Cozy Shack

Life is Good

2012-01-24T19:01:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! Not a lot of blogging going on, but lots of living. That is Kea the cat. She adopted us last August. Three days later, a tiny black kitten followed suit. We call her Pele.
After almost nine months in our new island home, we cannot imagine living anywhere else.
Aloha!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-03T14:30:00.000-07:00

Hawaiian Time

2011-07-18T15:13:00.001-07:00

This was taken by my dear friend, Christine in June. She visited, as did another dear friend, Beth. In July More visitors in August. We never had this kind of visitor action in ten years on the North Coast! Life is pretty sweet for us. Feeling ourselves slow way down, and loving it. We are enjoying our vegetable garden's bounty, even though it was all planted a mere 2 months ago!
The hard thing is missing my kids, which I knew would be a contributing factor. Hope to get them all over here soon. The cat adores her new terrain and digs. Brave new world...

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-08T16:20:00.000-07:00

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-01T14:33:00.001-07:00

Wordless Monday

2011-05-23T16:40:00.000-07:00

Wordless...What Day is This?

2011-05-06T16:14:00.000-07:00

Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-13T14:08:00.000-07:00

April 12th, 2011

Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-06T11:38:00.000-07:00

Our house from the backyard.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-03-30T13:07:00.001-07:00

Wordless Wednesday

2011-03-23T17:10:00.000-07:00

Wordless... but not on Wednesday

2011-03-21T17:42:00.000-07:00

Wordless Wednesday

2011-03-02T16:36:00.000-08:00

Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-09T00:00:00.000-08:00

That's the first place we lived when my little family landed here on the North Coast in July of 2001. One of the best features of this spot was the very old, giant palm tree, located just outside my older daughter's bedroom window. A gorgeous specimen... that was part of life on South Harbor Drive for countless decades. Until a wind storm this January, when the top snapped clean-off. We haven't lived in this house for almost seven years, but I just had to document this magnificent tree's demise.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-02T08:56:00.000-08:00

(My youngest... about five years back.)

Wordless Wednesday

2011-01-26T00:00:00.000-08:00

Wordish Wednesday

2011-01-19T00:00:00.000-08:00

Something amazing is about to happen. After pretty much a lifetime in this Golden State, except for a 5 year stint in the Midwest after my parents split up, I will soon be a full-time resident of another state altogether. A far away place. The place we've dreamed of.

So much is a question. Or a risk. We are willing participants. Ready for our biggest adventure yet. How many chances will we get to live out our lives on a beautiful island in the middle of the ocean? My guess is that this is it.

I love California... the state of my birth and my ancestry. So much history. My kids are here. (For now...!) Just feeling restless in a healthy way. It's a big world out there, and life is flying by. We plan on making what's left of it memorable.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-01-12T11:59:00.000-08:00

Lake Tahoe, 1976.

" I had the mark just as plain as day-could not be denied."

Wordless Wednesday

2011-01-05T00:00:00.000-08:00

Hau'oli Makahiki Hou !!

2010-12-31T10:39:00.000-08:00

Wordless Wednesday

2010-12-28T23:55:00.000-08:00

Wordless Wednesday

2010-12-15T00:00:00.000-08:00

Wordless Wednesday

2010-12-08T11:28:00.001-08:00

Wordless Wednesday

2010-12-01T00:00:00.000-08:00

Louie Louie

2010-11-27T21:00:00.001-08:00

Crab Louie

Recipe courtesy of Swan Oyster Depot, San Francisco

Louie Dressing:
1 pint mayonnaise
1/2 pint tomato ketchup
1/2 cup sweet relish
1/2 cup chopped black olives
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped

Crab Louie Salad:
1 head iceberg lettuce, chopped
8 to 12 ounces fresh picked Dungeness crab meat
1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and sliced lengthwise thinly
3 tomatoes, quartered
1/2 pound asparagus spears, cooked.

Directions:
To make dressing, mix together mayonnaise, ketchup, relish, olives, and eggs.

Make a bed of iceberg lettuce on a large plate. Top with crab, avocado, tomatoes, and asparagus. Drizzle with Louie dressing

Wordless Wednesday

2010-11-24T01:15:00.001-08:00

Wordless Wednesday

2010-11-17T09:13:00.000-08:00

Wordless Wednesday

2010-11-10T00:00:00.000-08:00

Bath with a view...

Wordless Wednesday

2010-11-03T00:00:00.000-07:00

Wordless Saturday

2010-10-30T20:04:00.000-07:00

Wordless Wednesday

2010-10-20T00:00:00.000-07:00

Wordless Wednesday

2010-10-13T00:00:00.000-07:00

Wordless Wednesday

2010-10-06T00:00:00.000-07:00

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-29T00:00:00.000-07:00

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-22T18:16:00.000-07:00

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-15T00:00:00.000-07:00

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-08T11:03:00.001-07:00

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-01T11:20:00.001-07:00

Wordless Wednesday

2010-08-25T13:45:00.001-07:00

Friday Flora

2010-08-20T21:38:00.000-07:00

"I believe in God, but I spell it Nature" Frank Lloyd Wright

The Great Outdoors

2010-07-19T21:42:00.000-07:00

Saw this in a nearby home we checked out today. Great place, and this made it even greater!

