Althouse: At the Lotus Café...

August 12, 2018

At the Lotus Café...

... you can open your heart.

56 comments:

Birkel said...: Bruce Ohr is something else, right?
Team Soft Coup lost but they fight nonetheless.

Mueller is exposed.; 8/12/18, 7:42 PM
LincolnTf said...: Now listening to "Hallelujah" by Pentatonix. I have no memory of this song, but I like it.; 8/12/18, 7:43 PM
gilbar said...: NOW there's a cafe! Ok,
There's a trannie running for governor in Vermont, and:
she’s appealing to Vermonters with a progressive message that includes a livable wage, Medicare for all, free public college education and high-speed broadband access — even to those who live on remote back roads.; 8/12/18, 7:43 PM
Etienne said...: My step-daughter Billie Sue moved to Mesa a couple of years ago, and her neighbor keeps filming her. She says her husband and son is a pervert.

Security Cameras; 8/12/18, 7:47 PM
LincolnTf said...: Johnny Cash, Heart of Gold. I'm loving the random YouTube playlist.; 8/12/18, 7:48 PM
Mike Sylwester said...: Song lyrics by Don George (1909 - 1985)

-----

I'm Beginning to See the Light

I never cared much for moonlit skies.
I never wink back at fireflies,
But now that the stars are in your eyes,
I'm beginning to see the light.

I never went in for afterglow
Or candlelight on the mistletoe,
But now when you turn the lamp down low,
I'm beginning to see the light.

Used to ramble through the park,
Shadowboxing in the dark.
Then you came and caused a spark
That's a four-alarm fire now.

I never made love by lantern shine.
I never saw rainbows in my wine,
But now that your lips are burning mine,
I'm beginning to see the light.

-----

Sung by Doris Day; 8/12/18, 7:48 PM
Etienne said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/12/18, 7:50 PM
Etienne said...: LincolnTf said..."Hallelujah" by Pentatonix

I think it is called "Hallelujah Christmas" to distinguish the new lyrics.

The little Irish girl Kaylee Rogers sang it also.; 8/12/18, 7:51 PM
Etienne said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/12/18, 7:53 PM
LincolnTf said...: I know nothing about music, so anything released after about 1998 is pretty much new to me.; 8/12/18, 7:54 PM
Ann Althouse said...: -------------------

I'm Beginning to See the Light

Some people work very hard
But still they never get it right
Well, I'm beginning to see the light
Want to tell all you people now, now, now
Baby, I'm beginning to see the light
Hey, now, baby, I'm beginning to see the light
Wine in the morning and some breakfast at night
Well, I'm beginning to see the light...
It's kinda softer now
I wore my teeth in my hands
So I could mess the hair of the night
Hey, well, I'm beginning to see the light...
I met myself in a dream
And I just want to tell you, everything was alright
Hey now, baby, I'm beginning to see the light
Here comes two of you
Which one will you choose?
One is black and one is blue
Don't know just what to do, alright...
Oh, it's getting little softer in here now
Now, now, baby I'm beginning to see the light...
There are problems in these times
But, ooh, none of them are mine
Oh, baby, I'm beginning to see the light...

-------------------

Sung by The Velvet Underground; 8/12/18, 7:56 PM
Inga...Allie Oop said...: “My step-daughter Billie Sue moved to Mesa a couple of years ago, and her neighbor keeps filming her. She says her husband and son is a pervert.

Security Cameras”

Hahahahaha! I’ve been watching Jessie31’s interaction with Billie for months now, hilarious!; 8/12/18, 7:58 PM
Etienne said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/12/18, 8:06 PM
LincolnTf said...: Etienne, thanks. I just listened to the Irish girl's rendition. I like it better than the other one. Now YouTube is feeding me Nirvana, acoustic, I think I'll pass.; 8/12/18, 8:07 PM
rcocean said...: I think we're in another golden age of PGA Golf.

Speith, Koepka, Woods, McIllroy, Fleetwood, Day, Fowler, Justin Thomas, the list goes on and on.

