ON THE ROAD

A WIDENED VIEW

        The Willie Nelson song On the Road Again is an anthem for those of us who have spent years of our life working "out there" somewhere.  Part adventure, part drudgery it has the cumulative affect of stretching your view, in what you see, of people and how you think.

        I was hooked from the time my father set up a Buick Roadmaster with a folding cot between the front and back seat.  Not only were cars large in those days, but there was additional room for a cooler, water and additional blankets which would convert the expansive back seat bench into yet another bed. My brother and I had our own capsule as we spanned from the Midwest to the Rockies. I've been traveling since.

NOW HERE IS A ROLE MODEL

       Around Kings Canyon, which is roughly between Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks I saw this unit and knew, here is traveler.

       I've been remote enough to immediately recognize a well equipped unit. This one made me envious.  Turns out it belongs to a Frenchman who has been pretty much on a world journey for several years.  He's shipped his Defender over oceans and then charts a route, with little thought to "when" he will get to the last spot he has marked on the map.

       On this leg of his travel he was working toward Alaska from deep in South America. See what I mean by envy?  Take a look at where he's been so far, marked by the dark line. 

As you can see, he's traveled some tough, remote and war torn areas.

He had a serene, confident, calm about him. It is the kind of "mellow" I have 

seen in others who have seen much of this terrestrial sphere. It is the kind

of behavior I admire and respect-the product of a widened view.

SPEAKING OF A WIDENED VIEW

Here is a good piece of analytical journalism that flies in the face of some of the screeching voices you hear today. It is another sample of McClatchy enterprise reporting. This time public employee pension plans are in focus.

DAY BOOK

KINGS CANYON

      The views of the Canyon along the Kings River are majestic, enough so that our French  explorer noted above put it on his world tour.

      See you down the trail.

THE WEEKENDER :) HOT CHROME, SEXY ROBOTS & WHAT A FUTURE!

TECHNOLOGY CAN BE FUN

       One of my great aunts, born in England in the 1870's, referred to cars as "machines."

Of course she and her siblings saw a remarkable increase in "machines" of all sort.  But then so have we.

       I know some of you may still be waiting for the Tomorrow Land style world that was forecast for us in our old Weekly Readers, but we are probably closer than we realize.  SKYPE and I CHAT did bring us the "picture phone."  The new tablet iteration is taking personal computing to new levels.  It's fun to ponder the possibilities.  

       Here is a promotional video from Corning, which ponders the possible in some entertaining and remarkable ways.

BUT THERE WILL BE ETHICAL ISSUES AS WELL
AND AT CAL POLY THOSE ISSUES ARE GETTING EXAMINATION. LINK HERE FOR A STORY ABOUT ROBOTS AS SEXUAL COMPANIONS


AND THEN THERE IS HOT CHROME
YOUR WEEKENDER :) DAYBOOK
HOT RODS-CALIFORNIA STYLE

I can't help but wonder what my Aunt Martha would think of the content of this Post.
See you down the trail.

RANDOM FRIDAY

THINGS UP CLOSE

       Some of the Friday lunch Flash Mob enjoyed the warm sun down the mountain from the Castle and the talk turned to writing, literature and the new web based social networks.

       It impressed me that while comments ranged from emphasis of the middle eastern democracy movement utilizing the systems to joking derision of Charlie Sheen tweets, how we have crossed a divide.  Social networks and web transferred information is no longer leisure and optional behavior, it is vital and in some cases life and death.

Link here for the latest on a young man, comfortable with viral information sharing who now is at the center of an historic case that could have lethal outcome.

MORE ON WIKI LEAKS

THIS TIME MOTHER NATURE

Those released diplomatic cables continue to provide vital and relevant information. Link here to read about environmental policy, politics and perhaps surprising revelations.

     A few years ago it may have been just fun and socialization, but now there is a river of data, information and exchange that pulses through our exchanges.

SPEAKING OF MOTHER NATURE

FASCINATING SCIENCE

       News from Cambridge Mass. this week could change the world.  A Massachusetts bio tech firm reports it will produce fuel by utilizing a bio material found in growing grass.

