DRIFTWOOD BUILDERS

DRIFTWOOD DREAMS

      One of the all time great driftwood beaches is the stretch from Shamel Park to Moonstone Beach in Cambria.  

       I wonder what tourists do with all of the pieces they haul off the beach.  I imagine mobiles, picture frames and other art creations populate homes and serve as souvenirs.

     Some of the building though, never leaves the Moonstone, Shamel Park beaches.

     Here's a quick look at a couple of nearly "permanent" driftwood castles.

See you down the trail.

HAPPY IS RIGHT & CALIFORNIA BOYS

THE DAY THE MAGIC BEGAN

    Fifty-seven (57) years ago today, Disneyland opened in Anaheim California and America was changed.

      We were married and making our first trip to California when I saw the magic kingdom for the first time.  Lana had been there as girl, shortly after the opening in 1955, but to me it was always the place I saw on television or in magazines and desired to visit. Until that day in 1969 when we passed through the front gates and onto a sun blessed main street it had been an aspiration.  

       I was overwhelmed by the light, the color and yes the true happiness the place exuded.  Years later I would meet with Roy Disney and other of the wizards and learned how things were painted, planted, laid out were all done to maximize the visual aura and appeal. It worked.  Of course the natural infusion of light is simply a California "special effect," but everything else was designed to capture, hold and maintain a youthful innocence, suspension of disbelief and joy.

       It was a natural extension of California light, color and mood, enhanced by the design and creative genius of Walt, Roy and their teams.  I have since learned there are real life main streets that come close to the same vibe as the Disney version.  Not surprisingly, most of those idyllic  villages are also in California, dotted around the golden state. Yet you can find them elsewhere, though too rarely.

      I wonder, though, if local communities would work as hard to maintain those charming towns, villages and small cities if it were not for the model of Main Street in Disneyland?  All too many places in America have seen their hometown main streets disintegrate under the competition of shopping malls. 

       And in what might be the ultimate "proof" of my hypothesis is how so many shopping mall developers have now begun to create "life style" centers, you know those rows of shops, restaurants and plazas that look like they were modeled after Main Street in Disneyland.

       It was July 15, 1955-the middle of the year, the middle of the optimistic '50's in the middle of the century that a kind of magic was loosened on America.  Where else but in

California would it be forever right, to be forever young of heart?

PERPETUAL ADOLESCENCE 

Spotted at a winery

AND THE PERFECT SEGUE

See you down the trail.

BANKERS AND HELL & TRUE GREATNESS

PUT A GUILLOTINE ON WALL STREET

    This weekend's Bastille Day in France kicked my imagination into high gear.  Yea, yea, I know history calls that era in France, "The Reign of Terror." Well, the French do tend to over do things on occasion, but this latest LIBOR mess has me fantasizing on what to do with bankers!

    The good and real news is that some solid experts are paying attention to the weasel cretins in banking.  The Systemic Risk Council, funded in part by the Pew Trust is on the case. Here's a clip from the PEW website.

    Here in the U.S., the Dodd-Frank law was designed, in part, to eliminate systemic risk — that is, the idea that the failure of one institution could be big enough to bring down an entire economy. Implementing financial reform has taken longer than expected, though, and that has many watchdogs increasingly on edge. 

Count Sheila Bair among the concerned. Last week, Bair, the former chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, announced she will be leading a new private sector group called the Systemic Risk Council whose mission will be to encourage reform. 

The council’s members are a who’s who of regulators, lawmakers, and academics, including Paul Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve; Brooksley Born, a former chairwoman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; and Paul O’Neill, who served as Treasury secretary under George W. Bush.  

     I urge you to learn more at this link. It is a high powered group.

       As I see the other banker shenanigans, thinking of Stephen King style scenes, I'm hopeful Shelia Bair and SRC will help.  Just in case you too harbor thoughts of malice toward  the slimy thieves of banking, here's a thought from Thomas Jefferson.

If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their  currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks…will deprive the people of  all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered…. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs. – Thomas Jefferson in the debate over the Re-charter of the Bank Bill (1809)

“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.” – Thomas Jefferson

NOW TO THE TRUE GREATNESS-

A 21ST CENTURY TROUBADOUR

    It was another enchanted night at the Painted Sky in Harmony.  One of the greats was back in the room.

     Michael On Fire is the progenitor of a love fest, or maybe a happy reunion looking for a place to happen. He is a story teller, charmer and entertainer who lights a room, fills it with image and music and delivers lyrics that get inside your heart and head. He's like a troubadour Horton Foote. A writer who conveys power and history in his message.

      As in the words of one of his songs he "makes thunder and brings back the sun." Michael is one of the most intelligent lyricists working, but he also delivers a poetic history.  His Apache Warrior is a case in point.  

      To write as intuitively and sensitively as he writes, you need to bleed your soul. You don't sing of "meeting angels I've abused" without uncorking a deep musical spirit. His tunes ring in a rhythm and cadence that moves your feet and stirs your heart. You rock in the joy and marvel at the story.

