tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3576716365575919550.post4373561284613369770..comments2023-10-03T18:30:42.773-05:00Comments on Meta Watershed: FIGHT OR FLIGHTMaggie Jochildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07577090500862823864noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3576716365575919550.post-66507711203195412072007-08-16T18:27:00.000-05:002007-08-16T18:27:00.000-05:00LOVE this.I linked - okay? If not, let me know an...LOVE this.<BR/><BR/>I linked - okay? If not, let me know and I'll un-link.<BR/><BR/>love<BR/>B.O.Bluehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06517266957071729997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3576716365575919550.post-82690288731934969372007-08-15T22:48:00.000-05:002007-08-15T22:48:00.000-05:00Well, Shado, Dinah got to the PC first. But I ech...Well, Shado, Dinah got to the PC first. But I echo her thanks. I had not read the article on the Utah mine disaster yet, though just did (plus some of the excellent comments).<BR/><BR/>One of the wimmin's music performers I went to see in the Bay Area literally every single chance I got was Robin Flower, who usually performed with Nancy Vogl, Joan Balter, and/or Mary Wings. Robin had a strong blueglass musical background and, as I remember it, a partial Appalachian heritage. At every concert that I can recall, she performed not only "Which Side Are You On?" by Florence Reece, but also "Join the NMU (National Mining Union)" by Aint Molly Jackson. Both of these union-loving songwriters came from the infamous Harlan County coal mining struggles. Florence Reece's song ends with:<BR/><EM>Us poor folks haven't got a chance<BR/>Unless we organize</EM><BR/><BR/>Florence used the same basic tune that Aint Molly Jackson had written for her ballad "Join the NMU" (a.k.a. "I Am A Union Woman") a generation earlier. Woody Guthrie himself said Molly Jackson was the female Leadbelly. I find her song haunting, and sing it often. <BR/><BR/>You can read about her at <A HREF="http://http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA05/luckey/amj/harlan.htm" REL="nofollow">Aunt Molly Jackson</A><BR/> -- at this site is a precious recording of her talking about her organizing, revealing her rich Kentucky accent, followed by someone else (unidentified in the clip) singing an authentic version of "Join the NMU":<BR/><EM>The bosses ride fine hosses<BR/>While we walk in the mud<BR/>Their banner is the dollar sign<BR/>While ours is striped with blood</EM><BR/><BR/>And, since you referenced my poem, although it is online at Wordgathering, I'll reprint it here. Thanks so much for the connection, Shado. I hope Robin Flower knows what an impact she had. Even more so, Aint Molly.<BR/><BR/><STRONG>SAGO</STRONG> <BR/><BR/>I.<BR/><EM>Four of the air masks failed</EM> he says<BR/><EM>Twelve men, eight oxygen packs <BR/>I shared mine with an older man<BR/>I don't know why I lived</EM><BR/><BR/>II.<BR/>While I was in surgery, my friends<BR/>decorated my room with pictures<BR/>Things from home, Xena toys<BR/>They cheered when I was wheeled back in<BR/>I could not recognize two of them<BR/>Later a nurse asked me about<BR/>the plastic sword; I told her<BR/>I had no idea. The only number<BR/>I could write was seven<BR/><BR/>My memories were still there<BR/>but my pathway had been erased<BR/>like ant trail pheromones wiped away<BR/>Years afterward I come up against <BR/>a void in the map<BR/>beyond this point are monsters<BR/>If I push on<BR/>the tunnel will clear<BR/>On the other side waits <BR/>remembrance, mine once more <BR/><BR/>III.<BR/>We bury the dead with their memories<BR/>still encoded inside their brains<BR/>No spark to light the way again<BR/>No air to fill the sails <BR/><BR/><EM>Maggie Jochild, 28 April 2006, 7:28 p.m.</EM>Maggie Jochildhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09763666026058640521noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3576716365575919550.post-31398345019735742222007-08-15T22:20:00.000-05:002007-08-15T22:20:00.000-05:00Fanx 4 ur empafy, Shadocat. Let me no if u want h...Fanx 4 ur empafy, Shadocat. <BR/>Let me no if u want hep wif killeen doze rats R mise.Dinuhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13554934570600263986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3576716365575919550.post-59690456721346204432007-08-15T21:34:00.000-05:002007-08-15T21:34:00.000-05:00Maggie, You can tell Ms. Dinah I also had a simil...Maggie,<BR/><BR/> You can tell Ms. Dinah I also had a similar "fight or flight" reflex last night; let me elaborate.<BR/><BR/> I have been reading "Devil In The White City", a story that is partially about Lil Gator's infamous relative, and partially about the Chicago World's Fair of 1893. and how they intersect, etc.<BR/>Last night was a very slow night here at work, and I did a lot of reading. As luck would have it, my time here was up after I had just read a particularly gruesome passage. My co-worker had to leave earlier that evening, so I wouold be going to my car alone.<BR/><BR/> We park in an alley behind a building that was built after the Civil War--- as a matter of fact the whole neighborhood is chock full of old Victorian buildings, and after dark it looks very "Whitchappley". Anyway, it was so hot last night, a thin layer of steam was coming off the asphalt, making everything even eerier than usual. I ventured out into the alley, firmly grasping my cane, determined to whack any would-be serial killers where the good Lord split-em, when suddenly, I heard a squeaking sound (it was probably a mouse or a rat). I, for the first time in 2 years, jumped about 2 feet, and then raced to my car at break -neck speed!. I jumped in, locked the car door, and peeled out of the alley as fast as I could!. When I finally calmed down, I was a hurtin' for it---still, it's nice to know there's still some adreniline in there when I need it!<BR/><BR/>Oh, and on an entirely different subject, I've been watching the news about this whole Utah mining incident with your "Sago" poem in the back of my mind...Read this in Salon today, and thought I'd send it your way (but you've probably already read it)http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2007/08/15/coal/index.html?source=newslettershadocathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06521665457310453680noreply@blogger.com