Great golfers. Interesting to watch. I can't wait till the Ryder Cup.; 8/12/18, 8:08 PM
Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of New York said...: she’s appealing to Vermonters with a progressive message that includes a livable wage, Medicare for all, free public college education and high-speed broadband access — even to those who live on remote back roads.

That's why we have Republican governors. The Democrats have gone full whack job. People know it. I saw the last Democrat governor speak, and except for the accent and the fact that he wasn't fat, the things he talked about were just like the governor in Oh Brother Where Art Thou.; 8/12/18, 8:14 PM
LincolnTf said...: Heh, I almost just got weepy listening to a YouTube-provided song. Reminds me of my late grandparents and my still-living parents. All of our family's best memories are from the Cape. Patti Page's "Old Cape Cod".; 8/12/18, 8:29 PM
Ralph L said...: I wore my teeth in my hands
You're supposed to put them in a glass of water on the nightstand.

Parts of "Hallelujah" have been used on several TV shows. Songwriter Leonard Cohen's version is terrible. Now it's a staple for singers to make a hash of.; 8/12/18, 8:48 PM
rhhardin said...: Eurydice marries Orfeus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wni1GVRlMtc; 8/12/18, 9:23 PM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: Oh no! The kids (including mine, bless their hearts) at my church sang the Christmas Hallelujah and it was everything I could do not to walk out in disgust from sheer artistic offense. The Jeff Buckley rendition is so beautiful, tender, nuanced -- then the kids grinding out the see-saw melody with those clunky rewritten lyrics - ugh!; 8/12/18, 9:23 PM
Quaestor said...: Eurydice marries Orfeus

My favorite opera (if that's what it is).

Not my favorite performance.; 8/12/18, 9:29 PM
Quaestor said...: Too many 18th-century theatrical elements. Also, the costumes suck.

Better. The pastori look like they might smell of sheep. The nymphs are wearing clothes, so that's a downer... so still I'm looking for a performance costumed properly.; 8/12/18, 9:39 PM
rhhardin said...: My favorite opera (if that's what it is).

I was raised on Krebs in the 1950s, listened to it every night doing homework.

I know every note of the opera, and since some of them are put in ad-lib, every difference in other performances strike me.

Gerdener is a good more recent recording.; 8/12/18, 9:51 PM
rhhardin said...: Gardener
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000057CV/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1; 8/12/18, 9:52 PM
Mark said...: So I've been watching this series "The Pacific War in Color" on the Smithsonian Channel. That whole island-hopping strategy was . . . something. Maybe they could have skipped over a couple of those islands? And provide some close-in air support?

Anyway, all those beach landings were simply slaughters. And then once they secured the beaches, taking the rest of the island(s) was just more slaughter. Little comfort that the Japanese got the worst of it when each battle results in tens of thousands of U.S. casualties.

Sure, I've heard of the tenacity of the Japanese soldiers before, but it never really sunk in -- like a lot of history can tend to not do. It became clearer to me like never before that they were never, ever going to give up. Every patch of ground, every hill had the potential for a cave or hole where Japanese soldiers and guns were. We had to scratch and bite for every inch, resulting in a mountain of American dead. And killing "the enemy" (Americans) just for spite even when they knew they lost was part of their code too.

So I'm watching this. We ultimately destroyed their armies on those islands. And they did not surrender. We destroyed their naval forces. And they did not surrender. We destroyed their air forces. And they did not surrender. We cut off their supplies. And they did not surrender. We developed napalm and dropped it on their hidden troops. And they did not surrender. We used napalm bombs to firebomb Tokyo and other cities. And they did not surrender. The Japanese were going to fight for every square inch and inflict maximum pain on American soldiers in any invasion of Japan, just for spite. Including killing all of our POWs.

So, the momentous decision to drop the bomb became much more clear. We gave warnings of utter destruction. But even then they did not surrender. And so we dropped the bomb on Hiroshima. AND STILL THEY DID NOT SURRENDER.; 8/12/18, 9:54 PM
Big Mike said...: I like “Sailor Jerri’s” version, which salutes our veterans:

”You packed your bags and shut the door.
You crossed the sea to fight a war.
You didn’t know just what would happen to ya.”
Stepped in the dirt, boots on the ground
and gunfire was the only sound
and to yourself you whispered ‘Hallelujah.’”

