Johnny Come Lately

cool song done by steve earle and the pogues...call it a memorial day post, albeit one day late:

I'm an American, boys, and I've come a long way
I was born and bred in the USA
So listen up close, I've got something to say
Boys, I'm buying this round
Well it took a little while, but we're in this fight
And we ain't going home 'til we've done what's right
We're gonna drink Camden Town dry tonight
If I have to spend my last pound

When I first got to London it was pourin' down rain
Met a little girl in the field canteen
Painted her name on the nose of my plane
Six more missions I'm gone
Well I asked if I could stay and she said that I might
Then the warden came around yelling "turn out the lights"
Death rainin' down in the London night
We made love 'til dawn

But when Johnny Come Lately comes marching home
With a chest full of medals and a G.I. loan
They'll be waitin' at the station in San Antone
When Johnny comes marching home

My P-47 is a pretty good ship
And she took a round comin' 'cross the channel last trip
I was thinkin' 'bout my baby and letting her rip
Always got me through so far
Well they can ship me all over this great big world
But I'll never find nothing like my North End girl
I'm taking her home with me one day, sir,Soon as we win this war

Now my granddaddy sang me this song
Told me about London when the blitz was on
How he married Grandma and brought her back home,
A hero throughout his land
Now I'm standin' on a runway in San Diego
A couple purple hearts and I move a little slow
There's nobody here, maybe nobody knows
About a place called Vietnam

Steve Earle

gimme a ride to heaven

Well I didn't know what to do
So I jammed her down in gear
Kind a kicked my feet beneath the seat
I was trying to hide the beer
Ahhh but he just grinned and said
"My friend,I know you must think it's odd
But you got nothin to fear about drinkin a beer
If you share it with the son of God"

terry allen

disposable culture

"Because, when the stormy monday night comes, and you're home singing the blues, BRITNEY will not get you through it like Sam Cook will..."

My man Henry Rollins

Burmese Days

"There is no armor against fate."

George Orwell

TVZ

"Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that." - Steve Earle

"I've met Bob Dylan and his bodyguards, and I don't think Steve [Earle] could get anywhere near his coffee table." - Townes Van Zandt

Hidden War

"Yes, at night, as strange as it may be, you can see farther and deeper."

Artyom Borovik

The Golden Road to Samarkand

We are the Pilgrims, master; we shall go always a little further...

James Elroy Flecker

Tennyson

I will arise and go now,
And go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there,
Of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean rows will I have there,
A hive for the honey bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there,
For peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning
To where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a glimmer,
And noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.

I will arise and go now,
For always night and day
I hear lake water lapping
With low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway
Or on the pavements gray,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.

Discipline

"Quite often, atheletes who were considered unpromising at first went on to achieve extradordinary results. They literally changed themselves by being persistent."

Nickolay Olazin

Ash Wednesday, Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

"Jesus said, 'Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven...and whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.

But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.

But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth...but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven...for where your treasure is there your heart will be also."

Opinions

"There are people with opinions and people with experience; listen to one, smile at the other."

Unknown

"Years ago, while I was gassing up a fellow's new car he asked me, a gawky teenager, what I thought about his new car. All I could say was, 'I don't know.' To which he laughed and said, 'Why hell, boy, you don't have to know anything to have an opinion.'"

Anecdote about Willie Nelson

Matt. 6:28-29

"Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."

Ephesians 6:10-17

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Kindred spirits

"It's all luck and evil out there in the dark."

Kent Anderson

""Mental toughness is many things. It is humility because it behooves all of us to remember that simplicity is the sign of greatness and meekness is the sign of true strength. Mental toughness is spartanism with qualities of sacrifice, self-denial, dedication. It is fearlessness, and it is love.""

Vince Lombardi

"All great things are simple, and many can be expressed in single words: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope."

Sir Winston Churchill