QUESTS, DRAONS AND THE ORCHID

JOURNEYS
REEL THOUGHTS
Peace & Heroes

THE WAY
Directed by son Emilio Estevez, father Martin Sheen
plays a father who fulfills his son's journey 
on the El camino de Santiago from France to Spain.
The Way is an earnest film that has some splendid
moments.  Sheen must recover the body of his son
who perished on the journey. He decides to complete
his son's quest but he starts the pilgrimage with a 
hardened heart.  The journey and those he meets
on the camino have an impact.
Estevez is a fine director.
FINDING JOE
The documentary explores ideas of Joseph Campbell extrapolated from his life long study of faith, myth, religion, belief and spiritual disciplines.  This 
piece examines the idea of the Heroes' journey-defined as separation, initiation and return. The image of the dragon is used liberally as those "shoulds and shouldn'ts" of behavor and other limits to the human spirit.
 Cleverly filmed sequences help elaborate the occasionally exquisite point being made.  Campbell is not so much found as he is explained.  
He is certainly a man who's words
lend themselves to profound place and explanation.
Campbell fans, or those who feel at home in the deep waters of mixing faiths and human behavior will find 
FINDING JOE of value.
DAY BOOK
The new orchid.

See you down the trail.

THE WEEKENDER:) TAKE FIVE

THE CLASSIC

Dave Brubeck's TAKE FIVE took me out of a rock and

pop world into jazz back in high school.  I found a 

jazz station on the dial and was hooked, though my

buddies barely tolerated it on my car radio. 

I enjoyed being able to punch back and forth between say,

Satisfaction by the Stones and and Sidewinder by Lee Morgan. When they drove it was all Beatles, Stones,
Beach Boys, Dave Clark Five, etc.  That was fine
but jazz held a special allure.
As a school kid I worked in the downtown area of Indianapolis  as a "stringer" and gofer for the Indianapolis Times and as a board operator for a "fine music" FM station headquartered in an old hotel.  Well the jazz station was on the top floor of another hotel that I passed on my commute.  I'd stop by that hotel, buzz at the studio door and be ushered into warren of an album filled rooms. 
"Look around kid, see what you like." 
The DJ's were not like the
pop star jocks at the rock stations.  These guys were older, both black and white, musicians themselves and
somewhat tickled that a white middle class kid
was hooked on jazz.  
It all started when I first heard Brubeck's piano and Paul Desmond's sax.  
So the Weekender :) wants you to dig it.

See you down the trail.

THE NEW KID & THE NEW RAIN SEASON

HELLO HEMINGWAY

 The family has grown by one.  Our new rescue adoptee

has joined us.  Hemingway is a polydactyly-a six toed cat.

When you visit the Ernest Hemingway home in Key West

you'll likely see several six toed cats. I'd never seen

a polydactyly until we were there.  Cindy at the HART rescue center named this little cutie after his "cousins" in Key West.

 So now we have a socialization process to observe

as this rambunctious and high energy little guy

gets to know his older brother Luke and Nesta the 

old gal and reigning fussy Queen.
Here he makes his first journey outside. 
Look at those paws.

"Big" brother Luke naps as he watches over the little guy.

Dinner hour has gotten more complicated.

 Luke still maintains proprietary rights to making sure

the food tin is clean to his inspection standards.

THIS WILL LEAD TO GREENING

Almost a half an inch of rain over night, accompanied by  thunder which most people noticed, though some of us
snored through it.  We had a splash in October, but 
now we may get a couple of rains in the next week and
ranchers, farmers and gardeners are ready.

It cleared as the Friday Lunch Flash Mob assembled
below the castle, joined today by nearby steers.
The post rain views were pristine.

The old William Randolph Hearst storage buildings
played in the sun as well.

See you down the trail.

GOOD FOR GAGA

UNLIKELY PARTNERS TEAM

TO BATTLE BULLYS

Joel Page Reuters

It is buried under news of the G-20 Summit and 

the continuing Occupy movement, but it may

have more personal significance in the lives of

many youth than any other news of the day.

Lady Gaga has teamed with the John D and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the California Endowment and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University to launch the Born this Way foundation.

The nonprofit will deal with youth empowerment, self confidence, well being, mentoring, career development and one of the most critical issues of youth development bullying.

