Thursday, March 29, 2012

So Strange

Yet So Familiar



I went out to Dorothy’s garden again to revisit the flowers in the rain. I held the camera in one hand and an umbrella in the other to keep the camera dry. I like the results.









And here’s one I didn’t see yesterday. It is going to be a beauty;




Today At John’s Shop



I had an opportunity to stop by John’s violin shop today. He showed me some of his latest work in progress. In this picture, (above), you see him holding the neck he carved for the cello that he is currently creating.



We took some pictures of one of his newest violins. It was glowing with the latest development in John’s secret sauce finishes. This violin is nearly ready to get its fittings fit, so it can be strung and played.


Later In The Evening


Patrick, John, Sayrah, and Phil.

John can be seen, (in the above picture), taken at the blues Society jam, adjusting the floor tom for drummer Sayrah Pappenheim. Sayrah is the youngest of the drummers that play with the Phil Seymour Band.



Sayrah’s mom, Donee, took the pictures of John, Patrick, Sayrah, and me. Thanks.


Today’s Relative Song;
An older recording of So Strange. Featuring Mark Mlcoch on bass, John Harrison on lead guitar, and me on guitar, keyboard, and vocal. I think we recorded this in John’s shop about 3 years ago. I added the keyboard a day or two later.


So Strange


Universal Harmony

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Smart Cookies

Would Be Helpful



I sometimes wish that there was such a thing as a smart cookie. It would help undo many years of well orchestrated propaganda that has become ingrained into the thinking process of the unsuspecting masses.



Last night I slept a long time. I dreamed many entertaining and, in some cases, instructive situation dreams. One of them that I recall, involved a time warp that put me back with a small collection of old classmates.

This gets interesting in my dreams because I’ve been educated in different states, seven different schools and three different colleges. My dreaming mind constructs classrooms, towns, and houses in which I lived, or visited, based upon a collection of scenery mashed together from all my memories.



I am pretty sure that the pseudo-school, and house in one of the dreams, was based upon my Texas experiences. Likely, I had the dream because yesterday, one of my classmates from Alpine high school did not fact check the propaganda he received in an e-mail before he posted it on our 60’s & 70’s high school grads Facebook page.

There were several of us in that group who quickly replied to his post with links to fact checking Internet sites, that debunked the anti-Obama propaganda he posted.



Imagine my surprise, and I suppose the surprise of the other people who thought he had understood that he is supposed to fact check the crazy stuff that you get in e-mail before posting, when we saw that he posted another propaganda thing about U.S. government contracts and labor going to Chinese companies.

It was baloney of course, but the e-mail he got claimed that the information was from ABC TV news, so I guess he didn’t feel the need to fact check another obvious propaganda filled e-mail.



Why would someone believe the negative nonsense they read and hear about Obama? Why would somebody believe that it’s hard to quit smoking? Why would somebody believe that human caused global warming isn’t happening? Why would someone believe that Obama is a socialist, even though they themselves don’t know what a socialist is?



The answer to all these questions is; propaganda. Plain and simple repetitive misinformation until it becomes a part of one’s thought process.

We don’t hear people saying, “Smoking is a prison and I must escape.”

Instead, you hear about how hard it is to quit.

This is no accident. This ‘quitting is so hard’ has been planted in people's minds over the last 50 years by the tobacco companies using every possible media source they could place their messages.

So, people will go on damaging their lungs with every puff, while the nicotine alters their brains into thinking this is a good thing.

It is a good thing for the sociopaths that own the tobacco companies, because it keeps their bank accounts growing, in spite of the damage they’re doing to the health of the people who buy and use their product.



Here is how they do it;

A significant segment of the population, at least here in America, is afraid of silence.

They’re just as much afraid of silence as the dark, spiders, or whatever fear you want to name.

To cover natural sounds, they leave the TV set on, (generally to cable news stations like Fox), they listen to the radio while they sleep, (generally to shows like coast-to-coast), and at work, or in their car, they listen to talk radio.



For the past three years, these republican television and radio stations, have been saying at least twice an hour, 24 hours a day, that president Obama is a socialist.

That’s tens of thousands of times that a person might hear the same message from every announcer, newscaster, commentator, pundit, and ‘talk-radio’ host. Is it any wonder that some people would think the president is a socialist?

Socialism is basically government for the common good.

A system of social organization  that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.

We pledge allegiance to a country that swears to, “...liberty and justice for all.”
Our constitution begins with, “We the people”.



This morning, once I got out of bed, took a shower, started the coffee, and read the daily word, I opened the curtains and saw white puffy clouds in a blue sky.
I quickly picked up my iPod, and took a picture of this rare and welcome event, here in Redding.

This sunshine allowed me to go out and take some pictures of the flowers growing in Dottie’s garden.

I tried something new by attaching a tripod to the end of an old mop handle, so I could put the camera up close to some of the flowers without having to bend over and get in the flower bed. This works really good. I set the camera control on macro, activate the self timer, and stick the camera close to the flower.

Today’s Relative Video;




Breathtaking

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Let There Be Rain

To Fill The Reservoirs



Wet leaves and battered blossoms

Rain Suits


Teddy and Laurie

It has been quite a rainy March, but for some of my neighbors, it is not a deterrent when it comes to getting out with the dog. I couldn’t resist getting a picture of this doggy rain suit.

Like a lot of people who use the internet, I am included in high school, college, hometown, and music Facebook groups. Sometimes a person in one of these groups gets an email that rings a bell for them and they just have to post it.

