The phone call from the Clerk’s office arrived.  Easy work…thankfully..as usual…I turn to the Layla Jam Disc to “power through” the final edits on letter.  Jam V has Allman…well done hitting upper range of sound spectrum…

“Lifeline” by Ben Harper exceeded all my expectations. Every song, every song…a rare example of a seamless album perhaps…I think I might listen to this as many times eventually as I have listened to “Green.” Heading to post office. Listening in car to shows I have attended.  February the 28th, 2001:  2-28-01…28-2-01 in Euro style: Landmark Theatre, Trey Anastasio and a simple five piece backing band played a gem. Simple rhythms, energetic but not overpowering brass fuse with Trey’s guitar to produce a show that deserves a replay once a year.

Going mailing…quick post and then off…more later…leaving for US Opens Semis tomorrow…

Simon Critchley’s excellent editorial today in the New York Times provides some illuminating discussion on the nature of money.  Faith, promise, he highlights the relationship between foundational theological concepts and modern, currency based economies.   My “Lapham’s Quarterly” about money provides an interesting overview of the topic.  Similar to the view that a “state” is nothing more than an entity holding the only legitimate claim to violence, we can understand money as worth what the violence wielding sovereign says it is worth.  The LQ provides a selection from the travels of Marco Polo, where the Italian traveler details the Asian currency system.

“There is a theological core to money based on an act of faith, of belief. One can even speak of a sort of monetary civil religion or currency patriotism. This is particularly evident in attitudes in the U.S. to the dollar, particularly to the sheer material quality of the bill. It can also be found in the U.K.’s opposition to the Euro and to the strange cultural need for money marked with the Queen’s head, underwritten by the power of the sovereign, who is also — lest one forget — the head of the established church.”

Any editorial that delved into Mr. Plato makes me happy:

“Plato defines a “simulacrum” as something that materializes an absence, an image for something that doesn’t exist in reality, for example the god Poseidon or Bob the Builder. Such is money, in my view. In the absence of any gold standard (but ask yourself, how real is the value of gold? Is it not simply yellowish metal?), money is only sustained through an act of faith, belief, promise and trust in sovereign power.”

I need to finish EU fellowship application today.  Getting letter of recommendation from work colleague.  Listening to debate about health care bill.

DR’s guest teaches at Case Western.  Side effects of performance enhancing drugs are bad; people who use them tend to eventually suffer.  Not good relying on a pill. Professor says he is concerned with modern University culture.  They discussed incident where American pilots killed Canadian in Afghanistan because of too much amp use.  I agree. Parents sticking 7 year olds on ritalin, bad idea.  Discussing socio-economic issues:  we all know upper-middle class kids get the better drugs; they take the drugs made in regulated factories.  This is not always true. Supposedly “high class” people also abuse “street drugs.”   A friend once had a client with a crystal meth addiction; not the type of client you think, she was a wealthy, successful banker.

Pharma-industrial complex:  discussions about this side of American culture I find interesting.  We allow salespeople in the doctor’s office.  I read an article in the Atlantic by a doctor who said a generation ago this was an unthinkable practice.  A doctor, the author said, who was even seen with a drug company rep would be ostracized by colleagues.

I enjoyed yet another Talbot piece from the New Yorker. April 27, 2009. Her essay about neuroenhancers was a well presented overview of current medical and social trends. She presents the various implications for these trends in the student academic, professional academic, and general workplace setting. While often used in academic setting, a trend has emerged to prescribe neuroenhancers for uses outside conventional “academic” uses. The typical “academic” use is usually to achieve higher grades. I personally find it an unhealthy social trend to prescribe neuroenhancers. What a generation ago where considered normal human conditions are now subject to the modern Pharma’s reach into a greater degree of everyday life. Advertisements on television appeared, people flock to Doctor’s in a lurid display of demand driven distribution. Shyness is now a social disorder. We face a social problem is determining through some mechanism whether or not we allow 1) natural ability to always win out over chemical induced advantage, 2) natural ability to compete with those placed on “equal” competitive footing by chemical means, or 3) Allow all, regardless of natural ability, to compete a blutbad of pharmacologically driven warfare for all of society’s various offerings. This final scenario seems to be what we are living in; this scenario, as Talbot subtlety hints in the end of her piece, is not a healthy society. I believe Rawls would have something to say about this debate.

Okay, mailing off to NY, mailing ready for C’Ville…okay…”The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner” by Mr. Folds in an excellent album, but for Noon on a Thursday and phone calls to make I need a more saccharine offering…time for Matchbox 20.

The end result is worth it in a mesh of melted meat.  Short rib and ox tail.  Purcellville short rib is looking good.

Listening to Diane Rehm as usual.  The discussion is about performance enhancing drugs.

“VA Beach 98″ as its become universally known amongst my Phish friends. I found an old copy.  The Bathtub Gin shows Phish at their ambient best:  they synch perfectly in this version and around minute 8 being to delight the listener with a jam comprised of poly-rhythmic mastery.  Trey hitting soaring high notes, Mike thumping the low, Page hitting the keys: the piece wraps up a little over fifteen  minutes.  I always enjoyed doing work to this show.

I received word that we are on the waiting list for a community garden plot.  The Four Mile Run location it says is the easiest to get.

Ended Up Making Lots of Pizzas with Cornmeal Dough, Grandma Waldonato would be happy: