Local Irregularities

The Eyes of Zuckerberg

927 Entry by Lana Cochrun

     Hold on!  Labor Day Weekend in Cambria means the muses rule.

     This year is a perfect storm of creativity. 

     ---The annual 927 non-traditional art show in this art colony tucked between the Santa Lucia Mountains and the Pacific.

     ---The Follies-a long tradition in the best spirit of gridiron style humor.

     ---The Pindedorado Weekend party including the 70th rendition of the "hometown parade."

the "927"

    Way back when this colony of artists began the non traditional show, there was but one telephone prefix-927. That's the back story.  Now we use the 805 area code plus one of three prefixes to make local calls. Oh the travails of progress eh?! But the 927 continues and my favorite artist, my bride Lana won in the Topical Composition category.

She's taken home Best of Show and First place but the judging this year was of a different format.  Enjoy the work.

 Nasty Women

Holly McCain

 Truth or Consequences

Judith Skarvedt

 In Which God Figures Out What To Do With Old Golf Balls

Art Van Rhyn

WINNER IN HUMOR

 The Angel of Mercy

Art Van Rhyn

 The Eyes of Zuckerberg

Lana Cochrun

WINNER IN TOPICAL COMPOSITION

 Pollack's Chair

Kathy Rippe

 To and Fro Picasso

Judy Schuester

 Cambria Retiree

Tish Rogers

BEST NARRATION

 Parchment Photo

Douglas Greenfield

this was accompanied by a book of skilled and wonderful images

 We Can Do It

Tom Gould

 Puppet Masters

Tish Rogers

 Political Dialogue

Ruth Armstrong

WINNER IN PHOTO 

 Think Outside the Box

Jim Rogers

 U.S. Foreign Policy for Babies

Carolyn Pye

 Stepping Out

Kathryn Rippe

 Dr. Schultzie and the Anatomy Class

Jeanette Wolff

 Art Sherwyn

Born into Poverty

 Lining Up For Lunch

Art Sherwin

MOST CREATIVE USE OF MATERIAL

 Tears for Liberty

Lana Cochrun

 Neon Spring on Bitterwater Road

Randall Lyon

Mice Fur

Kathryn Rippe

showtime

     Randy Schwalbe penned a terrific tale of good vs. evil about a plan to build freeways between the east and west villages in Cambria. Great parody tunes and a superb effort by the homegrown cast.

the pinedorado parade

the 70th 

This is a homegrown event and as always it starts with the calliope.

Despite any or everything else, we can still enjoy Americana.

 They went by too fast! That arm belongs to the Parade Grand Marshall, intrepid reporter and all around great person, Kathe Tanner. No enemy of the people here.

 this guy is my nominee for unsung hero

 a surprise fly over-=-they went that-a-way

 and they came back and went that-a-way

 In Cambria you can talk to the parade. He said this old ag cart is 65 years old and was found in a barn on Santa Rosa Creek Road.

   See you down the trail.

     

Road Weary-Melancholy-Disconnects

   Take off on a cross country flight

    There was a time when I lived a lot of my life at 30 thousand feet. Now it seems an intrusion into what I'm trying to claim as sanity. But I thought the scene above was sweet.

    Not so sweet is the endless litany of phone conversations the rest of us are forced to hear. If I were a corporate spy there were several breaches available, because the guy or the gal with-in ear shot was saying stuff that should not have been overheard, proprietary and even financial information that should be secured.  

   To my ears, even worse are the personal conversations. America is sounding like bad reality television.

    I told Lana, I'm glad my road warrior days are over. I don't have it in me anymore. 

    I felt bad for the guy, only a few years my junior, who had strung his charger under the bar while he jockeyed calls, shifting appointments, and booking new flights as plans derailed because of flight delays and missed connections. Life in a house of cards! 

    I had been up at 3:30 and now half way across the country it was 7:00A and I was squeezed in between him and the breakfast burrito eating, email writing, bearded young man on the next stool. I told the waitress I wanted scrambled eggs and hot water for my tea. 

     "Are you drinking your breakfast?" she said to the flight shifter to my right, sipping his beer. 

     "You got it," he sighed, fingers back on the phone with background photos of who I presumed were his grown son and daughter. 

     A sorry scene. No way to live. 

     A note to those of you who are out there every day, lower the volume of the calls, please.

melancholy ranch 

      Out in Los Osos is an island of the past. The last acres of an old ranch surrounded by neighborhoods that seem to pay no heed to the life and industry that once happened there. It too will probably go the way of development. 

    I couldn't help but wonder about the lives that were lived here, the work that was done, the incidents that were once vital.

       This is what is left of a history that, like the buildings, is dilapidated, and falling apart. I wonder about those stories we'll never hear.  

the disconnects

     Could be wrong about this, but I'm getting the sense a lot of people are not paying attention to our national tragedy or they are so stuck in their silo of bias and belief they refuse to see the truth. That and those who are sickened by the reality are suffering a fatigue. 

      And there are other disconnects. A friend who does international business opened the door on a situation that has not percolated to the top of the news services. Since the administration has begun trade warring, this friend's business world has gotten aggressively prickly.

      Mexican officials refuse to release product until he fills out a flurry of new forms, in Spanish. Asian clients are asking for a new invoicing system that spreads out cost to keep under a new maximum cap, so they can avoid being charged a fee. Wire transfer payments are suddenly more expensive, nations are asking for additional paperwork and execution fees and on and on.

      He's been in this line of business for more than 20 years and this is all new stuff.  Hassles, harassment, retribution. My friend said the US State Department and the USDA Foreign Agricultural service have spent years of negotiations and making agreements that clear the way and empower the export of US products. And all of that is coming undone, because of the occupant of the White House, who has not a clue about how intricate and complex the world is.

       

       decoding

   "There are none so blind as those who will not see"

in other words

"Understanding cannot be forced on those who choose to be ignorant"

   There is a lot of that, a dangerous amount, going around these days.

     See you down the trail.