A REAL AMERICAN IDOL & SOMETHING NEW FROM THE WATERS

THE PASSING OF AN ICON

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

    In many ways Dick Clark was the curator of American pop culture as well as one of its progenitors. His boyish charm helped ease counter cultural influences of Rock into American mainstream life.  American Bandstand not only made stars and hit records, it made the connection between  boomers and music.

    Clark always seemed the cool and upbeat host and DJ, but he was also a skilled production executive and businessman.

He built an empire from his production of television specials, game shows and show business ownership.

     I met Clark a few times, first as he promoted Dick Clark's caravan of Stars, then later as he tended to his restaurant franchise business.  The last time was as the production company I was the head of did business with his giant company.  

      Of course, like Guy Lombardo before him, Clark is linked in many minds with New Year's Rockin Eve.  I had very mixed feelings about his staying on the air, after his debilitating  stroke.  It was difficult to see the smooth television persona struggle.  But it was also good for us, to see this determined and driven personality refuse to submit to a condition.  

     Clark pioneered much of contemporary American entertainment.  He remained a pioneer to the end.  Many

men of his age, wealth and condition would have simply backed away, but he stayed in the pop culture spot light he

helped illuminate.  

      This is not meant in an unkind way, but Ryan Seacrest is 

the likely heir to the role in Americana that Clark created. It

may also be that a Seacrest stardom would have been impossible without the pioneering of Dick Clark. He was an original.  Maybe even an American Idol.

WARNING

THIS IS NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH

    I was fascinated to learn of a new catch coming from about 10 miles out from Morro Bay at a depth of about 130 fathoms.  

      Here, in less than a minute, is a video to tell you more.

See you down the trail

A THRILL OF THE COAST

SUN TO FOG

     This evening shot captures the foggy edge of a day

that ranged from the extremes available at the coast. A very warm and bright sunrise, warm morning, brilliantly sunny mid day and the rolling in of a massive bank of marine clouds and haze, pre sunset, strings together a series of micro climates and clothing adjustments.  Shorts and short sleeves, give way to jeans and fleece.  The cool marine fog fills the valleys, obscures the mountains and shrouds the trees that just a couple of hours before were brilliantly green under a cobalt blue sky.  Living near the Pacific brings these changes and diversity.

PERPETUALLY SUNNY

      Though I'm a little dubious about these things, I'm happy

to note that a fellow blogger has awarded me the Sunshine Award.

       I appreciate the sentiment, and certainly appreciate the awarding blogger Bruce Tayor's Oddball Observations, but as an old journalist I'm suspect of these awards that form a kind of mutual admiration society.  Boy, do I sound like a cynic at the Banquet of the Sunshine Society, or what?!  

      This kind of mutual support in the blogosphere is actually a wonderful thing.  It is kind and generous, and of that I am appreciative. I think it is nice that people pass this along to 

others.  That it helps grow awareness of other bloggers and writers is fine as well.  But it reminds me a bit of kids sending secret "I like you, will you be my girl friend?" notes  on the playground.  Sweet. Cute. But my posts are often

not either.  So, Thank You Bruce.  Thank you Sunshine Award

originators and fellow recipients.  As someone who loves

the sunshine, and sunny dispositions, I accept on behalf

of those of us who take our sunshine with reality, on the rocks, shaken and not stirred.  

       So, something about me, an obligation of the award.  I love film and cinema.  I admire artists regardless of medium.  I think creativity is one of the highest achievements of the human mind. My heroes include John Muir, David Brinkley, Ernie Pyle, my father Karl and there are others.  One current hero is my friend Bob Foster some 56 days into a bone marrow transplant. My clan were Picts. The bloodline is Scots, Celt, Anglo Norman, (English), Welsh, Pennsylvania Dutch from the Palitinate.

      I have two published books, and would love to add to that number if I can get a deal for #3.  #4 is a work in progress.
       Another obligation of the award is to nominate another blogger.  I think Mollie, who I have known since her birth,
is a very deserving recipient.  She is an enormously talented
young writer who has shown a gift as she plumbs what it 
means to be a young Christian in the 21st Century.
Mollies lightbymorning blog.  
        See you down the trail.


        

WOULDN'T IT BE NICE & THEY DON'T BUILD LIKE THIS ANYMORE

WOULDN'T IT BE NICE

    Now the Obama vs Romney match is on, we may get an opportunity to see a national debate about the role, scope and intent of the federal government.  Though both are Harvard men and technocrats, they apparently possess different visions.  It would be nice if the campaign remained focused on that.  Sadly though, it appears big money, super pacs and huge advertising budgets will steal the plot and establish the tone and probable shallowness of the campaign.

