chet's last big show

i am looking forward to the upcoming weekend, and all the music... this poster is from the last show i saw in golden gate park. quite a day it was. i have a feeling that this one coming up will be spectacular. after all, chet helms deserves one hell of a send-off.

the next few nights, i will post various nostalgic posters and pictures from a long-gone era. bear with me!


sometimes you've just got to let that freak flag fly, right?

i brake for art

"girl before a mirror"

born this date in 1881~pablo picasso.

local color

this place is down the hill from us, near the headlands. for many years it was owned by an elderly native of the area, who lived in this town long before it became a "destination." the property was was one-of-a-kind. decorated with abalone shells. toys, mannequins, anything and everything he salvaged. not long ago, it was sold, and the stuff has been disappearing, replaced by what some might consider normalcy. it's not nearly as fun to look at anymore.

vintage propoganda

here's a vintage poster. the syringe is hysterical, i think.

have a nice weekend

hey, it's a pretty plant. and commonly seen here on the north coast, especially at this time of year.

king sunny ade

i felt a bit of guilt about posting a picture of luna and not sunny. so here he is. sadly, this is from almost a year ago. i will find more. just wanted to put him up here. he is at least twice this size now. a moose-of-a-cat. quite the opposite of luna.

luna's very long day

this is our girl kitty, luna. we got her at the humane society almost a year ago.(also a boy kitten we named sunny.) she is an incredibly dear, sweet creature. today she went to the veterinarian, because she has been gagging horribly. we figured it must be hairballs. she is an over-groomer! they checked her out... took x-rays, put a scope down her throat, wormed her, gave her booster shots. they found no hairballs or anything else in her throat. they prescribed antibiotics and tuna-flavored hairball goo. price tag? 300.00. insane? yes. but look at her! hopefully, things will improve for her. last night was very long for the man and i, because every time she gagged, we awoke to try and help her. luckily, i am accustomed to this, after raising three babies.

survey says:

today i was again daydreaming, while listening to kmud radio at work. i heard my favorite bob dylan song, although it is near-impossible to pick just one.

(oh, and my favorite is "shelter from the storm")


i thought it might be weird/fun to ask "everyone" what their favorite dylan song is.


so i'm asking. humor me?

come on into the kitchen

i was just getting ready to log off, but then i saw this, loved it, and am now forcing it upon you, whoever you are.

i have felt what he says below. and it's true that sometimes it sucks to be right.

the moon last night was eerily gorgeous.

goodnight moon.


c u l t u r e k i t c h e n
Written by (Some Rights Reserved) http://www.culturekitchen.com/archives/003504.html

c u l t u r e k i t c h e n
Liza Sabater's daily servings to the Reality-Based citizenry of art, culture, entertainment, life, media, politics, sex, and technology from the very surreal New York City.
About Bio Categories Colophon Copyleft Events Feeds Sidelinks New York City October 18, 2005
We Were Right
by Jeff Langstraat
This past weekend, I managed to rent a car and drive out to visit some friends in New York state (including meeting, for the first time, fellow CultureKitchen chef Lorraine Barry--it was a lovely, if short, visit). Two of the folks I visited (ael at tales from new york and J Barry of musings from upstate) were on the faculty with me at Minnesota State University, Mankato. The three of us, along with another faculty member, organized an anti-war teach-in that coincided with the nationl student strike on March 5, 2003. (The three of us also marched in the February 10 march in Minnesota--a hellish 3-mile hike in three-degree weather, with J having a fucked up ankle, to boot.) One of the things I was proudest of that day was the breadth of topics we covered, from experiences of life as a war refugee to a historical look at the anti-war movement on that campus to discussions of the potential costs of this war to a conversation on Just War theology. As we were reminiscing about that day, we kept coming back to one point; We were right, dammit!

Those of us who were against this war were often caricatured as having no understanding of the "new threats" of living in a post-9/11 world, of being too emotional about the issue, of letting our hatred of Bush drive all of our actions.... This is crap. There were very good reasons to opose this war, and there were members of the anti-war left laying them out, and not just at our little teach-in. Todd Gitlin provides some of his own words from that time, which I'm going to quote at length (via Atrios):

“Political decency consists not just in taking the right position but in being willing to face contrary positions, face them at their strong points, not win arguments cheaply—but face the bad music, face the suffering that goes on if you do the right thing, also face the suffering that goes on if you don’t do the right thing, and make a judgment, which might well be in fear and trembling, about which is the better way. The smiley face actions are damned rare. War in Iraq is not one of them. Neither is the absence of war in Iraq. I don’t see how to have a nice day one way or the other—certainly not for Iraqis.
“But the Bush administration thinks it does know how to have a nice day, by giving war a chance. For them, it’s a matter of will and impulse speaking a muffled language of arguments because arguments are expected of them, but their arguments are so tremulous, shoddy, and shifting, you know that the arguments aren’t the explanation, the deep argument. For months we’ve been peppered with talking points in the guise of a case: Saddam’s imminent weapons of mass destruction/Saddam’s putative links to al-Qaeda/Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990/Saddam’s use of poison gas in 1987-88….ergo precaution dictates preemption, QED—follow the bouncing logic…. [There followed a long critique of Bush.]....


