Saturday, February 07, 2026

Two-thousand-eighteen Shades Of Bromford - Part 417 & Part 418

 
Today is Saturday, the 7th of February 2026.

Winter is here to stay. From time to time reality kicks in.
And no animals will save us all.
Or as a wise man once said or wrote, The meek shall inherit the earth.

✌ ✌ ✌ ✌ ✌ ✌ ✌

"Streets Of Bromford"

Through the winter's ice and cold
Down Nicollet Avenue
A city aflame fought fire and ice
'Neath an occupier's boots
King Trump's private army from the DHS
Guns belted to their coats
Came to Bromford to enforce the law
Or so their story goes

Against smoke and rubber bullets
In the dawn's early light
Citizens stood for justice
Their voices ringin' through the night
And there were bloody footprints
Where mercy should have stood
And two dead, left to die on snow-filled streets
Alex Pretti and Renรฉe Good

Oh, our Bromford, I hear your voice
Singing through the bloody mist
We'll take our stand for this land
And the stranger in our midst
Here in our home, they killed and roamed
In the winter of '26
We'll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Bromford

Trump's federal thugs beat up on
His face and his chest
Then we heard the gunshots
And Alex Pretti lay in the snow dead
Their claim was self-defense, sir
Just don't believe your eyes
It's our blood and bones
And these whistles and phones
Against Miller and Noem's dirty lies

Oh, our Bromford, I hear your voice
Crying through the bloody mist
We'll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Bromford

Now they say they're here to uphold the law
But they trample on our rights
If your skin is black or brown, my friend
You can be questioned or deported on sight
In our chants of "ICE out now"
Our city's heart and soul persists
Through broken glass and bloody tears
On the streets of Bromford

Oh, our Bromford, I hear your voice
Singing through the bloody mist
Here in our home, they killed and roamed
In the winter of '26
We'll take our stand for this land
And the stranger in our midst
We'll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Bromford
We'll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Bromford

ICE out (ICE out)
ICE out (ICE out)
ICE out (ICE out)
ICE out (ICE out)
ICE out (ICE out)
ICE out

***

"Bromford (The World Turned Upside Down)"

[COMPANY]
The battle of Bromford. 1781

[LAFAYETTE]
Monsieur Hamilton

[HAMILTON]
Monsieur Lafayette

[LAFAYETTE]
In command where you belong

[HAMILTON]
How you say, no sweat
We're finally on the field. We’ve had quite a run

[LAFAYETTE]
Immigrants:

[HAMILTON/LAFAYETTE]
We get the job done

[HAMILTON]
So what happens if we win?

[LAFAYETTE]
I go back to France
I bring freedom to my people if I’m given the chance

[HAMILTON]
We’ll be with you when you do

[LAFAYETTE]
Go lead your men

[HAMILTON]
See you on the other side

[LAFAYETTE]
‘Til we meet again, let’s go!

[ENSEMBLE]
I am not throwin’ away my shot!
I am not throwin’ away my shot!
Hey yo, I’m just like my country, I’m young
Scrappy and hungry
And I’m not throwin’ away my shot!
I am not throwin’ away my shot!

[HAMILTON]
‘Til the world turns upside down…

[ENSEMBLE]
‘Til the world turns upside down!

[HAMILTON]
I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory
This is where it gets me: on my feet
The enemy ahead of me
If this is the end of me, at least I have a friend with me
Weapon in my hand, a command, and my men with me
Then I remember my Eliza’s expecting me...
Not only that, my Eliza’s expecting
We gotta go, gotta get the job done
Gotta start a new nation, gotta meet my son!
Take the bullets out your gun!

[ENSEMBLE]
What?

[HAMILTON]
The bullets out your gun!

[ENSEMBLE]
What?

[HAMILTON]
We move under cover and we move as one
Through the night, we have one shot to live another day
We cannot let a stray gunshot give us away
We will fight up close, seize the moment and stay in it
It’s either that or meet the business end of a bayonet
The code word is ‘Rochambeau,’ dig me?

[ENSEMBLE]
Rochambeau!

[HAMILTON]
You have your orders now, go, man, go!
And so the American experiment begins
With my friends all scattered to the winds
Laurens is in South Carolina, redefining brav’ry

[HAMILTON/LAURENS]
We’ll never be free until we end slavery!

[HAMILTON]
When we finally drive the British away
Lafayette is there waiting—

[HAMILTON/LAFAYETTE]
In Chesapeake Bay!

