Mood music

I spend a bit of time at Utube . It amazes me how much creative material can be found. I regularly find something wonderful. Something not so wonderful however are the countless crude comments made. I constantly find myself amazed . Some are sexist ,racist, abusive and or mean spirited. Many have nothing to do with the videos content. Is this on the level or is it some kind of tasteless joke. I just don't understand

Sunday we had a few palms removed in the front yard. All of them had grown too tall to keep pruned and one was occasionally getting caught in our power lines. Across the front of the lot we had 5 clumps of Areca palms removed. They were also too tall and created a visual barrier . The effect of all of this work is making the whole front yard and house look great.

Maybe one day I will understand these videos

Somehwere Louis Armstrong is smiling!

The way it feels sometimes

So---- we are driving home from the grocery(as we do every Monday)when the Beach Boys Good Vibrations comes on the radio. Suddenly it is 1966. I am listening to WLS on my transistor radio (with earphone in,) just before falling as sleep in my bunk bed in the barrics . I am back at basic training at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri.
Why does some music trigger these vivid memories? Any number of recordings do this to me. Each connected to different times and places. Ever thought about this?

This just in!

fascinating

Dolt

This morning we were a little stressed out because one of our cats was going to the vet to have his teeth cleaned. He does not like the carrying case(you can't blame him as he was confined to one when we flew here from San Francisco while moving ) After I put him in the box and rushed to put on my shoes I felt as if my right foot was being crammed into shoe 2 sizes too small. After a short struggle I got it on , grabbed the box and limped out the door feeling as if my foot was going to break in half.I kept thinking something is not right here and after we had finished talking to the vet I sat down in the waiting room to see if my foot had indeed been broken. When I got the shoe off, and looked inside I was astonishment to find a shoe horn in there. It was cheap and made of plastic so it is interesting that it didn't break. It was so funny that I didn't even care that I am such dolt!

MOM

Returning my Niceley topic, here is another shot of My Mom, Probably taken in the late 70s in Indianapolis. She died in 1983. She never smiled while having a picture taken because she was self conscious of her teeth . How silly that seems now!

Classic stuff

Classic stuff from Not the Nine Oclock News

Trails

Over the years of living in San Francisco, I started to notice an increase of these con trails. There are also chem trails (who some think are being intentionally sprayed ) http://educate-yourself.org/ct/. I began to wonder my self one morning . I had arrived for work (as a trade show installer) at the Santa Clara convention center and was sitting in my car on the roof top level of the parking garage . It was then that I noticed a small white jet that was flying back and forth while it released white smoke trails over large parts of the sky. What a strange thing to do. Maybe they are right!
Anyway,to make a short story long (as Steve Allen used to say) In all the 7 years Here in Hawaii I have not seen one trail of any kind! Another little perk for living on the most isolated land mass on earth!. I

Scriabin, Prelude, Opus 16 #1, B Major (piano solo)

Scriabin was an interesting Russian composer who's music was way ahead of its time. Over the years it became increasingly atonal and presaged 12 tone composition. He once said it should sometimes be accompanied by colored lights. That was in the 19th Century !

Spoiled Cats

Am I the only one with spoiled cats?

Trains

Here is another excellent photo from this months Trains magazine !

Continuing my Niceley quest

I have received some Niceley responses (ha ha) about my joke idea

Christopher Niceley of Washington DC said:
"I am not so much against the "oh isn't that a nice name or "are you? " . It would be worse to be named Christopher Badley ... They get old.

Adam Niceley of Tulsa Oklahoma said:
"While I was stationed in Kuwait I worked as an RTO (radio telephone operator) and I always had people tell me that I answered the phone" very Niceley"

I have just begun to contact them so will try a few more

Niceley Done

Early morning fun

Couldn't resist these light spots . I guess I have too much time on my hands

While going to my cousin Marks facebook page page I discovered 75 Niceley's entered. I don't know why but this astounds me!

More San Francisco

This is from a series of note cards I did in San Francisco in the 80s. I sold them as a Street Artist at Fisherman's Warf .