The chorus of “Hallelujah” remains the same as in the original.

“Every day and every night, you walked the walk,
you fought the fight.
You never saw the end in sight, now did ya?
The days awash in a haze of red,
the blood, the mud, too many dead.
Your weary soul was crying, Hallelujah.”

And the ending:

“You fought the fight till it was done,
You have the strength to carry on.
You thought it’d be much better back home did ya?
You try each day, keep pushing through.
But the battle lives inside of you.
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah.”; 8/12/18, 9:55 PM
Mark said...: Nagasaki is evidence of justification for Hiroshima. That is had to take another one before they finally would surrender.

But it is all such senseless tragedy. How much evil must endure before people finally give it up?; 8/12/18, 9:57 PM
Michael K said...: Francisco D is getting a nice introduction to the Tucson monsoon season this weekend.

We were in Oro Valley Friday night going to a Music Hall to a party and had lightning strikes 50 feet away.

Tonight, another big storm is passing north of us and on the way to Oro Valley.

Welcome to Tucson, Francisco D.; 8/12/18, 10:00 PM
Big Mike said...: @Mark, at last! Someone else who understands. When people talk about civilian casualties from Hiroshima the image that comes to my mind are film clippings from the battle for Okinawa, showing women throwing their children into the sea from the edges of cliffs, before jumping to their own deaths. How many women would have done the same on the Home Islands if the US Army was forced to invade? But they didn’t kill themselves and their children because of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.; 8/12/18, 10:06 PM
Gahrie said...: Some poor sap survived both attacks. he was in Hiroshima, survived the attack, went home to Nagasaki and survived that one too. Either the luckiest or unluckiest man in history.; 8/12/18, 10:12 PM
Gahrie said...: The Japanese were going to fight for every square inch and inflict maximum pain on American soldiers in any invasion of Japan, just for spite. Including killing all of our POWs.

Not spite...religious belief. The Japanese KNEW their emperor was a God, the way we know gravity exists. They were literally willing to die for him. Plus you must remember that in Japanese culture at the time, surrender was a serious dishonor. So they would rather die than surrender, and our POWs were beneath contempt to them.; 8/12/18, 10:16 PM
Michael K said...: An interesting example f Ham Sandwich Nation,

Over the course of the first weekend in May, Gail Sistrunk McTiernan spent about 11 hours with her husband John McTiernan in the visiting room of the Yankton Federal Prison Camp in South Dakota. It was the first time she'd seen John — "McT" to friends and colleagues — since he'd started a yearlong prison sentence the month before.

The prisoners and guards had given him a new nickname: "Mac," sometimes "Big Mac." The Federal Bureau of Prisons assigned him number 43029-112, stitched in above the pocket of his ill-fitting tan uniform. The 62-year-old had already lost 20 pounds, getting one main serving of protein a week: a hamburger. A guard stood watch each day to ensure he ate only a single orange, as fresh fruit was in short supply.

"It's like croquet but the inmates are the balls," as he described prison life to his spouse.

It was a painful few days for McTiernan's family, and perhaps the lowest point in the life and career of the legendary Hollywood director. A few years short of retirement, the man behind Die Hard, The Hunt For Red October, and The Thomas Crowne Affair had lost a costly, complicated, and seemingly frivolous seven-year legal battle with the government for lying to the FBI.

The prosecutor.

McTiernan and his supporters believe one prosecutor in particular overreached for personal reasons: Daniel A. Saunders, who worked in the Los Angeles attorney general's office. Before Saunders went to law school at U.C. Berkeley, he'd tried for six years to become a screenwriter and actor in Hollywood.

A failed actor.; 8/12/18, 10:18 PM
Ray - SoCal said...: The more I learn about how inter-connected the major players were from fusion, state, fbi, etc were I feel like I need flow charts to keep it straight.

So many connections!

Somebody wrote up a 100 page report on this.

