Mama Gaia Rap

in your hair
everywhere
you despair
oh beware
Mama Gaia everywhere.

Don't be shy
don't deny
she'll espy
as you cry
Mama Gaia says comply.

If you jump
on the land
feel so grand
in her hand
You are just a lump.

Lump of clay
anime
In her hair
play and play
Mama Gaia she just stare

At foolish lumps
getting bumps
from themselves
silly elves

Mama Gaia she so bored
Foolish humans have her floored
Stuff she made as
silly maid
now she's grown up
so are we
do we see?

Mama Gaia start to roll
tired of the elves gone troll
Knows inside
where we hide
in our hearts
fits and starts

We don't need this foolish crap
Mama Gaia knows the rap.

What to do?
See it through.
Mama Gaia there with you.

See her in
every shade
Every shadow ever made.

See her in
golden spin
turning flowers, light within.

December music

Dire Straits, "Wild West End" (embedding disabled)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfVkzBAGUVw&feature=fvw

"I Felt Your Shape," Microphones (cover)



The Beatles; "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jz7IjXu0DfQ

Etta Baker (with Taj Majal)

"Going To The Racetrack"



"Goin' Down The Road Feelin' Bad"



John Fahey, "Desperate Man Blues"

With Edison films. Interesting.



William Elliott Whitmore, "Dry"



Lesser Birds of Paradise, "I Envy the Photons"



Sufjan Stevens, "Casimir Pulaski Day"



Sufjan Stevens, "Borderline"



Allman Brothers Band, "Ain't Wasting Time No More," Live 2003



Aimee Mann, "Wise Up"



Nickel Creek, "Anthony"



Oysterband, "Another Quiet Night in England"



Deb Talan, "Ashes On Your Eyes"



P!nk, "18 wheeler"





P!nk, "Missundazstood"



Alison Krauss, "Deeper Than Crying"





Bob Dylan, "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues"



Pink, "Dear Mr. President"



Bo Carter; "My Pencil Don't Write No More"



Josh Ritter, "Chelsea Hotel"



David Bowie, "Young Americans"

Mexican Drought News

200 Mayan Peasants Arrested for Blocking Road in Mexico
Latin American Herald Tribune
November 25, 2009

CANCUN – More than 200 Mayan peasants were arrested during a clash with police who tried to prevent them from blocking the highway between the southeastern Mexican cities of Chetumal and Cancun, officials said.

About 20 peasants sustained minor injuries and a police officer underwent surgery for a head injury suffered in Tuesday’s clash, Quintana Roo state Deputy Public Safety Secretary Didier Vazquez said.

&&&

The peasants blocked the highway to demand payment of insurance and subsidies for crops lost in the drought affecting the region.

The insurance company has refused to pay claims for lost crops and Quintana Roo’s government has offered to cover only 50 percent of losses, or some 450 pesos (about $34) per hectare affected by the drought.

ANALYSIS-US corn exports lag amid cheap global feed grains

Reuters
November 26, 2009

Nearly 1 million tonnes in corn sales to drought-hit Mexico last week gave U.S. exports a shot in the arm, but the spike in sales is more of a near-term blip than a turning point for slumping corn exports.

Elevated prices, high shipping costs, and stiff competition from cheaper feed grains from around the globe will continue to restrict export sales from the United States, the world's largest corn producer and exporter, traders and analysts said.

U.S. corn prices Cc1> have climbed steadily from a September low near $3 a bushel to around $4 a bushel, even as farmers harvest the second-largest crop on record.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Latin America’s Perpetual Fever

GlobalGeopolitics.net
November 25, 2009

MONTEVIDEO, Nov 25 (IPS) – ”To use a soccer metaphor, which Brazilian politicians like so much, the Kyoto Protocol was the 10-minute warm-up before the real game begins,” said scientist Carlos Nobre in reference to global climate change treaties.

”The real game should begin now, although there are many who would rather remain in the warm-up phase indefinitely,” added the Brazilian expert, who was among the authors of the 1990, 2001 and 2007 reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which was a co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, along with former U.S. vice-president Al Gore.

Nobre’s opinions appear, with those of another 22 noted experts, in the ”First Regional Report on Climate Change: Latin America and the Irreversible Effects of a Warmer Planet”, published Nov. 19 by Tierramérica in Montevideo.

