WHO'S LIFE MATTERS? DARK PLAYS

DARK PLAYS

   Street wise and an over comer, Ricky was a friend and a great truck operator. We ate together frequently, shared an appreciation of boxing and worked on deadline to do live television. Ricky's problem was not his.
   He'd come from a neighborhood that required a toughness to simply grow up. His arms bore burn scars from his time  working in a foundry. He began as a studio camera operator. He became an engineer/operator who would "scramble" a microwave unit to the scene. It was a truck full of electronics and television gear. He was fast, smart and enabled the news department to get on the air. That was not a problem.
   Ricky and his wife, a marketing and promotion specialist, lived on the North side, in a suburban community grown from a farm village into homes, condos, apartments, appreciating businesses with a village setting and near mega shopping. Ricky was frequently stopped by the local police.
    As an African-America Ricky was a profile stop.  Though he explained where he lived, worked and produced a car registration, Ricky was stopped repeatedly.  That was an offense to Ricky and to police work and the larger society. 
   Black lives matter.

    I investigated, covered and tangled with racist hate groups for 4 decades-racism close up, urban, rural, north, south and abroad. Many reasons for it. It breeds anger and response.

     All lives matter-not to diminish the inherent and special importance that creates and imbues the mentality and philosophy of Black Lives Matter.  It is not meant to be flip  to say-Of course they do. It is an affirmation only and should  not be construed as anything else.

   How police departments and black citizens interact is a nexus requiring a fix. It is critical. Police officers need  training to help buffer and to see things with a wider sensitivity. Training for state and city police agencies can condition officers to make critical decisions influenced by a better understanding of presenting conditions and a codex of alternative tactics to employ so as to defuse and stop a tragic escalation.

    All training academies and the departments they provide can up their performance. I've reported how local and state academies train, have watched as local police take advanced training at the National Academy and spent 16 weeks following a class of agents through the FBI Academy at Quantico. 

    There are good learning systems, exercises, drills and practical application training that can focus on race, including history and perspectives. I participated in a fire arms training program where my actions and shot placement were captured, analyzed and used in the training. It required a series of critical judgements and action.  After completing a simulation scenario, where you could shoot or be shot in the interactive life like reality, you were grilled by instructors asking what you saw, heard, when and why you made decisions to do what you did and the actions you took, etc.  Its intense and the examination pulses up the heart rate and certainly engages the mind.  It's a good program and such systems can make our local cops better at what they do.

    Lives matter.

BLUE PLAYS

 Humpback Whales frolic in warmer Pacific on the central California coast.  

    Pelicans fly air support.

   Canoeists launch for a blue ride.

BEHIND THE SHOTS

Your blogger, caught in the act by eldest daughter Kristin

Caught here at Jackson Browne concert by Mike Griffin

     A final thought. Ricky and I often drove to a spot in a near east side neighborhood where they sold deep fried cat fish on white bread with mustard. As the only white man in a place, or even in that part of the neighborhood I was never stopped. It was probably more odd for a white man to be hanging out on that block in that hood than for Ricky to  drive to his apartment.

    The sandwich was world class!

     See you down the trail.

Despite Everything and a Bizarre Presidential Scenario

WILD WHAT IF

     Here's a crazy thought. The Donald could be liberal and progressives best friend.

     If Trump continues to gather a base and manages to win the GOP nomination, he makes a Bernie Sanders candidacy much more viable. Talk about a shootout between opposites!

     Eric Sevareid said you never say never in politics. Political prognosticating is a fools errand and as bloggers, web writers and cable commentators prove there are many fools. 

    With that as a disclaimer-Ohio Governor Kasich impressed even Democrats. Trump is such a bullyboy and ego freak he is a force the Republicans have to figure out.

     Hillary is precarious, despite her clear advantage. Joe Biden is the secret favorite of many traditional and liberal Democrats. If Hillary begins to falter, Joe is there.

     But wouldn't Trump vs Sanders be a kind of Cohen brothers scenario?

      

 with apologies for invading his space

OBSERVED IN SILENCE

A WAY TO A GREEN VIEW

ANOTHER FRUIT

"Feeling fine on Elderberry wine…" the Elton John song comes to mind. 

