FOOD AS A CRISIS?

NEW BATTLE GROUND

      We've been warned to brace for higher food costs.  People wonder why, curious about the forces that are driving up prices.

     The Agriculture Department says low reserves of wheat, coffee and soybeans have contributed to price surges world wide. High grocery and food costs are among the gripes of protesters and "democracy" activists in the middle east.

       Higher than expected demands for corn by the ethanol industry has contributed to some of the shortage.  Corn supplies are expected to be the lowest in 15 years.

        The price of corn affects most of the food chain.  It feeds cattle, chicken and hogs and it is the primary ingredient in most other processed foods.  Sometime, just for kicks, look at how much corn syrup is found in food, including some you wonder why.

      FACTORS BEHIND RISE IN FOOD PRICES

• EXTREME NATURE & WEATHER
• RAINS, FLOODING, DROUGHT, HEAT AND WILDFIRES CUT PRODUCTION IN 2010

• DEMAND OF BIO FUELS
• CORN IS USED FOR PRODUCTION INSTEAD OF FOOD

• POPULATION
• POPULATION PUTS EXTRA DEMAND ON SUPPLIES.  ECONOMIC GROWTH IN CHINA AND INDIA LEADS TO INCREASE IN MEAT CONSUMPTION AND THUS DEMAND FOR ANIMAL FEED

• THE COST OF PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
• FARM EQUIPMENT FUEL AND TRANSPORTATION COSTS ARE PASSED ALONG TO CONSUMERS

      Here in Central California we see strides toward sustainability, but it is a concept that needs world wide application.  I've often wondered why other bio mass, or green product can not be used for ethanol production.  Think of the extraordinary and troublesome growth of Kudzu in the southern US.  Couldn't a process be developed to utilize it? There are also vast areas of the world where saw grass or rip grass or other wild grasses flourish.  Why couldn't they be used?

      Associates who have worked in national security tell me there have been scenarios and war gaming drills where world leaders must confront outbreaks of hostility and war over supplies of food and water.  We have seen evidence of that in some regions of the planet.  Adjustments are needed if we are not to suffer a wider spread of misery and discontent over the supply of food.

AND HOW IS THE WEATHER?

     If you've spent any time at this blog you have no doubt noticed that our winter on the Central Coast has been almost ideal.  Good rain fall, ample sunshine, green mountains and hills and plenty of snow in the high Sierra.  Well, today we hear of snow in our forecast, dropping to the 500 foot elevation, which would include our spot on the ridge at "Top of the World."

     We've not been in snow since we departed the mid-west in January 07, so.....

     OK, I know many of you have suffered through a harsh and relentless winter, so we are asking for no sympathy.  Just pointing this out as a curiosity. Stay tuned.

     See you down the trail.

ROLLING STONE READ

In case you don't see this elsewhere, here's a strong piece of investigative reporting.

How psychological operations were run on US Senators. REPORTING BY ROLLING STONE. LINK HERE: 

A ROVING CAMERA

RANDOM SHOTS

CARMEL TO BIG SUR

     Here are a few more scenes from our drive to Carmel along the Pacific  Coast Highway. It is a little more than 2 hours along a magnificent stretch of the US.  

    Carmel offers interesting views in every direction you point and shoot.

This table once belonged to Vincent Van Gogh.  It is now a centerpiece of the Casanova Restaurant.

Artifacts of an earlier era?

So is this-the work of a Carmel artist.  Reminds me of a Vargas girl.

and this also of another era, but still running.

Cottage shingles and moss abound

as do Pacific vistas on the drive south

Point Sur Light Station

The Big Sur River is enjoying a spring surge.

Likely to be more water running soon.  There is a forecast for a large rain and SNOW event.  Snow from San Francisco south to the Central Coast is possible.  One forecast model has snow dropping to the 500 foot elevation.  Stay tuned.

See you down the trail.

UP THE COAST

SNOW AT THE PACIFIC COAST

       A rare sight comes into view on the Pacific Coast Highway just north of Lime Kiln State Park.  Snow capped peaks cresting over the blue Pacific.  Locals say the next storm may drop the snow level to 1000 feet, which will cover more of the Santa Lucia coastal range. This is a rare view.

Poppies have begun to bloom, creating golden orange carpets on bluffs above the coast.

DAY BOOK

CARMEL BY THE SEA

SHADOWS AND LIGHT PLAY

A Photo journey

See you down the trail.

MAGIC IN THE DARK, STILL

CINEMA NUT

REEL THOUGHTS

      We've been in the dark and eating popcorn with some fervor.   

      UNKNOWN, ANOTHER YEAR and THE ILLUSIONIST in last couple of days. They provide us 3 lenses on films, movies and the art.

       UNKNOWN

       A thrill ride. Action Thriller is the genre and they are corrrect. Liam Neeson plays this role well and has before.  Diane Kruger and January Jones fill the screen nicely.  Kruger is convincing. Aidn Quinn makes you want to punch him. Frank Langella visits with a role that should have been fleshed out.  Bruno Ganz as the old Stasi spy was a scene grabber. You get a visual and cultural immersion into winter in Berlin as treated by Jaume Collet-Serra who directs music videos and TV commercials.  Plausibility issues-but the film is only a ride and the popcorn is decent.