Great - major players in the press had the unredacted FISA app for over a year.
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2018/08/12/the-media-are-hiding-their-knowledge-and-duplicity-buzzfeed-wapo-and-new-york-times-had-unredacted-fisa-application-for-over-a-year/; 8/12/18, 10:18 PM
hawkeyedjb said...: Big monsoon in Phoenix/Scottsdale tonite. Lotsa damage, trees and light poles down. Police and utility workers on the job, rapid professional response. Sorry our local government hasn't yet found the time to ban straws, we'll get that done later. Work to do right now.; 8/12/18, 10:22 PM
Mark said...: Another show I saw -- just tonight -- had Al Sharpton on it. Wow. What a skinny twig of a guy he has become.; 8/12/18, 10:59 PM
Kathryn51 said...: incolnTf said...
Now listening to "Hallelujah" by Pentatonix. I have no memory of this song, but I like it.

Lincoln, thanks for link, I'm always willing to listen to something new, but these lyrics left me cold, no matter how haunting the music.

Etienne - thanks for the Irish Girl link - beautiful, just beautiful. My daughter began to sing it in the other room after hearing the first chords.

Bonus Point - Thanks to Irish Girl link, You Tube suggested the following video for my entertainment: "The moment NBC News *REALIZES* Trump has WON FLORIDA!!" Never gets old.; 8/12/18, 11:19 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: Democrat Keith Ellison faces his own #Metoo moment..

Since we’ve already established that women never lie about sexual assaults, Mr. Ellison must resign immediately and all elected Democrats must be asked repeatedly if they support him or the victim.l; 8/12/18, 11:33 PM
eddie willers said...: I'm sorry, but that Pentatonix version was just too chock full of melisma to sound sincere. Too much straining that it almost sinks to farce.

By far the best version I have ever heard of this song is Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah (Official Video)

And I've heard a LOT of versions.; 8/12/18, 11:40 PM
walter said...: NBC via Meet the press engaged in more creative audio editing w.r.t. Omarosa's firing tape. I just heard the unedited passage via Red Eye Radio and the difference is yuuuuge.; 8/13/18, 1:46 AM
Francisco D said...: " Welcome to Tucson, Francisco D.

Thanks, Michael.

Watching the storms come over the mountains is amazing, but driving in the dark during a monsoon is terrifying. Where are all the friggin' street lights?!! (I know about the national observatory).

My fiancé is from the East Cast and lived in Iowa for some time. She was hesitant about Tucson, but absolutely loves it. I am learning about retirement and waiting for cooler weather to work out. In other words, I am lazy, except for putting the new house together.

We are in the northern part of OV, on the Vistoso Golf Course. I am getting into the local political scene due to the golf club closure. It's interesting and somewhat frustrating.

We should meet for lunch in a few weeks when I am fully settled.; 8/13/18, 2:13 AM
FIDO said...: Ever since Kate McKinnon sang that song as a lament for a VERY Good Day, I really don't like that Hallelujah song very much.

I can't believe the pipes on that little girl though.

Plus their Atheist Asses should not be allowed to Culturally Appropriate our stories, faith, or philosophy.; 8/13/18, 2:26 AM
exhelodrvr1 said...: Big MIke and Mark,
"Someone else who understands."
I have tried the "extrapolation of Okinawan civilian casualties" argument a number of times with liberals. They can't think at that level.
Forgetting about the US lives that were saved, which by itself was sufficient justification for dropping the bombs, the A-bombs saved millions of Japanese civilian lives, and millions of Japanese military lives.; 8/13/18, 3:36 AM
Big Mike said...: @exhelodrvr1, my experience with the “dropping the atom bomb was eeeeevil” people — and they aren’t all liberals! — mirrors yours.; 8/13/18, 5:25 AM
gilbar said...: And yet, you'll Still hear people saying
"OH, We should have detonated the a-bomb on a uninhabited atoll, which would have shown the Japanese how terrible it was, and they would have surrendered "
Hiroshima showed how terrible it was, and they didn't surrender; 8/13/18, 5:27 AM
Rosa Marie Yoder said...: It's a whole new world, surrounded by state and national forests, dotted with lakes every 2.5 miles. Yet, the DNR sign now says that the fire danger is high while it was low just four days ago. We need rain!

