KONG OR NEANDERTHAL and CAT'S EYES

DO YOU SEE THE SKULL?
Diversions while you watch your NCAA Brackets implode.

    How fertile is your imagination?  Look at the far point of the bluff. Does a gorilla brow and flattened nose come into view?

   A chunk of boulder seems to reside in an eye socket at the top of a long jaw.

   The "skull" is on the bluff near Lampton cliff, Cambria.

 Here's one more shot where "Kong" seems very apparent. 

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL
Hemingway and Joy

   Ever try a close up of a cat?  Good luck with that!

   And good luck with your brackets.  I wonder how many
people had Duke going to the final 4?

THE WEEKENDER VIDEO

BIRDS ON A WIRE

   See you down the trail.

RECOLOR

RECOLORING

 Cultivated 

Lana E Cochrun

Oil 8X10  

     Drought is tempered by views as green season begins a bit reserved. Renewal is pleasing, even when late.

 TWILIGHT FOG

     Evening fog is mysterious.  Sifting into the valleys and grazing slopes it can just as quickly ghost away leaving an ascending full moon. The moisture serves a slight blessing and refresher. 

    California's spring light energizes the palate. 

Newly Plowed

Lana Cochrun

Oil 12x16  

Tilled

Lana Cochrun

Oil 8x10

     Enjoy your bacchanal celebrations as well.

    See you down the trail.  

THE AIRLINER MYSTERY and A THUNK ON THE HEAD

THE WORLD'S ATTENTION

    It's the kind of mystery most of us connect with. We could imagine ourselves or a loved one being on board. We are surprised to learn despite, our presumptions, it is easy to lose an airplane. Those transponders, radar blips, engine tracking computers, air control towers, radio frequencies and etc. are more tenuous than we might like to think about.

    Coffee chatter in Cambria is no more informed than anywhere else, but we are populated by pilots-civilian and military, airline employees, engineers, frequent travelers with well used passports and some well informed folk. So the local buzz is hot.

    "It was an inside job." 

    "Someone knew how to cut all of the plane's signals." 

    "It landed somewhere before the search began." 

    "Some one hacked into the guidance systems."

    "It went down in deep water."

    "Maybe it was like a Bermuda Triangle thing."

     And on and on and on.  

     It's odd how some things grab the world's attention.  Ukraine, Russia, Crimea, violent weather, Venezuela, stock prices and more are there to occupy our minds, but the missing plane trumps them all.

     An unresolved mystery can not be ignored, even if we supply, mostly, conjecture, guessing and whole cloth fabrication. It keeps the talkers talking and the listeners wondering.

THE EUCALYPTUS ATTACK OF SAN SIMEON

     Frequent readers know about our Friday lunch flash mob that assembles each week below the famed Hearst Castle. It's like a continuing lunch hour confab.

    Notice those Eucalyptus trees in the background?

    Well, one of them decided to offer up a branch to the assembled luncheon mob. 

   Trouble! It came down directly on Lana's head and Diane's face and Ruth's arm.

  Lana has a knot on her head and a headache.  Diane may end up with a shiner. She thinks the cut on her lip could limit her kissing time.

   And then at a neighboring table, temporarily unoccupied, food left in the basket, a thief swoops in and makes off with a sandwich while an accomplice ends up empty handed, or beaked, as it were.

    Some of life's turns are easier to take than others. And in some, you find gold.

   See you down the trail.

  

FIVE STAR EXCELLENCE

CLASS IN THE DESERT
And on the screen
*Notes about Matthew and Woody below

    Since our move to California Cambria friends have sung the praises of the Indian Wells Tennis tournament in the southern California desert. Now we understand.

     A remarkable tennis oasis and "theatre." Stadium 1 is new.

   Stadium 2

   and several smaller stadiums, all blessed with stunning views.

  A complex of practice courts put you up close and personal

with the game's stars.