“If wishes were arguments, the strongest argument for an American war would be the most ambitious, which is Kanan Makiya’s—the wish that by deposing Saddam Hussein and occupying Iraq, the U. S. would install the first democratic regime in the Arab world, a regime that, in turn, would undermine the autocratic consensus that governs the region, reverse the Islamist movement and foster the growth of anti-Islamist tendencies elsewhere. Such an outcome is devoutly to be desired. I take it especially seriously coming from Kanan Makiya, from whom I’ve learned more about the monstrous tyranny of Saddam Hussein and the Ba’ath party than from anyone else. And I have to say: If only the wish sufficed.
“But the world in which the wish would suffice is not the world we live in. An American war in Iraq is very unlikely to bring it about. What it is far more likely to bring about is carnage and a boost to terror. The risks are far too great to justify war. Wars get out of control and are, after all, hellish. That is why they must be matters of last resort. In Iraq’s neighborhood, there are simply too many ways in which this particular war could get out of control. The scenario most likely to bring about the use of weapons of mass destruction is precisely the one George W. Bush has been angling for: an attack on Saddam Hussein’s regime. The scenario most likely to bring about terror attacks—even on Americans—is precisely the same. The scenario most likely to win recruits for al-Qaeda is precisely the same. Against Saddam Hussein’s future threats, there are substantial, not merely rhetorical, alternatives. The case for containment is strong. Smart sanctions (not the current blunderbuss kind), maintenance of the no-fly zones, and inspections with teeth are the alternatives to war."


That anyone was surprised we invaded is beyond me, as is the fact that anyone bought the Bush administration's changing rationale. I remember watching one of the 2000 Bush/Gore debates and saying aloud, "He wants to invade Iraq." The members of this administration had always been obsessed with it. (Remember PNAC, everyone?) This was a war looking for a reason, and 9/11 gave them that reason, or at least one they could exploit. None of the explicit reasons they provided ever held up, though. And the rosy picture they painted was pure fantasy.

Unable to deal with the crumbling of that fantasy, though, they love to play the "what if" game. "What if we hand't been wrong on every count?" Well, that's a lot of what ifs. Let's just say you fucked up. You were wrong. Accept it. Admit it. Your failure to do so is telling. Beneath your bluster is a lack of respect for the truth.

That's a starting point for discussing the "what now." Yes, the fact is that we have troops on the ground, being killed daily, in Iraq and we need to deal in the now. But, understanding how to react in the present requires an accurate assessment of how we got to that present. Handwaving the mistakes of the past away doesn't give us any better idea of how to deal with the present. So, all of you who supported this war and continue to support Shrub's "stay the ever-changing course" plan, shut up until you can admit those mistakes and the effects those have had on the present, and on the future course of events. Until you do that, there's no reason for us to take you seriously.



"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

her third birthday

i can't let the day be done without bringing up the other big event that happened on october 17. it was miss m's third birthday. i was employed on the pacific garden mall. a friend of mine from the santa cruz civic was managing a shop there, and needed people to work. i was not terribly fond of this little gig. luckily, it was to be short-lived. 10/17/89 found me at work, the weather was really warm and balmy-feeling that day. typical for autumn in santa cruz, and yet it felt weird. the air was quite still downtown. at lunch i walked a few blocks to cotton tales, and picked out a sweet pair of pink corderoy overalls, and some high-top sneakers. i returned to pipeline, and placed the birthday items with my other belongings.

at 5:04 that evening, the earth moved. i wrote about what happened
here:

Wednesday, June 15, 2005
when the earth moves again, my friend
earthquakes have been present in my life for all of my life. that's part of being a california native, i suppose. there was only one(so far) that really made a BIG impression on me. 7.5, to be concise. it happened to be my 2nd child's 3rd birthday, october 17, 1989. i was employed in downtown santa cruz on the pacific garden mall, which isn't a mall at all, just a long street with lots of shops, restaurants, hippies, jazz trios, that sort of thing. it was almost closing time, and an "old mistake" happened into the place. long-ass story, not now. this was a bit uncomfortable, to say the least. he attempted to talk to me, and i kept busy with my work, trying like hell to avoid any conversation. there were a few other people in the place. then, at 5:04 p.m., things got crazy. all of the glass in the place began to shake, as did the floors, walls, everything. the rumble was unreal. like a roar. people were looking into each others faces, hoping to find an easy answer for what was happening. but there was no time for eye contact. the walls and roof were coming down fast. i remember yelling "im outta here!" i barely remember the mad dash for the door, but everyone made it out to the streets, which were insane-beyond-belief. buildings crumbling, sidewalks literally cracking open. up and down the street, fire alarms, sprinkler systems, sirens, screaming and yelling. panic. i stood on the hemorrhaging sidewalk, next to the last person i ever wanted to see, and i told him i wasn't gonna die with him, goddamn it! we surfed the cement amid the total mayhem, and i really wondered if i'd be getting out of this one alive.
then it stopped. but the noise was unending. then, the crowds of people that were downtown ... just walking around in absolute shock. hardly anyone driving. just wandering around the streets, aimlessly. like night of the living dead or something. i managed to slip away from that person i desperately needed to be away from. since i ran out of my work in a bit of a hurry that day, i lost my purse, as well as my daughter's birthdays gifts. i had picked them up at lunch that day. my car keys were in my purse. there was nothing left of the building i worked in, or many of the other buildings downtown. i finally got a ride with a friend out to my (then) 2 kids later that night. luckily, they were both safe with their dad. that was the greatest mother-and-child-reunion ever, i think. I remember laying on my back on the ground outside that night, just feeling grateful that things were calmer underground. The aftershocks lasted for weeks though. I gained immense respect for "our mother" that day. The tsunami warning last night brought back some of that familiar feeling in me. But it was short-lived. Just a reminder, that mother earth is always in control. No matter how powerful we may think we are, we are no match. respect your mother!
posted by annie at 8:49 PM




-sixteen years ago tonight, life was really, really interesting! miss m has quite the birth date. (oh, and the pink overalls and sneakers, as well as my backpack were buried beneath the rubble, and bulldozed-over like so much of the old mall.)

her birth story

we had a water bed then. i did not care for it. after becoming pregnant with my second child, i despised that awful bed more with each passing day. it became quite a challenge to heave myself out of that thing. we sold it to our friends. then they got pregnant. scary, scary bed!

she was conceived around the time of the FIRST space shuttle disaster. an odd frame of reference, but useless facts are a specialty of mine. we lived high-on-a-hill in southern santa cruz county, overlooking nisene marks state park, which happens to be where a major earthquake fault runs right through.