The name of the foundation of course is from her

hit song-born this way.

Gaga is a reigning superstar of pop culture.

Her creative expression seems limitless.

The long form video of Born this Way can be

compared to a Tolkien or CS Lewis style fantasy and allegory of good and evil.

Gaga says it like it is and while that outrages some,

her effort with this new foundation attacks one of

the evils of our age. Her statement says it well.

"Together we hope to establish a standard of 

bravery and kindness, as well as a community

worldwide that protects and nurtures others

in the face of bullying and abandonment."

Can't the world use a little more nurturing, bravery

and kindness?  She commands attention and

good for her for taking on an issue she could

simply ignore.  An act of bravery and kindness

in itself.

 See you down the trail.

DECK THE HALLS

ALREADY?

I love the yule and Advent season.

Christmas is one of those times of year

that has the power to enchant.
One of my first posts spoke of the magic.
But----

This the first residential tree I've spotted.
Not sure what my disdain does nor where it goes
as I exude it passing Christmas displays at department, big box and even drug and grocery stores.  I've been tossing
that disdain at the all too early set ups since before Halloween.
My mother said it was improper to decorate or even
seriously prepare for Christmas until after Thanksgiving.
So as I continue on my journey to being a full fledged
crank, I guess I should pull down Dickens
or hum a few bars of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
let nothing ye dismay...
May I be the first to wish you
MERRY CHRISTMAS
See you down the trail.

CREATIVITY

PLAY AND CREATE

"WITHOUT THIS PLAYING WITH FANTASY

NO CREATIVE WORK HAS EVER YET COME TO 

BIRTH. THE DEBT WE OWE TO THE PLAY

OF IMAGINATION IS INCALCULABLE."

Carl Jung

 It is not a great shot, but this

"Jellyfish" was one of the most

imaginative costumes I saw last night.

See you down the trail.

HALLOWEEN CONFESSIONS

AN INVITATION TO DELINQUENCY

We weren't really so bad, my brothers and me.

Once we were too old for Trick or Treating

we reveled in the freedom of the night to

be junior hooligans-of a mild sort.

My mother ordained a simple act of "terrorizing."

She told us that when she was young, they would

toss dried corn kernels at windows.  We did 

a lot of that.  There was also this thing with a 

wooden sewing thread spool, notched and 

put against and window and then spun with fishing line.

When it worked, it made a clatter. But it seldom worked and you had stomp on flower beds to get near windows.

The corn kernels were easier and gave us more safety

of distance.

My brother John and I saved a stunt for a couple of

folks we didn't like.  They wouldn't pay their newspaper bill-we were carriers-or we'd had a run in of some sort-football

in their yard, bike parked on their sidewalk-that sort of thing. For them we did the big deal.

Dog poop in a paper sack, set afire on the front step.

Set it there, light it, ring the door bell and run for the

bushes.  Oh what a delight to watch the "jerks" stomp it out

and then swear any manner of oaths.

Oh there was a year when I must have been having

an identity issue.  Too old for trick or treating, but

I loved dressing up like Zorro.  So I waited in bushes

near a mail box, and as people approached-we actually used 

mail boxes back then-I'd jump out, make the sign of 

Zorro-the big Z-with my plastic swoard and then

hand them a cluster of grapes. Yes truly-I gave them grapes.  

As I think back on it now, it wasn't so much fright,

shock or surprise that I got in return.  I think it was

a look in the eyes that said "what the hell kind of 

nut job is this kid?"  I think it was the next

year that my brother and I moved up to 

paper sack arson.

SPEAKING OF GOOFY COSTUMES

In response to a previous post about pampas grass,

Bruce, aka, Catalyst, sent a picture of the day

we flew from his Phoenix home back to the mid-west with our California pampas grass in hand. Bruce is the handsome swashbuckler on the left with his beautiful lady SWMBO at his side. Lana is the lovely young cowgirl with the pampas grass.

Notice how there is a lot of unexplained plaid in the 

picture.  Oh, the geeky smirker with the jr.Solzhenitsyn beard?  Don't know who that is.  Looks like he could be

one of those latent Zorros.

But what is it about that plaid?

See you down the trail.