Vive la 'vieve

This feature does indeed highlight a great song. And one that is generally overlooked, a deep cut in the truest sense. The author, who is of course named "Genevieve" herself, calls Preservation Act 1 a "falled concept album", which is in a way a redundancy. While there have been a few successes in the form (it's done all right by Pink Floyd a couple of times), it usually requires a lot of tolerance. Ray Davies, being a very smart man, made sure to leave himself some escape hatches so that he wasn't imprisoned by the concept, and this is one happy result.

Reading the article reminded me of a girl I used to work with. Her name was Jen, short for "Jennifer," but she'd heard from her mother that the mother had wanted to name her "Genevieve." In this case, the name was supposed to have the original French pronunciation of ZHAHN-vee-EV. Mom said that she decided against it because people would always be misproununcing it. Jen's response was, "Mom, you know me. You know how much I'd enjoy correcting them."

Ah well, as some other British Invasion stalwarts wrote, you can't always get what you want.

Been through the War

More people died in World War One--aka the Great War--than in World War Two.

How do I know that? Grandad, my maternal grandfather told me. WWI was over when he was just a child, although for years I'm sure that for years afterward it haunted the converation of the grownups. He fought in Two.

It was very like him to point out that fact. To specify that the war he fought in could have been bigger, could have been worse. He was a kind man, and also a humble and unassuming one.

These qualities can lead to one being taken for granted. And I know that back then I didn't fully appreciate him. But even though he wasn't in the US armed forces--rather he was a member of the British Royal Navy--he's the vet I'm thinking of thise veteran's day.

Self-programming

I just called work. No one's there. Despite the West Coast time displayed on this page, it's getting close to midnight where I am.

So why did I call? To leave myself a message. There are 4-5 things I need to do tomorrow, and it's very possible I could forget one or two.

The act of speaking these things aloud creates a kind of muscle memory (larynx memory?) Basically you remind yourself by leaving evidence that you cared enough to remind yourself. Now whether I listen to the whole playback is of secondary importance, although it wouldn't be a bad idea.

I've done this before and I've neglected to do it. It does make a difference.

The Anniversary: a Stray Thought

As every American knows, a lot of people died six years ago today. A lot of good people, I'm sure.

Think of your end. How do you want to go. (Nice idea, sir, but be sure to warn the young lady ahead of time.) And, how do you want to be remembered.

The dead of 9/11 are remembered, in a sense. Their families and friends definitely carry on their memory. In the public, individuals are named, but tend to be overshadowed by the event itself. Perhaps this is inevitable. But something is missing. A lot of he's and she's, really, are missing from the account.

In addition, there's 9/11 as a political prop. The victims are used to justify certain policies, their legacy invoked to make politicians look tougher.

Would they approve? It's impossible to say for sure. In all likelihood, some would and others wouldn't.

The fact is, though, that they didn't approve. We're not asking them. We're telling each other.

How to best respect the dead? Maybe by not pretending that we serve them.