Grain Report

IBT Commodities
November 24, 2009
by Tim Hannagan

MONTH-END ON TIME
We started the week's reports with our Monday weekly export inspection report showing 25.5 m.b. of corn was inspected for near-term export, up from 22.1 the week prior and four-week average of 24.

The worst drought in over 60 years in Mexico has helped U.S. exports as well as a faster harvest leaving Asia in for feed use. We still need sales over 30 m.b. weekly to have the trade turn price bullish.

Mexican farmers reeling from worst drought in decades

Mexico Monitor
November 22, 2009

The El Nino weather pattern has dried up Mexico's rainy season this year, leaving nearly four million farmers reeling from the drought conditions. About 50,000 head of cattle have already died due to lack of water, and if the drought persists, as much as seven million hectares of corn and bean crops could be lost. From the rural community of Temascalito, Franc Contreras has more on Mexico's struggling farmers.

Texas drought

Killing the Thirst
by Tom Palaima
November 13
Texas Observer

This summer Texas suffered through its worst drought in half a century. Two hundred and thirty public water systems declared mandatory restrictions. Crop and livestock losses during the preceding nine months totaled $3.6 billion. Seventy of Texas’ 254 counties were declared primary disaster areas.

In mid-August, as parts of Travis County were labeled “exceptional drought,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s worst category, the Austin American-Statesman published the Austin Water Utility's top 10 users. While profiling households that had used 136,900 to 316,100 gallons of water in single months—the average Austin household uses 8,500 gallons—the paper made clear that “[c]onsuming so much water is not against the law” and that these heavy users had paid their bills. Not one of these conspicuous consumers of our most vital natural resource besides oxygen seemed embarrassed or overly concerned.

More Thanksgiving Music

Elliott Smith, "Pretty Mary K"



Deb Talan, Comfort



Typical Situation, Dave Matthews Band, 1995

Interesting older version. Violin is not electric.



Gordon Lightfoot, "Early Morning Rain"



Tom Waits, "Waltzing Matilda"



Waltzing My Matilda (very different, anti-war)



Bonnie Raitt, "Too Long At The Fair," live 1976



Snow Patrol, On/Off



Marvin Gaye, "Mercy Mercy Me"



laissez les bons temps rouler - a nawleans tribute



(cover) "You've Passed," Neutral Milk Hotel

This boy is a tad fuzzy, but he is a proficient ukulele player, and has a very good ear, and good calm presentation. Promising!



Psychedelic Furs, "Pretty In Pink"



The Shins, "Gone For Good"



Sara Bareilles, "Fairytale"



Velvet Underground, "Rock and Roll"



The Spinners, "Working My Way Back To You"



Spanish Johnny

Interesting version I had not heard before.



A.K.A.C.O.D. French Fries with Pepper (Morphine cover)

top comment

You know... blogging is really flexible.

We don't ask many questions (unless you claim expertise or display obvious bias) and people come and go at whim.

Happy to see you whenever you show up, disappointed when you don't.

People have lives they don't have to explain.

At least to me.

Thanksgiving music

Rasputina; "Wish You Were Here" cover



Greg Brown, "Say A Little Prayer"




Furry Lewis, "John Henry"



Cathy Davey, "Cold Man's Nightmare"



Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, "I Think I Wanna Die"



Tom Rush, "Urge for Going"



Eva Cassidy, "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?"



Randy Newman; "I Think It's Going to Rain Today"



Marianne Faithful, "Sunny Goodge Street"





Men Without Hats, "Safety Hats."



Saturday Waits



Neil Young, Everybody Knows this is Nowhere. Live in Hyde Park, 2009

God we're all getting old.



Coldplay, "Green Eyes"



Richard and Mimi Farina with Pete Seeger, "Bold Marauder"

This is cool.



Mimi & Richard Farina - House Un-American Blues Activity Dream

More!!



Buffy Saint Marie, "Little Wheel Spin and Spin"



Buffy Saint Marie, Universal Soldier

with a bit of interview first.



Ian and Sylvia, "Four Strong Winds"



The Beatles, "Blackbird"

Monday Music

Cat Power, "Satisfaction"



Greg Brown, "Our Little Town"



Bob Dylan, "Positively 4th Street"



The Velvet Underground, "Pale Blue Eyes"



Dr. John, "I Know What I've Got / Blue Skies"



Son House, "Grinnin' In Your Face"



Daniel Johnston, "True Love Will Find You In The End"



Dark Tranquility, "Mine is the Grandeur"



Blues Legends born before 1924



Cathy Davey, "Sing For Your Supper"