{"id":4002,"date":"2009-04-03T11:22:45","date_gmt":"2009-04-03T15:22:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/?p=4002"},"modified":"2009-04-03T11:22:45","modified_gmt":"2009-04-03T15:22:45","slug":"choose-your-own-poisons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/2009\/04\/choose-your-own-poisons\/","title":{"rendered":"Choose Your Own Poisons"},"content":{"rendered":"

From whiskey river<\/em><\/a>:<\/p>\n

We’re fools whether we dance or not,
\nSo we might as well dance.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Japanese proverb)<\/p>\n

…and:<\/p>\n

The first principle is that you must not fool yourself — and you are the easiest person to fool.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Richard Feynman [in his 1974 CalTech commencement address<\/a>]<\/em>)<\/p>\n

Not from whiskey river<\/em>:<\/p>\n

Fool’s Money Bags<\/strong><\/p>\n

Outside the long window,
\nWith his head on the stone sill,
\nThe dog is lying,
\nGazing at his Beloved.
\nHis eyes are wet and urgent,
\nAnd his body is taut and shaking.
\nIt is cold on the terrace;
\nA pale wind licks along the stone slabs,
\nBut the dog gazes through the glass
\nAnd is content.<\/p>\n

The Beloved is writing a letter.
\nOccasionally she speaks to the dog,
\nBut she is thinking of her writing.
\nDoes she, too, give her devotion to one
\nNot worthy?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Amy Lowell [source<\/a>]<\/em>)<\/p>\n

Now let’s look back a few years, to the revivification of John Travolta’s career, post-Pulp Fiction<\/em>. In 1996 he took the title role in Michael<\/em>: a vacationing archangel. In fact, this is the last vacation Michael may take (according to some rulebook which angels must follow), so he wants to make it a good one. (An angel who wants to vacation on Earth?<\/em> you’re thinking. He replies, “Whatever they say, you can never have too much of Earth.”) He travels across country with a group of staffers for a gossip\/tabloid magazine, and on the way they stop at a roadhouse…<\/p>\n

A fun blog post probably awaits me, or somebody, on the subject of “classic scenes from non-classic films.” This scene in the roadhouse is wonderful — I was very surprised I couldn’t find it anywhere online but at an Italian site. In any case, it answers pretty definitively the question an alien might ask: “Why do people dance<\/em>, anyway?” (Michael is like a flystrip which, when dangled in the air, catches only females.)<\/p>\n

It doesn’t hurt that the music (lyrics below) likewise ties into the theme of this week’s Friday post, especially the Japanese proverb.<\/p>\n

<\/object><\/p>\n

Lyrics:<\/p>\n

Chain of Fools<\/strong>
\n(words and music by Don Covay;
\nperformance by Aretha Franklin)<\/em><\/p>\n

Chain, chain, chain, chain, chain, chain
\nChain, chain, chain, chain of fools
\nFive long years I thought you were my man
\nBut I found out I’m just a link in your chain
\nYou got me where you want me
\nI ain’t nothing but your fool
\nYou treated me mean oh you treated me cruel
\nChain, chain, chain, chain of fools<\/p>\n

Every chain has got a weak link
\nI might be weak child, but I’ll give you strength
\nYou told me to leave you alone
\nMy father said come on home
\nMy doctor said take it easy
\nWhole bunch of lovin is much too strong
\nI’m added to your chain, chain, chain
\nChain, chain, chain, chain,
\nChain, chain of fools<\/p>\n

One of these mornings the chain is gonna break
\nBut up until then, yeah, I’m gonna take all I can take
\nChain, chain, chain, chain, chain, chain
\nChain, chain, chain, chain of fools<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From whiskey river: We’re fools whether we dance or not, So we might as well dance. (Japanese proverb) …and: The first principle is that you must not fool yourself — and you are the easiest person to fool. (Richard Feynman [in his 1974 CalTech commencement address]) Not from whiskey river: Fool’s Money Bags Outside the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","h5ap_radio_sources":[],"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[247,95,74,251],"tags":[1121,1122,1123,1124,1125,1126,1127],"class_list":{"0":"post-4002","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-ruminations","7":"category-science-medicine","8":"category-music","9":"category-poetry-writing_cat","10":"tag-fools","11":"tag-dancing","12":"tag-richard-feynman","13":"tag-archangel-michael","14":"tag-john-travolta","15":"tag-chain-of-fools","16":"tag-aretha-franklin","17":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6kZSG-12y","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4002"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4016,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4002\/revisions\/4016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}