Ainokea

2010-06-22T10:09:00.000-07:00

Mother Ocean

2010-06-16T17:28:00.000-07:00

Nature's Way

2010-06-15T08:11:00.000-07:00

Lightning strikes and burns 600-foot Jesus statue

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Red Rhodie

2010-05-28T18:39:00.000-07:00

"Earth laughs in flowers."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Soak It Up

2010-05-25T23:14:00.000-07:00

Savor your life as it happens. Everything changes faster than you might imagine. Remember that silly old song about the tapestry? True.

The Circle Game

2010-05-22T22:23:00.000-07:00

"There'll be new dreams, maybe better dreams and plenty...

Before the last revolving year is through."

Okie Dokie

2010-05-20T19:56:00.000-07:00

We grew it. Then we ate it all up!

The Universe Is Natural

2010-05-19T23:00:00.000-07:00

When I became convinced that the universe is natural, that all the ghosts and gods are myths, there entered into my brain, into my soul, into every drop of my blood the sense, the feeling, the joy of freedom. The walls of my prison crumbled and fell. The dungeon was flooded with light and all the bolts and bars and manacles became dust.

Robert Green Ingersoll 1833-1899

(I already posted this favorite quote on facebook. Call it recycled?)

The Perfect Day

2010-05-18T00:00:00.000-07:00

Russian Gulch ~November 14th, 2009

Lots has happened. The man I love lost his dad just about six months ago. A power-packed loss.
Youngest child is about to graduate. By the skin of her teeth. This kid has turned me inside- out and managed to crush my heart a few times. I guess the up side is I am better prepared to embrace the empty nest thing when it happens.

Still Life

2010-05-16T13:45:00.000-07:00

Yep, it's still life. Or a reasonable semblance of it. I have another camera and am increasingly unafraid to use it. Anybody still out there... six months or so later? If so, hello!

"How often do the dead wake~ we thought were safely buried?" Robert Hunter

Down to the Bone

2009-10-13T18:23:00.001-07:00

Still alive and well and above ground. One reason I don't post much anymore is that I am camera-less. When I have one again, perhaps I'll be around more often. Or... if life suddenly becomes exciting and exotic--- whichever comes first. This photo of sheep skulls was taken by my older daughter, when the family visited Stillwater Cove Ranch last month.

Down To The Bone - Cold Blood

What's New?

2009-08-14T19:03:00.001-07:00

That's our now two-year-old kitty, checking you out. Taken by a visiting relative last month. Not much blogging happening these days. Could be a trend, could be a phase. The garden has been a wonderful thing. Too bad my camera isn't functional. I miss taking snapshots.

I joined something called boot camp. No, not the military. Don't really like the name, although it is appropriate. We meet three mornings a week on the beach. Serious work outs, in sand. Before work. Finishing my second month of this.

It's nearly autumn. I look forward to that, after another season of Winnebago's and their mostly clueless inhabitants. Youngest child got her first job this summer, and is handling it quite well. I still have a job, as does my man. We know how lucky we are.

Backed out of Burning Man. It's got to be right, and it wasn't. Maybe next year. Other than that, just fighting the dreaded Facebook time suck.

Whats New Pussycat? - Bob Marley & the Wailers

May I Be Frank?

2009-07-11T11:45:00.000-07:00

It was cloudy on the Fourth in Mendocino. Thankfully, this did little to deter bike riding frankfurters.

Bad - Michael Jackson

Solstice Weekend

2009-06-21T16:20:00.000-07:00

There was plenty of grillin' ...

And of course some chillin'
(Older daughter in at SNWMF in Boonville yesterday)

We had a great weekend right around here, in our own back yard. How many 22 1/2 year old kids want to go to a reggae fest with their parents? She did and we all had a splendid day together, here in Mendonesia.

I Chase The Devil - Max Romeo

Everywhere Is War

2009-06-14T19:53:00.000-07:00

"Funny, what becomes unacceptable, in time. Someday, when I’m gone, this will all seem so shortsighted, so primitive, like chimps making signs. There will be something better than bashing other chimp tribes as hard as you bloody can."

I highly recommend you go here to read the rest of Zo's latest post.

War - Bob Marley

2009-06-14T10:24:00.000-07:00

Somebody's Secret

2009-06-10T20:26:00.000-07:00

Agreed. Once I came to this very conclusion, life became magically simpler. And even happier. Also, the accompanying illustration makes me chuckle!

The Healing Game - Van Morrison

All Night Long

2009-06-03T18:58:00.000-07:00

Koko Taylor

Fare thee well, Queen.

