TRICK SHOTS AND TRICKY CALLS & HOPE

TRICK SHOT

   If you care to, comment as to how this shot is a bit of a trick.

THE WORST KIND OF TRICK SHOT

       Iranian television's altering of Michelle Obama provides a frightening visual of what happens when religious zealots or right wing fundamentalists, in this case Islamists, have power.  

    Certainly they, or anyone else, are entitled to hold their view of what is proper, even if others regard that view as being archaic or repressive. However, it is the dishonesty and distortion of reality I find repugnant and evil. It would have been more honest to simply insert a large black spot over her exposed skin than to fabricate a gown.  Both are stupid, but at least the one measure is honest, as if to say, as your moral guardians and police we have determined that to protect, we will not permit you to see reality.

    American networks use a beep tone when they bleep what someone considers to be offensive language. That action and motivation is another discussion sometime, but for today it is enough to know the heavy handedness is at least played out in an honest fashion. It is a modest nod to  notions of honesty, though censorship of any sort is the work of tyrants. 

A CASE FOR THE COURT

     Are you watching the Supreme Court's action on whether  police can take DNA samples?

     Justice Alito says it is the "most important procedural case in decades."  

     While noting its efficacy in solving cases Justice Scalia compares it to "unreasonable search."

     Justice Ginsberg worries about the 4th Amendment which prevents unreasonable searches and seizures and requires judicial warrants and basis of probable cause.

     The preliminaries on the DNA case strikes me as an irony, coming at a time when the court ruled 5-4 to not permit challenges to the Federal Government's expanding  power to monitor your international phone calls and emails.

      It is part of the expansion of tools to fight terrorism and comes with less candor on government policies and powers, less access to those records and no challenge to the underpinning laws. 

FEBRUARY GREEN 

     Hope these images bolster those of you caught in winter's icy or snowy grip.  Spring has begun on the west coast.  She'll head your way soon.

WAITING TO BLOOM

     See you down the trail.

OSCAR HERESIES & TOO MANY GRAPES?

EMPTY ENVELOPES

     Did you hear that loud sigh?  Caterers, hair stylists, make up people, limo drivers, clothing designers, traffic cops, security people, hospitality employees and who knows how many more can take a deep breath now.  The show is over.  I suspect talent agency offices, production companies, managers, publicists, journalists, craft and guild people and actors all have a lot of open space on their calendars for these first few days after the big show. Except for those who maybe hustling new deals.  And executives who study the ratings and the performance of the show.

     Seth McFarlane is one of those multi talented people and he found moments to shine last night.  Some of the writers however did not.  I felt sorry for a few of the presenters, who in the early portions of the long show, had to deliver lines that simply were bad or did not work.  The production numbers and the award presenters without gags, those with class and even dignity, were, to my taste, the best.

     AN BAD OMISSION

     Count me as one who thinks Andy Griffith should have been in the memorial tribute.  True most people know him from television but his performance in A Face in the Crowd is one for the hall of fame and at least he deserved a memory.

BIG CONTROVERSY IN WINE COUNTRY

      Many acres of the far west side region of the Paso Robles  appellation are striped by new plantings.

    In some areas the crops extend as far you can see. 

   Not everyone is pleased and a big name player is involved.

  Justin Wines, whose Isosceles is considered one of the world's premier wines, is under new ownership.  Justin Baldwin who mentored the winery to an august reputation that drew an estimated 50 thousand visitors a year, sold the operation to Lynda and Stewart Resnick.  
   The Resnicks are marketing wizards.  Their FIJI Water, Pom Wonderful and Paramount Farms are international brands and the Resnicks appear on a track to take Justin to a "new level."
  Justin has a new winemaker, Scott Shirley who comes from Napa Valley where large operations are the norm. The Paso region, which for decades has provided grapes to large Napa wineries, has emerged as California's darling wine region because of the artistry, science, passion and skill of owner operators, small boutique and mom&pop wineries and the kind of personal touch and contact missing in Napa Valley.  
   The Resnicks appear to be planning an increase in volume of production.  Most of Paso's high volume wine makers are on the east side or east of Paso Robles and the 101. It is a delicate thing to maintain the quality while increasing quantity. While that is true for any business, it is especially so in wine making. So lovers of Paso wines and its reputation for being accessible, friendly and less corporate are keeping an eye on Justin.  
    The mass plantings have annoyed some who worry about a loss of Oak trees and the increased demand on water, at least in the early life of the vines.
    Something you hear repeatedly from Bay Area or northern  California visitors to the Paso Robles region is how amazed they are you can often speak with the wine maker, or that wine tasting room people are experts, friendly and add to the social value of the visit.  Even though Justin was considered a "high end" winery, the same was true there.  We trust that while increasing plantings and vastly remodeling the Justin environs, they will maintain the Paso attitude and ethos. 
    Stay tuned.
    See you down the trail.

    

THE WEEKENDER-OSCAR TIME

AND THE OSCAR GOES TO...