the pregnancy was a breeze, like my first one was. i know how lucky i am, that this was the case. i saw june and roxanne throughout the pregnancy. june/midwife #1 was my care provider the first time, and this time around she was training a woman named roxanne who lived not far from us.


june lived in lovely la honda, which was about an hour and a half away from santa cruz. i went to see her with my firstborn because we were living in pescadero at the time. that is until the big storms and mudslides of 1981-82 forced our move to aptos.


so there we were in a big old house in aptos, which was built from the salvaged old-growth redwood lumber from an ancient train station in firebaugh, i believe that is somewhere near fresno, in the middle of the san joaquin valley. a one-of-a-kind place. idyllic days, then.


about 6 days before her birth-date, i had taken a ride over the hill to do a bit of shopping with a neighbor/friend. we had a nice day together. that night i made dinner and went upstairs to read to my four-year old son. we both fell asleep reading. i awoke an hour or so later, and realized that the time had arrived, ready-or-not. downstairs i went, to let husband know. he woke up on the couch with such a start that he rolled off onto the floor. that was a classic moment.


he called the midwife, roxanne. she offered to pick anything up i might need from the store. i asked for cranberry juice and some banannas. to this day, she doesn't make stops on the way to a birth, thanks to me. by the time she got to our place about 30 minutes later, i was upstairs in full-on labor. she rushed upstairs and checked me. ten centimeters. that baby girl was coming, full-speed ahead. about an hour later, my divine miss m arrived. the total labor time was about 2.5 hours.


when she was placed on my tummy, she was so serene, not screaming, like her older brother did. just looking all around, and she seemed content to be with us. absolutely gorgeous, with the hugest,roundest eyes, and a patch of dark brown hair on her head. after she was she was sleeping sweetly, her brother sat down beside her and started telling her all about dinosaurs, from his favorite book. "have you ever heard of an a pterodactyl?", he asked her.



when my friend called later that day, i said "guess what happened last night?" then i told her. she screamed, and rushed right over. we still laugh about that one.
this kid is in life as she was in birth---fearless, wise, funny, and sweet-as-pie. a
college student already, and such a loving big sister to q. a fine daughter indeed.
miss m has a nurturing spirit that endears her to many.

she is nineteen today. and i can't possibly imagine what my life was without her in it.

i love you, my sweet one. happy birthday.

note to self: buy new pillows

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Deadly Ecosystem ... In Your Pillow Robert Roy Britt
LiveScience Managing Editor
LiveScience.com
Fri Oct 14, 1:00 PM ET



Your favorite pillow holds an entire ecosystem of disgusting bugs and potentially deadly fungi, a new study suggests.




The typical pillow contains more than a million fungal spores, researchers found. That's several thousand spores for every little gram of material.


There's more.


Other studies have shown pillows and other bedding harbor dust mites, microscopic spider-like creatures that feed on flakes of human skin (see picture at top of page).


"We know that pillows are inhabited by the house dust mite which eats fungi, and one theory is that the fungi are in turn using the house dust mites' feces as a major source of nitrogen and nutrition (along with human skin scales)," says study leader Ashley Woodcock at the University of Manchester. "There could therefore be a 'miniature ecosystem' at work inside our pillows."


All pillows


Woodcock and her colleagues examined feather and synthetic pillows that had been in use from 1.5 years to 20 years.


The most common fungi found is called aspergillus fumigatus, which is also the most likely to cause disease, the researchers say. It is in fact the leading infectious cause of death in leukemia and bone marrow transplant patients.


Fungi also exacerbate asthma.


Synthetic pillows carried more fungi, the study concluded. Other species uncovered include fungi normally found in bread and in showers.


The results are detailed today in the journal Allergy. The study is not the first to point out the problem.


Research in 2000 by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) concluded that 22 million U.S. homes had bedding with dust mite allergen concentrations exceeding a level thought to trigger asthma symptoms.


What to do


Hospitals typically cover pillows in plastic. But when patients go home, often with weakened immune systems, their own pillows may pose a risk of infection, the scientists said.


"These new findings are potentially of major significance to people with allergic diseases of the lungs and damaged immune systems - especially those being sent home from hospital," said Geoffrey Scott, Chairman of the Fungal Research Trust which funded the study.


You can take action. The NIEHS suggests:

Put allergen-impermeable covers on pillows and mattresses.
Wash bedding at least weekly in hot water.
Vacuum carpets regularly and steam clean periodically.

If all this doesn't disgust you, consider one final thought: In a separate study this year, scientists found evidence that aspergillus fumigatus is having sex, an act thought not possible among fungi.





now my pillow can kill me.

shit, what a world.

sweet dreams.

tribal stomp 2005

A CHET HELMS TRIBAL STOMP

October 30th, Sunday

10am to 5:30 pm

Speedway Meadows

Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

FREE Admission



Produced by: Family Dog



Contact: Anyone wishing to be involved may contact Boots Hughston

(415) 861-1520 or by eMail: dog2005ch@yahoo.com

Information: http://www.2b1records.com/chetmemorial

Chet Helms was one of the founding fathers of the psychedelic movement from the 1960's. As promoter for the "Family Dog", Chet developed the concept of the modern rock concert and was one of the founding fathers of the 1960's peace movement that swept the nation and made waves around the world. Chet was also the catalyst that brought together Janis Joplin with Big Brother and the Holding Company, which helped shape the San Francisco sound. Without Chet Helms, as many have said, there would be no Grateful Dead, no Jefferson Airplane, no Big Brother and the list goes on and on. He promoted other acts like the Charlatans, the Great Society, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Peter Tosh, The Clash and countless others. Chet Helms continued promoting pivotal concerts through four decades. In the 60's at the Avalon Ballroom, Family Dog at the Beach, S.F. Golden Gate Park, Denver Dog, and Crystal Ballroom in Portland.