' Tell Automatic Slim
Tell Razor Totin' Jim
Tell Butcher Knife-Totin' Annie '

Wang Dang Doodle - Koko Taylor

STFU

2009-05-26T18:16:00.000-07:00

What a sad day for California. I am SO over this state. And hate.

Why cant we live together - Sade

Four More Years! (Maybe)

2009-05-25T20:39:00.000-07:00

Shoreline Amphitheater, May 14th, 2009

Amid the excitement of the last couple of weeks (See above photo), I missed out on my 4 year blog anniversary. Ha! Yeah, whatever. It's not much, but it's still here. If nothing else, it's a connection to some folks I've grown accustomed to connecting with. For what it's worth...
(Trivia: Guess who's playing pedal steel on the song accompanying this post? Be sure and click on the 'play full song here' link to hear it in it's entirety.)

I Used To Be A King [2008 Stereo Mix] - Graham Nash

Call Any Vegetable

2009-05-20T16:04:00.000-07:00

A few recent snapshots... Our garden plot @ one week. From the left-lettuces & chard, peppers, eggplant, zucchini, beans, corn, brussels sprouts, kale, and pumpkins. For now!

Pepper(Sweet yellow-we still need jalapeno and habanero!)

Lettuces

Oh, and that's a 1948 Ford Tractor. Just to mix it up. I took this while up at my friend's land in Bonny Doon last week. We were hanging around up there before the Dead show.

Call Any Vegetable - Frank Zappa

Fire Dancers !

2009-05-16T19:17:00.000-07:00

Amazing dance troupe from Hawaii, during drums.

Snippets

2009-05-16T02:20:00.000-07:00

Home again. Maybe a few pictures tomorrow, after sleep.

New Potato Caboose!

Born Cross Eyed!

Dear Mr. Fantasy!

Once More, With Feeling

2009-05-12T18:41:00.001-07:00

I posted this before he WON. It's back again because I like it. And him. So, anyone out there that is angry over the mere possibility of health care for all citizens can bite my substantial ass. Just sit back and enjoy the ride, buzz killers. That is all.

Inca Roads - Frank Zappa

In Her Eyes I See The Sea...

2009-05-07T19:05:00.000-07:00

Lotta Crabtree

Let's see. The dead ex-boyfriend list keeps growing. I'm not joking! That is a post-in-progress. Meanwhile, the garden here is happening. This pleases me greatly because I've done all the work. At first, I whined that we needed a rototiller to prepare the patch. One day, I looked down into the neighboring yard, and there was my ninety-something year old neighbor, prepping his garden bed entirely by hand. A shovel and a hoe and an old guy. This snapped me into action, and I went on out there and did the same thing. It felt mighty fine to just do it.

Music is also happening. Next week I cruise south to Santa Cruz to see my dear sister-friend. We are going to the Shoreline show together. Back in the so-called day, we saw lots of music. So, am revisiting another portal from my past. This is the same friend whose camp I'll be in at Burning Man. Seeing and hearing what's left of the boys will be fun at this point in time. And sad too. But really... he's been gone nearly 14 years now. I'm glad to hear anything that is related musically to that thing I loved so much. I surely did.

After playtime, I'll hurry homeward. Youngest daughter has prom to attend that weekend. School's almost done. Again. Then she's a senior. My baby. Shit! No more kids to raise-up. Then what? Burning Man-among other things. Much to be done beforehand, and 3 months (or so) will fly by.

Her Eyes Are A Blue Million Miles (Live Version) - Captain Beefheart And The Magic Band

Tend My Garden

2009-05-02T22:07:00.001-07:00

Lou Beach

Tend My Garden - The James Gang

2009-04-30T17:30:00.000-07:00

Piggies (Live) (2004 Digital Remaster) - George Harrison

News From Tahiti

2009-04-27T21:21:00.001-07:00

I received an email from my expat Aiko sister today, with the above attachment. It read:

"Last night Oscar Temaru, the President of Tahiti ,
got up on stage and sang Redemption Song with Alpha Blondie!"

Who are you - Alpha Blondie

Recommend

2009-04-27T19:03:00.000-07:00

Moroccan Chicken with Green Olives and Lemon

Bon Appétit | May 2009

Yield: Makes 4 servings
Active Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes

2 Meyer lemons or regular lemons
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, halved, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 cups low-salt chicken broth
1 4 1/2-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces, skin removed (I used boneless, skinless breasts)
1/2 cup green olives

Cut 1 lemon into 8 wedges. Squeeze enough juice from second lemon to measure 2 tablespoons; set wedges and juice aside. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and sprinkle with salt and pepper; sauté until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Add next 5 ingredients; stir 1 minute. Add broth; bring to boil. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper; add to skillet. Add lemon wedges. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until chicken is cooked through, turning occasionally, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer chicken to platter. Add olives and 2 tablespoons lemon juice to skillet. Increase heat to high; boil uncovered to thicken slightly, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over chicken.

