Song Number 39

One of my better lyrics:

Fool's Gold Sky

Woke up on the wrong side of a prayer
Coffee cold and smoke hangin' in the air
Mirror shows a stranger in my eyes
Chasing ghosts beneath the same old skies
Radio spitting out a last refrain 
Every exit looks the same in the rain
Traded my dreams for dollars years ago
Now the highway’s all I got to show
 
Chorus
Under a fool’s gold sky I’m burning bright
Running towards tomorrow, running out of sight
Heart like a freight train, wheel’s on fire
Singing to the darkness, climb the wire
Fool’s gold sky—take me higher yeah
 
And she said forever, then she packed up her lies
Left me with the echoes and goodbyes
I keep her picture folded in my coat
Proof that some things hurt when they’re broke
Small town bars and big city lights
Every wrong turns feels almost right
One more tank, a  long goodbye
Still believe there’s a reason why
 
Chorus
 
No angels coming, no devil’s deal
Just miles of blacktop and the way I feel
If the morning finds me broken down the line
At least I went out swinging one last time
Radio is spitting out a last refrain 
Every exit looks the same in the rain
I traded my dreams for dollars years ago
Now the highway’s all I have to show

© Ray Cattie

 

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I and Pangur Bán (Again)

I and Pangur Bán the cat

Upon whose haunches he is sat

Watching me from day to day

Watching as my love away

To him I credit, for that love

With me was he from up above

When I in happy time did meet

The one I chose, the source of heat

And she in love with me did fall

For I was one from whom love called

And she was swept into that love

As if the lightning from above

And on the day that she met me

With room to spare she let him see

For also met was Pangur Bán

With love for him beyond the man

For she had fallen, hard and fast

Her eyes upon that cat were cast

And he with purring slick intent

Could feel the way her love had bent

And so alone I write this note

As Pangur Bán has got my goat

And he has got the girl as well

My hope is that they rot in hell.

© Ray Cattie

All of the Good Lines

Gloucester

“Gloucester,” by B.C., is a song

written as a tribute to the roughly

10,000 people who’ve lost their lives

fishing over the years out of Gloucester,

Massachusetts. Through this video,

they get to live again, grow old, fish.

“Gloucester” is written, performed, & produced by B.C., the classic rock duo hailing from Delco, Pennsylvania. B.C. is Bill Blessington & Ray Cattie.

© 2025 B.C.

A YouTube Channel is Born

Click HERE for BC's new YouTube channel!

(Alien) Life Redux, Etc: What Exactly Are the Odds?

 (Alien) Life Redux, Etc: What Exactly Are the Odds?

 

This is an essay that I republish every once in a while, usually after seeing some alien-related copy somewhere on the ‘net. This time, I have two additional pieces of evidence (ok, maybe not evidence, but two strongly supportive quotes by an American and a British scientist who definitely check off some of the ethos boxes for credibility. Onward:

 

It's a romantic notion- alien life- but maybe it's just that- a notion. And here is why I'm starting to think that maybe there really is no life anywhere else in the universe:

 

Pure probability.

 

A monkey at a typewriter has a one in 15 billion chance in typing the word "banana" in its lifetime. Why so little a chance? Well, let's say a typewriter has 50 keys, and each key has an equal chance of being pressed by our monkey friend. The chance that the first letter typed would be a "B" is 1/50. The chance that the second letter typed would be an "A" is also 1/50, and on and on.

 

Statistics tell us that the chance of the first six letters spelling "banana" is:

 

(1/50) × (1/50) × (1/50) ×

(1/50) × (1/50) × (1/50) =

1/15,625,000,000,

or roughly a one in 15 billion chance.

 

And that's for only six things that have to happen just to spell the word "banana." 

 

Now, let's conservatively say that 10 things have to line up out of a 1,000 for life to occur (way, way conservative). That would be:

(1/1,000) x (1/1,000) x (1/1,000) x

(1/1,000) x (1/1,000) x (1/1,000) x

(1/1,000) x (1/1,000) x (1/1,000) x

(1/1,000)= 1/1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 or roughly a 1 in one thousand billion billion billionth of a chance.

 

When I hear someone say that the odds of there NOT being life elsewhere are very minute, I think of the above formula, and I think that it might in fact be the opposite.

Further, British mathematician/astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle once observed that the prospect of higher life forms spontaneously emerging is comparable to the probability of a tornado sweeping through a junkyard and assembling a Boeing 747 from the materials it finds.

American biologist Edwin Conklin made a similar observation: “The likelihood of life arising from chance is comparable to the probability of the Unabridged Dictionary being produced by an explosion in a printing factory.”

 

Before you launch into how big the universe is, think about the numbers above, the tornado in a junkyard, and the unabridged dictionary explosion, and think that probably of those elements that need to come together for life to happen, such as the numbers in the above monkey model, are probably more like a hundred thousand things out of a million, as opposed to ten out of a thousand.

 

As I read back my essay, I realize that the proofs I have presented actually work against me as well—that just because the universe is that big, with that many elements needing to come together at one specific point in time—doesn’t mean that it’s impossible. Unlikely, improbable, incredible—most definitely. Impossible, no.

Yes, these are the things that I think of for inspiration.

Strangely, they work...

© Ray Cattie

Magic Node

The author reads chapter one of newly published young adult novel “Magic Node,” available as a paperback or a Kindle book on Amazon.com.

Upcoming Novels

This is the first of three, called "Six of Cups," an introspective journey of a man (Hudson) confronting the profound absence of a loved one. It explores themes of grief, memory, and regret while meditating on the meaning of life and the choices made along the way. The narrative uses personal mementos and evocative settings—a dusty study, torn photographs, a symbolic empty chair—to illustrate the weight of loss and the bittersweet nature of remembrance. It will be available in trade paperback format from Amazon very soon.

This is the second one, a young adult novel entitled "Magic Node," a story that unfolds in a near-future world transformed by a breakthrough technology—BrainLink—which unexpectedly unlocks latent magical abilities in animals. As canines and felines (and eventually other species) develop extraordinary powers, ancient bonds and new rivalries spark expansive conflicts. The resulting wars and ethical dilemmas force humans to reconsider their relationship with nature, technology, and magic, leading to interspecies alliances, global crises, and ultimately the hopeful (if uncertain) rebuilding of society. It too will be available in trade paperback format from Amazon very soon.

This is the third one, the 20th anniversary hardback compilation of "Ard Righ," "Kingdom of Summer," and "Reign of Fire," The King Arthur Saga.  It will also be available in a limited edition, commemorative hardback format from Amazon very soon.