Alec Stern

One of Alec Sterns excellent San Francisco drawings

All Right !

Last night we went to our monthly neighborhood watch meeting. As usual our community police officer came to give his report. On our way in we had noticed his car parked in the lot because it was a new white Dodge
Challenger with a big Hemi v8 in it ( Some Police cars used here are privately owned) . Talking to him later he said he used to have a Mustang. This reminded me of something that happened several weeks ago.
Driving home from the grocery we were passed(on the right) by someone who must have been doing 70 in a 45 zone. As he roared around us I shouted where is a cop when you need one! Shortly after that we passed our officer in his mustang pulling that jerk over!! It was a really great fist pumping ALL RIGHT !!moment.
It was just as enjoyable relating the story to him last night !

The Sea

Having grown up in Indiana for 25 years , I never imagined that I would become so attached to the sea. I suppose it is understandable however , considering that I have lived at the edge of it for longer than that.

Sunrise , Sunset?

From Hawaii The Big Island of Fire and Ice

This excellent shot from Trains Magazine was taken by Joel Jensen . It records a Union Pacific Challenger steam engine as it pops into view between two covered hoppers on a passing train. What timing!

The real Kenny G (Kenny Garret)

Long way off

Hurricane season started here on June 1. Since then more that one storm has formed in the waters off Mexico and made their way towards us . Fortunately most have not made it this far for various reasons . During the past week one did get here but was so weakened it did not amount to much. The storm in the chart above is the latest and should be here the middle of next week. It is interesting following them on the NOAA Hurricane center (the source of the chart) but when they officially reach the central Pacific sector
that changes. Then its just nerve racking. Seems as if November 1 (end of hurricane season) is a long way off!

Portmeirion whimsy

There are little whimsical sights every where you look in the Portmeirion village. http://www.virtualportmeirion.com/

Simon knows cats very well!

From my scrapbook

Going through a folder of "stuff " I ran across this vinyl lp dust cover (or want is left of it). I have lost track of the artist's name but still have his wonderful work.

essence

Received this card years ago and have always loved the drawing. It really is the essence of a cat!

Edinburgh's Military Tatoo http://www.edinburgh-tattoo.co.uk/translations/index.html is a stirring performance held in the Castle's esplanade. The ceremony begins at dusk when the Castle's front gates open and Bagpipe bands begin to march out as as if right out of History. I get goose bumps just remembering it.

This country is going nuts!

from the common dreams page http://www.commondreams.org/

07.20.09 - 11:15 PM

Would You Like Cup Holders With Your Kalashnikov AK-47?

Fearful of crime, meth freaks, and President Obama, a Missouri car dealer is offering a gift certificate for an AK-47 assault rifle to anyone who buys a pick-up. Mark Muller, president of Max Motors, dismisses the notion "we are all cross-eyed rednecks down here," and says business is brisk.

"This is about the right of defending me and my family. I have a loaded gun in my pocket now and one in the glove locker of the car with a 12-round clip in it. My wife also carries a weapon."

fervor

Nottso Long ago

Absolutely Magnificant!

Fascinating to see how many times the main rhythmic motif is used throughout the movement

In the forest again. In our ongoing reforestation project we are trying to establish walking paths.
This is not easy in more than one way. There are many hidden soft spots in the ground.Plants develop a mat of roots over a hole that can give way sometimes causing to a horrible feeling that the next stop is china . There are lava tubes in this area so it is possible to fall into one. After finding a possible trail path it has to be weeded . Never the less it is rather satisfying.

And We live here!

Early morning view of glow from the vent in Halema`uma`u crater on Kilauea volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii. And we live here! The photo from USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
website http://volcano.wr.usgs.gov/kilaueastatus.php

Letter #2

Here is thank you letter # 2. It just occurred to me, these letters were all written in 1974 . That would make the the "kids"over 30 now. Tempus fugits

Wanna Go !

Sharon and I at Portmeirion (just a few years ago) Can you guess what we were attending?