Served it with long grain brown rice and a salad of baby lettuces. Flavorful, healthy, and simple. This has been your Donna Reed-on-acid service announcement for today.

An Afternoon At Lindley Meadow

2009-04-26T14:35:00.001-07:00

Older daughter at our picnic in the park. April 14, 2009

Poor Man's Whiskey Live at The Mystic Theater on May 18, 2007
(Darkside of the Moonshine)

Priming The Pump

2009-04-25T08:59:00.000-07:00

Twenty-Day Countdown...

Sadism

2009-04-22T11:59:00.000-07:00

"Why? Because, at bottom, there is a deep streak of sadism running through people. It runs through me, too! I can tell you, I have imagined torturing people who are egregious criminals--such as Hitler, or Saddam Hussien, or Charles Manson, or some smart aleck who pulls in front of me on the freeway--but in a country living under rule of law, we must not give into those urges ever." Eric Bergeson

Off To Babylon By The Bay

2009-04-12T16:01:00.000-07:00

Long story. Adios to Jon J. Lehr. Here's an oldie that reminds me of him forever. After a while, crocodiles.

Babylon - Jo Jo Gunne

Whistle Through Your Teeth And Spit

2009-04-03T18:41:00.000-07:00

My brother and my son at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley~May 15, 1983

"Aaron's First Show"

Set List:
Touch of Grey
New Minglewood Blues
Ramble on Rose
Cassidy
Brown Eyed Women
Hell in a Bucket
Althea
Looks Like Rain
Deal

Help on the Way
Slipknot!
Franklin's Tower
Samson and Delilah
He's Gone
drums
Truckin'
Stella Blue
Throwin' Stones
Not Fade Away
Encore:
Baby Blue

Grateful Dead/Greek Theatre/Sunday,May 15th 1983

Michelle's Big Adventure

2009-04-02T18:43:00.000-07:00

God Save The Queen - Sex Pistols

I Love Matt

2009-03-30T11:20:00.001-07:00

Troubled Assets Relief Program

It's You I Like

2009-03-29T17:58:00.000-07:00

With my brand-new baby boy and my friend Gail at Donner Lake ~1982

Its You I Like - Fred Rogers

Econ 420

2009-03-26T16:57:00.000-07:00

"However, others in the field believe that the government's $10.5 billion figure is absurdly low. Dan Hamburg, a former congressman from Northern California's sinsemilla belt, says the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors estimates bud production in that county alone at between $1 billion and $1.5 billion, worth far more than timber and grapes. " Steven Wishnia, AlterNet

Keep in mind that Mendocino County is a very small California county, with a 2007 population of 86,273. (By comparison, San Francisco county's population is 764,976.)

So, tell me again that taxation/legalization of cannabis is not a viable option. Oh, but wait! The children! It's a drug, and drugs are bad. Nothing like the ones my doctor tells me I need. Besides, kids should stick to booze. It's so much more... normal. I say let's utilize this obviously lucrative cash crop. Let it grow.

If anything at all is going to change, then we have got to go about life in very different ways than we have been lately. That would be my definition of evolution.

Let It Grow - Eric Clapton

The Damage Done

2009-03-26T00:00:00.000-07:00

Today marks 13 years since our pal Tim died. He's gotten plenty of press here-with good reason. Here is a picture of his name, engraved in the Circle Of Friends in Golden Gate Park.

The Needle and the Damage Done [Live] - Neil Young

Wordless Wednesday

2009-03-25T00:00:00.000-07:00

Mural by Diego Rivera, located in The City Club of San Francisco

My father and stepmother were married here in 1994

I love this mural-his first here in the United States.

Phone message waiting for me when I got in from work:"No cancer." Anyone that has lost a parent to that (damned) disease knows about the fear you carry around. Always. Thanks to those who expressed their concern. Including my wonderful son, who learned of it when he looked in on my blog. He called Monday night, alarmed to learn of it HERE, and not from me directly. (Sorry, Aaron!)

Short But Sweet For Certain

2009-03-23T10:11:00.001-07:00

Beautiful photograph. Nothing to report here. Life and (death) trudge onward.

Two Step - Dave Matthews Band

Warm & Fuzzy

2009-03-22T18:25:00.001-07:00

Zappa family~April 1979
Up front: Dweezil, Gail with Ahmet on her lap, and Moon
Frank looks on, smoking. (Ah, the '70's)

Discuss amongst yourselves...

Peaches en regalia - Frank Zappa

Daffodil Season

2009-03-21T10:34:00.000-07:00

It was heart-shaped. Also itchy. So I showed her, and whoosh! First, an ultrasound of my right leg. Followed by the swift knife of Linda, who "wanted that thing in a bucket." Quickly sewn-up, and off to the grocery store. The work day erased completely from the day's schedule, so as to accommodate these sudden medical procedures.

