~~~~~~~~~~DOGS PLAYIN' CARDS~~~~~~~~~~

Dogs playing cards is all we really are.

Trick Shuffle,

Rob Peter to pay Paul...

I was once

told

"fake it until you make it"

from of all people...

my landlord.

We are faking it.

Poker faces in place.

Can you tell that

I'm barely breathing

with my

toes

crossed and all of that jazz?

Ace

Queen

Jack

King...

Elvis?

Only in velvet, please.

Preferably from a street vendor

if you will.

I wag my tail and

I pray.

That one day our

hand is a good one

and we can

buy some apples for the bowl

and a roof over our head.

It isn't all bad is it?

Playin' cards builds

character.

And I know that we won't be left

in the cold.

I have faith in four

legs and anything

that lacks

opposable thumbs.

~JOSH ROUSE ~

1972

"MIDDLE SCHOOL FROWN"

No it aint the way that your hair hangs down,

and you dance like a clown

We just don't like you around

You were a New-Waver,

it was 1983,

I was new on the scene,

I just wanted everyone to like me

So I told 'em that we're not friends and I thought you were wierd,

what a two-faced thing to do

And you held your head high,

And you held your head high when you walked down my street,

oh no At my birthday party you just showed up,

we were so stuck up,

we just wanted to be mean

Yeah there goes that girl with the cheap guitar,

she's a punk rock star,

she's a dying art

And you held your head high,

And you held your head high when you walked down my street,

And you rolled your eyes to the sky,

yeah you rolled your eyes to the sky,

You don't feel a thing,

And you held your head high,

And you held your head high when you walked down my street,

oh no No it aint the way that your hair hangs down

and you dance like a clown,

Its the middle school frown

ORIGINS

Rust colored leaves

falling all around

Harvest in the darkness

Soon it will be

Devil's Eve

Costume and fire

Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in).

The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.

In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter. To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.

During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.

Put a Smile on Your Face