While promoting concerts at the legendary Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco, Chet produced a series of posters that are considered by some to be the finest art from that period. It was through these posters that artists like Alton Kelley, Stanley Mouse and Rick Griffin rose to fame. He also provided a fertile home for light shows to develop their art, which became today's multimedia light show extravaganzas.

In the 1970's, Chet organized the "Tribal Stomps" in Berkeley and Monterey, which rekindled hip values and united the families. The "Tribute to Chet Helms" in 1994, brought together many of the original 60's acts and started a new hip movement that lasted at Maritime Hall for 7 years. In 1997, Chet organized the 30th anniversary "Summer of Love" concert at the Beach Chalet Meadows, uniting young bands with original 1960's San Francisco acts. Over 20,000 people attended this event.

Where Bill Graham may have been the warrior and conqueror of rock, Chet Helms was heart and soul.

Chet Helms was a kind and gentle spirit who had love for all.

Bands:
Nick Gravenites, Harvey Mandel, Taj Mahal, Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks, The Charlatans, Terry Haggerty and James Preston
(Sons of Champlin), Zero II, Squid B. Vicious, Paul Kantner (Jefferson Airplane, Starship), Barry Melton (Country Joe and the Fish) Blue Cheer, (Dickie
Peterson, Leigh Stephens), Jorge Santana, George Michalski, Greg Errico (Sly and the Family Stone), Quicksilver Gold, Canned Heat, Narada Michael Walden, Natural Act (Hal Wagenet and Hitchell Holman), Jeff Blackburn, Howard Wales, Richi Ray, (Freedom Highway), Ray
Manzarek (The Doors), Vince Welnick, (TheTubes and Grateful Dead), Prairie Prince (Tubes), David Denny (Steve Miller), Peter Kaukonen, Iron Butterfly, Sammy Hagar, Herman Eberitzsch (Lee Oskar ,War), Ross Valory (Journey), Ace of Cups, War, Judge Murphy, Stephen Gaskin,
David Freiberg (Quicksilver and Starship) Country Joe McDonald (Country Joe and The Fish) Greg Douglass (Steve Miller) Pete Sears (Rod Stewart, Hot Tuna), Bruce Latimer, David and Linda Laflamme (It's A Beautiful Day), Rowan Brothers, Lydia Pense, Annie Samson, Wavy Gravy, Roy Rogers, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, plus other major acts that will be announced just before the event

A limited edition series of 18 Commemorative Event Posters by major rock poster artists will be available at the event

Family Dog Presents

Contact: Boots Hughston

2b1 Multimedia Inc.

3057 17th ST. San Francisco CA 94110

(415) 861-1520 Fax (415) 861-1519

hotwired 1970 ford ltd

everyone has their triggers, when it comes to remembering. my triggers are often musical. i hear a never-heard song, and the memories rush in. today's little number was tiny dancer, when e.j. was still really cool.

i was best pals with sara, from the time we were in kindergarten. those days behind us, we were rushing into teen-aged crazy shit. and whatever she did, i did. not always a good plan, but i admit to being relatively dense at 14. one afternoon, we were hanging around some of the dudes we knew, and another friend cruised up in a shiny 1970 ford ltd. a boring-looking sedan, which resembled a cop car. everyone jumped in. soon we learned that george had stolen the car. when i hear that song, still... i remember how i was scared-to-death and excited all at once. we cruised all over san francisco at an unsafe rate of speed, laughing and smoking kools.


i remember picturing mom's face if she were to get a call from the s.f.p.d. my stomach was all tied-up. and yet, i stayed in that car.we made it back to my best friend's house. before going inside, i sat in that stolen car with george and made-out. perhaps that is when my desire for the "dangerous" ones began. it would be decades before i knew why that mattered. we slobbered incessantly for about a half-hour. i went inside. he drove off and left the car near where he took it.

keep in mind that this was a well-off kid from pacific heights. he didn't actually need to steal anything. i was spending the night at sara's house. of course george returned. that night he and i stayed on the couch together. no, we didn't submit to our raging hormonal instincts. but we sure wanted to. the soundtrack that night included the always-mushy "can't live, if livin' is without you" by niilson, oh, and "tupelo honey." i'm still nuts for van morrison songs.


the following monday, after school, sara took me to planned parenthood. this was after going to tower records, where i bought "tapestry." we were going to planned parenthood because i thought i should look into getting birth control pills. actually, my new bad-boyfriend suggested that i go and get them. and i consented.
which was both wise and foolish, if you know what i mean.

after all the filling out of forms, and plenty of talking, poking, and prodding, the sweet people at p.p. informed me that my periods were not yet regular enough to start the pill, since i had only HAD a period for about a year. i was crushed. and relieved. george quickly lost interest in our so-called relationship. (shocking, i know.) my first attempt at promiscuity... denied. it's amazing,the places in the past a song can take me.

early "democracy"

columbus day today. growing up in the north beach section of san francisco, columbus day was and still is a big deal to the italian americans. history is just bad fiction, sometimes. and payback is a bitch.


happy birthday, thelonious monk.

let me take you down...

happy birthday, john winston (ono) lennon.
born this day in 1940.

today

letter to the editor

this letter was in the anderson valley advertiser last week. i thought i'd share those words here, with you.

the a.v.a. is a local, weekly rag that i couldn't live without reading. click the post title for further information on my favorite paper.


editor:
throughout the world, and for thousands of years, indigeneous people lived in a state of cooperation and relative harmony with nature, because they correctly understood the unity of all life.

the indo-european, on the other hand, chose to define himself as an adversary and a conqueror of nature, rationalizing his absurd position first from the perspective of religion, as in the judeo-christian fantasy of having dominion over the earth, and later from the perspective of science, as in the mad effort of establishing the rule of mind over matter.

today, debts are beginning to be collected by the natural world. having believed himself to be superior from and in control of nature, the indo-european sees and feels, along with the rest of humanity, the power of a nature from which he is being taught he cannot separate himself, in spite of his most radical efforts to escape the consequences of his foolish choices.