Usually the email is political. Sometimes it’s important information, but sometimes it’s a load of baloney. One such email was posted today on the Alpine, Texas high school grads site by someone who was mislead into believing one of the many anti-Obama malicious missives.

Some of us in that group were quick to direct the misled member to various fact checking sites that debunked the erroneous email. But, I think the best explanation as to when one really should check the facts came from Dennis L Williams.

He wrote;

“I try to follow this rule about political emails: If the email confirms in every detail my deepest, most heartfelt beliefs about the politicians or political party that I currently disagree with, making me feel deeply the "rightness" of my views on America, God, and apple pie......then that email is 99% likely to be a) MISLEADING, or b) FALSE.”

Dennis L Williams





Spring Egg Hunt



I got up bright and early this morning. My neighbor Linda and I had a plan. We would go check out the eggs and hens at an organic egg source that I saw posted on craigslist. If the hens still had their beaks and a yard to scratch around in, this could replace Trader Joe’s as the place I get organic eggs. (March 3 blog)



The craigslist ad indicated that the hens were being fed organic feed, so that was encouraging. Still I would like to see the feed bags to make sure they didn’t say “Monsanto certified” organic. “Monsanto and organic” would be as spurious as Fox News stating they are “Fair and Balanced”.

What we still needed to begin the journey to the happy hens, was the address. The person selling the eggs sent me a message suggesting I call, or text, in the morning to get directions.

I texted,(that word ‘texted’ just doesn’t seem right), and received a text with the address, and a message that she would be home around 4:30. So much for the early riser gets the good eggs approach.

So I had a delicious bowl of fruit and milk, with some pumpkin raisin crunch organic cereal.


Here At The Treehouse



We met a new neighbor named Carol who is an artist. She came to the Monday Afternoon Treehouse Cabaret and Poetry Hour and brought one of her latest creations.

We may have to put a couple of easels up on Monday afternoons so our resident artists can display some of their work. It would be nice if more people could see and enjoy some of the beautiful artwork that our neighbors produce.


The Treehouse Cabaret, Gallery, and Poetry Hour Band




Back To The Egg-O-Sphere


Eggs be here

Around 4:15, my neighbor and I headed out in the storm, seeking the elusive organic eggs from happy, healthy  chickens.

We arrived at a nice house on a cul de sac near the Sacramento river, about 4:30. We were greeted at the door and invited in out of the rain. The nice lady had a container of eggs in hand. We asked where the chickens were.

The lady explained that the chickens were in a backyard coop from which they were regularly released to hunt and peck around the yard. Her two children were quietly playing in the living room with a laptop and a tablet, while we examined eggs and asked questions.

I placed 12 of the eggs into the empty carton I had brought with me. My neighbor bought another dozen. Everyone was happy.


‘Egg’ceptional organic ovum image

Today’s Relative Video;




Happy

Friday, March 23, 2012

What's That Bright Light?

Oh, It’s Sunshine!



After all the rain that has been washing the flowers, an hour of sunlight gave them an opportunity to gleam and shine in all their brilliant colors.



The tulips shone like polished satin. The daffodils displayed their variety of colors from white, two tone, and dazzling variegated varieties.



I couldn’t resist taking pictures of the tiny purple flowers that play so big in my mind’s eye view.



Just about everything was happy to have some sunlight, including this little beetle walking along the border of the garden.
 


The brief but very welcome sunshine was just the eye opener I needed to remind me to focus on the beauty and magic of this world in which I am a living participant.



This petal that curled off of one of the tulips, makes it look like a whirling dervish.
 


The birds were singing their little hearts out with colorful songs of love.



And so I can share another beautiful day with you here on my blog thanks to an hour of sunshine, and a few modern, technical, and artistic application doodads.

Today’s Relative Video:
(hint; Fashion collection meets jump rope camera)




Enlightened

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Spring Has Sprung

With All Things Being Equal, More Or Less

How Did I Miss This?


Vladimir Pirogov/Reuters

Horsemen take part in a goat-dragging competition as part of Navruz celebrations, an ancient holiday marking the spring equinox, in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek Tuesday.

Now that seems like a lot more fun than standing around Stonehenge, chanting in the chilly rain. I wonder if I could leap off a horse to catch a goat? I guess the next time I am in Bishkek on the vernal equinox, I could give it a try.

Tiny Flower



I took this shot, (above),  yesterday, but it wasn’t ready for posting until I played with it a bit, today.


Today is the vernal equinox. It came early on our Gregorian calendar, but in reality it is happening exactly when it always does.

The Chase



Behind one of the second hand stores along the Sacramento river, is one of my favorite spots to watch ducks feed under water. While there, today, I saw what appears to be an otter.



I was not the only creature that was curious about the swimming mammal. As soon as this duck, (above), noticed the otter, it made a beeline to intercept it. (I bet that’s the first time that duck got compared to a bee).



Once the duck got too close, the otter dove under and swam away. Otters can stay under water, fishing and swimming, for as long as 4 minutes. I didn’t stick around to time this one.



Today I noticed a cluster(?) of grape hyacinth growing along the drive into the Treehouse apartments. After I saw one of these a couple of weeks ago, and a neighbor identified what it was, I have been seeing them everywhere.

It reminds me of mushroom hunting. At first you don’t see them, but once you spot one you soon realize that you are surrounded by hundreds of them.

Today’s Relative Video;





Nice Day