    Nope.  No predictions here.  There's enough of that from other sources.  I'm pleased to have seen most of the nominated performances and am convinced there is some extraordinary talent working on both sides of the camera in this era.

    There is a longing though.  Johnny Carson's hosting kindles memories of a good era.  And Billy Crystal's work was some of the most inventive and sensational.   

     I still like to fantasize what it must have been like to be in the Hollywood crowd in the 30's and 40's when personality more than corporate seemed to be the power behind the studios and silver screen. It hangs in my mind as a time of icons.  

WEEKEND VIDEO

HERE'S A SWEET SHORT

WORDS MATTER

HOME GROWN VIDEO

It is bottling time at some local wineries

so....here's a late valentine

       Enjoy the Oscar telecast and have a great weekend.

See you down the trail.

HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE NEIGHBORHOOD

LOOKING UP

     There they are every night, shinning, twinkling and teasing. Thousands and thousands, millions with a good scope, before our eyes, and each holding a mystery.  Origin? Composition? Status? We theorize. But as for hard certain data, our knowledge is limited. There is more we don't know about the stars, the space between them and their life cycles, than what we know.

    Like some of you, it is hard to understand how we can live daily, beneath this arc of mystery, in this cosmic neighborhood and be so unconcerned about our neighbors. 

    The program of the Mars rovers, and the deep space exploration of programs like Voyager, Hubble, Herschel, Galex, Cassini-Huygens, Dawn, Chips, Epox1 are exciting and critical to our future.

      Of course funding is limited by perceived priority, needs and political will. It is great that visionaries like Richard Branson and Elon Musk are bringing an entrepreneurial spirit to space exploration, but it is still extraordinarily little, given the vastness of what we humans don't know.  

      It seems silly, no, primitive that we bipeds who share the resources of this blue planet spend billions and billions on how to whack each other on the head than we share to understand the rest of the neighborhood just over our heads.  Pitted against the mystery of the cosmos we are more alike than different.  And whether fundamentalist Muslim, Evangelical Christian, oligarch, naked indigenous child in the wild, military commander, skateboarding teen, or whatever our persona or place, we are subject to the same forces and changes in nature.  

     The Asteroid fly by last week, the unexpected meteor and meteorite strike in Russia, and the history of planetary change because of previous cosmic collisions remind us we share this spaceship earth. 

       It seems that with even a moment of thought a wiser course is to pool our knowledge and riches and work together as planetary citizens. Kind of hard to do when my God is right and yours is wrong, when my nation is more powerful than yours, when I have more than you, when you are trying to take what belongs to him, and on and on.  On second thought those are distractions and divisions that might be surmounted if we understood that despite all pretense, we really are all the same-planetary citizens. We face the same fate and after all we share the same stoop here in the milky way galaxy, which out in the sticks of the cosmic neighborhood.

LILLY, BEE AND SHADOW

GIVING A DAMN COOL AGAIN & A MORNING GLOW

LIGHT ON THE TRAIL

     The acoustic and folk world is moving toward Toronto for the 25th Folk Alliance International, and Cambrians, Ranchers for Peace are among them.

Courtesy of Ranchers for Peace

       Charles and Ray Duncan say they are "doing what they can to make giving a damn cool again." 

       Father and daughter credibly empower that idea. They give a damn-their own lyrics and those of Woody Guthrie and others, are sung and played with a unique harmony, warmth and power. And the music is cool-poignant, moving and with an edge. The artists are also cool.

     Lana, Katherine and I were fortunate to be among about 15 people in a house concert last night, as they tune up for the frenetic pace of the Folk Alliance International gathering.

     Acoustic Music Scene details the scope of this summit of artists, agents, bookers, producers, record labels, djs, and musicians.  

     A guitar player and song writer who's been to the Folk Alliance said, at the break last night, the Ranchers have a unique sound.

Sample them for yourself

      It's a particular joy to see village neighbors display such talent.  Ray's mother Jude Johnstone is a favorite and her cd is in "heavy rotation" on our play list.  

Courtesy of Jude Johnstone

     A wonderful performer, her songs have been recorded by Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris, Johnny Cash, Laura Branigan, Trisha Yearwood, Bette Midler, Stevie Nicks and others.

      Lana remembers seeing a young Rachel, with teddy bear, in tow with her sister talented actress Emma Duncan at Lilly's coffee deck just a few years ago. Now the young woman has charisma and a great attitude for the songs of social justice and hope.

      Charles is an accomplished player of guitar and harmonica and brings a seasoned mellow and gentleness to Ranchers. Their songs have a way of staying with you.

      Charles told of opening recently in Bakersfield for revered master player John McCutcheon who has released 34 albums. When Ranchers came off stage he said McCutcheon told them how much he liked their music.  McCutcheon said he noticed they too played the Woodie Guthrie classic "Deportee."  The song recounts a plane crash near Los Gatos. It had been bound for an emigration deportation station and carried 28 Mexican workers. Guthrie's lyrics make mention of how the dead were referred to only as "deportees."