some people will continue to deny reality, and say that the environmental disasters are the work of the devil; others will say that space aliens or the government are involved. but those very few who are still capable of understanding reality will know what the world is experiencing is the outcome of centuries of an irrational war against nature, of the rape of the earth, as natural laws cannot be broken without dire consequences, except perhaps in the mental fantasies of those who are deluded enough to imagine themselves to be separate from and above nature, which would seem to include most of western civilization, whose wet dream is still to replace nature with technological utopia, to make nature obsolete.

long and winding

i did some driving last weekend. nothing exotic, but fairly marathon-like, for an old mama like myself.

son needed to get his stored items from santa cruz, where he has spent most all of his 23.5 years. he has been in the process of relocation to oakland, where he is sharing a large place near telegraph avenue, with friends from santa cruz.

i live on the north coast, about 3 1/2 hours from oakland. g's father was sweet enough to loan us his truck, so that we could fit every bit of son's stuff.
on saturday morning i left my cozy shack in the redwoods for the bay area.
i have not always lived in solitude. i was born and brought up in san francisco, as was my father, and his father was raised in oakland.

these days lately, i only venture to the metropolis for familial reasons. however,
for quite a few years, musical events were big reasons to go there. not so much now, since things have changed in that regard. but when it comes to the kids or my family, i am happy to hit the road. the images above show some of what i saw, beginning with the one at the very bottom, with the 128 highway sign.
anyway, here's how it went... highway 128 east, to 101 north, and all the way down into the concrete jungle, to downtown oakland, where i picked up son from work. then crazy 880 down to san jose, and up-and-over highway 17, and into santa cruz. stayed the night in soquel, which is near the old cement boat at seacliff beach. i took many, many walks with son as a baby and little boy there. many memories. after a lovely stay at my dear pal's place in soquel, we left on sunday morning to get his things in scotts valley. everything fit! back to oakland, and dear sweet son fell asleep on the way, like when he was my baby boy... unloaded the truck into his new place in oakland, and i was off again, across the san rafael/richmond bridge once more, with mount tamalpais (the sleeping lady) in the background. north on 101 this time, to sonoma state for a quick-but-great visit with college daughter. coffee. and then the final leg of the journey, up 101 to 128 again, and out to the coast i love so much, through the navarro redwoods.


a lovely, productive journey, through past, present, and future.
in this crazy-making, overcrowded state that i love and hate all at once.

delay indicted again

yikes!

thursday blues

john roberts is in.
terminator vetoed the gay marriage bill.
kid #3 called me at work today, puking and crying hysterically.
(yes, at the same time.)
i rushed home. luckily my commute is only seven miles.
glad i came home. so is she.


trying so, so hard to keep the old chin up.
delay being indicted was a start. and now maybe
bill frist will be found-out.
but roberts--for life? and who else will bush parade
out to us all, to proclaim his or her worthiness?
i don't like his friends, thus far.



and why can't gay people marry? planes can fly into buildings.
prisoners can be tortured. american citizens can be left to die
in the streets of new orleans.


i'm looking for that up side, i really am. but like so many, i am feeling
pretty pulverized by the continuing destruction of all that is good.

rudie can't fail

click above for the rude pundit's latest, if you have not seen it already.

the rude one rules!

caution: may contain offensive (to some) language.

proceed at your own risk.

happy birthday, dear blogzie !

alvin lee - just for you, birthday girl!

thanks for being born this day.

i celebrate the fact that you are a caring, thinking, unique individual.

it's so refreshing!

best to you, today and always.

xoxoxo

be the rain

finally watched greendale tonight. we've had the cd and listened plenty, since it came out last year. g-man and i never saw the accompanying movie. so glad that we did.

neil's another of my musical touchstones, to put it in goofy, sentimental terms. i could go on at length about the incredible shows i have seen over the last few decades. but i won't. perhaps another time. just wanted to say that it's an odd little film with some fine messages and real cool-sounding songs. well worth seeing, if you like such things. to learn more about greendale than just my fairly-slanted opinion, you can click on the title to read-up on it. there you will find a trailer of the film for your listening and viewing pleasure.

greendale is about a family in a small coastal town, and layers of tragedy. more-than-that, it's about saving the mother. (mother earth) sounds like a plan...if only.

come on into my kitchen...

click on title of the post for a good read....


lorraine of culture kitchen pretty much nails it, i think.

today would have been the 76th birthday of my mom. she died in 1981, when i was a few months pregnant with my son. i still like remembering her birthday. so much she did not get to see...like any of her grandchildren. as i approach the age she was when she died, i feel a bit weird.

"life goes on and on and on..." ray davies

dirty little secret

Your Daddy Is Darth Vader

What You Call Him: Papi Why You Love Him: He's your sugar daddy

Who's Your Daddy?

...forgive my silly behavior. sometimes it's all i've got. especially when so much seems to suck. as the beatles sang: "it's getting better all the time-can't get much worse." ...right?

strange daze indeed

no way around it. the ways of this world can really get to an old gal like me sometimes. and lately it's been so painful just to read any hear any watch ANYTHING news-related. but i do-always. and then i'll be at my droll little job wondering why it is that i feel like screaming out loud. so much loss. so many people. how can this be happening-how did we LET it happen? not just new orleans. everywhere. everyone and everything. all so distorted.

but no. i go about the day, taking care of everyone's issues while stuffing this growing frustration with the people in this country. the ones who refuse to face the truth about why people waited so long in new orleans. and then i remember me- as a child, already seeing the ugliness of racism. and sometimes even feeling ashamed to be a white person because of that ugliness. maybe that's what happens when you grow up watching martin luther king speak the truth with such eloquence- only to be murdered.

on a familial note, i had a very quick tour of the greater san francisco bay area on saturday, when i drove my charming young son to oakland. we also stopped and saw college daughter on the way there, and then i stopped again at college daughter's on the return trip. she and i had dinner together, and then i hit the road for home. i was in 5 different counties and crossed 3 major bridges, and drove about 350 miles. all in a days work. it was hard to say goodbye to my boy. having him around all summer was a precious gift. there were so many times that i just marveled at my luck as a mom, to have him in this life of mine. my kids make sense when absolutely nothing else does.

but seriously, something has GOT to give. i will bet that the peace march this saturday in d.c. will be hugely powerful. people are pissed-collectively.