   Below Australian Open Champ, and number 3 in the world Stan Wawrinka tunes up.

   The close access to the game's headliners is a benefit of Indian Wells.

  Amenities abound in the Tennis Garden.

  The great thrill for fans is of course the action on the court. Roger Federer, on left below, is one of the game's all time greatest. 

   I've covered Presidents, rock stars, other major sports heroes. I was thrilled to see Fed.

   As impressive as Rafa Nadal is on television, he is even more so live and in person.

  Alexandra Wozniak

  Maria Sharapova and up and comer Camile Giorgi. Etc, Etc, etc...

    Among all of the sports, tennis fans are special.  Polite, cheering good play as well as their favorite.  Here it is 88-90 degrees, blazing desert sun and the stadium is full. 

   And since this is the desert a full day of tennis may well be capped by a dip, 

   and a cool drink and dinner.

  Many such oasis abound. A kind of desert survival.

ONE OF THE BEST 

   Much has been said of the noir HBO thriller True Detective as critics and fans have blown the doors off joint with praise and acclaim. As I've noted, it is not for everyone, but the Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson performances are without peer. And their "partnership" maybe the greatest on any screen. It is one of those rare moments when two excellent actors hit a zone and then construct an onscreen chemistry that will become legend.  I'm sorry the series has ended. They were nothing short of brilliant.

   See you down the trail.

CHIMES, FALLON, WATER

WHAT'S THE AFFECT OF 

CHRONIC CHIME LISTENING?

     Santa's gift to Lana, Sunrise Serenade Grace Note Chimes CDFGAC f/maj 6/9, have become a distinctive element of my daily soundscape.

       They are always appreciated, never distracting and somehow magic or hypnotic. They "score" the study view and are omnipresent.  Wonder how the vibrational harmony works on mind and body? They are made in Mariposa Ca, near Yosemite, some of the planet's most beautiful grandeur. They sound with a beauty and invoke a feeling of grandeur.

       There is a compounding effect as well. Both neighbors up the hill have their own chimes. There are afternoons when the Pacific breeze tickles the chimes here on the hill and we are treated to a rich symphony.  Never a bad note and always a sense of peace and calm, even when the breeze morphs to wind gusts.  Thanks to the person who gave us wind chimes.

  MORE THAN ONE WAY TO SKIN A RAIN DROP

    Drought mindful and water appreciative Californians find infinite ways to conserve, especially precious rainwater.  As we plan a larger water catchment system, Lana has ingeniously split rain drops into a portable and convenient sized irrigation system.

   Out of the spout into former kitty litter containers.

   She dutifully attends the containers in a rain and produces

portable reclaimed water for use on the hill. Since our flora is drought tolerant, the water goes a long way.

LIKE JOHNNY DID IT

     Jimmy Fallon is juicing the TONIGHT SHOW and is following the Johnny Carson game plan. 
       Some of you will recall when a young Johnny took over and won fans with his energy, wit and youthful humor, especially the bits he patented over the years. Ditto Fallon.  

       His New York set is reminiscent of Carson's era and the entrance from curtains is very much Johnny. Carson was quick and witty and so is Fallon. The Roots crew band is killer. Johnny visibly enjoyed his NBC band, especially the regular or guest drummers. Jimmy evinces that style of  relationship with Roots and he works them into sketches, much as Johnny did with Doc  Severinsen or Tommy Newsom.  

      He's using quick video inserts and bits in the knit of his monologue and in his work from home base. He's getting into the studio audience as did Johnny. He works his A list guests into bits and great moments at the desk. His enthusiastic manner, deep talent as a singer and impersonator combine well. He's creating his own signature skits. He's a generational shift, but then so too was Carson.

      Another great vibe is New York. 

      The difference at 11:30 from when America seemed to "wait up" to watch Johnny, is that we record and watch whenever. That of course means you don't have to abandon an old friend like Dave Letterman or forgo conversation with Charlie Rose.  

      See you down the trail.