Just about everything is conformed by "village life."
In San Francisco, LA, San Diego, Santa Barbara and elsewhere we still enjoy the urban buzz that connects with our earlier years, but we find a continuing pleasure in how life in a village is personal, intimate, picturesque, eccentric and yes, even a little slow.
Here Cambria is adorned for the 4th.
So, here's to Jefferson, Adams, the signers all, patriots of history and to you! Cheers!
Some time soon find a copy and read it again. See you down the trail.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Some time soon find a copy and read it again.