      Playing with a band he marshals a power that surrounds you. As an acoustic artist accompanied by only a drum he is like a sculptor who shapes meaning with an elegance of economy. A guitar, a voice and a drum beat evoke visions.

      Michael is an artist whose music delights and haunts.

Over the decades I've seen big acts, major stars, impressive tours, but there is something about Michael on Fire that connects like no other. He is singularly peerless. You simply need to see or hear him. I will make a point of catching him whenever he is in the region.  Watch for his tour coming your way.
      A post on an earlier visit and a sample of his music can be found at this link. You can enter Michael's site by linking here.

      DAY FILE

     PAINTED SKYS

See you down the trail.      

THE WEEKENDER :) CALIFORNIA STARS

SUMMER COOL

&

THANK YOU WOODY

     Summer party and picnic season is in high gear so THE WEEKENDER :) offers a visual tribute to cool summer salads.

         And of course a strawberry treat is a good finish.

AMERICA'S MINSTREL

     I've enjoyed all of the tributes to Woody Guthrie on this

weekend celebrating the 100th anniversary of his birth.

     It's fascinating to know that 3000 of his songs have been recorded, but there are thousands more in his archive.  His daughter says "he wrote all of the time."

      I was also surprised to learn he was the writer of the 

great tune, CALIFORNIA STARS, which Wilco recorded.

THE WEEKENDER OFFERS UP FOR YOUR LISTENING PLEASURE

THREE (3) VERSIONS.

This is a sweet "live" version

And a studio version

"California Stars"

I'd like to rest my heavy head tonight 
On a bed of California stars 
I'd like to lay my weary bones tonight 
On a bed of California stars 

I'd love to feel 
Your hand touching mine 
And tell me why 
I must keep working on 

Yes I'd give my life 
To lay my head tonight on a bed 
Of California stars 

I'd like to dream 
My troubles all away 
On a bed of California stars 

Jump up from my starbed 
Make another day 
Underneath my California stars 
They hang like grapes 
On vines that shine 
And warm the lovers' glass 
Like friendly wine 

So I'd give this world 
Just to dream a dream with you 
On our bed of California stars 

I'd like to rest my heavy head tonight 
On a bed of California stars 
I'd like to lay my weary bones tonight 
On a bed of California stars 

I'd love to feel 
Your hand touching mine 
And tell me why 
I must keep working on 

Yes I'd give my life 
To lay my head tonight on a bed 
Of California stars 

I'd like to dream 
My troubles all away 
On a bed of California stars 

Jump up from my starbed 
Make another day 
Underneath my California stars 

They hang like grapes 
On vines that shine 
And warm the lovers' glass 
Like friendly wine 

So I'd give this world 
Just to dream a dream with you 
On our bed of California stars 

So I'd give this world 
Just to dream a dream with you 
On our bed of California stars 

(Dream a dream with you)

See you down the trail.

PROBLEMATIC NAPPING & GOOD NAPPING

NAPPING AS THE HOUSE BURNS

(Editor's note: Something entertaining follows in 6 paragraphs. We even made a movie for you)

     There's a lot to be said for taking a nap. But there are times when it is dangerous, as when America naps as it divides.

      I've been reading Charles Murray's COMING APART, which is kindred to Timothy Noah's THE GREAT DIVERGENCE. Now I read from David Brooks a team headed by Harvard political science professor Robert Putnam finds things really are as bad as what Murray and Noah say.

      The divergence, the coming apart is the American crisis of this decade and perhaps beyond.  Not only are the rich getting richer and the middle class shrinking, but there are large educational, cultural and social differences that increasingly divide this nation.  

     Once we prided ourselves as being a melting pot, a kind of stew of ethnicity, heritage, color, creed and belief.  For reasons well documented by Murray and Noah and according to Brooks even more alarmingly by the Harvard team, we have instead divided and set up chasms with serious implications.  

     Brooks is no practitioner of bombast.  He is reasoned, conservative and thoughtful.  What troubles me is that I've found concern in Murray and Noah, but now academics with even greater credential have said it's even worse.  Bad enough, as Brooks says, we either do something or we commit national suicide.

     All of this is a serious wake up call, but I'm not convinced we can emerge from our somnolent habits of status quo, petty and mean divisions and ludicrous diversions.  Perhaps we are in a twilight.  Once great, we refuse to acknowledge a profound weakness, sickness and divide.  We may live to see ourselves descend to statehood on par with Italy and Greece where government fiddles and naps as leadership and capacity pass us by and greatness burns away in inaction.

NOW ON A PERSONAL LEVEL

NAPS ARE GOOD

     Boomers can remember how difficult it was to get our children to nap, as we now enter a time of life when naps are, sweet and recharging. 

      There are great nappers out here on the central coast of California.  I visited them this week to take notes.

