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Thank you Lord
Oh thank you for the hurricane
I see your boundless love
In the faces etched with pain

Thank you Lord
Oh thank you for the memories of the ark
You are the shining light we see
When we’re drowning in the dark

Thank you Lord for Jesus
And the rope from which he hung
And thank you for the cross
Upon which they nailed your son

Thank you thank you for our leaders
With their blind and stupid eyes
Your mysterious wisdom
Is embedded in their lies

Thank you for the rich man
Who gets richer by the hour
For the professor of higher learning
Hidden in his ivory tower

Thank you for the earthquake
For the fire and devastation
And the suffering that results
From your inscrutable equation

And thank you Lord oh thank you
Your mercy falls like rain
That destroyed the mighty levy
That held back Lake Pontchartrain

So thank you for Katrina
And the mighty towers that fall
Thank you oh thank you
We thank you one and all

Lyrics from “Thank You Lord” from the Hellwood album, Chainsaw of Life.

Hellwood is Johnny Dowd, Jim White, and Willie B.  The three of them recorded the album in 2006 in a cabin in central New York.  The album hasn’t been released in the United States, and apparently won’t be any time soon, but you can buy it from second sellers at Amazon or from Johnny Dowd’s website.

If you are fan of Johnny, Jim, and Willie, you better go buy the cd while you can.

Oh, and for another fine Thanksgiving prayer, go here to read William Burroughs.

What are you thankful for?

Me?

I am most thankful that my dog Lucy made it back home from her wild adventure yesterday.

Yesterday, Seattle was surprised by a midafternoon thunderstorm. Lucy hates thunder and lightning even more than than taking a bath. I only heard a couple of thunder claps and was comfortable knowing that Lucy was safe at home, probably sleeping on my bed.

Upon arriving home I discovered that she was not in the house.  At first I thought that I had forgotten to lock up the dog door that goes into the backyard (the door was on the floor) and that she was in the yard.   When I went to reinsert the door, I found that it was binding on the runners.  At that point I knew that Lucy must have been quite scared, as she somehow ripped the locking dog door out of the runners.  (I have since tried to pull it out of the runners, myself, and can not.)

After getting out of the house, she found herself in the backyard and broke through the fence (a first) to the front of the house. She must have been totally terrified…

Lucy was running down the middle of the street when a very nice woman, Pam, saw her and stopped. Pam had never seen Lucy before, but knew that Lucy was scared and needed her help. Lucy did not have her collar and tags (remember, she was locked in my house on the bed when I left), so Pam stopped by the vet and had her scanned for a chip. Bingo… She now knew Lucy’s name and my name. But she was only able to get that far, as I am not listed and my personal information related to the chip was out of date (my bad).

After running errands with Pam for a couple of hours (Lucy loves hanging out in cars), Lucy found her way to the pet walking/sitting services of Furhead Riviera. A massive thanks goes out to Amy at Furhead Riviera for keeping Lucy safe for a few hours until I could get her back home.

These two women, who did not know Lucy or me before yesterday really made my year.

Thanks for making this a great year!

After a long day Lucy loves a nice Pinot.

For the Kids:

For the Adults:

Over time the tradition of thanksgiving feasts ebbed and flowed, but the slaughter of the Native Americans grew until 95% of all Native Americans were murdered, nearly 12 million innocent Native Americans.

The tradition of murder continues, the United States kills 300 million turkeys each year, 45 million are murdered to celebrate Thanksgiving alone.

What you can do:

It is no wonder that the United States and Americans in general are considered to be agressive and violent by much of the world. The United States is built upon the killing of innocent people and animals.

Fortunately you can make a difference. Say no to the killing and choose a vegetarian option. Think different, think Tofurky.

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This prayer brought to you by Wiliam S. Burroughs.

I find myself thinking about him each and every Thanksgiving. If you are unfamiliar with him and enjoy his ‘Thanksgiving Prayer’, then give a listen to his spoken word cds, I like Dead City Radio and Spare Ass Annie and Other Tales. As far as books, The Portable Beat Reader is a great place to start, as you get to learn about him in the context of the Beat Generation. If you want to mainline a little Burroughs, dive right into his book Naked Lunch.

If for some reason the above video does not resonate with you, don’t even bother with him or the Beats, you must be a ‘Square’…

I will be on the road over the Thanksgiving holidays, so I may not be able to post much of anything until Sunday or Monday.

I leave you with this piece by William S. Burroughs:

A Thanksgiving Prayer

Thanks for the wild turkey and
the passenger pigeons, destined
to be shit out through wholesome
American guts. Thanks for a continent to despoil
and poison.

Thanks for Indians to provide a
modicum of challenge and
danger.

Thanks for vast herds of bison to
kill and skin leaving the
carcasses to rot.

Thanks for bounties on wolves
and coyotes.

Thanks for the American dream,
To vulgarize and to falsify until
the bare lies shine through.

Thanks for the KKK.

For nigger-killin’ lawmen,
feelin’ their notches.

For decent church-goin’ women,
with their mean, pinched, bitter,
evil faces.

Thanks for “Kill a Queer for
Christ” stickers.

Thanks for laboratory AIDS.

Thanks for Prohibition and the
war against drugs.

Thanks for a country where
nobody’s allowed to mind their
own business.

Thanks for a nation of finks.

Yes, thanks for all the
memories– all right let’s see
your arms!

You always were a headache and
you always were a bore.

Thanks for the last and greatest
betrayal of the last and greatest
of human dreams.