       ANOTHER YEAR

        This is a film. A British drama based on an academy award nominated original screenplay by Mike Leigh, who also directed.  It is a craft piece to be sure.         Cinematographer Dick Pope did magic in capturing seasons in a garden, and gave the actors a powerful canvas to excel at that kind of acting that comes in the eyes, or an expression while demonstrating degrees of nuance. 
           Lesley Manville as troubled Mary is superb. Her pathos is extraordinary.  Jim Broadbent at Tom Hepple is magical with his wry manner played subtly. So is Ruth Sheen as Gerri Hepple, her compasion and warmth and then later disdain flys from the screen.
All of the supporting roles are well played.  The film is warm, human, captivating, a bit sad but sweet.

     THE ILLUSIONIST

       An animated tour de force by Frenchman Sylvain Chomet, who directed, adapted the wonderful screenplay by Jacques Tait and even composed the original music. Art Director Bjarne Hansen and character designer Pierre-Henri Laporterie plus the visual effects and animation artists combined to create a brilliant and charming world for the Tait and Chomet story to play out. A French Illusionist finds that television and the movies  eclipse his live performance so he takes a small job in Scotland where he meets a young woman.  Both of their lives are changed.   
        The story is delightful, the music is sweet and the animation is enchanting. The art is   terrific.


        I fell in love with the movies when my brother and I would pay 25 cents to enter the old Windsor, Strand, or Grand theatre on a Saturday mid day to watch serials, shorts, newsreels, cartoons and then a feature.  We were out of the house most of the day, giving  Mom a break and giving us a world of adventure.  Film or movie, and I'll argue there are differences, are a passion.  Even Lana enjoyed spending the better part of a day and half in the theater, munching popcorn and being entertained.


       




           
          

      

UNREST-PROTESTS-STRATEGIC PATHS & BEAUTY

AN UNCLEAR FUTURE

     Over coffee with three wise men, as we rambled over the unrest and protests in several nations, history interjected itself.  

      I recalled an evening when Senator Dick Lugar and Congressman Lee Hamilton, both then leading thinkers on Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and National Security, unpacked the riddle of the changing globe from '89-91.  The Berlin Wall came came down in 89, the breaking up of Yugoslavia carried on from '89-91 and the Soviet Union unraveled into 15 countries in '91.
      The assessment at that time applies today.  Difficulties in finding a path forward, resolving ancient anger and settling on a workable government will come to fill the space where today there are sparks and aspiration.

 FINDING THE SOLUTION

    You marvel at the rapidity of getting people into the streets and forcing governments to  respond.  Though unleashing sentiment guarantees only more process and sometimes it is violent, as in Lybia and Iran.  
    Tito, who was both a Croat and a Slovene, kept Yugoslavia together, though often with repression and an iron boot.  Once strongman leaders are upended, or die, the power that once held factions away from each other's throats, weakens and other players find new strength. 
   The disintegration of the Soviet Union put fifteen new countries into play and the rumbles began. It gave us a lab to watch power sharing and resolution.
     It is likely the somewhat intoxicating quality of revolution by social media will wear into a more tedious and less prominent and more grueling process. That work will will grind away, considerably more slowly than fomenting change.

SNOW IN THE SANTA LUCIAS

PM

     Snow is common in California's higher elevations.  The latest storms delivered 4-9

feet In the Sierra with snow also dropping to lower elevations.

        In this area the Santa Lucia coastal range runs from 2,500 to 3,500 feet, tall enough for a dusting as a cold rain moved through the coast. By sunset the taller peaks had a paint job. Just a few hours later, the white stuff was already beginning to shrink in the sun and coastal temperatures.

AM

       Spring continues it energetic transformation, fueled by the recent rain.  Our ridge, Top of the World, has captured 25.5 inches so far this season.  

       The climate of the Central Coast is such that winter is our time for rain which means the green season.  Summer is golden and Autumn is brown as rain is rare after March.

SPRING DAY BOOK
Here are a few shots where color and clouds provide some light play.

This explosion of color is from the west side Paso Robles wine region on Vineyard Drive.

Buds should be breaking on the vines in the next month. 

 The rolling Santa Lucia highlands are "Irish" green and set against the vast blue of the Pacific horizon.

The undulation above is on Highway 46 from the Cambria area to Paso Robles and is one of America's most beautiful drives. Snow doesn't last long here. That's fine!

See you down the trail.

THE WEEKENDER :) EXPANSIVE THOUGHTS GOING, WHERE?

Happy Weekend.  In the spirit of Joy 
here is our WEEKENDER :) Enjoy.
JUST LET YOUR MIND RUN WILD

CAN YOU SEE THE FACE IN THIS ROCK?

Or if trees spoke, what might these two have to say to each other.  One is charred, the other is not.

Can you imagine trying to design a growth like this?

     THE UNIVERSE IS AN ANSWER, 

NOT A QUESTION.

What do you think about that?

What do you think about?

      Writers will sometime uses a drill wherein they look at an object, or pick a line of copy and just begin to write, to let it go almost spontaneously, as in a stream of consciousness. It is a liberating experience.  
       I suspect that we can sometimes lose our sense of playfulness. Practices like this can kick us into action and into a better space.  

      I love the words of Jesus that we must be like children to enter into heaven.  What a wonderful concept. Well, this weekend, look back over the images in this post and be playful.  Give your self a few minutes of free "therapy", unwind and just imagine. 

WHERE WOULD YOU GO IN THIS CAR

OR THIS?

WHAT WOULD IT FEEL LIKE?

HOW WOULD IT SOUND? 

WHAT KIND OF REACTION MIGHT YOU GET?

JUST CROSS THE LOG AND FOLLOW THE 

STREAM OF YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS

AND SEE WHERE YOU FIND YOURSELF.
LET US KNOW, IF YOU CARE TO.

SEE YOU DOWN THE TRAIL.