...nobody said there'd be days like these. strange days indeed. (most peculiar, mama)

post secret

higher ground

the title links to the preview and line-up of amazing music and more.
i am referring to the hurricane relief benefit on pbs last night. who else watched? so many of my favorite folk were a part of it...toni morrison was jaw-droppingly brilliant. and i bet it raised a ton of money for the forgotten people. a really tastefully-executed benefit. if you missed it, i bet it will be shown again.

as i walked in the door from my whirlwind tour, elvis costello had just walked on stage. my sweetheart and i saw him in march, and it was a near-perfect night of music. and then there's diana krall, holy shit. what a pair, eh?

i will not be broken

bonnie's new one is incredible. the title cut gives me chills, through-and-through.
her music has done that to me for 30 years now, starting with "home plate" at the tender age of 18.

the downward spiral

how is everyone doing, four years after this horrific day in history?

feeling better about things? stronger? more respected? not me.

the divide created by that day, and all of the awful days since then just keeps growing. us and them.

remember when he said he was a "uniter not a divider" way-back-when?

that day changed many things in our lives. and the cruel changes just keep on coming. i am not a proud american tonight. but i'd love to be given the opportunity to be one again.


when might that be?

"go fuck yourself, cheney"

my sentiments exactly...did anyone catch the brave american who shouted out those words to dick cheney today, as he was touring biloxi? brilliant.

"chant down babylon"

maureen dowd

one thing i thrive on :

hell on earth

so many important things are getting said.

(read the link if you wish to.)

my heart has ached for days.

helpless~helpless~helpless~helpless

a changing view

on the turning away

no more turning away

from the weak and the weary

no more turning away

from the coldness inside

just a world that we all must share

it's not enough just to stand and stare

is it only a dream that there'll be

no more turning away?


david gilmour & roger waters

what makes us "better" than those other countries, tell me again?

my head is reeling in disbelief.
i must sleep.
but first, another link.
unbefuckinlievable, folks.

what's goin' on?

you can click the title to read a washington post article that relates to the racial issues which have clearly defined this tragedy, i think.

at first i thought i ought to not say much about all that
has happened and continues to happen in new orleans.

mostly because i live in california, and although i have dreamed of getting there for about 30 years, i have not ever been. i have no clue whatsoever as to what this all feels like to the people that are living and dying in this nightmare.i did go through the 1989 loma prieta earthquake in santa cruz, and there was loss of life and much property damage. and it was the most frightening day of my life. but nothing that i have ever seen compares to this. nothing ever could.

all i want to say is-- how? how can we just LEAVE people like this?
if they were not poor, if they were not primarily black people, would we just let them die, and go without water and food? the babies, the kids...how the hell can this be happening? many people are acting as though the looters are the worst thing about all of this. excuse me? can you say cause and effect? why were the national guard not sent in immediately, before everything turned to absolute chaos? oh, wait...they're guarding the oil fields in iraq. prioritites, you know.

maybe it bothers me so much because i am not a wealthy american. i work at a job that entitles me to be classified as a member of the working poor. we have nothing monetarily to spare in my household. our cars are old cars. we will have little or nothing to retire on. so, i have a keen sense of how close to the edge of poverty one can so easily be, in this fine land of my birth.

and yet, i am so, so lucky, in comparison to the poor souls in new orleans and beyond. i have a cozy shack to live in with my family. electricity and running water. water to drink, food to cook. a job that pays me (almost) enough to live on.
and i get to live in one of the last bastions of rugged beauty on the california coast. far from cities and high crime rates.

anyone who does not hold the president accountable for this national disgrace is delusional and beyond all help. bush doesn't care about them. or you. or me.

september 24 in washington, d.c.

the title is a link with information about the peace march next month, in washington d.c.
i predict a massive turnout. if it weren't for the simple fact that i am a wage-slave with a kid in college, and a 13 year old at home, deeper in debt every month that passes, and many miles away from the capitol... i would love to be a part of this demonstration. anybody else going?

when a was a 13 year old in san francisco, it was 1970. vietnam was raging on mercilessly, and my pal linda and i decided that we would volunteer our time after junior high every day, and work for the peace movement. we took the bus to the offices of the national peace action coalition, downtown. it was great! we stuffed envelopes, typed labels, sent lots of mail, and made phone calls. we also marched in one of the big peace marches. what a day that was. incredible. i remember that dick gregory spoke when we arrived at golden gate park. people of all kinds were there, all of them fed-up with that war, and doing everything in their power to end it-peacefully. i think we need to rekindle some of that passion, and do those things again. i actually believed that we would never again be involved in a war with no clear purpose, no end in sight, and zero accountability. i only hope that there are still enough people out there with the courage to stand for peace. meanwhile, i will mobilize in san francisco on sept.24, just like i did 35(!) years ago. and my 13 year old daughter will be by my side.


*post script: the damage done by katrina is shocking, to put it mildly. my thoughts and best wishes are with all those affected by this latest catastrophe. wow.

won't you try just a little bit harder?