      It would be nice if the media would forego being manipulated and spun by the ad dollars and their masters. Better if they'd stop the pundit pontificating and over zealous devotion to the "horse race" and odds sequences and shape the discussion about visions of America's future and how we get there via the Romney or Obama route.

      Wouldn't it be nice?

DAY BOOK

BUILT TO LAST
I was impressed by what I call "Federal Style" grandeur evident in the building at the Hoover Dam.  Buildings constructed in the 1930's remain impressive today in 
their stateliness, sense of artistic design and that little touch of deco.

Someone makes sure, but even today those

brass doors shine like new.

And after 70 years the marble with brass inlay "signs" are 

as classy as anything new.

SOME TIMES OLD CAN'T LAST
Here's a quick tribute to a tree that was a young windbreak
about the time of the Hoover Dam construction.

See you down the trail.

THE WEEKENDER :) FEELING GOOD

HELP APPRECIATED

     If you spend a few minutes with this video, your day will

be richer and you will feel better about, well, a lot.

     As a journalist I was repeatedly surprised by the inherent wisdom and or goodness of people.  Often these qualities emerged in the darkest or more challenging circumstances.

     As you will see here, there is nothing quite as uplifting as

a smile in expression of arigato, merci, obrigato, gracias, thanks.

ASKING THE PUZZLING QUESTIONS

       As the California coast enjoyed a good soaking, helping to alleviate what has been a sparseness of rain this year, I just had to ask....

Enjoy your weekend.

Think about water, and say thank you to someone.

See you down the trail.

THE CONSEQUENCE 

"The voice of the intellect is a soft one,

but it does not rest until it has gained a

hearing.  Ultimately, after endlessly 

repeated rebuffs, it succeeds.

This is one of the few points in which

to be optimistic about the 

future of mankind."

Sigmund Freud

      Analysts of the social scene, sociologists, psychologists, theologians and others have noted the apocalyptic nature

and almost obsession of film, games, literature and other

cultural symbols designed for and sought by people 18-35.

      To mine the deep implications and causes can fill books. But a shorthand version is an attitude about the future that is not all sunshine and roses.  Some of those reasons may smack us in the face if we look closely.

       Think of the impact on younger minds of just these events:

        THE MEDIA COVERAGE OF KATRINA

        WITNESSING THE WORST ECONOMIC COLLAPSE SINCE

THE DEPRESSION

         FUKISHIMA 

       I chose those three because they are linked by a seemingly helpless situations played out large and in detail in a media saturation. But there are multiple such examples and other complexities of modern life that also work to destroy optimism.  

       Bringing it back to Freud then, is the soft voice of intellect being heard?  Or is it being drowned out in a world of social media where Kim Kardashian has 9 to 10 million "followers?"

REEL THOUGHTS

THE HUNGER GAMES

       We became two of the most recent of the millions who are making this film a box office smash.  Talk about dystopian!  The Suzzane Collins young adult novel which was a sensation, is even more so in the hands of Director  Gary Ross who wrote and directed Pleasantville, Seabiscuit and Big.  Ross is a very good film maker and his screenplay with Collins is of a world that is a continuation of the bleak future theme.

        Lana is more enthusiastic about the film than I am.  It is  an entertaining, big budget action adventure thriller focused on kids surviving a decadent societies' game. She sees the hope expressed in the story line.  I see a clever portrayal of a society that becomes increasingly self indulgent, hooked on cheap thrills and riven with a wealthy elite controlling poor, working masses.

       And it is probably just me, but the brilliance in the film

is the parody of our obsession with "reality game shows."  How far will we go?  When I was ceo of a television production company we'd joke about how outrageous game shows could become.  This film is a punctuation point.

      Stanley Tucci as the television host, Caesar Flickerman

is delightful.  Jennifer Lawrence as the heroine continues to show remarkable talent, first seen in Winter Bone.  Elizabeth Banks as vacuous Effie Trinkle is superb.  She captures the empty values and superficiality of a society that can enjoy watching children kill each other.  Woody Harrelson as the burned out former hero provides a nice nuanced and textured performance.  And Donald Southerland as the contemptible president Snow is a poster boy for legalizing assassination.

       I'm struck by how this is a film for and about youth and even in a kind of victory there is an uncertainty and looming shadow.

"Have I not reason 

to lament what man has made of man?"

William Wordsworth

REALITY CHECK NOW

MORE OF THE SAME

     A new public awareness campaign has been launched.

It is the most recent voice in the escalating fight over 

fracking.  

