Keeper of the Clown Bell

This month I was asked to officiate a wedding and while doing so I took it upon myself to write down some observations on this ancient institution as a codification of natural impulses and a binding of mystical forces that can produce both gold and nitroglycerine (and everything in between) depending on the measure and mixture involved. This great honor was bestowed upon me by my step-daughter so I applied myself and crammed a lifetime worth of contemplation on this subject into a few short paragraphs which, as it turns out, was a wise approach because I had to preform this wedding under the clock of an approaching thunderstorm. As I spoke these words the barometric pressure noticeably dropped and the first heavy drops of rain began to fall as a prelude to the April showers just over my shoulder. Friedrich Nietzsche made the pithy observation that “A married philosopher belongs to comedy” because, in his opinion, no thinking person would willingly shackle themselves ...

  First Kiss Standing outside an Episcopal church in Middletown, RI this October I was approached by a TDS addled Senator (D-RI) who said, "I didn't expect to see you here." It's probably true, I don't live in Rhode Island and I haven't summered there for well over a decade but I did make the 8 hour drive up I-95 to attend a memorial service for our old friend who had passed away in the summer after a long illness. She died in Scotland, which is a place she loved, and was buried there but her American friends insisted on gathering to celebrate her life and spirt on Yankee soil. I responded to the Senator, "I wouldn't miss this, she was a very important person in my life" which was the truth and he grunted an affirmation then pressed on to glad-hand his constituents. The recently deceased was best friend to his wife so maybe he had heard second hand stories or idle gossip about my past associations and intertwining history with the lady being eulo...

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On the subject of English Queens I’m more knowledgable and fascinated by  Elizabeth I from the House of Tudor than I am by Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of her other realms and territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith from the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (AKA Windsor). As a native of Virginia I fully appreciate the majesty and Herstoric importance of Gloriana’s reign and believe the incredible civilization that has shaped the world for the past 500 years was conceived by her (and her wise councilors) and serves as the spiritual progeny of The Virgin Queen. While QEII oversaw the dissolution of the British Empire and its concordant moral degeneracy, it was Good Queen Bess who ruled over “The Golden Age” in which England grew so strong and prosperous that it might rule an empire upon which the sun never sets. That legacy of Elizabeth's reign includes the colonization plans and ...

Well my telephone was ringing, and they told me it was chairman Mao. You got to tell him anything 'cause I just don't want to talk to him now. According to the brilliant troubadour Lowell George the Apolitical Blues are " the meanest blues of all" and who am I to disagree with this soul man now after all these years of living by his maxim.  I first heard the song bursting from the 1972 vinyl of Little Feat's Alt-Rock-Country masterpiece "Sailin' Shoes" in the second story bedroom of my friend John's older brother Edie who, being about 3 years our senior, was instructing us on the importance of good music. This was circa 1975 and a formative time for my musical taste and overall aesthetic which, for better or worse, infuses every aspect of my existence including the KOTCB blog so a debt is owed this unforgettable "older brother" now that  he has shuffled off this mortal coil  and left us with smoky memories. A born rebel with the heart o...