Wichita Lineman

"...searchin' in the sun for another overload..."

When I was younger, living in Berkeley crash houses and more or less on the street, strung out on drugs, and in a terrible terrible hurry to be somewhere else the line, "and if it snows that stretch down south won't ever stand the strain" was always a comfort. It's still a good song.

Glen Campbell - Wichita Line

Glen Campbell Wichita Lineman

Winner of Not the Worst Lawn in the World Contest

Congratulations Roy!
Keep up the not-gold standard
just fine to not be the least fine looking
yard on the block.

In order to break the tedium of outpost life here in a world that does not yet exit, offically known as the language barrier, we hold contests and surprise give-aways from time to time, usually when there is something else pressing that needs doing immediately, in this case packing for my trip to Portland tomorrow

... SO...

I am proud to announce that the winner in the first ever Not the Worst Lawn in the World Contest is one of our favorite culture icons, just returned to the Blogosphere after a very sudden and extremely upsetting (to the rest of us) hiatus. Welcome back Roy!

...YOUR PRIZE...

a lovely,
one of kind,
wild rock
from the hot,
parched and mysterious
Nevada desert

(sorry it's not a big lump of placer gold but the sourdoughs grabbed all the easy stuff in the 1800's) is on its way to you via US Mail (as soon as you email your address. I lost it.)

Note: I just found this rock on a particularly grueling trek pushing my mt. bike through the sage brush after the road ran out. Lesson learned again: never trust a desert road and always bring plenty of water and a camera in case you cross paths with a cool looking lizard.

9/11 Revisited

Please do yourself a favor and watch this video.
I promise it is worth the hour.

9/11 Revisited






911 9/11 wtc 9-11 marvin bush

Rush hour in Katmandu

Rush hour in Katmandu

Lots rattling around in my head this morning ...

...ruminations about how much nicer things would be if believers would only agree that god is god and loves everybody indiscriminately (including animals, fish, birds, the planet etc. )—how a former Nuremberg prosecutor said yesterday that Guantanamo trials "violate the Nuremberg principles, as well as the spirit of the Geneva Conventions of 1949." (What took him so long to go public?)—the crooks in the White House (when oh WHEN will these bastards be stopped?)...
...5th Friday at Comma Coffee, my performance, putting up posters, staging etc.etc.etc.... my daughter's July wedding and my trip to Portland to help with planning... and oh... about a million other things... the book I haven't written yet... working out (I'm in my gym clothes, drinking coffee)... I need to start meditating.

My mind is like morning rush hour in Kathmandu.

Bird Park spring update

The numerous quail who live in my neighbor Dwayne's sprawling Indian willow tree-o-life spend a lot of time here these days. They love nesting and bathing in the dirt. Yesterday afternoon there were about ten couples dozing under the bushes in a slow motion quail version of musical chairs. They belly out little tubs, lay in one awhile then switch places with each other, only no one gets left out during the switch. There are enough tubs for everyone. This morning, it being still cold, only one couple has made it over the fence so far. Napping is an afternoon pastime.

As far as the other birds go, the love talk, boasting and chest bumping has been replaced by an all day, every day feeding frenzy. As everyone knows, it takes a lot of calories to raise a family. The finches, red wings and sparrows drain the feeders by early afternoon but I've only seen one baby so far. It is a little early for that first trip to the Bird Park, but recently one fluffy toddler arrived in tow and, as usual, had no interest in feeding himself but instead chased the parent around with his mouth open, squawking for food.

I have always marveled at the relationships some people form with wild creatures but have never had any luck at it myself. A couple of years ago I tried engaging a particular crow in conversation but it didn't really go anywhere. I can identify a bird or two because of some unique physical characteristic, but that's it. There is Minerva with a swath of reddish feathers on the bottom of her left wing (I assign gender arbitrarily) and her companion with an odd feather jutting out from his left wing. I believe Minerva is back this year but, if it is her, she is looking a lot the worse for wear. Last year only a few wing feathers were a dull reddish color, now most of her feathers are faded and worn out looking. As for her friend, I don't know. Perhaps the wild-hair feather dropped out but I am saying the faded crow is Minerva and I put peanuts out with the two of them in mind.

Early this spring a new bird made it to the park, a very decrepit pigeon. It is amazing he even made it through the winter. This guy was really in tatters. Now when we go into the backyard, we are usually met with a full face flash point of wings which never fails to startle both us and the air. Big wings. Mostly big, squeaking pigeon wings pumping an emergency liftoff, occasionally mixed with the silent black wings of the crows. But Old Guy, as we called him, tottered away, maybe tossing a worried look over his shoulder but only, in the most desperate moments, was he willing to fly. We were his instant sympathizers and, if possible, avoided going into the backyard when he was around.

