Peace,
emaycee
Wednesday, April 1, 2026
Israel goes full on fascism
Israeli police prevented Catholic leaders from celebrating any Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on #PalmSunday, the first time in centuries. Israeli police said this was bc of the war. However, non-public Masses have been held at the Church since the war began #Israel #religion
— Peter Murphy (@peterwmurphy1.bsky.social) March 29, 2026 at 3:13 PM
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Fuck Donald Trump
Peace,
emaycee
Unprecedented racism and misogyny
Pete Hegseth is blocking the promotion of four Army officers to be one-star generals. Two of the officers targeted are Black and two are women. The highly unusual move has prompted some senior officials to question whether the officers are being singled out because of their race or gender.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1.bsky.social) March 27, 2026 at 11:00 AM
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Fuck Donald Trump
Peace,
emaycee
Fucking looney tunes
Trump: "They shot the now-famous Ireland--- the island that the UK was very afraid to give us."
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) March 26, 2026 at 10:49 AM
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Fuck Donald Trump
Peace,
emaycee
Trump lost
New: The White House is signaling that reopening the Strait of Hormuz is not a must-have to end the Iran War, potentially setting the stage for Iran to continue to flex its strategic position over one of the world's busiest oil shipping channels for the foreseeable future
— Aman Batheja (@amanbatheja.bsky.social) March 30, 2026 at 4:34 PM
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Fuck Donald Trump
Peace,
emaycee
Tuesday, March 31, 2026
Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. DLXXXIV--Neil Diamond: I Am...I Said
Good times never seemed so good, I've been inclined, to believe...I'm (eleven days--not a record!) late again....
Two in two days, twice as nice!
While I was familiar with this week's featured song, it was another in a long line of library book sale finds that first brought home how wonderful of a tune it is. I found this week's artist's His 12 Greatest Hits for the low, low price of a dollar and decided to take a chance on it. While I would not consider myself to be a big fan of his, over the course of the few weeks I listened to it I found three or four songs that I really liked, and one that I loved...which would be this week's post....
Neil Diamond is another of those artists who career achievements are a bit much for a paragraph, but I'll synopsize a handful of them for posterity. Diamond got his start when he received a guitar for his sixteenth birthday and almost immediately started writing songs. He was in a couple of groups before turning his attention to songwriting as a career, and until the late sixties made a small living (his most noticeable hit was "I'm a Believer"--emaycee fave!--by the Monkees). In the late sixties he began a solo career in earnest and buoyed by a number of hit singles and a live album became a force to be reckoned with in the seventies. Over the course of his career, Diamond has had a number of ultra successful world tours, won a Grammy Award, starred in a movie (The Jazz Singer), was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame in 1984, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. For his career, he has released thirty-two studio albums (one #1 and ten more top ten), two soundtracks (both top five), eight live albums, thirty-five compilation albums, and ninety-six singles (with ten of them hitting #1). Sadly, Diamond was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 2018, and while he still performs one offs, has pretty much retired from the music business. [Blogger's Note: Diamond gets extra props from emaycee for appearing in my personal Holy Grail, which my loyal readers--all three of you--will know is the rockumentary The Last Waltz. He performed the song "Dry Your Eyes" which he co-wrote with Robbie Robertson of The Band.]
Fun Fact: Diamond attended Erasmus High School for two years, during which time he was classmates with Barbra Streisand and chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer.
"I Am...I Said" was released as a single in 1971, and later added to his seventh studio album, the rather rocky titled Stones. The single would reach #4 (with a bullet!), while the album would peak at #11,
It took Diamond four months to write "I Am...I Said" and, in retrospect, it was worth every minute to him as the song is considered one of his best both musically and as a songwriter. He has said the song is about being lost and lonely when he first moved to Los Angeles from his native New York, knowing that neither was now home. Opening with some nice acoustic guitar picking, Diamond lays out his dilemma by contrasting his feelings for the two cities before crying "I am" to battle the emptiness he feels inside. The song is very personal (if ever there was a no shit, Sherlock moment....), and for me, Diamond spills his life without drowning himself in a pity party. It's a song about finding a way to the comforts of a fabled home, and in the end is a gem from the era in which the singer/songwriter was king.
Lyric Sheet: "'I am,' I cried/'I am' said I/And I am lost and I can't/Even say why..."
Enjoy:
Fuck Donald Trump
Peace,
emaycee
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