Thank you letter # 1

In College, I took a class in the psychology of music. One of the assignment projects during the semester was to take a small group to a local grade school and present a short program . I organized a small jazz ensemble, played different styles of tunes and then talked about what we had done. A few weeks after we played, the professor gave me a manila envelope . I did not realize it but the kids we had played for wrote notes about our presentation . Being the pack rat I am, I still have them. I ran across them again tonight and thought it might be interesting to post a few. Might as well use them for something!

Wake me when it's over!

Spent part my birthday today here at Volcano National park .
It has very spiritual qualities and is one of my favorite places . The column of steam is
rising from an opening which is 300 feet across (within Halema uma u crater) . The crater is 300 feet deep and 3,000 feet wide. There is Lava (magma) just 1oo or so feet below the floor of the crater . Another reason to love living here.

Fun Day at the beach in China

San Francisco porch

Sunrise in San Francisco 1994

My MOM the babe!

Portmeirion column

Watercolor attempt Portmeirion

You Never Know

Monday mornings usually mean Grocery shopping. Today as I finished and was getting in line at the check out the gentleman in front of me got out of line and moved to the next cashier. No sooner had he moved he backed up and went ahead of me again . As I backed up he turned around and said, "oh I didn't see you there". I motioned for him to go ahead of me and he then said "you get indecisive when you are approaching 83 and I will be 83 in November". He was quite pleasant and as we began talking, I was astonished to learn he was a retired FBI agent. He showed me his ID card and related that he had worked with President Nixon,Vice President Agnew and President Kennedy . You never know who you will meet while grocery shopping.

The Big Island

This was taken from the space Shuttle on May 22. Notice the 3 volcano plumes towards the bottom of the Island. As a friend once said "and we live here!"

Bad news Good news

Bad news Good news update on Snailzilla .
Bad news is that I found it crushed on the road this morning. Good news is that the Giant African snail is extremely invasive and damaging to the environment. One snail can live up to 3 years and lay from 100 to 500 eggs every three months . It can eat around 500 types of plants including tree bark. It also can eat paint and stucco . In addition it may transmit diseases including Meningitis So, all in all it is not a bad thing it was crushed .

There Will Never Be Another Michael Brecker

SNAILZILLA!!!!

I have never seen anything like this huge snail that I spotted this morning . Its size does really not show in this photo but it is probably 6 inches long. Its shell is good size too. It is probably larger than a field mouse. I'm sure it came right out of a Japanese science fiction film! Can Mothra be far behind!

It is just day lilies, Star Jasmin , wild orchids and a stone carving done by a local artist, all in our front yard but it could be an ancient burial side in the jungle. Maybe the tropics are getting to me!

animal collective ---OUT THERE

Pahoehoe Lava 2

Here is another photo of Pahoehoe lava. Of the 2 types of lava (A a and Pahoehoe) it is hotter (2000 degrees) giving it more viscosity. As it flows and cools it forms these fascinating patterns.

Connection

I am currently reading "On Italy" written by Henry James.This travel narrative written in the late 1800s has given me another connectivity moment. These rare(for me anyway)moments are always fascinating . Really relating to an author makes the book seem to be written just for you . This one began as the author was visiting a picturesque old mountain top village. As he is describing it he observes a man that he writes as having the characteristics of an Opera singer . Mr. James automatically begins to romanticize this man to fit his vision of an "Italian landscape" but is really off base when he begins to talk to him.
My connection moment comes with an experience I had in Venice. On day as I was exploring (lets call it wandering aimlessly) I came to a canal bridge where I saw a crowd looking up the canal. I got to the bridge just in time to see a man in a strange boat approaching. As he got nearer I could see his boat was a wooden replica of a Volkswagen beetle convertible . He was also singing some Operatic number. He waved to the cheering crowd, as he passed beneath the bridge and sailed off into the grand Canal.
As Mr. James had done I was in a Romantic tizzy about the happenings in this wonderful magic place.
As it turns out I later learned it was all a PR stunt .
I still think Venice is a wonderful magic place though.

The way it feels sometimes

Cable in Motion

the Great Ben Webster