Old Guy's favorite place was what we call The Hills, a mound of dead sod Lee pulled up from the front last fall when he made a parking place for the off-road trailer. Old Guy liked The Hills, which we renamed Old Guy Hills in his honor. I'd show you a photo of him standing on them but my computer crashed yesterday, taking everything in the C Drive down with it. When will I ever learn? Lee partitions our hard drives to protect data from such things but I get lazy and don't move files to the safe D Drive so ... poof. No photo of Old Guy in the Old Guy Hills. He was sweet though. After surviving presumably his last winter, he loved standing on the topmost mound, some two or three feet above the world. I put a tasty mix of cracked corn and seed in a crevasse at his feet but he didn't always eat it. He just liked to sit in the sun on his mountain top and dream. Good last days.

For a couple of years a little sparrow I named Buddha Bird hung out around the house. I don't know if she was old but she was very different. She liked sitting on the lawn chair in the back, or lingering in the shadows of a cubby under the fence. Sometimes she perched for a long time on a warm rock or meditated for close to an hour on the limb of tree. She reminded me of certain passages from Desiderata. "Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence." She hasn't been back this year. "You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here." I miss her. "Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul."


But this spring, I have a new friend, reminding me of the old adage "be careful what you ask for."

A precocious crow has adopted me. He likes to talk and perches on the old wireless dish on the roof above the Bird Park and chatters away, three caws then silence. I caw back and so we go. It's fun. He doesn't fly off when I open the back door, walk across the yard or stand there making eye contact. He doesn't mind that I mangle his language but I can only imagine what the neighbors think. Good thing the immediate ones are nearly deaf, half blind or drunk. My friend and I have had many rousing conversations but now he has decided that 6 am is a good time to chat and has made a habit of sitting on the roof and doing his little three caw number for about fifteen minutes before starting his day. Lovely. He reminds me of a favorite childhood poem I used to make my mother repeat to me, "A birdie with a yellow bill, hopped upon my window sill, cocked his shining eyes and said, ain't you shamed, you sleepy head." I wish Buddha Bird were here to teach him, I'll call him Charlie, something about meditation.

Bernie does the Comma

Bernie Beauchamp promises his marionette theatre is so edgy that it will "rip the head off of conventional puppetry" but his show at Comma Coffee had about as much edge as a balloon. Of course my own Invisible Theatre productions can hardly be called edgy themselves, including gripping episodes of three heads swinging in a swing to the music of William Shatner, but I make no claims. The low point in the Bernie's Saturday night performance was an ultra boring rendition of, not one but two, hard rock day glow guitar sync numbers but at that point the show went from middling to absurd and so became interesting as I am a fan of the meta absurd.

However on stage, and I suspect off, Bernie is a likable guy with a measure of grease paint for blood so in spite of the fact that no heads rolled, in its own sweet way, the show rocked. The tap dance number was especially nice as were a couple of the Vegas show tunes, perhaps because Vegas is itself a puppet show, just on a much grander scale. Eventually, some people in the audience started singing along, a baby laughed and danced as her mother dangled and bounced her over the floor and the marionettes charmed this particularly charming little girl in the big hat. It is fair to say that, especially for some, Bernie and his troope were a big hit. I just wanted more because his puppets are so darn beautiful, but maybe he toned it down for the Comma.

Bluesy Bessie

00:17


High point for audience

00:46


Rockin' with Janis

00:26

Your next chance to catch Bernie and his friends will be in Reno during the first annual extravaganza Dada Motel, June 28th - 30. They will be appearing at the Studio on 4th, the Trocadero Room in the El Cortez Hotel, and at the River Plaza.



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Ps. I did a quick search at YouTube on the subject and found Scott Land's marionettes. I don't know if they are really "edgy" either but they have interesting head and eye movements and interact with people which adds an extra dimension. As you might have guessed by now, I like puppets.



02:10

5th Friday

This is our first event as the 5th Night Company. I must say, it has been interesting so far and the performance is still 4 weeks away. We are attempting to bring together a lot of elements for a blue moon, leap year, only on a 5th Friday kind of thing. I suppose that in the unstoppable march of time, we shall see how it all plays out. I just finished the poster. It will go to the printer on Monday.