Then home to my eventual thoughts of mortality, odds, and a pretty much doomed genetic predisposition. Ah, sweet life. How easy it is... to take our unfolding days for granted.

The what-if's are looming today, yet I feel strangely grateful for the chance to face my own mortality. Each day's a gift, after all.

Hey Now

2009-03-19T17:14:00.001-07:00

An undersea volcano erupts off the coast of Tonga on March 18, 2009. (Dana Stephenson/Getty Images) *Note: You simply MUST click on it to view it's awesomeness.

Thanks to the sheer wonder of it all, I was chatting with my Aiko sister this afternoon via F.B. (Wondrous because she lives on Moorea.)

She told me to go and look at these photos. So I did. Holy shit!

Offloading

2009-03-17T10:44:00.000-07:00

Older, not wiser. Scared to death about what comes next. Afraid to not be mommy every day. Watched "Georgy Girl"(Can't recall ever seeing it before.) I related to Lynn Redgrave's character in a rather jarring manner. She related to children more than to adults.While it is undeniable that I adore children, I am coincidentally relieved that my grandchildren do not yet exist. Unlike some of my peers, I am in no hurry. Nothing to do with being "grandma"(I'd be the best, hands down.) Plenty to do with fear of the future for my own children. Subsequent generations in a world that's hurtling toward so many unknowns strikes me as insane. I know, every generation had it's doomsday scenario and blah-blah-blah. I guess it's that I want them to be really ready for it, so their kids stand a chance on this crazy planet. But what is ready, really? Realistically, if everyone waited until things were optimum, we'd have zero population growth. Wait, I may be onto something here.

Trapped in a town I love and hate equally. Lucky as hell in love, yet insecure always. Born to be a social animal, yet failing miserably. Wondering what the payoff to love marriage and children will turn out to be. Besides fear, worry, and guilt. I don't really mean payoff. More like the big lesson. "What's it all mean?" as Tahoma Paul used to say. The guy that fell backwards onto a horseshoe stake. And when I say backwards, I mean ass-backwards. I wonder how things turned out for him. (Perhaps he's on Facebook?) I'm genuinely afraid about my youngest child making it through life intact. She struggles with so much of it. And yet, it's her story... I have to let her tell it. Do you realize how painful that is and why didn't anyone tell me being a mother would hurt this much? Truth is, they probably did. To quote Kahlil Gibran-

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

Trippin' on Facebook. It's the new Brave New World. A crazy mish-mash of people from all corners of your life. In touch again with people you did everything first with after a 35 year hiatus. Mind boggling, really. All mixed up with current friends and acquaintances of varying degrees, family members, former lovers, and the people you will probably never know beyond the internets. Far be it from me to turn down a party.

Which brings me to Burning Man. My answer to midlife, my quest. Loved ones are perplexed about the "why" of this undertaking. I couldn't possibly explain it efficiently. Not yet. For the first time in a long, long time I am doing something solely for me. Something that will test my being in about a million ways. The time is right-that's all I really know.

Breed - Nirvana

He Would Not Encumber Me

2009-03-13T20:10:00.000-07:00

Charles Surrendorf

Friendships seem to evolve or deteriorate by this time in one's lifespan. When they've lasted almost thirty years, they are bound to hit a bump along the road once in a while. The fact remains, this is no time to be casting off any true compadres. He ain't heavy, he's my brother.

Something Completely Different

2009-03-12T19:05:00.000-07:00

...and about as far from Zappa's songs as you can get. Below is today's friendly song worm. (Curse you, Safeway!) A totally cornball tune that takes me right back to being a kid. It came out the year my mom took us back to the city, after five years in Wisconsin. It reminds me of 7th grade dances, and a boy named Bruce Buxton. We weren't cool kids, but we did own Nehru jackets, and that was our connection. I don't think we ever danced to this particular song, but I will never forget what we did slow dance to. That would be "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother." One of the most awkward, painfully long slow dances in all my life. (Not that I have spent that much time slow dancing.) Besides, does anyone recall the way in which youngsters back then slow danced? You hugged real tight and swayed back and forth in one spot. Or at least that's the way I remember it. Which seemed pretty damned erotic at the time, but pales in comparison to some of today's dances.

Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes) - Edison Lighthouse

For Nancy

2009-03-08T18:11:00.000-07:00

"Dweezil's the MAN "

Wells Fargo Center Santa Rosa, Ca 3-7-2009
1. Cletus Awreetus Awrightus
2. Inca Roads
3. Village Of The Sun
4. Echidna's Arf
5. Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?
6. Billy The Mountain
7. Flakes
8. Broken Hearts Are For Assholes
9. Bamboozled By Love
10. King Kong - Band Solos
11. Lumpy Gravy
12. G-Spot Tornado
13. Why Dontcha Do Me Right
14. Penguin In Bondage
15. Willy The Pimp.... With Scott Thunes (Frank Zappa alumnus!) On Bass !!!
16. Outside Now (This was stunningly beautiful.)
17. Peaches En Regalia
18. Illinois Enema Bandit
ENCORE:
19. The Torture Never Stops

Here's a 1980 video of "Outside Now"

Sun Village To You

2009-03-08T12:26:00.001-07:00

Dweezil and friends tore the top of my head off. That feels just fine!

