THE WEEKENDER-YOUR PROFILE

WHO ARE YOU?

WE KNOW.

    Frequent readers may recall my cautionary concerns about the surrender of information autonomy to convenience, communication and the aggregating power of algorithms.

    As an aside in this battle, I'd prefer to write the word, rather than have the spell check, auto write function fill in or begin to assume the word I wish to say. But this is the age of information warfare and collateral damage comes in many forms, so we all soldier on. Hopefully, wisely.

    Well, this is The Weekender and we try to keep the mood light and entertaining, so it is in that vein we bring you this video beware.  It's a pitch, but the message makes sense.

A PARTING BITE

A leftover of sorts-an image in this case-from a

Friday Lunch Flash Mob treat.

A Hearst Ranch all beef foot-long hotdog, Sebastian style.

Have a great weekend. See you down the trail.

THE LEADER DISCONNECT

WRENCHING IN SHORT SIGHTEDNESS

      Far more lucid, expert and impassioned analysts and players have critiqued the failure of American government and the political process that feeds it.  But for my two cents worth it appears most political animals lack imagination and creativity, or they certainly don't evince it.

      Energy policy is case in point.  I've heard every President back to Nixon proclaim that we need a new energy policy that leads to independence.  How much older are you since then?

      California doesn't hold the patent on original, and there are plenty of old school political issues here as well, but activists have begun building a fresh approach to a new energy future.  I like the idea because it is simpatico to something I've advocated.  I'd like to see neighbors form small energy cooperatives, and jointly fund the placement of solar and or wind energy technology in the neighborhood to feed our individual needs and then to dial excess energy back into the grid, for which the neighbors association would get cash, credit or some compensation.  

      SLO Clean Energy, which you can learn more about at this site proposes to work on a similar model, using communities in an aggregation. Of course this moves on the power of the current power companies-Big Business and Big Political Contributors-two of the greatest evils in our political life.  

      Eliminate big money influence and you are on the way to making giant strides of improvement in government and politics.  In this case of "power to the people," that is exactly what could happen.  

      Radical?  Not really. It is simply a method to put leveraging influence or control to those of us who pay taxes and live without the perks and influence of those whom we elect and the fat cats who lather up politics, legislation and government with money for favors.  

     I'm hopeful emerging generations will find imaginative and creative solutions to old problems that even the once idealistic boomers have failed to fix. Neighborhood or community energy alliances could be a start.  They are doable.

THE YOUNG SAVAGES

     New, fresh and cutting edge in California art is front and center in Paso Robles.

      Through the end of March the YOUNG SAVAGES show will hang at the Studios on the Park on the square in Paso Robles.

     Full disclosure here, YOUNG SAVAGES is curated by my daughter's friend, Neal Breton. I think Neal has done a great job in building an energetic and exciting show. Here's how it was reported in the San Luis Obispo Tribune.

 Studios in the park is a great art space to begin with. The

work of the Savages adds even more life and spirit.

   Several art patrons have made it a good show for a few of the Young Savages.  Skulk, the piece below, done by Neal,

is one of the pieces that has been purchased thus far.

A LITTLE FRESH COLOR

This is for those of you where spring comes later than it does here on the west coast.  This is what will come your way, eventually.

    See you down the trail.

DO YOU JUST STORM THE OFFICE? & AFTERNOON MELLOW

HOW ABOUT AN OLD FASHIONED PUNCH IN THE NOSE?

    For those of you who riddle life's frustrations with the  old chestnut "WWJD-what would Jesus do?" or who seek a Taoist path of "going with the flow," my questions are out of your comfort zone.  

      But growing up on the south-side of Muncie Indiana taught a direct course of action gets results. My ire is simply one of a chorus who legitimately ask are there any thinking people who manage or supervise in CalTrans? (For readers outside California, CalTrans is the agency responsible for highway planning, construction and maintenance)

      Since last year a 25 mile stretch of iconic Highway 1 north of Cambria to the Monterey County line has been the object of puzzlement, frustration, controversy and anger. It's been the cause of broken bones and windshields. We can attest to the windshield issue. Bicyclists have been injured.

