Never thought this site would live this long.
Back to Main
June 30, 2006
Happy Birthday …
Comments
Happy happy…
Now we need to hear from, teuton, Outraged, FlASHHARRY, Fran, SusanG, Possum, Helpful Spook, Tripsarecopsem, Mushinronsha, ck, Juannie among others… 😉
Round for the house!
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Jun 30 2006 4:58 utc | 2
Happy Geburtstag, all and sundry. Thanks for the keen insights and occasional soapbox. It’s meant more to me than I can say to see with such clarity that I am not alone.
Posted by: Monolycus | Jun 30 2006 5:47 utc | 3
Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag and congratulations to you to Bernhard.
Had problems posting with my old laptop – now with my new one it works again. But was always lurking in the background, wouldn’t want to miss MoA. Hope it will live on for many, many years.
Posted by: Fran | Jun 30 2006 6:23 utc | 5
Thanks for two years of hard work b, and best wishes to all posters and a special mention for R’Giap
Posted by: Cloned Poster | Jun 30 2006 8:10 utc | 6
B, it’s lived so long coz you are a very intelligent blogster–let the fights fight on, include pithy relevant facts at key points to keep the arguments far…from….
Good stuff! Good writing, y’all! A pint, or magnum, of your favourite tipple to yez.
Posted by: Argh | Jun 30 2006 8:10 utc | 7
Alles Gute und beste Wünsche für den weiteren Erfolg! (All the best and good wishes for you success in the future, too)! from a reader in Hong Kong
Posted by: Marianne | Jun 30 2006 9:02 utc | 8
don’t know what i’d do w/out you moonofalabama. make a wish before you blow out the candles, i know what mine is… luvya
Posted by: annie | Jun 30 2006 9:24 utc | 10
Show me the way to the next whisky bar
Oh, don’t ask why, oh, don’t ask why
Show me the way to the next whisky bar
Oh, don’t ask why, oh, don’t ask why
For if we don’t find the next whisky bar
I tell you we must die
I tell you we must die
I tell you
I tell you
I tell you we must die
Posted by: annie | Jun 30 2006 9:37 utc | 11
bonne anniversaire moonofalabama & bernhard
& thank you to every poster who makes this site so rich & open
from a staminist fruitcake – a hand of friendship to billmpn
Posted by: remembereringgiap | Jun 30 2006 10:06 utc | 12
Congratulations and many thanks, B. Where else can one can get drunk, entertained and educated at the same time? Cheers, and many more.
Posted by: lonesomeG | Jun 30 2006 10:14 utc | 13
happy birthday, moon of alabama.
does this mean this site has hit the “terrible twos?” 🙂 should we expect tantrums and loud proclamations of “NO!!” ?? –why of course none of us would ever do that here. LOL.
hugs and kisses to you, b, for hosting all the moonatics.
you are also to be commended for your generosity to billmon by constantly linking to his posts with such an open-hearted appreciation.
salut!
Posted by: fauxreal | Jun 30 2006 12:07 utc | 14
Congratulation to b and all of you guys.
Happy to find you here almost every night.
As someone said it is good not to feel alone and to be able to reassure my self that I am still sane… or even just to believe so…Do not go anywhere!
Posted by: vbo | Jun 30 2006 13:19 utc | 15
Hey! Hey! Time flies… Congrats and appreciation to all the regulars that keep the conversations going that brings so many of us here on a regular basis, and especially to Bernhard for his consonant and dedicated commitment here.
And how about all you lurkers. Come on out of closet and check in. I think b’s stats show you’re out there. Stop in and say hello.
Posted by: Juannie | Jun 30 2006 13:41 utc | 16
juannie- did annie get you started on the site meter, too? I never even knew it was there till she kept going on about it. now I look at the world map and wave to other moonbats in my mind.
Thanks as always, Bernhard, for all that you do. You gave us a home.
Love, beq
Posted by: beq | Jun 30 2006 13:57 utc | 18
Happy B-day and thank you, B. Appreciate what you do here on MOA.
Now I hope I haven’t killed the thread….again.