Village of the Sun - Frank Zappa

Brevity

2009-03-06T16:25:00.000-08:00

I do realize the picture in the post below is creepy, and the stories that accompany it are worse than that. My intent was not to upset the reader, but to make her/him think about violence in relationships. So many won't. Or can't. Meanwhile, the statistics speak for themselves. One thing that haunts me about the night I had the shit beat out of me... my next-door neighbor was also a friend. I know she heard yelling, crying, and loud noises coming from my place. In fact, I bet it could be heard by other neighbors as well. But nobody came over. That says it all, then and now. Most folks just don't want to deal with it. Neither did I, until I was a statistic. Like most people, I never thought it could happen to me. And it will haunt me forever.

Anyway, Happy weekend. Here's a fine little tune to go with the above poster. Lou!

Rock And Roll (LP Version) - The Velvet Underground

F.Y.I.

2009-03-03T16:35:00.000-08:00

January 4, 1989

Warning... this is not an uplifting link. Or post. Hence the spooky photo, which has been used here before. My hope is that the more domestic violence and serial abusers are revealed, the more empowered it's victims will be. Victims like Rihanna. I saw the linked article this morning, after checking out this parallel post by Jane. Oh, and ladies? You can't 'fix' him. Trust me on that.

Check out the stats:
• 20-30% of American women will be physically abused by a partner at least once in their lifetimes

• 1.3 million women and 834,732 men are physically assaulted by an intimate partner annually

• 201,394 women are forcibly raped by an intimate partner annually

• 11% of women in homosexual relationships and 23% of men in homosexual relationships report being raped, physically assaulted, and/or stalked by an intimate partner

• 503,485 women and 185,496 men are stalked by an intimate partner annually

• 1-25% of all pregnant women are battered during pregnancy

• 30-40% of women’s emergency room visits are for injuries due to domestic violence

• 30% of women killed in the U.S. are killed by their husbands or boyfriends

• 50% of men who assaulted their female partners also assaulted their children

• 3.3 million children witness domestic violence each year

Saturday Spillage

2009-02-28T11:44:00.001-08:00

I like this. Lots going on in it, visually. Click it for large view. That is my one-and-only son at his sister's place in December. It's a fun apartment. With fun people living inside.

Posting is sparse here. Like so many bloggity blogs out there lately. Who knows why. Futility? I'll still do it when I can because it is an outlet. For what I do not know, but it gets spilled here and other places.Narcissism? I removed the 'Followers" widget. It was acting all buggy and goofy and seems redundant when one already has a blog roll. No offense to anyone intended.

Communication Breakdown - Lez Zeppelin

Morford Time

2009-02-20T10:06:00.000-08:00

It's simple: First we tax the booze. Then we legalize the pot. Done.

By Mark Morford

Friday, February 20, 2009

It is a time of strange bedfellows and bizarre contortions and extraordinary responses to extreme situations, all overslathered with gobs of panic and dread and oh my God, I might have to sell the Range Rover.

In other words, it is a time -- like you don't already know -- of plentiful alarmist rhetoric, resulting in weird outbursts of ingenuity and wanton ethics-loosening, all in a desperate effort to suck up some much-needed cash.

Translation: Money's tight, baby. City's in trouble. State's deep in the hole. Nation's broke.

Solution? Upend the system. Think differently. Get creative. Demolish Ye Olde Ways. And maybe get a really nice buzz on while you're at it.

Where to begin? How can the city/state refill their empty coffers and further gouge the populace to make ends meet? Increased bridge tolls? A new per-mile driving tax? Heavier parking fines? State parks abandoned and left to seed? Child's play, darling.

You want to raise funds in an instant? You want a sure-fire, double-barreled source of nearly limitless funds from a wary, burned-out citizenry? That's easy. Go after its biggest vices, its most beloved balms.

Up first: booze. Already local governments are quietly proposing jacking up the alcohol tax and loosening sales restrictions because, well, why the hell not? Aren't you, right this very moment, as you prepare your taxes and weep over your gutted portfolio and stare down one very bleak 2009, more in need of a drink or three than at any time in recent history except for the entirety of the last eight miserable, Bush-stabbed years? Well, there you go. Tax increases on cocktails, here they come.

But it's not just governments. Check out the happily shameless TV networks who, for the first time in a whocares number of years, are allowing ads for alcohol and K-Y lube during prime-time programming. Oh the outrage! Oh the debauchery! Who, pray who, will protect the children? Oh wait, the children are out buying daddy some more beer and applying for a job at Starbucks to help pay rent. Never mind.

