"Rock music is the same 4 gimmicks over and over."
– Roky Erickson
Three Pots for the Drips
Laney Ronders recalls: "When I was a child, our roof always leaked. But my mother didn’t mind. She always said, ‘As long as we have three pots and three leaks, we’re okay!’"
T-shirt slogan:
BURN THE
IPODS!
Musical Window
"When the wind blows hard, one of the windows in my pantry whistles," explains local flautist Jim Hughcomb. "In fact, by raising and lowering the window, I can play the ‘Marseillaise’."
Snow Contest Winner
Last year (or was it the year previous?) this column sponsored a contest to name different types of snow. At last, we have a winner:
Name for spring snow, remaining in nicely formed & scattered clumps on bare branches (at least in higher elevations above "down-town" Phoenicia): Blossom snow; snow blossoms.
– Babe
Bumper sticker:
COWBOYS MAKE ME CRY
A Letter
Dear Bird-buddy:
Even more startling than Bob Dylan’s conversion to Christianity was Charlie Watts joining the Zoroastrian religion. In 1978 (two years before Dylan), the drummer for the Rolling Stones was initiated into the religion at the historic temple in Pir-e-Naraki, Iran. For three years, Mr. Watts diligently studied the mysteries of Zoroastrianism, under the tutelage of a priest named Ervad Arda. In 1981, however, Charlie left the religion. He is today an agnostic, living in the south of France.
"Ted"
Windborne Street Sign
"The wind was blowing so hard last Tuesday I saw a street sign flying by from Erie, Pennsylvania!" reports Ted Corrald.
Shandaken Poetry Fest
Measuring Project No. 361
Calculate your height in inches.
Divide by your age.
This is known as your "height-per-year."
– Abe Marlboro
1976 Poem
New schoolbuses are for children.
Old schoolbuses are for hippies.
– April Levitcki
Interview With A Suitcase Owner
I spoke to Roy S. Carlton, a roofer in Pine Hill.
Sparrow: I understand you sent your suitcase around the world.
Carlton: Yes, I did. I couldn’t afford to travel myself, but this was relatively cheap — under $90!
Sparrow: How exactly did you undertake this project ?
Carlton: I spent two months devising the itinerary. Finally I decided on San Francisco- Honolulu-Borneo-Singapore-Karachi-Paris. Then I drove the suitcase to the Albany International Airport, gave it to the baggage handler and said: "Bon voyage!"
Sparrow: And when did your luggage return?
Carlton: Four days later. Exactly on time. People complain about airlines, but no one ever compliments them when they succeed.
Sparrow: Was the suitcase damaged?
Carlton: There was a scuff on the bottom. It only got one sticker, though, from the Singapore Changi Airport. That was a minor disappointment.
Sparrow: What was inside the suitcase?
Carlton: Two pairs of socks and a copy of Jules Verne’s Astounding Adventures Among the Comets.
Sparrow: So you have no regrets?
Carlton: Of course not! Each time I pack up, to visit my Aunt Beverly in Oswego, for example, I beam with pride. This humble suitcase circled our planet!
Bumper sticker:
NO REGRETS
NOR EGRETS
Did you see the cloud shaped like a three year old she-wolf just south of Highmount last Saturday?