        "...you wont have names when you ride the big airplane

                All they will call you will be "deportees"

         McCutcheon told of going to the Sacred Heart Cemetery in Fresno and seeing a stone covering a mass grave that said   "deportees."  It was there he met a young man named Carlos who had done the research, learned the names and is making sure they will be added to the stone. 

      As they did in Bakersfield with McCutcheon, Ranchers for Peace read the names of each of the "deportees" last night.  I think Woody Guthrie would like the edit to his song by a California father and daughter who are doing what  they can to make giving a damn cool again. 

      

MORNING GLOW

    See you down the trail.

THE WEEKENDER-FUN & GAMES AND MAGIC

MAGIC MEMORIES

   Nostalgic warmth can come with a variety of memories.

    Both daughters tell us the sound of basketball sneakers on hardwood, the din of the cheering fans and pep bands and the tones of announcers recall their childhood weekends. Usually a chili or stew simmered a delicious appeal into the mood, completing the sensory recording of a winter's afternoon.

     The girls live elsewhere, but some things don't change.
Even with our address only a mile or so from the Pacific, the magic of a Big Ten Rivalry captivates us. Where I used to have half time or post game chats with dad, or after he passed, with my mom, a real fan to the end, now I'm frequently on with my dear friend Frank, from Falls Church Va.- by way of Indianapolis basketball courts.
     Lana and I met at Ball State and we are fans and supporters of our Alma Mater BSU Cardinals-"the fiercest bird in the robin class" as our old friend Dave Letterman says.  Still, we have jointly been IU fans, at least as long as our marriage.  And I grew up where IU basketball was a religious experience. I've been a fan since I learned to dribble, but I've always had a chunk of heart dedicated to  the Butler Bulldogs, because of the legendary Tony Hinkle and some of their incredible small school big achievements and tenacious brand of basketball.
      We used to book spring vacation travel plans around the IU, Ball State, or Butler NCAA tourney schedule.  Usually it was the IU game we had to catch at an airport, or on a car radio or not fly that day. 

     I've even spent decades watching John Mellencamp become an old man of rock as he and a succession of beautiful women and/or wives take their special seats in Assembly Hall. 

     The best places to watch basketball in Indiana are at the new arena at Ball State, the Bankers Life Field House in Indianapolis and the blue print for all great basketball palaces, the Hinkle Field House at Butler University. While IU's Assembly Hall is a terrible venue to see a game, unless you have near the court seats, the spirit, energy and enthusiasm is one of the best to experience.

     It's hard for non mid-west or basketball loving people to get this, but there is a soul calming, almost meditative peace in watching Big Ten or NCAA college hoops.  A couple of California friends talk about baseball with the same reverence.  Something magic about a good game on TV. My dad extended that to golf, and I get that too. 

    The nostalgic memories of my dad, brothers, mom and later my daughters in that mix of familiar sounds and pleasing aromas are a magic at work. 

SPEAKING OF MAGIC

AND GOLF

     Thanks to my golf loving fraternity brother Brian for finding this incredible video of the week.

    See you down the trail. 

RICH MAN A JAILED MAN & CALIFORNIA SNAPS

JUSTICE TASTES LIKE PRISON
FOR A ONE PERCENT MOGUL

     The Associated Press and the Sacramento Bee report the fall of a food industry tycoon and one of America's super rich.

     Frederick Salyer was one of the most influential and powerful men in the agriculture industry, but is headed to prison, convicted of price fixing and lying to consumers about the quality of his tomato products.

     US Attorney Benjamin Wagoner says, "This is a tremendous fall from power. He was one of the richest and most influential..."

     Salyer was accused of bribing buyers for companies such as Kraft Foods and Frito Lay to pay inflated prices for his products which were then passed along to consumers.

     Federal Prosecutors say Salyer told his workers at SK Foods to lie about the quality of his product, the mold content and whether the product was organic. Government records say moldy tomatoes were processed into paste, pasta sauce and salsa.

     Salyer's tomato farming-canning empire dominated 14% of the market.  The AP says Salyer is from one of the West's oldest land and farming dynasties, going back generations. 

     The government found that Salyer and co-conspirators manipulated the price and quality of millions of pounds of tomatoes, paying bribes of up to $100 thousand.

    Government records indicate Salyer tried to move some of his fortune to Andorra, a small nation between Spain and France. He made a down payment on a condo there. He is under house arrest at his Pebble Beach mansion. The wealthy captain of industry has been sentenced to six years.  

     I wonder if he'll eat the prison tomato sauce. I also wonder if Banking and Wall Street regulators or US attorneys have the same verve as the team that brought down Salyer. US Attorney Wagoner says he hopes the conviction will send a message to the agriculture industry to keep fraud out. Fraud-Investment banking?  Hey, Mr. Attorney General Holder, are you listening? 

CALIFORNIA ODDS AND ENDS

This beauty graced Main Street in Cambria's West Village.

   Wasn't the original color either black or green?  What do you think of this upgrade?

  Sometimes a sun dappled day at a winery is not complete without paella.  

Good night sun.

  Do you see those fresh oranges, hiding away?

 Odds and ends indeed!

     See you down the trail.