DAY FILE

LAND OF THE SLEEPERS

   These elephant seals north of San Simeon may be the most
apt nappers I've encountered.

 An occasional dip and a few bellows between snores is the order of the day.

 The walk out to their private beach is a colorful hike and

often accompanied by these little beggars. 

FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN

A CLOSER LOOK

HERE'S A NAPPING MOVIE

THE LAND OF NAPPERS IN ONE MINUTE

See you down the trail.

ARE YOU REALLY SURPRISED?

BEING LOVED

  It was almost like being in a newsroom with alert bell rings. Friends and former colleagues from around the world forwarded or texted information about the latest poll data that shows America's trust in the news media hit an all time low.

   As a former news director slugged his forward-"duh!"

My response, and in fact the attitude of many veterans of the news wars, is pretty much the same-why are you surprised? Watch any cable net and the morning news programs on the broadcast networks and it's obvious why viewership and trust are down. The product is terrible and getting worse.

    The 24 hour news networks are at their best when something needs covering.  Breaking news, pending votes, onset of disaster or war, the kind of event that needs constant attention.  Remove that need and you have 24 hours to fill and, sadly, instead of deep investigative or explanatory reporting the time is filled with hot air and gas bags.  And it is all done with such hype and breathlessness as to be a caricature of itself. So many of the on air talent are self conscious and self absorbed you'd think it is all about them.  Oh, sorry, of course it is all about them.

    The broadcast nets still offer a decent product on their marquee evening programs, but not as good as they used to be when issues mattered more than celebrity and pop culture.  Foreign coverage on the American nets is abysmal.

Too much of the "reporting" in Washington is recycling the 

spin product of media manipulators.  The current White House press corp is a pansy assed cartoon compared to a generation or two ago.  Dan Rather is reported to have said to a lying and prevaricating Ron Ziegler, "you either talk to me or I'll kick your ass."  That doesn't happen any more.  Heavens, you might not get invited back to the next social.

    The network morning shows are hardly news. How can you justify talking about the latest network drama, or contestant show as being "news?"  Those shows are full of hype, shill, gossip, chatter and drivel.  CBS is trying something a little more solid and I hope it works.

    Broadcast nets with 30 minute evening programs caught in a 24 hour news world where Cable nets talk and hype and puff, morning shows that care more about ratings than information and networks that stake out ideological positions, what do you expect?  So, no one should be surprised by the low confidence and respect level.  They don't deserve respect. 

    And a final thought poached from a friend who has managed presidential and senate campaigns and who has advised major corporations and governors.  Much of the proof of the under performing of the news media is the state of government today.  

    The quality of the House and Senate and their legislative record, the ethics of the membership, the rampant power of lobbyists and special interests all reflect a media that has lost its way. Where is the watchdog role?  Sadly the gruff old watch dog of the public's good has been replaced by a lap dog sitting on a millionaire news talents lap being fluffed and pampered with the same care and devotion that a Khardashian gets.

DAY FILE

ODD GARDEN SCENES IN CAMBRIA

An inventive display area at Grow-a Cambria succulent merchandiser.   

    I know this is a plant holder, but at its height on the cross bar of a fence above a flower bed it looks like a backboard for gopher basketball.  
    See you down the trail.

WHEN LIFE IMITATES ART

IT HAPPENS

      Around America there are running conversations about Aaron Sorkin's new HBO drama The Newsroom.  

     I posted earlier about the superb "ballistic monologue" by Jeff Daniels as a cable net news anchor in responding to a question about America's "greatness." The truth was withering. 

      Episode 2 provided its great moment when the same 

character opened a broadcast and apologized for the failure of American journalism.  Again Sorkin speaks truth.

      Lana asked if seeing the drama made me miss my days as a news executive or news anchor.  It did fire those synapses that John Chancellor, the late NBC anchor, used to call "the fire horse instinct,"  answering the bell.  Seeing the election night scenarios brought back memories of many such nights.  Election night was always the most "fun" and it required a decompressing that only those who have been there can fully understand.

      There were other memories, however.  The battle between the head of the news division and the network president over the network's need to curry favors with congressmen because their votes were vital to the network's business interests. It was a scene familiar to me. Been there and done that. Stood my ground on ethics and common sense.  Further comment would do no one any good, except a few lawyers. Some things I don't miss.

     Sorkin wrote of something conscientious broadcast journalists have said for years.  The news should be void of sponsors, it should be provided as a public service.  That would help remove it from the tyranny of playing to the ratings. Networks and television stations make plenty of money, even in recessions and they can afford to staff and air news without selling out.  Oh, the budget battles! There's another memory.  Something else I am happy to live without.

      It is merely a drama and an entertainment show, but there is truth in this fiction.

DAY FILE

THE ROCKER IN SHADOWS

      As the afternoon light was beginning its transition to 

that magic "golden hour" I noticed how the oak rocker in

my study was being lit and how it was caught in and cast shadows.  A perfect lightbreeze moment.

See you down the trail.