{"id":7995,"date":"2011-01-14T06:53:55","date_gmt":"2011-01-14T11:53:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/?p=7995"},"modified":"2019-01-12T08:04:12","modified_gmt":"2019-01-12T13:04:12","slug":"one-fine-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/2011\/01\/one-fine-day\/","title":{"rendered":"One Fine Day"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"intrinsic-container intrinsic-container-16x9\"><a name=\"top\"><\/a><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_Jv_RCxjhdk\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p class=\"smalltext\">[Video: time-lapse film of an entire year in a wooded area, over &#8220;One Fine Day,&#8221; by David Byrne and Brian Eno (lyrics in <a href=\"#note\">the note<\/a> at the end of this post)]\n<p>From <em><a title=\"whiskey river: 'The Storm,' by Mary Oliver\" href=\"http:\/\/whiskeyriver.blogspot.com\/2011\/01\/storm-now-through-white-orchard-my.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">whiskey river<\/a><\/em>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>The Storm<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Now through the white orchard my little dog<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 3em;\">romps, breaking the new snow<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 3em;\">with wild feet.<\/span><br \/>\nRunning here running there, excited,<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 3em;\">hardly able to stop, he leaps, he spins<\/span><br \/>\nuntil the white snow is written upon<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 3em;\">in large, exuberant letters,<\/span><br \/>\na long sentence, expressing<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 3em;\">the pleasures of the body in this world.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Oh, I could not have said it better<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 3em;\">myself.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>(Mary Oliver [<em><a title=\"Google Books: 'Winter Hours: Prose, Prose Poems, and Poems,' by Mary Oliver\" href=\"http:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=TmYJA-oqWLgC&amp;pg=PA90&amp;lpg=PA90#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">source<\/a><\/em>])<\/p>\n<p>&#8230;<a title=\"whiskey river: Henry Miller, on accepting life without question\" href=\"http:\/\/whiskeyriver.blogspot.com\/2011\/01\/life-moves-on-whether-we-act-as-cowards.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">and<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Life moves on, whether we act as cowards or heroes. Life has no other discipline to impose, if we would but realize it, than to accept life unquestioningly. Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy, and strength, if faced with an open mind. Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such. Life is now, every moment, no matter if the world be full of death. Death triumphs only in the service of life.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>(Henry Miller [<em><a title=\"Google Books: 'The Henry Miller Reader,' by Henry Miller and Lawrence Durrell\" href=\"http:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=uzz94pR0VQsC&amp;pg=PA356\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">source<\/a><\/em>])<br \/>\n<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Not from <em>whiskey river<\/em>:<\/p>\n<p>(In Terry Pratchett&#8217;s Discworld novels, Death often appears as a character. He&#8217;s the familiar figure &#8212; bones, black hooded robe, rides a giant white horse, and so on &#8212; and he speaks in small capitals, <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">Like This<\/span>. But he&#8217;s also a contemplative. He has a sense of humor. He <em>feels<\/em>. In many ways he&#8217;s the most human of all of Pratchett&#8217;s characters. In the scene here presented, Death is rummaging through his desk. With him is his, um, well, his tiny and ultra-specialized minion, the Death of Rats.)<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>He went back to his desk and opened a drawer.<\/p>\n<p>There was a thick book there, bound in night. On the cover, where a book like this might otherwise say &#8220;Our Wedding&#8221; or &#8220;Acme Photo Album&#8221; it said <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">memories<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>Death turned the heavy pages carefully. Some of the memories escaped as he did so, forming brief pictures in the air before the page turned, and then went flying and fading into the distant, dark corners of the room. There were snatches of sound, too, of laughter, tears, screams, and, for some reason, a brief burst of xylophone music that caused him to pause for a moment.<\/p>\n<p>An immortal has a great deal to remember. Sometimes it&#8217;s better to put things where they will be safe.<\/p>\n<p>One ancient memory, brown and cracking around the edges, lingered in the air over the desk. It showed five figures, four on horseback, one in a chariot, all apparently riding out of a thunderstorm. The horses were at a full gallop. There was a lot of smoke and flame and general excitement.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">Ah, the old days<\/span>, said Death. <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">Before there was this fashion for having a solo career.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">Squeak?<\/span> the Death of Rats inquired.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">Oh, yes<\/span>, said Death. <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">Once there were five of us. <em>Five<\/em> horsemen. But you know how things are. There&#8217;s always a row. Creative disagreements, rooms being trashed, that sort of thing.<\/span> He sighed. <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">And things said that perhaps should not have been said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>He turned a few more pages and sighed again. When you needed an ally, and you were Death, on whom could you absolutely rely?<\/p>\n<p>His thoughtful gaze fell on the teddy bear mug.