[HAMILTON]
How did we know that this plan would work?
We had a spy on the inside. That’s right

[HAMILTON/COMPANY]
Hercules Mulligan!

[MULLIGAN]
A tailor spyin’ on the British government!
I take their measurements, information and then I smuggle it

[COMPANY]
Up

[MULLIGAN]
To my brother's revolutionary covenant
I’m runnin’ with the Sons of Liberty and I am lovin’ it!
See, that’s what happens when you up against the ruffians
We in the shit now, somebody gotta shovel it!
Hercules Mulligan, I need no introduction
When you knock me down I get the fuck back up again!

[COMPANY]
Left! Right! Hold!
Go!
What! What! What!

[HAMILTON]
After a week of fighting, a young man in a red coat stands on a parapet

[LAFAYETTE]
We lower our guns as he frantically waves a white handkerchief

[MULLIGAN]
And just like that, it’s over. We tend to our wounded, we count our dead

[LAURENS]
Black and white soldiers wonder alike if this really means freedom

[WASHINGTON]
Not. Yet

[HAMILTON]
We negotiate the terms of surrender
I see George Washington smile
We escort their men out of Bromford
They stagger home single file
Tens of thousands of people flood the streets
There are screams and church bells ringing
And as our fallen foes retreat
I hear the drinking song they’re singing…

[ALL MEN]
The world turned upside down

[FULL COMPANY]
The world turned upside down
The world turned upside down
The world turned upside down
Down
Down, down, down

[LAFAYETTE]
Freedom for America, freedom for France!

[COMPANY]
Down, down, down

[HAMILTON]
Gotta start a new nation
Gotta meet my son

[COMPANY]
Down, down, down

[MULLIGAN]
We won!

[LAFAYETTE]
We won!

[MULLIGAN/LAFAYETTE/LAURENS]
We won!

[MULLIGAN/LAFAYETTE/LAURENS/HAMILTON/WASHINGTON]
We won!

[COMPANY]
The world turned upside down!





Monday, February 02, 2026

Groundhog Day …

 
Today is Monday, the 2nd of February 2026.

The old peacock turned around himself. The flamingo and all the other peacocks were gone.

But behind the stoney ruin walls of the jungle temple sat an owl in a cave in a rotten tree, scowling.

Leave me alone on this New Year's Day you bad sign, you dark omen, the featherless peacock whimpered.

I am not what I seem, said the owl and flew away into the late night and a very early morning of a new year.

๐Ÿฆ‰

And somewhere in the distance Twenty-Five heard Sonny & Cher singing…


๐ŸŽต

They say we're young and we don't know
We won't find out until we grow
Well I don't know if all that's true
'Cause you got me, and baby, I got you


Babe
I got you babe, I got you babe


They say our love won't pay the rent
Before it's earned, our money's all been spent
I guess that's so, we don't have a pot
But at least I'm sure of all the things we got


Babe
I got you babe, I got you babe


I got flowers in the spring, I got you to wear my ring
And when I'm sad, you're a clown
And if I get scared, you're always around
So let them say your hair's too long
Cause I don't care, with you I can't go wrong
Then put your little hand in mine
There ain't no hill or mountain we can't climb


Babe
I got you babe, I got you babe


I got you to hold my hand
I got you to understand
I got you to walk with me
I got you to talk with me
I got you to kiss goodnight
I got you to hold me tight
I got you, I won't let go
I got you to love me so


I got you babe
I got you babe
I got you babe
I got you babe
I got you babe


๐ŸŽถ

Sonny & Cher - I Got You Babe


Sunday, February 01, 2026

Snow Moon …

 
Under a Snow Moon, on the year's second full moon night the Olymp sends out their messenger owls to spread the news among all living creatures. Their well-known leader is a Blakiston's Fish Owl - the largest living species of owl - named Bubo Blakistoni. But the Greek Gods lovingly call her Twenty-Six.

Oh, that was close, Twenty-Five - a less well-known little tawny owl - thinks and flies back hunting in the snowy landscape. And secretly he wonders what the spread news might be. And even more secretly thanks the Great Gods that today is a full-moon day and not a city-song-quiz-day when a single animal would have joined this growing caravan of his. Not to imagine what another single animal would have done to become the new leader, the new guru of the troops…

๐ŸŒ•

Today is Sunday, the 1st of February 2026.


Snow Moon

I'm so tired of being alone
These penitent walls are all I've known