Good Mornin', Sunshine!!

Apologies to all those waiting with Bated Breath for their latest instalment in this, the StOnEDHolYBloggeR's somewhat irregular glimpse into the Mudane, Day-To-Day of the Pop-Slop Zero, but after noticing, through my usual Somnambulistic Fug, that my last Brave Venturing Forth into the Giddy Airs of the Blogosphere was more than a fortnight ago, I  resolved to throw off  the Ennui which has enveloped me on returning from Rockin' the Roll on the Isle of Jura, and put fingertip to plastic key & write something....anything!

Being if not entirely Elevated but certainly Animated after our earnest Musical Labours and crawling back into Hometown via the back door late on Sunday night and flopping into the Eider Downed cosiness of the StonedHoly HQ Dormitory and the Sleep of the Just, it was somewhat jarring, to say the least,  to wake early on Monday morning and find yourself rudely cast once more into the World of F-Olding Money! Caught up again in the Obligatory but still Enervating business of Promising to Pay the Bearer and procuring such diverse Consumer Non-Essentials as Washing-Up Powder n Eccles Cakes doesn't get any easier, does it! Someday soon perchance, I may finally grow up & deal with the nuts n bolts of this Used Up, Boozed Up, Screwed Up, Chewed Up, Muddled Up, Fucked up, Drugged Up Crazy Old World we're livin' in! I speak, Friends, of the Real World of Cash n Bills.....but oh my! Such Grubbiness!! Failing, as ever, in the acquisition of Moolah, I am reminded of the Words of Robbie the Ranter, that "The Rank Is But The Guinea's Stamp"....and he ought to have known : Pushin' that Ploughshare through the Brown Fields of Ayrshire with hands that could write Poetry!

So yes, ahm Broke but not Broken! Unbowed if somewhat Bent Over! I promise myself anew to Come Up For Air & lose these Goddam Inhalation Blues! Call it being Big Headed or just plain Pig Headed, but The STONedhoLyBLOgger must Cleave to his Assertion, Stand Firm by his Contention, that he is bigger than this life he's livin', bigger than this space he's been given!!

"Bring Forth What Is Within You & What You Bring Forth Will Save You. Do Not Bring Forth What Is Within You & What You Do Not Bring Forth Will Destroy You". These Sage words are attributed to Thomas the Doubter. Though somewhat maligned for his Skepticism by some, the stoNEDhoLYbloGGEr  sees Tam as a man in control of his critical faculties. Surely he was right to Doubt? An eminently sensible approach methinks. What would you say, Gentle Reader, if friends told you a Man you'd seen laid in the Grave was Up n About n ordering Scrambled Eggs on a Seeded Bagel?! Was it Groucho Marx or Leon Trotsky who advised his son to "Doubt Everything"? No matter, but we would be well-advised to follow this counsel.

But enough of  Essene Mystics and Russian Revolutionaries, let us address what is Within : For I Have Seen the Times I've Kept it In. I Have, As You Have Too, I Know, Been Too Scared to See What Was Inside of Me. Too Many Times, Again & Again, I Have, As You Have Too, I'm Sure,  Not Dared to Test the Boundaries. If you feel the above is somewhat sombre, I can only apologise for not being my usual Ebullient & Chipper Self but the Path of a Secular Preacher of Brethren-ness is not always Smooth! So Yes, the Road may be Rocky but we March On. What else to do?

And remember, Cyberpeepers, that it was hope that remained inside Pandora's Box when all else had been loosed upon the Earth.  so....To the Toppermost of the Poppermost, Mis Amigos! I've just met Mr. Smilesman and his Smile went on for Miles, Man! So Good Mornin' Sunshine! Good Mornin' Sunshine! I say again 'Good Mornin' Sunshine!'

Musings on Bob Dylan & Iggy Pop

Hey there, you Rockers n Rollers! Ola mis Hermanos Y Hermanas! Once more, my Salutations to all the good people of Worldwidewebness....or to put it a little more realistically perhaps, the odd one or two of you idle surfers who have, through various diverse, if not downright bizarre, paths found themselves somewhat astray, virtually speaking, and clicked their way onto these pages! The STonedHOLybloGGEr extends both a warm welcome and the reassuringly firm Handshake of Eternal Fraternity to all who would peruse his meagre efforts within the Blogosphere.

