She caught the train, in Seattle,
She was a hipster, and a real cool dame,
She was pretty, from Dublin City,
And she trucked out on the Empire line.
With a heave, and a ho,
She really really had to go,
Get along, sweet little Annie, get along,
Better be on your way,
Get along, sweet little Annie, get along,
Better be on your way,
With a heave, and a ho,
She really really had to go...

The train kept a rollin' all night long
The train kept a rollin' all night long
With a heave, and a ho,
She really really had to go...

She made a stop in old Montana,
She must have thought, the west would never end,
She got off the train in St. Paul, oh!
Lookin' so good, we couldn't let her go.
With a heave, and a ho,
We just couldn't let her go,
Com'on, sweet little Annie, com'on,
Up Anoka way,
Com'on, sweet little Annie, com'on,
Then be on your way,
With a heave, and a ho,
To Chicago and Obama she must go.

They said that Louise was not half-bad
It was written on the walls and window shades
And though she'd act the little girl
A deceiver, don't believe her, that's her trade

Sometimes a bottle of perfume,
Flowers and maybe some lace
Men brought Louise 10-cent trinkets
Their intentions were easily traced

And everybody knew at times she cried
Ah but women like Louise they get by

And everybody thought it kind of sad
When they found Louise in her room
They'd always put her down below their kind
Still some cried when she died this afternoon

Louise rode home on the mail train
Somewhere to the South I heard them say
Too bad it ended so ugly
Too bad she had to go this way

And the wind is blowin' cold tonight
So goodnight, Louise, goodnight.

~Paul Seibel, Louise

Love like red wine must have time to age
It mellows in flavor with each passing stage
But even the best of a vintage goes bad
And whether its wine or love that's sad
I won't answer love the next time it knocks
I've had my fill of love on the rocks

A jigger of lying garnished with fights
Some bitters for crying long unhappy nights
A dash of lost dreams then stir with regret
Shake well and pour then drink and forget

A teaspoon of teardrops, seemed like a phase
But I cried too many long unhappy days
Good riddance to love it's too much to bear
After this drink I won't even care

Love on the rocks time to get high
I'll drink to love here's love in your eye
Pop goes the bubble make it a double
This is my last toast to love on the rocks

A self-ordained professor's tongue
Too serious to fool
Spouted out that liberty
Is just equality in school
Equality, I spoke the word
As if a wedding vow.
Ah, but I was so much older then,
I'm younger than that now.

~Bob Dylan, My Back Pages

"They (the arts) are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or how badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something."

• Recent discoveries suggest a potential "North Sea" sized oil reserve off-shore from Iceland's North Coast.
  
• Russia has become a major player in the world's oil markets, supplying the far East and Europe.
  
• A large Russian base/oil port in the North Atlantic would insure that shipments to Europe and even Canada would not be subject to pipeline disruptions.
  
• The US base in Iceland was closed two years ago, the US military is currently over-extended with most of its budget going to the occupation of Iraq.
  
• The Russians (and Soviets before them) have always taken an interest in Iceland.
  
• The prestige coming from a successful "partnership" could be used by Russia to pressure other small countries to join in the Russian circle.

"During several of the summer months of the year 1783, when the effect of the sun's rays to heat the earth in these northern regions should have been greater, there existed a constant fog over all Europe, and a great part of North America. This fog was of a permanent nature; it was dry, and the rays of the sun seemed to have little effect towards dissipating it, as they easily do a moist fog, arising from water. They were indeed rendered so faint in passing through it, that when collected in the focus of a burning glass they would scarce kindle brown paper. Of course, their summer effect in heating the Earth was exceedingly diminished. Hence the surface was early frozen. Hence the first snows remained on it unmelted, and received continual additions. Hence the air was more chilled, and the winds more severely cold. Hence perhaps the winter of 1783-4 was more severe than any that had happened for many years..."

~ Benjamin Franklin, 1784