Posted by: ww | Jun 30 2006 14:39 utc | 19
I just dropped in in the last month, ww,
but I really like the Moon too.
Thanks, Bernhard, for all the work you have done.
Posted by: Goldy Groundlinglocks | Jun 30 2006 14:59 utc | 20
fauxreal,
If I remember right it was. I had read b’s stats in, I think, two different posts he had made but wasn’t aware of the meter at those times. Then it was definitely some reference to the meter in a thread that brought it to my attention. I guess probably a discussion between you and annie. Statistics interest me.
Incidentally, annie has encouraged me here when I felt out of my depth. One of the things I like about this place is I’m always challenged to set my bar a little higher before jumping into the fray again. There have been occasions however where I think I crawled under my own bar. 🙁
But it has been rewarding and that’s probably why I encourage other lurkers to start posting.
Posted by: Juannie | Jun 30 2006 15:18 utc | 21
i’m glad it has lasted this long. it’s a wealth of analysis, affinity & experience. a vehicle that promotes true learning &critical thought thru the discovery of the truth & the collaboration of multiple perspectives. it’s an opportunity to find our voices in the exchange of information & ideas. a great place to just listen & absorb (& sometimes dance!). it’s an eductational resource for our individual work, both w/i ourselves and our local communities. information that can help us educate our friends & family. our co-workers. our neighbors. information that can help us counter the misinformation, misguidedness, and outright mendacity of those we come in contact with. it can also be a refuge. a watering hole to quench the thirst & reanimate our outrage.
but there’s still plenty of untapped potential here. many lurkers that don’t share their voices regularly enough. and, outside of the creative artisans, nobody has really risen to berhard’s calls for material for solo posts. maybe collaborations would be less demanding than on a single person to come up w/ something worthy of the standards we have come to expect through both b and billmon. and there’s always room for more actionable ideas, to balance the normal reactive passivity associated w/ reading the news & not making it.
happy birthday! let’s work to make sure there’s plenty more.
Posted by: b real | Jun 30 2006 15:40 utc | 22
coming out of lurk mode to say Congrats … and thanks Bernard for keeping the site going… many wonderful thoughtful posts here any day of the week… most intelligent, engaging site online…
Posted by: crone | Jun 30 2006 15:47 utc | 23
Happy Birthday MOA!
Thank you Bernhard and all Moonbeams.
Posted by: pb | Jun 30 2006 15:54 utc | 24
juannie- it was all about annie, not me. but then I realized that if I came here to read a post and then left for the day, it would appear that I’m still here for all that time…
yes, lurkers, come out and come out where-ever you are and meet the strange moonbats who fell from the stars.
as you can see from my posts, b tolerates even the silliest of us when we need to deflect rather than inspect the insanity of the world.
actually, I’ve decided there are only 12 of us on this site pretending to be 100 monkeys. (just kidding)
My heartfelt thanks to Bernhard.
Just opened a bottle of superior Cotes du Rhone. Friday night, after all, Cheers! Kisses for everyone.
Posted by: Noisette | Jun 30 2006 16:03 utc | 26
I have two simulataeous reactions:
Is it two years already?
Was it just two years ago this site started?
Happy, happy birthday!
Posted by: A swedish kind of death | Jun 30 2006 17:27 utc | 30
“bbbbbbbbb ” (my voice carrying from seattle to hamburg) big hug and xxx’s, another round for the house por favor
as per juannie’s suggestion i am linking to a special heads up over on open thread
Posted by: annie | Jun 30 2006 17:41 utc | 31
Just chiming in to wish the Moon of Alabama a collective Happy Birthday!
And thanks to you all, Bernhard and fellow patrons, for the fellowship, the humor and the information.
Back when I could admit doing so, friends and I spent every weekend in our underground clubhouse — often from Friday night until the sun came up, then again on Saturday night until Sunday morning. It goes without saying that this had a significant negative effect on our productivity during the following week.
We had a saying,
Q. “Did you ever have a lost weekend?”
A. “The last six months have been lost!”
Well, 24-hour party here on the Moon has been going on for 24 months so far and no end in sight! I am glad to say that these last 2 years have not been lost. Thanks again.