New taxes on the other Great American vices: porn, gambling, prescription meds, pro sports, obesity, Mylie Cyrus? Watch for it.

Now, let's get serious. Because there are, of course, bigger fish to fry in the sea of potentially lucrative, all-American inebriates. There is a far more potent, obvious solution to the state's budget woes, a huge, untapped revenue source, and now might be the perfect time to, you know, light it up.

Really now, could there be a better time to decriminalize/fully legalize pot? Or, more fully, to decriminalize pot, and then spread respectable pot shops and vending machines and dispensaries far and wide, instill quality control and decent oversight and then tax the living hell out of the glorious, stress-reducing goodness, as we stop wasting billions fighting its grand ubiquity and instead sink into profitable pools of warm, hazy progress? Don't you already know the answer?

It's difficult to imagine that some intrepid legislator hasn't already walked into Arnie "Pot is not a drug" Schwarzenegger's office and said, "Governator, now is the time. Light it up. Inhale the new reality. Pot is, by a huge margin, the single largest cash crop in the state unless you count porn stars and celebrity rehab. It rakes in upwards of $14 billion a year -- maybe a lot more than that -- and that's just from five clever hippies and a couple intrepid grandmas in Ukiah. Imagine what we could do if we went all-in."

Are the discussions ongoing? Are they passing the bong of possibility around the state Senate chambers? You're damn right they are. What's holding them back? Probably the usual: the negative PR, looking "soft" on crime, encouraging permissiveness, pressure from prison lobbies, and so on. Don't worry, Sacramento. Everyone's already plenty drunk/high on prescription meds trying to alleviate fears of losing their job to care about that nonsense right now. Get to it.

There won't be much pushback from D.C. President Obama's already stated that his upcoming appointee to head the DEA is going to knock it the hell off with the insidious raids of harmless medical pot shops in California, and wants to quit using federal resources to bash hippies and circumvent state laws.

Look. Is there really anyone left who doesn't already know the "War on Drugs" is a pathetic joke, an abject failure and a taxpayer nightmare, and the only reason it survives at all is to fund the CIA and fellate the prison guard unions and support a shameful prison system, and to let politicians say they're "tough on crime" so they can to deflect all those uninformed parents who relentlessly whine about pot in public schools just before dashing off a wine-tasting party to snort a nice line of Bolivian coke?

Anyone left, furthermore, who doesn't know that pot is far safer than booze, less addictive, nonviolent, more transportable, easier to light, and generally won't interfere with your ability to crawl across the carpet and lick cookie crumbs from your lover's thighs? And sure, while heavy, daily usage can make you slow and stupid and rather useless to the world, well, so can a six-pack of Diet Dr. Pepper and six hours of TV every day. Gateway drug? That's on Channel 2, right after "Oprah."

And another thing. Maybe it wouldn't be merely tax 'n' puff. Maybe California, already the pot-growing capital of the nation, could become something more. A hub. A world-class research center. Pot education, study, medicine, import/export, the works. We could ship our crop to various nations in desperate need of chilling the hell out, like Israel. Palestine. Pakistan. Russia. The N-Judah on a Friday afternoon. We could become the largest research and manufacturing center in the world. How proud we would be. You know, sort of.

Let's phrase this grand scenario in another way: Why the hell not try it? What have we got to lose? What, we could go more broke? We could get more desperate and anxious? Fact is, economic nightmares need not breed only miserable stories of lost homes and lost jobs and shuttered businesses. They can also spawn creative solutions, innovative thinking, widespread munchies. Now is the time.

Let's not get carried away. Pot's only one little inebriate, one mild and -- let's just admit it -- relatively boring feel-good plant. California is $40 billion in debt and we're running low on water and we can't give away those hideous tract developments out in Stockton. Milking the pot cow for all she's worth might net us, at best, a few billion a year. To get out of this massive hole, we'd have to legalize Ecstasy too. (Someday, honey, someday).

But it's something. It's radical new thinking that's not the slightest bit radical, or new, and in fact the notion is now even more obvious than it's been for the past 30 years. What are we waiting for? A match?

Legalize It - Peter Tosh

Wordless Wednesday

2009-02-18T00:00:00.000-08:00

Gray cat on linoleum

My Old School

2009-02-17T18:16:00.001-08:00

Galileo High School Courtyard, Bay and Van Ness, San Francisco

Ever think about your high school? I probably would not, were it not for the fact that I pass it on my way into and out of the city. My high school experience was different than some. Extremely urban and monstrous. O.J. Simpson's alma mater. Neat. We had crazy security guard dudes that walked around, yelling at us to get to class. The meanest one was named Mr. Strong. Of course.

My Old School - Steely Dan

I Dare You

2009-02-16T20:32:00.001-08:00

NOT to smile! Here is one of my favorite small people, sporting his oh-so-cool onesie. He is now a three year old, and time marches on...