   Despite the drought, the elderberry crop seems to flourish. 

     So we dedicate this golden oldie to the crops-including squash with good posture.  

       See you down the trail.

CATCHING JACKSON BROWNE

PASSION AND CONSCIENCE

   There is something inherently perfect in seeing Jackson Browne under the stars on a California summer night.

   A warm breeze stirs a life of memories choreographed and scored by Browne. Past edges and pieces gather in the music. Browne is a poet singer who continues to mine human complexity.

 His sense of social and planetary justice in the 21st Century rises from the roots of the music that fed and called us when we were younger.

   It's a rich fabric he weaves. Balladeer, conscience, rocker, activist, artist and star who gladly shares the spotlight with his extraordinarily talented players.

  And seeing this California minstrel who shaped the music of the West coast performing just up the coast from his roots is a special joy.

   Browne's California sound filled our Indiana home, car and places of good times and sad, moments of anger, frustration, love, loss, celebration, work, striving and spiritual quest. And his music was an allure, bidding us west.
   We've seen him many times, but this time on a California August night, it was better. As we and our concerns age, the minstrel rises again to soothe and stir us again in a way that makes the continuum of our lives one masterful song after another.

His range is still full tilt and his band are long time friends. Bob Glaub-bass, Mauricio Lewak-drums, Jeff Young-organ/piano-Greg Leisz-lap steel, pedal steel guitar, Aletha Mills vocal.

   STANDING IN THE BREECH, is the product of a mature artist who reanimates the power of our passions and conscience. In the breech is where we should be.

   See you down the line.

Painted-Bone Dry and A Short Throw

ENCHANTED EVENING

   Marvelous summer sunsets are a California positive, helping us to survive historic drought.

IT HAPPENED BEFORE

    By 1863 the drought on the central California coast was so severe, ranchers drove starving and dehydrated cattle off bluffs into the Pacific. 

    Today ranchers have alternatives, including thinning herds. A recent walk brought all of this to mind

  It's difficult to see what the cattle may be grazing on.

DRY CREEK BEDS

   San Simeon Creek should be rushing through this. Now only traces of a flow.

  So now all of us, quadrupeds and bipeds adopt the attitude of the above lady-what's up?  In the meantime we wait for El Nino.

A FIVE YEAR THROW

    Five years ago this summer-the Journalism Hall of Fame induction. The ceremony was in a magnificent Tudor hall in one of the historic buildings on the campus of Indiana University which now houses the Hall of Fame in the Ernie Pyle Center.

  You can link here to learn more about the particulars.

  This summer my thoughts are with former president Ray Moscowitz who presented me with the Crystal plaque. A great newspaper editor who oversaw operations for 14 papers in his career, Ray is battling a brain tumor. He faces the challenge with the same zeal and forthrightness that he practiced journalism. Ray is a 2002 inductee.

  Also proud of my former colleague and longtime friend Kevin Finch. Kevin is now a professor at Washington and Lee University. You can link to his blog in the Rich Blogs column to the right of this post.
   Time certainly does fly!

   See you down the trail.

THE TEST

 MEDITATION

on an orchid bloom

 Sages advise that we take time to breath, observe and appreciate. Do we?

 THE TEST PLANET

   How clearly, how fully do we really see? A fraternity brother who lead a successful ad agency used to talk about "ideas for a small test planet." Suppose that is true. Imagine planet earth as a lab. How are we doing?
   Remember those kindergarten report cards?
-Gets along with others
-Shares
-Respects property
-Good hygiene
-Cleans up after him/herself
-Rests at nap time
   Employing that first and foundational standard of evaluation, look again. How do we measure up at residents of this garden planet?

GREAT DIVERSIONS

   For those of you who are cinema fans, we can offer thumbs up on 3 films currently in release.

   Me, Earl and The Dying Girl-an insightful and sweet variation on a coming of age film. Cleverly done and very well acted. Bitter sweet, with emphasis on amusing and charming. The young leads, Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler and Olivia Cooke should have big careers ahead. Molly Shannon and Nick Offerman are great adult character punctuations. 