       Joule Unlimited has created an organism by means of a genetically engineered process that it claims  secretes diesel fuel or ethanol whenever it finds sunlight, water and carbon dioxide.  The company says it can use the organism to produce the fuel on demand and at whatever quantity is requested.  Joule Unlimited says it can produce the fuel at costs comparable to the cheapest fossil fuels. 

        The scientific community will no doubt examine this closely, but what a potential marvel huh?  What's that about a "new world?"

HERE IN YOUR DAY BOOK

SOME OLD FASHIONED MOTHER NATURE

and our latest Cambria Ruth Rose

One of Lana's ceramic play time creations.

See you down the trail.

CHARLIE SHEEN-THE NEXT CHAPTER AND FREE SPEECH-IT IS THAT

SHELIA NEVINS*-ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION?

The Taming of Charlie

      THE PROPOSAL-A NEW REALITY SERIES

              Charlie Sheen is kidnapped by his family and is forced into an

              intervention.  

        The program would feature Martin Sheen, our greatest President in the last 20 years, and Emelio Estevez the other Sheen son, plus old "tiger blood" Charlie himself.

         The series opens as the Sheen clan plans the kidnapping.  Cameras stay with the drama through out.  Charlie is grabbed, probably while he is ranting and raving someplace, taken to a remote location where he is confronted by the family and sent into a detox/rehab/personality transplant therapy.  This series could run weeks as we watch the man change from rocket fuel to decaf.  

         Would America watch?  I think so.  Would CBS recoup on their number 1 comedy, I think so.  Am I being absurd?  I think so.  But could this concept really play? I know so, sadly.

A LONG WAY FROM PERSON TO PERSON HUH?

         What would Ed Murrow say?  For those of you who miss the point of this reference,
the pioneer broadcast journalist had this to say about television


       "This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and even it can inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it's nothing but wires and lights in a box." 

Where will it take us?

SPEAKING OF SPEECH

     Many are upset with the Supreme Court's decision upholding the right of the Westboro Baptist Church to protest military funerals. Even the chief justice called the speech at the center of the specific case before the court, "hurtful."

       I consider the Westboro Baptist Church protests  to be awful, perverted, morally reprehensible and frankly nuts.  Still, free speech is free speech and one of the underpinnings of our republic is the first amendment to the Constitution.

          Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting 

          the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or of the

          right of the people to assembly, and to petition the Government for a redress of 

          grievances. 

    In their anger and disgust some loose sight of the fundamental importance and  beauty of Amendment I.  It sets us apart among other nations, and it also says that we are a proud and philosophically "big" enough people to sustain the excesses, even when they are hurtful, inflammatory  and ignorant, as are the words and signs and presumably the people of the Westboro Baptist Church.  

        I find absolutely nothing reflective of my understanding of Christian faith in their 

words and actions.  But then it is not for me to judge.  That is ultimately for their God, who I suspect is more than disgusted at their behavior.  In the meantime our freedoms of 

religion and press offer ample space for people of better conscience to define the Westboro Baptist Church as the cretins they are.  Maybe they could invite Charlie Sheen to the guest pulpit-that is until Sheen is saved from himself.

*Shelia Nevins is the programming executive at HBO who has created such luminary programs as Taxi Cab Confessions.  To be fair, she has also

presided over important and quality programming as well.

See you down the trail.

THE PUBLIC AIRWAVES

A HOT TOPIC

A PLACE FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING

      A friend noted it first.  We were watching the White House Salute to Motown on PBS on the same day that some so called budget cutters on Capitol Hill were taking aim at funding of public broadcasting.

      Public Broadcasting has its enemies.  It has also has its supporters, of which I am one.

Intelligent and thoughtful programming has long been its hallmark.  It can get away with providing a level of quality because it is not subject to the tyranny of pleasing the lowest common denominator, which translates as ratings.  

      There should be a place on the airwaves, though most television is delivered via cable or satellite dish, for all manner of content.  Mass audiences, and the attendant advertising seem to work for millions on commercial networks.  Boundary pushing drama and comedy, some too boundary breaking for the old commercial networks, do exceptionally well on cable networks.  

       Some of the best, and most Emmy winning program comes from Cable, where again artists and programmers can take a chance, and celebrate artistry, creativity and not the "almighty bottom line of ratings=ad revenue."  Cable seems to operate on the premise "build it (excellence of writing, acting, directing) and they will watch." And watch in enough numbers to make money.