"the wheel is turning and you can't slow down
you can't let go and you can't hold on
you can't go back and you can't stand still
if the thunder don't get you then the lightening will"

words by robert hunter
music by jerry garcia and bill kreutzman



do you know what is really something?
how some songs come completely true.
and they get more truthful, the longer you hear them.
i think it's a big old wheel, this life.
my children have proven this fact to me.

as they morph into their grown-up selves, and find their various paths to take.
so many times i want to help, fix, save, and smooth things over.
i know that i cannot interfere with this process...
of them figuring stuff out. god, it's painful-
not to be able to make it all just-so, like when they were my little ones,
and i could protect and preserve them. this pain is near-equal
to the labor pain i endured three different times. thankfully, there is the elation i feel when i get to watch them become such loving, aware people. that's my personal spirituality, and it never lets me down. being their mama. heavy sigh.

why i am not "religious"

click the above link, if you're in the mood to be sickened.

more words later, with any luck.

school begins here tomorrow, so life at the shack is whack.

"down, down, down the dark ladder"

the only thing better than bush's steadily-plummeting approval rating, is the way his supporters are really beginning to squirm. i admit that i am enjoying the spectacle. they behave as though this can't really happen, because they haven't finished wreaking their havoc on the universe yet. plenty more to destroy, kill, contaminate, right? just listen to them speak, and read what is being written. Desperate attempts to fool themselves into believing they still stand a chance. they don't. the war has been lost. thousands are dead, and many more are forever changed by this lie we were force fed. game over, republicans everywhere. this beats a blow job in the oval office any day of the week. no comparison whatsoever, sorry.

and yes, he should be impeached. as a matter of principle, and as a sign to the entire world that we do not support what has been perpetrated in the name of this country. of course, that would leave us with cheney and company, but he would be a stooge, just as poor gerald ford was after nixon resigned. his credibility destroyed, just like all of the lives he had a hand in destroying.

so go ahead, all of you that still actually believe he should stay in office, keep on ranting and huffing and puffing. the damage is done. your side has lost. time for those oral sex-loving liberals to try and clean up the mess you've made of things. sure, clinton may have been a questionable husband, and he did indeed lie. but he was a good leader, and people around the world did not want to kill us all, as is the case with w. he has brought far more dishonor to this country than a poorly-planned blow job did.

"my boy bill"

i had to post about him because i got to watch him tonight, after a three-month hiatus. i missed his show, and there are few shows i watch anymore these days.
chris rock was one of the people on the panel-another favorite. then there were the two obligatory scary republicans. one was asa hutchison, the other a kellyanne conway, who looked a helluva lot like ann coulter. (shudder)

my favorite part of the show was right after his "new rules" segment, when he launched into a rant about evolution vs. intelligent design. he argued that sometimes there ISN'T another side to an issue, like when scientists universally believe that we did indeed evolve from apes, the argument for intelligent design becomes totally absurd. as joseph campbell once pointed out... "they found the bones." i keep wondering why that is so difficult to accept... why is it so wrong to some that we evolved from animals? do we fancy ourselves better?

i am much more comfortable with aligning myself with the earth and it's creatures, than a fairy tale with no basis in reality. but that's just me.

i love that bill maher!

august 19th

happy birthday...



my guess is you know who this is.





ogden nash... funny and clever





jill st. john...meow!





orville wright... the cuter one.


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and a true class act, coco chanel.


thank you for tolerating my image-o-rama. i enjoyed the day, especially after the working part. and thanks ever-so to that sweet blogzie, for the birthday greeting on her blog this morning. so thoughtful!

gas prices jump eighteen cents in one week

mama lion

this is a photo of cindy sheehan's baby boy, casey. i wanted to post it because it gets to me. this is what she lost, all you parents out there. her CHILD. so the reasons for such a sacrifice had better be monumentally important. do you believe that they were, people?
all weekend i have been thinking that this woman will turn the tide and help us bring the troops home. as a mom, she knows no boundaries.
she will not back down, because she loves her child. he is gone forever. i can relate to her fury, her passion, her vigilance. don't even be messin' with mothers!

i saw an i-film at democraticunderground.com this morning. camp casey from an independent perspective, as opposed to what we are allowed to see on our televisions. real people are there now, all unique, from all over this country. well worth the visit, in my admittedly biased opinion. i wept for her. and then i was recalling how the man and i first learned of democratic underground. it was a dark day in recent history.

innauguration day, january 2001. we both took a sick day that day,to view the spectacle in all of it's deep,dark glory. the c-span feed was the one to watch. no editing and pundit-ing. the skies were quite gray. the number of protesters was massive, especially in front of N.O.W. headquarters,as i remember it. so many people, clasping signs of protest. the presidential motorcade kept cruising faster, to get past the crowds of pissed-off-citizens-who-knew-they-had-been-deceived. their anger was plain to see. and when the procession got to the final six-block stretch, it did not stop and let the would-be president, vice president and their wives out. tradition had held that they would walk the final six blocks, amid their cheering, happy supporters. that's what their predecessors had done before them.
these people were not cheering or happy.

so...nobody got out of their black s.u.v.'s. instead, that big line of cars
went even faster, anxious to get to their destination. incredible tension. and among the clusters of signs, the man and i spotted one with just a web address. that's when i heard of democratic underground for the first time. it began in response to that fateful first election of bush. i have appreciated their site since then.

that day, the innauguration... the man i dearly love and i looked at each other and said "oh, shit." we had real bad feelings about the future. and it really sucks that those feelings we had were valid beyond our wildest perceptions. it has been a long almost-five years. and i have had enough sorrow, horror, and disgust. stop killing our kids. stop the war.

more mark morford

here is yet another fun one from mark morford/click the title

i am working on a larger post, for later on...

SO much to say, so little time.

GO cindy!

happy birthday to alfred hitchcock.

he shares the date with fidel castro.

like a steam locomotive~rolling down the track...

it was perfection. that today, the company i work for would lose it's electricity. this occured at about 10 a.m., just two hours into the work day. pacific gas and electric could not say when we might have power, or what exactly caused this outage. (go figure!) so, we waited a while. i then took an early lunch break. when i got back, the generator had been fired-up. upper management decided that the generator power would not be used to power the phones or computers, but the coffee roaster and the packaging equipment. they had to choose, because the generator can't power everything at the plant.

translation: i got to exit, stage left, and go home and experience several hours of lucious peace around here. just exactly what i was wanting so. sunshine and silence. except for the occasional raven squawking, and a couple of songs thrown in.

i thought about this date... i read that on this date 60 years ago, the u.s.a. dropped the "fat man"- a 22-pound atomic bomb on nagasaki.

