GERDES UNIVERSITY- School of Thinkers reimagined

 

My impression (part) of who was passing through the original W4th Street Gerde's Folk City during the 1960s. Too many to adequately mention. None forgotten. Second location and 1970s not included here. (Yes, the Roches duo played West 4th!)

Rafael painted the original fresco in 1509 called School of Athens. (Forgive me John Sebastian and a thousand others for not getting ya in there)

Chapter 72

I found a profound lesson about life in Moby Dick in Chapter 72. 

Reading on a train just south of Tarrytown, NY. 

(Yes. That’s an unseen photo of Grampa Mike Porco at 130 W. 3rd St Tony Pastor’s late 1960s. 

Mike was connected to Gerde’s by a monkey rope. I’m connected to Mike’s deeds. Sonny Ochs is connected to her brother. Sharon D’Lugoff is tied to The Village Gate. Which one is here on earth grinding away? Which one is standing on the ship steadfastly holding on and which one is toiling on the captured game, splashing about with sharks at the ankle? I’ll let you know when I find out. Make your own determination🙏🏼)

The Monkey-rope. 

“There is no staying in one place; for at one and the same time everything has to be done everywhere.”

“The poor harpooner flounders about, half on the whale and half in the water....the vast mass revolves like a treadmill beneath him.”

“The monkey-rope was fast to his canvas belt and to my leather one. It was humorously perilous business for us both.”

“So strongly and metaphysically did I conceive of my situation, that while earnestly watching his motions...that my free will had received a mortal wound ; and that another’s mistake or misfortune might plunge innocent me into unmerited disaster and death.”

“And yet still further pondering, I say, I saw that this situation of mine was the precise situation of every mortal that breathes. 

If your banker breaks, you snap; if your apothecary by mistake sends you poison in your pills, you die.”

“By exceeding caution, you may possibly escape these and the multitudinous other evil chances in life. But handle the harpooner’s monkey-rope heedfully as I would, sometimes he jerked it so, that I came very near sliding overboard. I only had the management of one end of it.”

*The monkey-rope is found in all whaling ships in order to afford the imperiled harpooner the strongest possible guarantee for the faithfulness and vigilance of his monkey-rope holder

“Unappalled by the massacre during the night, the sharks now freshly and more keenly allured...swarmed round the carcass like bees in a beehive. The harpooner often pushed them aside with his floundering feet. 

Suspended over the side, the hands continually flourished over his head a couple of keen whale-spades, wherewith they slaughtered as many sharks as they could reach. This procedure of theirs was disinterested and benevolent of them....those indiscreet spades of theirs would come nearer amputating a leg than a tail. 

But the harpooner, I suppose, only prayed to his Yojo, and gave up his life into the hands of the gods.”

“But courage! There is good cheer in store for you.”

 

 

AIN'T NO GOING BACK

 Foot of Pride

BOB DYLAN

Like the lion tears the flesh off of a man

So can a woman who passes herself off as a male

They sang "Danny Boy" at his funeral and the Lord's Prayer

Preacher talking 'bout Christ betrayed

It's like the earth just opened and swallowed him up

He reached too high, was thrown back to the ground

You know what they say about bein' nice to the right people on the way up

Sooner or later you gonna meet them comin' down

Well, there ain't no goin' back when your foot of pride come down

Ain't no goin' back

Hear ya got a brother named James, don't forget faces or names

Sunken cheeks and his blood is mixed

He looked straight into the sun and said revenge is mine

But he drinks, and drinks can be fixed

Sing me one more song, about ya love me to the moon and the stranger

And your fall by the sword love affair with Erroll Flynn

in these times of compassion when conformity's in fashion

Say one more stupid thing to me before the final nail is driven in.

Well, there ain't no goin' back when your foot of pride come down

Ain't no goin' back

There's a retired businessman named Red, cast down from heaven and he's out of his head

He feeds off of everyone that he can touch

He said he only deals in cash or sells tickets to a plane crash

He's not somebody that you play around with much

Miss Delilah is his, a Philistine is what she is

She'll do wondrous works with your fate

Feed you coconut bread, spice buns in your bed

If you don't mind sleepin' with your head face down in a grave.

Well, there ain't no goin' back when your foot of pride come down

Ain't no goin' back

Well they'll choose a man for you to meet tonight

You'll play the fool and learn how to walk through doors

How to enter into the gates of paradise

No, how to carry a burden too heavy to be yours

Yeah, from the stage they'll be tryin' to get water outta rocks

A whore will pass the hat, collect a hundred grand and say thanks

They like to take all this money from sin, build big universities to study in

Sing "Amazing Grace" all the way to the Swiss banks

Well, there ain't no goin' back when your foot of pride come down

Ain't no goin' back

They got some beautiful people out there, man

They can be a terror to your mind and show you how to hold your tongue

They got mystery written all over their forehead

They kill babies in the crib and say only the good die young

They don't believe in mercy

Judgment on them is something that you'll never see

They can exalt you up or bring you down main route

Turn you into anything that they want you to be

Well, there ain't no goin' back when your foot of pride come down

Ain't no goin' back

Yes, I guess I loved him too

I can still see him in my mind climbin' that hill

Did he make it to the top, well he probably did and dropped

Struck down by the strength of the will

Ain't nothin' left here partner, just the dust of a plague that has left this whole town afraid

From now on, this'll be where you're from

Let the dead bury the dead. Your time will come

Let hot iron blow as he raised the shade

Well, there ain't no goin' back when your foot of pride come down

Ain't no goin' back