      Caltrans resurfaced the road and they blew it. Man, did they ever?!

      Apparently because it was cheaper, they used a larger than normal crushed rock in what they call a chip and seal repaving.  The San Luis Obispo Tribune reports the rock they used was twice the size of normal.  

       Twice the size?!  Hello CalTrans?  Anybody with a measurable brain wave in there? Did the Caltrans District 5 Director Tim Gubbins personally look at, approve or maybe even think about the implication of that?  Did anyone called a supervisor ever take their brain to work during the long repaving project?

       You probably know the Pacific Coast Highway is one of the most visited, scenic and bicycled roads in the world. Since the idiot job was first done, bicycle riders, clubs, organizations, federations and race planners have all tried to reason with Caltrans over how they have practically ruined a highway.  Caltrans, to whom we give hundreds of millions of tax dollars so they can maintain our highway has put on one of the best shuck and jive, obfuscate, divert attention bureaucratic bull shit Stepin Fetchit fests in history.  Sorry, I apologize to Stepin Fetchit (Lincoln Perry)  and his fans. Though controversial his laziest man in the world character made him a millionaire. Unlike Caltrans, Perry had talent. Caltrans is foot dragging because they are real fools.

       What are they doing about it?  Studies, they say they will do.  Analysis and comparisons, they say they will do.

      How about dragging your public dollar paid fannies out to the road where you can walk it, drive and bicycle it?  I suspect the rough ride might even jigger on a synapse or two in your apparently dimwitted and certainly intelligence starved cranial cavity, which I hesitate calling a brain, because so far there has been no evidence of such higher  function.  Other than to collect your salaries that we paid while you have tried to ruin a highway and evinced nothing but arrogance since, that is.

     Well, the battle is being stepped up.  A Chamber of Commerce, hotel and motel owners, travelers and visitors bureaus, antique car owners and their associations, even organizers of the public service Best Buddies bike ride are chiming in.  Business owners say they are in jeopardy of loosing seasonal income.

     County government representatives and state assembly men are getting involved.  As one county supervisor who has been on this for months told the Tribune, Caltrans response has been "frustrating?"  Frustrating?  How about like something from cold war era Russian government.

     So, back to riddling questions. How to get through to these dunderheads?  Reason seems to be a skill set they are not capable of.  Back on South Ebright Street, back in the cinder alley, we found that a few rounds of bare knuckle logic could work wonders as a motivational device and behavior modification.

      But, let me take a few deep breaths, look at the rolling green mountains and cobalt blue sky and trust that enough citizens, groups and local government officials can, figuratively, draw a little blood from Caltrans and get them to repair their mess.

AFTERNOON MELLOW

    See you down the trail.

THE WEEKENDER-PACIFIC COAST HIGHWAY

ON HIGHWAY 1

     This was the scene this week on our most recent drive through Big Sur. It was that magic stretch of Highway 1, the Pacific Coast Highway, which took hold of our hearts on our first journey in 1969.
      As our pal Jim, who introduced us to Big Sur, said, "It never disappoints."

      There is something new along America's iconic coast highway.

   The extraordinary construction between Lime Kiln and the 

Bixby bridge continues.

   The shot below shows the massive bridge like cover that is being built in an area prone to slides and washouts.  The stone edifice is being connected to the mountain wall.

    It was just north of there where we caught up with the past.  Our Weekender Video shows you something you likely have never seen.  Enjoy.

A UNIQUE SCENE

    See you down the trail.

REMEMBERING WES & PACIFIC ART

THAT CAT CAN PLAY

     Jazz radio hosts are remembering the great Wes Montgomery on this the 90th anniversary of his birth. Even though I'm a Caucasian with no musical talent I feel a kinship to the guitarist from Indianapolis.

