WHAT DO YOU CALL COURAGE?

A LOSS OF HEROES

Photo courtesy of AP/The Arizona Republic-Photographer David Kadlubowski

   With heavy hearts, our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the 19 firefighters who died this weekend in Arizona.  It is the most tragic loss of life in battling wild fires in 80 years.

    I have a couple of friends in Cambria who were firefighters.  It takes something special to do that work. 19 brave souls leave behind grieving family, friends and those they sought to protect. More about them in a moment.

REEL THOUGHTS

KON TIKI

    A lot of guys of my generation had their imaginations stirred by the extraordinary adventure of Thor Heyerdahl on the raft Kon Tiki.  In 1947 he led an expedition 5,000 miles across the Pacific on a raft.  I read the book, watched his academy award winning film and have never forgotten the thrills I sensed.  Now the story is told again, on the big screen and is a superb adventure in a well made film.

     Heyerdahl, like Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay who conquered Mt Everest first, were driven to prove something about the capability of individuals and the power of a vision that challenges conventional wisdom.  To paraphrase something, giant strides for men, even larger possibilities for humankind. 

    There was a time when we celebrated men and women of courage, made them media celebrities and role models. As an increasingly older old boy, I think we should start lifting up medical researchers, test pilots, philanthropists, missionaries and those who challenge the boundaries of knowledge. We can and should divert the spot light away from idols, pop stars, reality exhibitionists, modern celebrities and millionaire athletes.  

    No one paid Heyerdahl, or Hillary or Chuck Yeager, or Jonas Salk millions to put it all on the line.

    And those 19 fire fighters? They were there to protect, save and to do true heroism. I think we are a better society when we recognize our debt to real heroes and when we celebrate true courage.

    See you down the trail.  

THE WEEKENDER-SMILES

THANKS

    A quick note to say thanks to all of you who sent condolences on the loss of Luke.  Your kindness is appreciated.

OF BIRDS AND BEES AND SUMMER TRAILS

HELLO WATER

Here's your start on a weekend smile-

   See you down the trail.

A LIFE TOO SHORT

LUKE

     Heart broken now.  Lana found Luke near a neighbor's home, along the road, the victim of an auto.  It had just happened, but he was gone. We had just celebrated his second birthday.

A BELOVED TWO YEARS

    He discovered the high perch as a kitten.

   He was the big brother, but a very mellow cat.

    We've had many cats over the years and Luke was by far the most intelligent.  As Lana said you could see him thinking.

   Like most cats, he never found a box he didn't enjoy.  He had a penchant for curling in for a long nap-one of his favorite activities.

There is something wonderful in the human-pet connection.

When that link is broken, it hurts. We wonder how Hemingway and little Joy will cope.

Thanks for indulging the sentimentality.

See you down the trail.

CAN IT BE TURNED BACK?

WE ARE SUFFERING SELF INFLICTED WOUNDS

     It is as though we've crossed a "Rubicon" and now worry about the consequences. Big Data, Surveillance, Algorithmic Analysis, NSA, etc, etc.

     Now FaceBook confirms that up to six million users' personal data, even that which is not public, has been seen and or gathered by third parties.  Many have argued those who post so much personal information willingly have themselves to blame when that data is hijacked, hacked, sold or used to either bug or defraud you.

     A couple of experts are now saying that analyzing big data needs to be more effectively used by federal authorities.  They contend the alleged Boston bombers history of viewing violent or terrorist prone on-line videos should have led to an interdiction before they acted out what they were thinking.  Thought police? 

     Being a First Amendment advocate, I've been posting about this crunch since I entered the blogosphere.

      Here's an earlier set of thoughts, dealing with this idea of thought police. The Eli Pariser video should be must viewing for anyone who spends anytime in cyberspace.

      The point is our privacy suffers, by our own hand, by commercial enterprises, by government agencies and by information pirates. It is just out there and all to easy to overlook or put out of mind.  But like most things,it grows.  What can, what should we do about it?

Jon Stewart

The Diplomat

     Those of you who appreciate the satire of Jon Stewart

know he is off this summer, directing a film in the Middle East.  Well, he's made an interesting appearance.

See you down the trail.

THE WEEKENDER-SUN FUN AND SUMMER

SUN TIME

     Apropos this first day of summer 2013.

Sun Sizes

 Imagine the sun flowers basking in that super star!

FREE JOY

        A red letter day indeed for our youngest cat, Miss Joy.

  She's a type of "mutt," of a generous mix of bloodlines, small, vocal, a bit timid but adorable and can manifest a great contented purr.  However she has been confined to the cone as she heals from a throat tear inflicted by a large and menacing neighbor cat.

        This was her sad gulag state the last few days.

     Today the cone is gone as she continues to mend.

She seems quite pleased, though she had developed an ability to scratch at that cone with a drummers precision.

      See you down the trail.

AS GOOD AS IT GETS

YOSEMITE

A MATTER OF VIEW

     With vacation travel season upon us and the visit of friends, the magnetic draw of Yosemite is building.

     See you down the trail.

PEACE, LOVE & DIRT and HOW TO USE THE NSA DATA

CYBER BOMB THE THIEVES

   Since they've got the data, why not create an algorithmic analysis to interdict and then shut down all of those phishers, scammers, identify thieves and that Kenyan who wants to give you 1.3 million dollars.

   While rounding up and tracking terrorists, the NSA and FBI should find these internet hustlers who steal, extort and are at their best, annoying. Then let the CIA or Cyber Command send a counterstrike that evaporates their illicit program and network, melts their computers and shocks the scammers into the next county. Then maybe Seal Team 6 can capture them and paint a red bulls eye on their forehead.

   Well, at least the first part of that eh?!

peace, love & dirt

LIVE OAK 25

   25 years of Father's Day Weekends at Live Oak Music Festival.

   People who came first as children are now volunteers
of the KCBX event that is quintessential California.

 Music, sun, friends and good vibes under the beautiful

oaks near Lake Cachuma.

 The logo quilt was a hot item in the silent auction.

    Entertainment and grins and just doing your thing.

   Owing to California's wine culture, there are amenities the old festivals may not have had.

   I watched as one of the performing musicians tuned and played the first guitar in the left rack.  She made it sound great.  She ended by smiling and saying, "this thing would make me crazy."

      Later, another of the players had R2D2 sounding pretty good. It would have rocked the Star Wars cantina.

      Those live oaks shelter a lot of great memories and have heard some extraordinary music.

 and an occasional nap.

      Some chair, huh?

      See you down the trail.