks from Citibank down to our neighborhood hardware stores and delicatessans.

Horse Race For The Cabinet

The papers are full of stories today about who the Obama team is vetting for cabinet positions.  You probably know “to vet” means “to thoroughly check someone out.”  But did you know “to vet” was originally a horse racing term?  It meant that a horse couldn’t run until a veterinarian checked him over and gave him a clean bill of health.

Only the Pondering Pig knows useless information like that.

Big Grateful Dead Auction October 5

Here’s your opportunity to pick up the flight case the Grateful Dead used to carry their cash payroll around. Estimated going price: $3000-5000. If you don’t like flight cases with stickers all over them, there 72 other items up for bid.

Full story from the Marin Independent Journal here: Dealing with the Grateful Dead

Auction web site here: Bonhams Skeleton In The Closet Auction

I hope the Pig isn’t devolving into an all-things Sixties sort of blog. We’ve always tried to maintain a higher tone here at the Pigsty. But thanks anyway to Radman at The Sixties aggregator for the tip.

Paul: “John Lennon NOT Gay!”

We interrupt this blog for important news.  Turns out John Lennon wasn’t gay after all.

I’m sure you’ve all been waiting to lap up Phillip Norman’s new book, John Lennon: A Life when it becomes available in the States.   It’s the one that claims John had a gay crush on his pal Paul.  Well, that got Paul hot under the collar, I can tell you!   Here’s his official statement:

“I slept with him a million times (on tour) I’ve seen him on tour roaring drunk, out of his mind in the early days before he sobered up and went to rehab. Roaring drunk and it was always with a female, never once [with a man]. If you’ve got a little gay tendency and you’re roaring drunk, I’d have caught him once.”

So ease your fears, or hopes as the case may be.  And thanks to the folks at Powerline for this incredibly important factoid.

Now, back to our scheduled programming…

Difference between a Swot and a Prig?

Simple.  A swot is a dweeb, while a prig is a snot.

How Do You Pronounce ‘South Ossetia?’

The answer here: Pondering Pig’s Guide To Pronouncing South Ossetia.  Always glad to be of help.

The Technorati Post

Technorati Profile

At last I have my own Technorati profile.  This should bring the spiders running.