Posted by: jonku | Jun 30 2006 17:44 utc | 32
just dropped in a quick moment while at the apple store trying to decide if i deserve a new computer. it was worth the trip since apple very nicely just offered to extend my warranty by two weeks and will cover the cost of a hard drive replacement on the old one. if the gods look upon me fondly perhaps i will be able to swing a new computer and send the old one to r’giap before his bites the dust.
i posted before i read and i am struck by how great it is to see old names back. been checking out that site meter myself and knew you were all out there, but what a joy to see the posts. thanks again, bernhard. some time over the next few weeks, when the hard drive is repaired, i will celebrate by sending you a contribution (of the creative type). i’ve said it before but i do not know how you manage to keep up with this and have a job and a life. seems like a little relief is in order.
have a great weekend world of moonofalabama!
Posted by: conchita | Jun 30 2006 17:55 utc | 33
Dank je wel, Bernhard. Thanks to your hard work, and the incredible intelligence and insight of the MOA patrons, I’ve finally found a place I can hang out. Tequila for everybody. I’m buying, because the future’s uncertain, and the end is always near.
Posted by: Aigin | Jun 30 2006 17:57 utc | 34
Congrats to you Bernhard,
For it has been you — who has put in the lions share of work in keeping this place going, and have givin it its own unique character and direction. Happy birthday to b’s little brainchild!
Posted by: anna missed | Jun 30 2006 19:01 utc | 35
@anna missed – I disagree with you on this one.
If not for YOU, the regular commentators, this place would not be here anymore.
I had several breakdowns for various external reason the last two years and was ready to give up on this several times. Only the encouragement and power YOU gave me through the comments let me recover and kept me going.
There is a natural attrition in people who flock to a blog. This can only be countered by a constant stream of new folks droping in. Billmon gave a big birthday present today by putting “A, Mo” on top of his blogroll. If I can may ask YOU for a present, drop some notes elsewhere to get folks here.
Don´t fear that this place will ever get crowded – it won´t. But we need more people and opinions to keep it valid. Sometimes new folks here get “bitten” away. I have done some of such biting myself and I’m sorry for it. I am sure we can avoid this while keeping a clear voice.
Your thoughts in the comments are worth much more than my passing-by postings.
A special thanks to the “resident artists”, anna missed, beq and annie for their contributions.
Some send me emails with ideas of what to post about. Well meant, but if you have an idea what to post about, why don´t you write it up? I have no quarrels to put any disturbing or whatever controversioal post up the frontpage. So just send them in, but please invest the needed labour yourself and don´t put all the burdon on me.
MoA is not my effort or my property. It is a good owned by the community taking part in it.
Happy birthday to all of you.
Danke schön, merci, grazie, thank you all. The international perspectives here keep me sane. Not knowing what any of you look like makes me crazy.
Here’s a round of Pacific Northwest ales for everyone: Cheers!
