DO THEY KNOW ABOUT THIS PLACE ON THE STRIP

ENTER ONLY IF
YOU WANT TO SEE ANOTHER SIDE OF VEGAS
BEAUTIFUL RED ROCKS

    Less than an hour west and north of the strip is a world

apart from the Vegas that comes to mind.  Magnificent mountains, light and the interplay of both.  To take you "close to the action" there is a loop drive and a dozen options for hiking, walking and climbing.

     The only special effects here are provided time and nature.  These old Yucca heads look like old shrunken heads indeed.

     As one in our party noted, they look like old spirits.

     This trail takes you over and through slanting rocks.

     Look carefully in the frame below.  How'd you like that view?

On the mid horizon line and you can
see the beginnings of the Vegas most people think of.
See you down the trail.

VEGAS POST CARDS

THEY THINK ABOUT THE VISUALS

       From the days of Bugsy Siegel on, everything about

Las Vegas has been improbable. But, almost everything about it is visual, from the serene desert and ringing mountains to the phenomenal spread of civilization.

      Of course Steve Wynn is the reigning patriarch of the opulent, and in his case, stylish use of architecture. 

      And it is a place for gawking and shooting.

     It's also a place that employs lighting designers and a sense of the theatrical.

     You don't need to drop a dime in a casino to get a pay out.  All you need are eyes.

       See you down the trail.

TAKE ME BACK

ALL YOU NEED IS.....

 WHERE IN SOME OLD BOYS 

REDISCOVER

      You are in the midst of a full cultural hiccup when a when a Beatles retrospective celebrates a fifth anniversary.

     And you are in the presence of a transcending greatness
when the magnificent Cirque du Soleil is the ride into the power of the Beatles song book.

      I'm one of those who think the Cirque troupes are among this planets greatest specimens of human skill, talent and creative imagination.  Already you know you are in for something extraordinarily special when you enter their arena.

     But when it is the Beatles that becomes the raison d'être, it's transporter time-beam us up, or back as it were.         
     As Linda, one of the boomer bunch who shared the time trip said, "It's more than a show, or a performance. It's a human experience!"
     Every accolade that can be laid on this cast probably already has been.  They are all deserved, and then some.
     You know how totally engrossing a Cirque performance can be.  What plusses this show is the music, voices, audio
documentary moments and the spirit of John, Paul, George and Ringo.   
     You are immersed not only into a full body assault of site, sound, texture and essence.  You are also "claimed," or captured and emotionally pulverized by the spirit of that time, its innocence, its playfulness, its youth-our youth.  
    As my friend Jim said "Several times I said I want to go back to that time. I want to go back to that age."
    Boomers can, at least for a couple of hours.  Be ready
to let the tears flow. And then, at least in some special
way, feel something sweet and wonderful, again!

See you down the trail.

THE WEEKENDER :) AMUSEMENT, SUNSET AND A SUPER HERO

FOR YOUR AMUSEMENT
Looks like a spring weekend is shaping in a lot 
of the US.  If you are not stuck to the NCAA games, or 
  active outside, here's a little wonderment to put a 
smile into your weekend. It'll also work on your
language skills.

DAY BOOK
FOLLOWING A SUNSET

It is mind boggling to think this incredible show with amazing effects is free, every evening. 
THE CAMBRIA LOCAL
FLASH MOB CELEBRATES OUR LOCAL 
SUPER HERO

He is also our favorite keyboardist

A super hero theme for our own

Jeannie provided a super cake.

Cheers to a super guy!

A super day for Cambria's super
Friday Lunch Flash Mob.
See you down the trail.

STARTING ANEW?

WHAT WOULD THOMAS JEFFERSON DO?

     As a prelude to the notion, is a notion itself.  Back in the early 70's I read a proposal that American electoral politics

would be more efficient if everything was done like a television rating service.  Well it was an idea before its time and not a particularly good one at that, but novel and bespeaking the need to "modernize" campaigning.

       Fast forward to what seems to be another endless and even more expensive campaign cycle and there is a new idea being floated.  Michael Eisner, ceo of The Walt Disney Company from 1984 to 2005 took to the pages of the LA Times to plug Americans Elect which will hold what they call the nation's first national online primary. You can learn more
by linking here to their web site.  
      I'm not sure of what to make of this particular iteration of an idea that has been kicking around for a while.  What I'm struck by is the logic Eisner employs in his advocacy. His dissection of the silliness and over weighting of Iowa and New Hampshire is spot on.
      American electoral politics has been through previous changes.  Information technology and systems have changed our ways of behavior in profound ways.  While the Americans Elect concept may not be the great salvation of the now costly and money influenced campaign process, it is a novel response and statement of dis-sastifaction with the way it is.
As Eisner says the current system is "mired in the past."  He adds "...we are burdened with a system that gives the bullhorn to the smallest voices and makes the majority feel unheard." 

DAY BOOK

CACTUS AND SUCCULENTS
Thorns of another type 

See you down the trail.

SOMETHING TO REMEMBER

THE DAY OF ARRIVAL
A MOMENT OF HISTORY

       It took three courageous and bloody tries, but on this day in 1965 25,000 marchers reached the state capitol in Montgomery Alabama.  In may ways it was the day that Civil Rights for African Americans, Negroes or Colored people, as were the predominate terms of that age, was made emphatic.

       My father and I made a point to watch the NBC Evening

news everyday during those troubled days of 1964 and 1965 as the US struggled with racism and segregation.  We had

seen police dogs and fire hoses turned on marchers and even the news reporters. We had followed the turbulence and violence, beatings and murders and simply could not understand how those scenes were even possible. Such hatred!  Even though Civil Rights legislation passed in 1964, Alabama, Mississippi and other pockets in the south, refused to grant full rights to people of color.

        Then in March of 1965 the march from Selma to Montgomery ripped into the heart and fabric of America. Twice Alabama troopers and mobs set upon and beat those

who were on their way to the same state capitol building where just two years earlier Governor George Wallace 

said "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever."

         After the failed second march thousands of other Americans, many of them clergy and church people, Christian, Jew, Quaker and Catholic flocked to Alabama to bolster the efforts.

Copyright unknown. Fair use image of historic moment depicting

John Lewis, an unidentified nun, Ralph Abernathy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Ralph Bunche, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Fred Shuttlesworth. This is from Selma, the beginning of the third March to Montgomery.

      The other historic intervention came when President 

Lyndon Johnson, outraged by the violence of Alabama during the second march, introduced a Voting Rights act on March 15, 1965. He also provided national troops to ensure the safety of the marchers to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge and 

walk through Montgomery to the capitol building, where 

the confederate president Jefferson Davis had been sworn in.

The symbolism was powerful

FBI Photo-Montgomery Alabama, March 1965

       When, finally, Dr Martin Luther King Jr delivered his

"How Long, Not Long" remarks in Montgomery, the American Republic came to grips with the great evil of racial hatred, 

though as we know, it still haunts and bloodies the American Dream.  Yet, that day was a signal that a Federal government and an American citizenry were committed to justice and equality.  

        In those days of hatred and madness, courage and faith

prevailed. Though, we also note that evening Viola Liuzzo, a volunteer from the north was murdered by the Ku Klux Klan.
       We never really arrive, it seems. The dream requires the 
best and courage from each generation.

DAY BOOK

WHIMSY

The wood sculptures and bird houses are the work

of Cambria artist Richard Lee.

Selling the message.  Point made!
See you down the trail.