45 years ago, timothy leary experienced a "fullblown conversion experience"~ he announced this fact after ingesting 7 psylocibin mushrooms in cuernavaca, mexico, next to a swimming pool.

36 years ago, sharon tate and friend were murdered by followers of charles manson.

31 years ago, richard nixon resigned, and gerald ford was sworn in as president.

10 years ago today... jerry died and the music stopped.
like the "jake brake" on a semi truck, it all just came to a grinding halt. strange to think about. stranger still to try and explain those days in a way that anyone can even comprehend, if they never saw the band. the way the grateful dead and their audience could work together and create this collective orgasmic musical dreamscape-(huh?!) no way to explain any of it without sounding like an old fool to the average joe. so be it. anyone blessed enough to have been there when that magic was happening, knows.

i would say that today was a fairly harsh day in history, made a little bit easier by the sun through the trees. and songs.

not fade away

"do you remember...your president nixon?"

tomorrow, august 8th is the 31st anniversary of richard milhaus nixon's resignation. he was the first president in history to do so. as a kid of 17 at the time, i remember realizing that politics had become a huge joke. things have not improved,
to say the least.

terrorism 1945

yeah, hiroshima and nagasaki. those were brutal terrorist attacks. and today marks the 60th anniversary of the u.s. bombing the crap out of hiroshima. i read an article in this week's anderson valley advertiser, (boonville,california) that an estimated 80,000 people were killed in a split second. roughly 13,000 kilometers of the city was obliterated. by december of that same year, another 70,000 people had died from radiation and injuries.

president truman's chief of staff, admiral william leahy, stated in his memoirs that "the use of this barbarous weapon at hiroshima and nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against japan. the japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender."

since the bombings in 1945, tens of thousands more residents of the two cities have continued to suffer and die from radiation-induced cancers, birth defects and stillbirths.

just something i have been thinking about.

like fine wine

~aged to near-perfection. this is a current photo of mr. weir, and that will bring my little bob-fest to a close, fear not. it was a fun little distraction though.
my next post will be at least 10% less sexist, i promise.

eye candy, continued

here is another shot of bobby weir, circa mid-eighties. damn! i will come back later and post one of him now, in his fifties. trust me, he keeps on aging beautifully.

eye candy

... so this is another reason i loved the grateful dead from an early age. bob weir, rhythm guitarist and serious eye candy. this is a very early photo, obviously. i thought he was a fine specimen of a man, and still do! i will try and post a more recent one tomorrow.

the bus came by...

it all began for me, because my father had lots of great albums in the sixties, and he lived in the haight ashbury. after being born and spending the first 8 or so years of my life there, my parents split up, and mom took us to wisconsin for four rather tedious years. don't get me wrong, wisconsin was like paradise for a young kid-small town u.s.a. but what a contrast to san francisco, even to an 8-year old. but we did our time there, in my mom's home town, and then she decided it would be good to head west again in the summer of 1970. before that point, my little brother and i would fly to S.F. every summer to visit our dad. he worked for a local university, and had an apartment in the haight during it's early years as hippie mecca.

staying at dad's was really something. stuff was happening all around us. the world was changing fast. one day george harrison and his then-wife patti were spotted and the buzz about it was all over the neighborhood.
there was a place called hippie hill in golden gate park, and every sunday my father would take his us, as well as the sunday chronicle and maybe a small picnic. We would play frisbee, read, and lounge in the sun, among the hippie folk in their sunday finery. some of the best memories involve all of the music happening at the time. I loved it. especially the beatles, the jefferson airplane, the stones. One day I played the first grateful dead album. I liked it instantly. I remember devouring that album cover for long periods of time, amazed at the wierdness of it all. and the sounds were like no others I had heard. I was hooked even then. my father and other family members saw some of their earliest shows, and my brother and I went along to a couple.

after moving back to san francisco with my mother and brother in 1970, I remember listening to their music more steadily as the years passed, and by 1974 it had become a happy pastime. after moving to the sierras, I did not get to see the band so regularly, but eventually there were carloads of deadheads heading down to shows in the city. yes, I was a deadhead. and that network was never-ending, once it began. when my mother got sick in 1979, I moved back down to the s.f. area. those were some tough days, and seeing the occasional show with my good compadres helped me through some of the sad times. the music just soothed me, always. can't quite explain why or how. it just felt good all over. made my spine tingle.

i made lifelong friends seeing that band, and even met my two ex's there. (not sure whether that represents a good or a bad thing, but what-the hell!) thankfully, i did have the great fortune of finding my forever man through mutual deadhead friends. he wasn't really a deadhead, "but some of his best friends" were afflicted. by the time he and i were serious, jerry garcia had been dead for four years. so we didn't see those shows together. now it's been ten years since garcia's death. i never personally knew the man, so it seems pretty odd to still "miss" him. what I miss is the camraderie he inadvertantly created among so many people. and the serendipitous musical experiences which live on in my soul always. someone once referred to it as "group therapy". it really was.

i do appreciate many kinds of music. we still attend the occasional concert when we are in the mood to endure crowds, which is rare lately. but i will always miss that sound. i know it may seem strange. it is. but there are others just like me out there, from all walks of life. some are famous and almost-famous. like phil jackson, the n.b.a. coach. and peter jennings, the former news anchor. most of us are folks that you could never peg as deadheads in the typical ways. we don't all wear tie-dye. we bathe, and work, and raise our kids to be great people.
(we are everywhere.)

today would have been his 63rd birthday. (8/1/05)
and eight days from today will mark the tenth anniversary of his passing.
thank you jerry- for a REAL good time.