   Mr. Holmes-on its way to my all time favorites list. I'm a Holmes fan but that accounts for only a part of my reaction. They've done a super job of advancing the Conan Doyle character's arc-into his 90's. But it is Ian McKellen's masterful performance that puts this into a "classics" category.  Beautifully shot, directed and acted. Laura Linney is a good frumpy housekeeper to Holmes and her son is portrayed wonderfully by young Milo Parker. But seeing McKellen's Holmes struggle with an aging mind is superb.

    The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet-This is a gem! The inventive French Director Jean Pierre Jeunet has magnificently interpreted Reif Larsen's novel, staying true to the art and visual design. This is one of the "artiest" films around and it is a cute, entertaining and wise story. Kyle Catlett as the 10 year old T.S. Spivet is adorable. Helena Bonham Carter and Judy Davis lead the rest of the cast which includes a couple of character sketches that are among the best ever.

    BTW, if our test planet is being measured, efforts like these creative films must raise our score.

   See you down the trail.

SEEING THE FUTURE and CATS IN A BOX

BEAUTY IN THE WAY IT IS

   One can't live in California without continued thought of water.

    For some it is a shroud of angst, inescapable. Others step into the challenge to conserve, educate and find a better way. Most are someplace in between. 

   Growing up where we never gave a thought to water, there was plenty, leaves me "hypersensitive" to new realities. I think those of us who live with less, those who have adjusted to finite limits, have seen into the future.

     This is not limited to California, it can be anywhere. Refugee camps are full of people who have seen the end of life as they knew it. Working poor who barely can feed children and pay rent. Those who live in cars. The good life, the good old days do not exist and for some it never did.     

   The thistle, cursed by ranchers, farmers, gardeners and landscapers is a kind of signal. In this fourth year of historic drought, the thistle flourishes and spreads. It is a survivor.

 I see beauty in these frames. This is flora that thrives, even without water.

      It is about adaptability isn't it? Some of us, some things, are better at it than others, better at learning new ways and better at survival.

      This dynamic planet, a living, changing organism appears, by our short human lens at least, in the midst of profound change. Our specie may not be responsible for all of what is underway, but we have contributed mightily and in not helpful ways. A Beijing clouded by exhaust, rivers poisoned by chemicals, dead zones of trash in the ocean are examples of changes that now imperil all of us, even those who know better and have said so. Sadly there are those who have had no say because they are yet to be born into this change.

      Despite all our cleverness we cannot bring life out of death. We can not reanimate extinct species.

      There are millions of earth brothers and sisters who are desperate and certainly in more peril than we Californians, living in one of the most beautiful places on the planet. We conserve, debate, pray for rain, bet on El Nino's, grumble, get angry about the arrogant wealthy who waste water, engineer conversion systems and wonder if luck may run out. In that way we are seeing what awaits this blue marble of a planet. 

        Forces of nature, forces of our own doing, accelerated population, advanced technology, religious and ethnic politics, bad choices, the commercialization of government and our capacity to elevate brutality over reason conspire against us. More fundamentally, there are no winners in the struggle of humankind vs "nature" or cosmic luck. There is only change.  Some of it might be good. Some of it will not.

      We bipeds are capable of great adaptation and invention and resilience. We can also make hard decisions. Making those hard and good choices, application of reason and our higher principles is how survival proceeds from here.

LISTEN TO THE 1000

   In this context, it would do us all well to pay heed to the wisdom of 1000 of the brightest minds who have said we need to make sure our Artificial Intelligence systems, are not turned into weapons. 

    On this front we need to make sure the bankers, financiers, money boys and hustlers do not prevail. 

    The statement of the 1000 is the latest in a series of signals we've been getting about the future. Are we prepared to listen?

THE CONTINUING ADVENTURES OF

HEMINGWAY AND JOY

Cats in a box, redux

   Joy on the left and Hemingway have yet to meet a box they did not like.

 A box from a recent shopping outing and left in the garage was a place they needed to be, despite the bulging of the seams.

   At least they've learned to share.

    See you down the trail.