Sweet Child Of Mine - Guns n´ roses

Get On Your Bikes and Ride

2009-02-14T10:16:00.001-08:00

My new transportation, just in time for next week's rain!

Frameset
Sizes Lowstep 13.5, 16.5"
Frame Alpha White Aluminum
Front Suspension RST Neon T9 w/Clix dropouts, 50mm
Wheels
Wheels Alloy hubs; Matrix 550, 36-hole alloy rims
Tires Bontrager Comfort, 26x1.95"; 27 tpi
Drivetrain
Shifters SRAM 3.0 Comp twist, 7 speed
Front Derailleur Shimano C102
Rear Derailleur SRAM ESP 3.0
Crank Shimano M151 48/38/28 w/chainguard
Cassette Shimano 14-34, 7 speed
Pedals Nylon platform
Components
Saddle Bontrager Suburbia FIT w/Supersoft padding
Seat Post Alloy adjustable suspension
Handlebars Steel, 80mm rise
Stem Alloy, adjustable rise
Headset Threaded w/semi-cartridge bearings, sealed
Brakeset Tektro V w/Tektro levers, Kraton inserts, bell

Fat Bottom Girls -Queen

Love Is The Drug

2009-02-14T09:42:00.001-08:00

Love Is The Drug (1999 Digital Remaster) - Roxy Music

What He Says

2009-02-14T09:33:00.000-08:00

Blogger Eric Bergeson conveys perfectly the frustration I feel about the stimulus package and the transparently hypocritical republicans... hence the cut and paste that follows! Thanks to Eric for expressing it as he does so well.

Fiscal responsibility

You know, I have had it with the sudden panic amongst Republicans that we suddenly should be fiscally restrained and that Obama is going to bankrupt us with the stimulus package, which, although I don't understand macro-economics, is favored by the bulk of economists as the best chance we have to get the economy going again.

Where were these people when George Bush pushed through the prescription drug benefit by lying to Congress about its estimated cost? He said it would cost $400 billion over ten years; the most recent estimate is that it will cost $1.2 trillion over that time span. The Comptroller General called it "the most fiscally irresponsible piece of legislation passed since the 1960s."

The whole drug benefit idea was cooked up by Karl Rove. It was pushed through, not because it was prudent or necessary--it was neither--but because it was a neat way of buying the votes of voters over 65. And it worked.

Why was there no uproar then amongst these same people? It is obvious. Welfare for white elderly people is okay, even if it busts the bank. I hear no comment on this from the same people who are whining now about spending on infrastructure.

The war in Iraq has cost upwards of one half trillion dollars. At the beginning, Rumsfeld and Cheney sold the war by saying that it would be quick, we would be welcomed as liberators and that the war would pay for itself with Iraqi oil revenues. Those were either absolutely spectacular lies, or misjudgments worthy of a complete loss of reputation.

And what if Bush's plan to privatize Social Security had passed? That cockamamie scheme--one of the most idiotic and transparently corrupt proposals he made--would have enriched the same craven morons on Wall Street who got us into this banking mess. And then? It would have caused tremendous suffering when the market went down 40%.

Did Bush ever use his bully pulpit to criticize the wild excesses and stupid behavior on Wall Street? Of course not. Wall Street helped finance his campaigns. And did he heed warnings three years ago from a very few politicians, including Barack Obama, that subprime lending was a problem? Of course not.

Do we hear about these atrocious failures now from these people? No. They're digging back to the Carter years to blame Jimmy for the mess by saying he's the one who wanted everybody to own a house. Carter had his role, but Bush was asleep at the wheel.

Why is there such panic now among people who said they were conservative in the past eight years, but acceded to an increase of the deficit to one trillion dollars in a time of prosperity? Where were they? What were they thinking?

Turns out, it is all personal with them. George Bush spoke their code. He is a "good man." That's code for "he shares our religious values," which also means that once he's recognized as a member of the club, he can do no wrong and we should support whatever he wants to do, however lunatic it may be.

(Unless he were to have an affair. That would end it, of course. But a sex scandal is what it would take to disillusion the followers of a Dear Leader. Incompetence, lying, corruption...that simply is forgiven as what Big Daddy has to do to take care of business for us poor ignorant followers.)

Meanwhile, Obama's attempts to reach out to the Republicans have been rebuffed completely by a party which isn't interested in spending, however much it might now finally be needed, unless they can take full credit for the spoils.

I am agnostic on the stimulus package. But I hold the new converts to fiscal restraint in contempt. They failed their country in the past eight years by abandoning their principles in several huge, costly ways.

The Democrats failed too, by the way, who 1) ran awful candidates for president and 2) didn't oppose the unwise spending.

Despite my misgivings on the big new spending package, it is good to see a president digging into the detail. He is sincere. And I hope it works as intended. (As does anybody who loves their country.)