     First,  there is the hometown connection. Then several years ago I worked with Wes's brother, Buddy, a great player in his own right in trying to develop a documentary on Wes.  We couldn't get a buyer, but the time working with Buddy and hearing tales was a thrill.

     I got hooked on jazz when I was a high school kid who'd listen to rhythm & blues and jazz radio.  I had to be in the minority of whites, especially young whites, who listened.

     I was working in the mid-town area at an FM station known for it's classical and semi classical play list, but I'd listen to a small station that played jazz.  My station was in the heart of the city, in an old hotel that at the time was known as a place for hookers, working out of the marbled bar and lobby. The jazz station was further east, in what had become an industrial neighborhood, near the giant RCA plant. I'd drive through that area on the way into my Saturday and Sunday shifts, from noon to 1:00 AM. One day I had filled in for a regular staff guy and on the way home decided to stop in at the jazz station.

      I knew the Dearborn Hotel, because I played in a basketball league that played in the famous little gym there. I punched the elevator button for the top floor and passed through levels of aroma.  There was stale smoke smell of the lobby, the gym smell, food and what I call old hotel aromas.  There was a buzzer on a door at the end of the hall that displayed the station's call letters. I was about to leave after a couple of punches when a black man with slicked backed hair, a goatee and wearing a white shirt and tie asked "What can I do for you sunny?"

      I explained my mission, told him of my love of jazz and he bid me entry into a small office, stacked full of records and a couple of desks cluttered with broadcast logs-records of the music and commercials played.  We sat in the studio over looking the neighborhood, toward the downtown and chatted.  He was a jazz player too. He'd played with Wes and the great JJ Johnson among others.  

      I think he was amazed to count among his listeners a white suburban high school boy, but he seemed thrilled just to know the music "crossed over."  

     I was struck by a comment about Wes.  

     "He is one fine negro gentleman, and man that cat can play."

     That was back in the early 60's.  From that era here are a couple of videos of the great Wes Montgomery.

     The first tune is an original-Jingles

Here he is with a couple of other legends.

    Man, that cat can play!

PACIFIC BLUFF ART

 

    See you down the trail.

TRUTH OF FARMER'S MARKETS & CALIFORNIA SPRING

TOUGH ODDS

     Michael Broadhurst who manages farmer's markets on the central California coast says less than 1/2 of 1% of America's food dollar is spent at farmer's markets.

     Depending on policies about where and how food is grown, farmer's markets provide the freshest, most local and sustainably grown food in America.

        Broadhurst spoke recently to a Cambria group and provided a kind of State of the Union of American food production.  He is a former chemist who worked in the pharmaceutical industry who became a farmer and grower of food.  He and his wife Carol operate Dragon Spring farms which enjoys a reputation for top quality produce and food products.

        Broadhurst said very few people can make a living in farming alone.  He sounded the dire warning that massive "food process systems" that control product from large farm operations to store shelves are responsible for food illness outbreaks "unlike any of us have ever seen before."   He said there are 7,000 fatal cases of food poisoning a year. A previous post details how one guy made a fortune and threatened your health.

        Broadhurst is a man of science and a farmer who says "food represents a gift in a world where we truly are what we eat."

CALIFORNIA SPRING
capturing blooms around Cambria

      See you down the trail.

THE WEEKENDER-Just Fun

CAN YOUR IPAD DO THIS?

  This link came from my friend Janos. Before the week was over, several others sent it to me as well. 

   What a great pitch man eh? You don't even need to understand what he's saying.

CAT MOMENTS

    As Yogi Berra said, "You can observe a lot just by watchin'."

      So it is with me and our cats, and so it might be for them.

Oh, he's got that camera out again.

Hurry up and take the shot. I want to got back to sleep.

 Why are you looking down here? I didn't think you could see me.

 Hmmm

Enough already!

This smells good. Feels good too.

You woke me up for that?

  Have a great weekend.  See you down the trail.