     There may be places where fracking has not done harm.

But clearly, there are places where it is doing severe harm.

"A simple child,

That lightly draws its breath.

And feels its life in every limb,

What should it know of death?"

William Wordsworth

        I've been accused of looking on the bright side of things.   Not sure about that, rather I'm a pragmatist who understands the value of doing something. In engagement is opportunity, and hope. That attitude was honed in Paul Hamori's class on Hegelian dialectics.

"The history of the world

is none other than the progress of the 

consciousness of  freedom."

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

See you down the trail.

      

ANOTHER TAKE ON MIKE WALLACE & BIRDS ON A LINE

  MIKE WALLACE AND THE HOMOSEXUALS

     I heard from readers after my Monday post on Mike Wallace. Some of you took me to task for my praise of his
contribution to American broadcast journalism.  Here's a 
portion of an email-

"You forgot to mention how he set back gay rights with his 1967 special The Homosexuals.  By the time he was done with the special which featured a doctor who stated the homosexuality was a choice and that they could never be happy....a number of parents stopped supporting their gay children, threw many of their own kids out and many gay adults lost their jobs.  At the time Mike Wallace associated socially with gay people including long time partners.  This was a news man who used sensationalism at the time to gain viewers.

He never countered that original show.  Later he said that he had made a bad judgment call.  That was it."

   And another:

"The old toughie is probably laughing

that he's getting a pass on some of his

outrageous sensationalism.  Look at 

how he bashed gays.  Think you could

broadcast that kind of stuff today?"

     I either forgot about the broadcast, or never saw it.  The piece, which aired in 1967, has a legacy and even has

a significant Wikipedia link and other commentary.

     One source has edited portions of the broadcast and

posted a short YouTube video.

        A virtue of this means of communication is the quickness of response, the depth of research accessible with only key strokes and the value of conversation.  So I amend my thought's on Wallace by expanding it to include this post.

I hope this now broadens the view and achieves more balance.

       It will be interesting to see how CBS handles it on their

60 Minutes broadcast on Sunday.

DAY BOOK

RIDING OUT THE STORM
The birds have created an interesting profile.

See you down the trail.

THE PERFECT CANDIDATE? & I'LL TAKE AN OXYGEN STRAIGHT UP

A CANDIDATE FOR THE FUTURE

   For years my Walter Mitty imagination kicks into high gear while in the shower. Not sure of the connection, but it's a place for great creative thinking.

   So, today I became the perfect presidential candidate, or conjured the qualities of one. What are the characteristics?

    A person who says the election is really about judgement, facility of mind, integrity and clarity of vision.  

    It is OK, absolutely OK to say that a mind can be changed. It is a sign of higher human reasoning, to do just that, reason, think about and even change your mind on an issue.  That is not flip flopping. Flip flopping is prevaricating or obfuscating. Reasoning is a good thing, this perfect candidate would tell the press and voters.

    It is asinine to presume to look for a man or woman "who has all the answers."  Those answers can come only through study, deliberation, consultation and a sense of history.  So, as perfect candidate, I'd say so.  I'd outline general principles, a foundational construct of values and delineate the names of policy experts, scholars, historians, political scientists, economists, military strategists, philosophers, theologians, artists and entrepreneurs whose advice and counsel I'd seek and who would shove back at me, while testing and forging my ideas. 

    I'd also be upfront with the voters and say, despite what my grand goals or visions might be, the reality of my Presidency would be determined by what happens in the world and through a kind of dance and/or wrestling match with the US Congress.  I can propose, but the truth is, what really happens is a result of the process of working and living with the other branches of government while confronting what ever nature, fate, Providence and other humans as individuals or as nations foist upon us all.

     So, the heck with gotcha games, playing to opinion polls, letting speech writers and strategists put words in your mouth, or worse, in your mind.  The heck with fanny kissing the big dollar fat cats or super pacs. We'll tell Americans what they are really doing is choosing a human being, who evinces qualities of leadership and judgement, who is ready to sacrifice for the common good of all, even those who will hate and vilify you. They will have a chance to vote for someone who is steadfast, honest, candid and wants to see a better day for all.

     Yea, you go boy!  Then I turned off the shower.

   

MAKE MINE PURE

     Have you been to an Oxygen bar?  I caught this one on a 

recent odyssey through Las Vegas.  They are all over the place and in some communities are as popular as coffee shops.  

     You pay the "bar tender" and you get a few hits of Oxygen, in a flavor or color of your choice.  Just in case

the air you are breathing is not enough for you, you can

buy some.  Yep, we can now buy and sell the air we breath.

See you down the trail.