Posted by: catlady | Jun 30 2006 20:46 utc | 38
jonku & b real have made an important but subtle statement on this thread
i’m not so well – but i(ll try to elaborate
when jonku spoke of ‘lost’ weekends – i think this is especially crucial because murdoch & all the monsters who serve at his beck & call & all those who mimic & imitate him – create an effect of dissassociation – of seperations of a lossness, if you like their intent & the intent of those who rule from the roll of dollars – is to make us forget
or as in the case of iraq today & what is happening in gaza tonight – their task is to hide what is happening in a way that is unparalleled because of the complicity or as gore vidal correctly states – never has the corruption of the media been so apparent
& i choose my penname here – because remembering is for me – the real breath of living & of resisting – in that context the rage & fury that i feel about the slaughterhouse the empire has created – is just a form of deep breathing
& of profound listening
it is this aspect for example in the post of debs – which while furious are compelling tapestries of remembering of remembering of remembering or as celine sd so that finally the story is told
& that is what happens here – it stops us from getting lost – it acts as a kind of brake on the disassociations that aare destined – it seems – to destroy our lives
b’s herculean effort & those of dear, dear uncle $cam & cloned poster to link & link & link – to every source that is possible for us to gather real & concrete information & the openness with which is given establishes liens that are both profound & in their way, healing
b, i want to write posts, significant posts – because i like many others are practically aware of your effort & of the pressures on your life – but in this period (which i hope is in this form, only transtional)aall i am capable of offering is these short sporadic & often vulgar telegraphs
i think of the treasure of this site – which is the women in our community & i’m thinking of conchita, fauxreal, annie, noisette & many others(deanander whom i sorely miss) – whose humanity & force make this less a cockrock joint that in essence is how i read dkos
we remember & by remembering understand that this community is a community of resistance – whose breath breathes still – still steel
Posted by: r’giap | Jun 30 2006 22:24 utc | 39
a small example of this forgetting – kerik the hood associate of rudolph guiliani would like us to forget the interdependent relation between criminal & power administrated, criminally
Posted by: r’giap | Jun 30 2006 22:44 utc | 40
Walid Toufic – Inzal Ya Gameel (Arabic)
Walid Toufic – Inzal Ya Gameel (English)
Walid Toufic – Inzal Ya Gameel (French)
Posted by: Celebratory Spook | Jun 30 2006 23:15 utc | 41
2 years! Strange to feel so nostalgic and happy at a place where I have had to shed so many old assumptions. But b and all the commentors really have brought so much light that perhaps we do grow lighter at last.
Sadu, sadu, sadu!
Posted by: citizen | Jul 1 2006 1:10 utc | 44
Since it’s MoA’s birthday,
a little Django,
a little more,
a little bit more (three minutes plus this time)
Victoria Spivey’s got The Black Snake Blues with Sonny Boy Williamson and Lonnie Johnson, but knows it ain’t nuthin’ but botheration on the mind.
Son House sings Death Letter Blues and and John the Revelator
late great Janis says, Try, but she can’t get rid of that Ball and Chain
These guys feel free (who is that skinny guy with curly hair on with guitar? 🙂
did this guitar player sell his soul at the Crossroads?
The Talking Heads say it’s same as it ever was
To echo citizen: A happy place for shedding old assumptions, yes, that’s been my MOA experience too.
Congratulations, Bernhard, and best wishes to our little outpost of sanity. Thanks to all from the bottom of my heart for the educational links and diverse commentary. Many more.
Bernhard, as a way of reminding us to contribute starting commentaries, why not add a permanent link/mailbox/instructions for solo posts? And thank-you for the user-friendly html tag reminder in the ‘post a comment’ box!
Posted by: gylangirl | Jul 1 2006 4:41 utc | 46
RGiap,
Eloquent rage often, humor when rage and events permit, humane perspective always, frequently unique points of view, strong opinions that burn through a cool medium, impressive and varied bibliography, creative ideas and impressions that sometimes burble up gently and sometimes gush out forcefully but cannot be repressed, and many other things as well, but never…NEVER…vulgar.
Please, stay well and keep ’em coming.
Posted by: lonesomeG | Jul 1 2006 15:11 utc | 47
@fauxreal
that was wonderful fauxreal, thanks for taking the time to post that. All saved to my favs…
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Jul 1 2006 17:51 utc | 48
Happy Birthday and thank you for all the hard work Bernhard!I read every post and comment.
Posted by: R.L. | Jul 1 2006 19:52 utc | 49
Uncca- my pleasure…
some Hobo Blues from John Lee Hooker, Big Momma Thornton (and more) Down Home Shakedown (She’s on YouTube doing “Hound Dog” during this same performance, btw)
Like Otis, I can’t turn you loose
The archival footage on YouTube is a wonderful thing.
Here’s Eric Burdon and The Animals getting in on the Otis clip. Here’s another “Shindig Goes to London,” classic
And Tobacco Road. Lock up your daughters… they might end up as trophies on hullabaloo. unreconstructed 60s.
but then, things got groooovy. Eric Burdon kicks Jagger’s ass, imo.