       PBS and NPR are even better.  You will not only find even handed journalism, which is hard to find these days, you'll also find documentary, information, intelligent programming, superb drama and musical specials.  The best of the best, actually.  This nation needs a guardian of quality, class, civilization, intelligence and integrity. 

        Some of what does so well on Cable is probably offensive to some.  The offended need not watch and, not being on the public airwaves, there is a kind of insulation.  And while I have watched excellent creative output on Cable, some of it is exceedingly coarse or blue.  I am not prude and not easily offended, but I have wondered what my parents, who were not prudes nor easily offended, might think of some of what passes for television today. The point of this example is America has become a more crass, in your face, less sophisticated, more obvious and I believe in many ways a more obnoxious place.  Television has been one of the piped pipers of this descent.

       Public television on the other has been, can be and should remain, a place where 

standards are higher, where intelligence and smart creativity can find a berth.  

      The battle is not over, but it seems to me that foundations, private funders and corporate underwriters may have to pick up the slack, if those who simply don't "get" the value of Public Broadcasting, prevail in Congress.  I hope the solution will leave us with a structure that allows public television to remain free of commercials.  I have much to say about commercials, but I'll leave that for another day.

LINK HERE FOR A BACKGROUND PIECE ON THE FUNDING BATTLE

See you down the trail.

AN INSPIRATION FOR WALT?

TREES THAT DANCE

     All of those weird and spooky trees in Disney cartoons used to trouble me.  Where did they come from?  In the midwest our trees were tall oaks, maples, sycamores, beech and the like.  Some would  have large branches and limbs, but they were never frenetic like the cartoon trees.

After moving to the Central California coast I began to discover the wild growth patterns of California Live Oaks.

Now these trees can look sinister, like the trees that might grab an unsuspecting cartoon character.

Though I noticed in the early spring, when naked of leaves and pared with clouds and California blue sky, they look like they might just dance.

Since the Disney animators, and those of other studios, lived in California doesn't it make sense the Live Oak might have been the inspiration?

You look at these trees and you see things, right?

Well?

I wonder if Kilmer had a California Live Oak in mind as the inspiration.

"I think that I shall never see

a poem as lovely as a tree..."

See you down the trail.

A LOCAL SHOUT OUT

THIS IS ROCK AND ROLL

WELL DONE!

       I hope this show will travel, because a lot of people should see it.  THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL is the current production of the San Luis Obispo Little Theatre and as the DJ's might say, "It's a hit!"

        Directed by Kevin Harris, the multi media mix of live music, videos, dance, and large screen graphic augmentation is a "feel good" history lesson, poignant drama and a rocking good time. Entertaining at its core, the production confronts an ugly history when some music was called "race" music and all the cultural battle that went with it.

        David Vienna has written a brilliant and timely production as he follows the mercurial and flawed Alan Freed who coined the term Rock and Roll and by bravado, ego and  chutzpah fostered a new brand of radio, culture and live shows.  He was also the fall guy for what became known as "Payola."  Vienna is a skilled story teller and weaves strands of popular culture, history and personal story arc into an first rate script.

        Harris and Choreographer Drew Silvaggio draw superb performances from a very talented cast.  This is a group that moves smoothly from song, to dialogue and to dance without missing a beat.  And the beat itself could be worth the price of admission.  The band is the backbone and back beat of rockin story.  Great musicians, playing well had the audience boogieing in the seats.

         I hate to single out individual performance, because the full cast is outstanding.

Chad Stevens in the lead along with John Laird, Kerry Dimaggio, Seth Blackburn, Bill Kirkpatrick, Michelle Hansen, Jenny Beck and Travis Nefores turned in as good a performance as you could expect. Stevens is sensational.  Laird and Dimaggio display great versatility.

        Lana and I were rep company season ticket holders for years, enjoy theatre from New York to London and couldn't tell you how many productions we have seen from experimental to touring companies.  I went expecting a nice, competent little show.  There is nothing little about this SLO Little Theatre production.  It is a top drawer ticket and as I say, I hope other theatre companies will take it on.  This is Rock 'N' Roll is a chart topper!