Meanwhile, at StonedHoly HQ we have convinced ourselves that the number of you out there who are Hip enough to Plug into the Literary Perambulations of the stONEdhoLYBloggeR is growing. So, may I draw to your Attention, those of you Dedicated to all things 'Stoned N Holy' (a small number, admittedly!) and also those amongst you who have, for no discernible reason, made good their return to our estimable pages, our New HolyBlogger Livery. Our Internet Duds, if you will! It has been a Steep Learning Curve! We have fumbled in the Virtual Dark, so to speak. A Click here, a Click there.....We must admit hereby to there having been 'Distractions' en route. So many Pretty Gals, so few items of clothing! But the Clicking is done and the Cyber Re-Spray is finished ; to a fashion! The Tips of my Index Fingers have now Calloused over! Our Image Make-Over is complete. We trust you CyberBlogPeepers will, at the very least, appreciate our efforts.

Now, if I can climb up into my Rock n Roll Pulpit for a minute or two, maybe we can look at this New Layout mallarkey in more depth : Methinks everyone in this life is entitled to some kinda Make-Over. Indeed, can we not all Meld ourselves wholly anew? A little City Livin' is a Dangerous Thing, after all - It can Get a Man to thinking he's as Good as a Goddam King! These Democratic Reverberations can, it seems, to paraphrase De Tocqueville, make everyone forget his Ancestors and Isolate him from his contemporaries. Identity can be Fluid if we wish it so! To Seek Out An Identity, You Must Alienate Society. Constraints of Gender & Creed, History & Culture can, indeed Must, be Subverted. Too often, the Expectations of those closest to us, Family & Friends, can be limiting and deny us Free Expression of our True Selves. Sometimes a complete break is required so that we can create the person we want ourselves to be.

So, Dig this : Young gun / Collar High / Slips Outta Hometown & Strait-Jacket Identity / Shoulders his Duffel-Bag / Spirits High / Heads for the 2 Lane Blacktop that's Gonna Carry Him Far from Mezuzahs N Talmudic Apocrypha to Big City U.S / He Thumbs / He Bums N Mooches / He Strums His Guitar / His Given Name is Scuffed Off by the Roadside / Soon it's Big apple Time N Whoopyjivin' In Soho /  Then it's over to East Orange to touch the Hem of Woody's Garment / Meanwhile Rock n Roll has Fizzled Out N Charts are Empty / One Good Review later & he's on his Way / Soon he'll be Dancing Beneath Diamond Skies With One Hand Waving Free! And Thus is Robert Zimmerman, curly-headed kid from Desolate Deluth, Minnesota, refashioned as Bob Dylan! And Thank the Musical Gods he was, otherwise he could not have Brought it all Back Home & we wouldn't have an album that can transport us into the Heavenly Firmament!

Let us now examine the strange case of Mr. James Osterberg from Ann Arbor, Michigan. The STOnEdHoLYbLoGgEr can only hope you are familiar with the Sonic Output of Mr. Osterberg for, verily, it is the stuff of Legend. He has on more than one occasion Hit the
G-Spot of Rock n Roll but perhaps, methinks, his greatest artistic achievement was the side-stepping of all that was mapped out for him in Industrial Small Town America and his creation of Iggy Pop as a persona which allowed  him the Freedom to explore the Waters he thereupon wholly immersed himself in.

So, Pop Pickers, if you feel like a change, then you too can Go To It! The Voluptuary Excesses of Mr. Pop may not be for you but in a quiet and perchance, wholly unnoticed way you can Make Yourself Over. Truly, for the Sake of this Ramshackle Old World we're living in, we must Believe the Leopard Can Change His Spots!...For Does Not This World Need Changing?

'Be The Change You Want To See In The World.' were the Sage Words of The Mahatma. Fine Words and here's some more courtesy of yir Resident Secular Preacher of Brethren-ness - 'It's Not Water Down The Drain If It Brings Us Closer Together. It's Not An Ocean & One Drop Of Rain If It Makes Things A Little Better.' If that means as little as a Smile instead of a Frown or some kind words freely given, if that means a Splash of Colour to liven up the Monochrome, then it's Enough for now. Think On It, CyberPeople, is all ahm sayin'.....Think On It.

Catch Y'All Next Time - This Is Yir Concrete Prairie Crooner & Stoned & Holy Blogger signing off. Glad Tidings For All. Over N Oot.