Wilson Pickett just wants to ride, Sally ride
cause James Brown sez There was a time…
John Lee Hooker and Van Morrison Gloria
Van Morrison: Into the Mystic and Cold Wind in August
Posted by: fauxreal | Jul 2 2006 19:51 utc | 50
I’m trying to stop, but you know, it makes me want to Shout! Part 1 to see all this old footage.
Posted by: fauxreal | Jul 2 2006 20:22 utc | 51
oops. messed up on those Eric Burdon clips…here’s “Shindig Goes to London” Rosie and We Gotta Get Outta This Place
Please, please, please forgive me.
Posted by: fauxreal | Jul 2 2006 20:46 utc | 52
Thanks fauxreal. How could i have forgotten The Animals?
Saw this referenced on crooks and liars
guitar
Posted by: citizen k | Jul 2 2006 21:06 utc | 53
thanks citizen k. I saw that program…lots ‘o geetars. as some points too many to enjoy what they were doing. but loved it when Howlin’ Wolf’s ax man, Hubert Sumlin was there. love this version of Dust My Broom.
When I see this stuff, My Heart Beats Like a Hammer. I love the old Fleetwood Mac stuff– when they were Worried blues. South Park kills on their parody of Stevie Nicks as a goat, or sheep…(just like a white wing dove…baaah, baby, baaah, baby baaaaaah.) LOL.
also, this footage is amazing because you can see the idealism/innocence of the early 60s slide into the Johnson cum Nixon misery of assassination and lies and the knowledge that the powerbrokers will kill anyone who tries to right the wrongs.
Posted by: fauxreal | Jul 2 2006 21:47 utc | 54
end of the 60s
How’s this
for a weird Youtube moment?
And I’m happy to see he is still here
Finally this
Posted by: citizen k | Jul 2 2006 22:47 utc | 55
emma gouldman. she knew everybody. even leon szolgosz.
about hendrix. there’s a story he played in oakland the day of mlk’s murder. sponteneous tribute. “achingly beautiful” as described by one of the members of soft machine who were the backup band.
Posted by: slothrop | Jul 3 2006 0:23 utc | 56
thanks again, citizen k. now I’m onto newsreel footage there.
did you see the one of the mother in Texas throwing knives at her children?!?
here’s a harsh one. we used to think torturers were the scum of the earth. (warning: disturbing WW2 footage)
Posted by: fauxreal | Jul 3 2006 0:36 utc | 57
Transistor radio plays an overwhelmingly sad and lonely song Saying ’where she gone? where she gone? ’ The fears of gun are the fears of everyone.
also powpowpow
Posted by: slothrop | Jul 3 2006 0:46 utc | 58
Happy Birthday to Moon of Alabama.
Thank You Bernard and everyone. Moon is my favorite blog to read.
Can’t stand the political blogs of the Democrats or the Republicans.
So many opinions here from so many good posters.
Was gone for a couple of days – just listening now – great Birthday Music…
I saw John Lee Hooker live only once, and will never forget it.
He was an old man then but he had a unique beat and before long the the whole place was moving faster than I ever seen anywhere.
Thanks fauxreal.
Happy Birthday MoA! This oasis has become a daily treat and I’m so grateful to you Bernhard (Chorus: For he’s a jolly good fellow). Thank you.
fauxreal, I’m happily wearing out my speakers 🙂
Posted by: Amurra | Jul 3 2006 3:03 utc | 62
About 20 years ago i went to a film presentation of rare archive footage of mostly blues artists, but some jazz too — collected up by this local collector/ethnomusicologist — and it was so amazing, many blues artists young and in their prime, very unscripted raw motel room type footage. This spring you tube has seen the entry of some good clips along these lines, and I’m just chompin on the bit that more of this stuff will surface — like the footage I saw 20 years ago, and if so (hope i hope) I know its out there — the best is yet to come.
Posted by: anna missed | Jul 3 2006 4:35 utc | 63
laura nyro poverty train
aretha groovin
billie strange fruit farewell to storyville
ella summertime
fantasia what do i gotta do
Posted by: annie | Jul 3 2006 8:08 utc | 64