11/11/11 & THE BIRTHDAY RAIN

A CAUSE FOR CHEER

 While some were searching for meaning, or perhaps

meaningful ways to observe 11:11 on 11/11/11,

the Friday Lunch Flash Mob was otherwise concerned.

The rain, welcomed indeed, but furious none the less,

was likely to drench the weekly gathering below 

the Castle.  Serious stuff, because two birthdays

were to be observed. Up steps Ruth,

the matron saint of our salon society. We'll gather

at her place, bring in food  and celebrate. 

And so 11/11/11 was saved with good cheer.

 The Chocolate Texas Sheet Cake was,

if you will, the icing on the lunch.

 Outside the low pressure system and storm front which

had confounded forecasters, delivered a great soaking

while the sister and brotherhood warmed the day.

 In true Cambrian fashion, Ruth rounded up vocalist Jerry,

to serenade the birthday kids and guests.

Little did he know as he sipped his coffee an hour earlier,

that he would be pressed into action.

But so in goes in this village by the sea.

 So, let it rain. This mob can mobilize its flash

  and flash.

 Still be resolved however, how much does

this storm leave behind?  A Green Thanksgiving

hangs in the balance.

Stay tuned.

Happy 11/11/11.

And to be sure, to those who have served

a heart felt thank you veteran!

We remember those who have gone.

See you down the trail.

LIBERTY'S LIGHT AND A LEGEND

A LION FALLS

The entire affair is sad.
A terrible allegation followed by apparent inaction
leads inevitably to a bad ending.
The board of trustees has acted now, but where 
were they before now?
Paterno was a legend. This is not how it should end.
Everyone looses here.
Responsibility, accountability and honor 
are more important than a game.


FREEDOM AND THE MUSE

PUBLISHED IN PUNCHNELS
Link here to Punchels  to read
Liberty's Light-An American Tribulation,
a new poem inspired by the 
10th anniversary of the Patriot Act
and the ongoing Occupy Wall Street movement.
CHEERS TO FREEDOM
UNFETTERED.
CHEERS TO PUNCHNELS 
AND TO YOU!

See you down the trail.

TURKEYS-JOURNALISTS AND OTHERWISE & WHAT A SHOT

FIRST, THE AMAZING IMAGE
Unless you have a powerful scope, you probably
missed the fly by of the asteroid 2005 YU55. 
Thanks to NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab here is a short clip.

NOW ABOUT IDIOTS POSING AS JOURNALISTS
SPJ, the Society of Professional Journalists
drew attention when Herman Cain accused reporters
of violating the Journalist's Code.
You can link here to the SPJ blog by Kevin Smith,
SPJ President and Chairman of the Ethics Committee.
In his excellent analysis, Smith provides context and cites two recent examples of national journalists being unaware of the Code of Ethics.
Example 1
Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus went after Cain, defending the paper but admitting she wasn’t familiar with the SPJ Code of Ethics. She wrote: “I suffer from the instinctive journalistic aversion to official codes of conduct.”
Example 2
Later Monday, MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell showed her relative lack of ethical knowledgeby snarking to Politico reporter Jonathan Martin, the reporter who broke the original story, “I assume you’ve read the journalistic code of conduct, whatever that is.” 
Well,
the Mitchell snarking and the Marcus arrogance of destitute ignorance make them poster children of the WORST OF AMERICAN JOURNALISM.  I didn't know they were both
so empty headed, ungrounded and intellectually lazy.
Martin's snide response to Mitchell was also stupid and a disservice to real journalists.
I spent several decades in journalism and the SPJ Code of 
Ethics was something that guided my shops from when
I was a street reporter to my years as a news executive.
True journalists, serious journalists know about and 
abide by the code.  Fools, egotists, gas bags, snark queens,
and posers apparently do not.
SO, THIS IS DEDICATED TO
RUTH MARCUS, ANDREA MITCHELL AND
JONATHAN MARTIN--


THE TURKEY TROT

Perhaps they are not students of irony,

but as we near Thanksgiving, we can count on a 

parade of wild turkeys making their daily

migration across the ridge top.

We noticed that Mr White, the albino, is back.

Like some people, they are not very intelligent and

are ignorant of honor and codes of conduct and leave us

with messes to be cleaned up.

See you down the trail.  Watch your step

especially if Marcus, Mitchell and Martin are around.

MONTEBELLO UPDATE, SUNNY NEWS & FELINE YIN AND YANG

COASTAL RELIEF

It has been a couple of weeks since scientists delivered 
good news, and the real sense of relief has just
kicked in. The Montebello poses no environmental
threat to the central coast. As I noted in the post
linked above, extensive deep water diving determined
the tanker, sunk by a Japanese U-boat in December 1941,
no longer contains any of the 3 million gallons of crude oil that was aboard when the tanker went down 6 miles off shore of Cambria.
Just the thought that a potential environmental 
catastrophe could occur, worked like a low grade
fever in the back of your mind. Getting
the news that it won't happen is a powerful relief.
Those of us who can find things to worry or fret about,
have only now allowed this one to sink in, so to speak,
and it is like a weight being removed. There was always
a "what if" in play and in the last couple of weeks
we've been able to put it out of mind.


SUNNY BITS

SOLAR DYNAMICS OBSERVATORY  
NOVEMBER 3 FLARE
Did you see the recent buzz about the cost of solar power?
Scientists say they are seeing evidence of Gordon Moore's law of computing beginning to happen in solar applications.
Moore's law postulated  the number of transistors on a circuit board doubles every two years and thus lowers
the cost of computing.  It's been true for 50 years
and now solar technology is experiencing increased
efficiency at lower production costs.

YIN AND YANG

Little brother Hemingway shares basket

with big brother Luke

Peace!

See you down the trail.

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.