A nice bonus is the small Amish community nearby. Sweet corn from a garden that takes up the entire front yard. Homemade baked goods on random days. Custom sawing. Handmade hickory rockers. Yesterday, church was at the Glen Miller farm.

I wonder what kind of flower beds might thrive in sand. In the shade.; 8/13/18, 6:17 AM
Robert Cook said...: "Hiroshima showed how terrible it was, and they didn't surrender."

They were trying to, even before we dropped the first bomb. Dropping the bombs was intended to show the world and warn the Russians of the power we possessed. As with nearly all statements made by nations at war, the claims that using the nukes was necessary to save more American (and Japanese) lives and force the Japanese to surrender were lies to cover up and justify other realities.; 8/13/18, 6:33 AM
Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of New York said...: As with nearly all statements made by nations at war, the claims that using the nukes was necessary to save more American (and Japanese) lives and force the Japanese to surrender were lies to cover up and justify other realities.

Yes, it's lies, all lies! And Stalin was such a sweet man! Only had the best interests of Russia's peasants at heart! That's why he had to march his armies across Europe! That' why he let the Poles and the Nazis fight it out, because the Nazis were doing the work he was just planning to do anyway of killing off the Polish army.

Were you cheering in 1968 when Soviet troops marched into Czechoslovakia? How about when they marched into Afghanistan, destroying civil government there? I am sure it pains you to see the US on the wrong side of history through all of that.

It is likely true that one of the motivations for dropping the bomb was as a warning to dear Uncle Joe, Joseph Fucking Stalin. Another was that the Japanese were still trying to get favorable terms in their surrender. You can argue about that, that maybe the US demands for absolute surrender by Japan and Germany were wrong headed, but that was the war aim.; 8/13/18, 7:42 AM
Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of New York said...: It's like you can't think a second move ahead. It's like a child could beat you at tic tac toe.; 8/13/18, 7:44 AM
Michael K said...: "Hiroshima showed how terrible it was, and they didn't surrender."

They were trying to, even before we dropped the first bomb.

Historian Cookie us explaining to us why that coup by Japanese officers didn't happen.

Thanks, Cookie. You sound like my daughter's History teacher at U of Arizona who taught her that "The Silent Majority" was made up of white people who refused to accept the 1964 Civil Rights Act. No mention of Vietnam or Nixon.

I caught it when I was helping her with her final exam review,. You didn't teach at U of A did you ?; 8/13/18, 7:55 AM
Etienne said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/13/18, 7:55 AM
Michael K said...: We should meet for lunch in a few weeks when I am fully settled.

Deal. That club we were looking for is in the Vistoso center. We finally found it in the midst of lightning strikes Friday night.; 8/13/18, 7:58 AM
Michael K said...: Blogger Etienne said...
In 1944 the 8th Air Force knew they couldn't win the war until about 1947, if they continued on with strategic bombing strategy.

The Army was very short of troops at the time of the Battle of the Bulge as there was increasing resistance to the Draft.

The public thought the war was over.; 8/13/18, 8:00 AM
Etienne said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/13/18, 8:26 AM
hawkeyedjb said...: My father was in the US Navy, and his job in the great invasion of Japan was to be a forward bombardment spotter. He and his crew would float their little ship close to the shoreline, and radio back to the great battleships far offshore how to adjust their aim. They would do this until the enemy discovered them and sank them, at which time - as the saying goes - you are now free to go. He and his shipmates were eternally grateful to President Harry Truman for his decision to end the thing once and for all. Remember, by this time about 60 million people were dead, and the world was exhausted from war. Dad once said that if we had gone on with the invasion and the subsequent massive further loss of life, then discovered later that the president could have ended the whole mess with a bomb or two, "They would have dragged him out of the White House and hanged him." You think that the people of the USA were sick of war when tens of thousands - including American soldiers - died in Iraq and Afghanistan? Think "tens of millions." It's cheap anti-Americanism to look back and pretend to claim some moral high ground when you're not faced with making actual decisions. Thank God for President Truman.; 8/13/18, 9:18 AM
Big Mike said...: “They would have dragged him out of the White House and hanged him."

And Bess and Margaret and everybody in Truman’s war cabinet.; 8/13/18, 9:43 AM
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