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>(Terry Pratchett, from <em>Thief of Time<\/em> [<em><a title=\"Google Books: 'Thief of Time,' by Terry Pratchett\" href=\"http:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=X7J1FvRrpPoC&amp;pg=PA12#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">source<\/a><\/em>])<\/p>\n<p>&#8230;and:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>For Laurel and Hardy on My Workroom Wall<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>They\u2019re tipping their battered derbies and striding forward<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1.5em;\">In step for a change, chipper, self-assured,<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 3em;\">Their cardboard suitcases labeled<\/span><br \/>\nGuest of Steerage. They\u2019ve just arrived at the boot camp<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1.5em;\">Of the good old French Foreign Legion<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 3em;\">Which they\u2019ve chosen as their slice of life<\/span><br \/>\nInstead of drowning themselves. Once again<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1.5em;\">They\u2019re about to become their own mothers and fathers<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 3em;\">And their own unknowable children<\/span><br \/>\nWho will rehearse sad laughter and mock tears,<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1.5em;\">Will frown with completely unsuccessful<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 3em;\">Concentration, and will practice the amazement<\/span><br \/>\nOf suddenly understanding everything<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1.5em;\">That baffles them and will go on baffling them<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 3em;\">While they pretend they\u2019re only one reel away<\/span><br \/>\nFrom belonging in the world. Their arrival<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1.5em;\">Will mark a new beginning of meaningless<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 3em;\">Hostilities with a slaphappy ending. In a moment,<\/span><br \/>\nThey\u2019ll hear music, and as if they\u2019d known all along<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1.5em;\">This was what they\u2019d come for, they\u2019ll put down<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 3em;\">The mops and buckets given them as charms<\/span><br \/>\nWith which to cleanse the Sahara and move their feet<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1.5em;\">With a calm, sure, delicate disregard<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 3em;\">For all close-order drill and begin dancing.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>(David Wagoner [<em><a title=\"Poetry Foundation: 'For Laurel and Hardy...,' by David Wagoner\" href=\"http:\/\/www.poetryfoundation.org\/archive\/poem.html?id=30386\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">source<\/a><\/em>])<\/p>\n<p>Gloriously, the entire film described in the poem above is <a title=\"YouTube: 'The Flying Deuces' (full movie)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?num=30&amp;biw=1474&amp;bih=1148&amp;tbs=srcf%3AH4sIAAAAAAAAANOuzC8tKU1K1UvOz1XLzE1JAjNSEjNzKnPzSzLz88D8xKLkjMyyVL38onS1kuRcsFhJaVFeahGYCQBWYEKdRQAAAA&amp;tbm=vid&amp;ei=6eQ5XN6oKMiP5wKFoZuwBw&amp;q=laurel+hardy+%22flying+deuces%22+full+OR+entire&amp;oq=laurel+hardy+%22flying+deuces%22+full+OR+entire&amp;gs_l=psy-ab.3...13864.18293.0.18785.16.16.0.0.0.0.151.1615.5j10.15.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..1.14.1520...0i30k1j0i8i30k1j33i299k1j33i160k1.0.DnM0oWPXVaM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">on YouTube<\/a>. The whole thing is an hour long, so if you&#8217;d like to watch it be sure to settle into a comfortable chair first. Here&#8217;s that one scene, though, from <em><a title=\"Wikipedia, on 'The Flying Deuces'\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Flying_Deuces\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The\u00a0Flying Deuces<\/a><\/em>:<\/p>\n<div class=\"intrinsic-container intrinsic-container-16x9\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/l9hmO-wOx-s\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"note\"><\/a><strong>Note:<\/strong> Lyrics to the song in the video which opens this post:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em><strong>One Fine Day<\/strong><br \/>\n(David Byrne and Brian Eno,<br \/>\nfrom the album <\/em>Everything That Happens Will Happen Today<em>)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Saw the wandrin&#8217; eye- inside my heart<br \/>\nShouts and battle cries- from ev&#8217;ry part<br \/>\nI can see those tears- ev&#8217;ry one is true<br \/>\nWhen the door appears- I&#8217;ll go right through-oooh<\/p>\n<p>I stand in liquid light- like ev&#8217;ryone<br \/>\nI built my life with rhymes- to carry on<br \/>\nAnd it gives me hope- to see you there<br \/>\nThe things I used to know- that one fine<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"margin-left: 4em;\">One fine day <\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 4em;\">One fine day<\/span><\/p>\n<p>In a small dark room- where I will wait<br \/>\nFace to face I find- I contemplate<br \/>\nEven though a man- is made of clay<br \/>\nEv&#8217;rything can change- one fine-<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"margin-left: 4em;\">One Fine Day&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Then before my eyes- Is standing still<br \/>\nI beheld it there- a city on a hill<br \/>\nI complete my tasks- one by one<br \/>\nI remove my masks- when I am done<\/p>\n<p>Then a piece of mind- fell over me<br \/>\nIn these troubled times- I still can see<br \/>\nWe can use the stars\u2013 to guide the way<br \/>\nIt is not that far- one fine\u2026<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"margin-left: 4em;\">One fine day <\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 4em;\">One fine day&#8230;<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n[<em><a title=\"Davidbyrne.com: 'One Fine Day' lyrics\" href=\"http:\/\/www.davidbyrne.com\/music\/cds\/everything_that_happens\/lyrics.php#onefineday\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">source<\/a><\/em>]\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><em>[<a href=\"#top\">back to top<\/a>]<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[Video: time-lapse film of an entire year in a wooded area, over &#8220;One Fine Day,&#8221; by David Byrne and Brian Eno (lyrics in the note at the end of this post)] From whiskey river: The Storm Now through the white orchard my little dog romps, breaking the new snow with wild feet. Running here running [&hellip;]<\/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":[183,247,1393,94,53,36,251,713],"tags":[595,2161,2162,2163,2164,2165,2166],"class_list":{"0":"post-7995","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-everyday-life","7":"category-ruminations","8":"category-whiskey-river-runningaftermyhat","9":"category-02_in-the-news","10":"category-movies-media","11":"category-reading","12":"category-poetry-writing_cat","13":"category-humor-writing_cat","14":"tag-mary-oliver","15":"tag-henry-miller","16":"tag-david-byrne","17":"tag-brian-eno","18":"tag-laurel-and-hardy","19":"tag-flying-deuces","20":"tag-david-wagoner","21":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6kZSG-24X","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7995","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=7995"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7995\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20883,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7995\/revisions\/20883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}