Morning Donut

Got your thinking caps on?

2010-03-14T18:28:00.000-07:00

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“When any government, or church for that matter, undertakes to say to it's subjects, this you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know the end result is tyranny and oppression, no matter how holy the motive.”

- Robert Heinlein
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I have a guest blogger appearing in today's post. I met Denny Chapin over at Pete Guither's Drug WarRant. Denny is the managing editor of AllTreatment.com, a directory for drug rehab centers and substance abuse information resource. He appeared at Pete's with a guest post on Cannabis and addiction: Marijuana Addiction - guest post and a discussion.

To get the gist of all this it would help to follow through on the discussions. Those of us who follow Pete's blog and participate in discussion are no slouches when it comes to drug policy. Drug policy reform advocates have been way ahead of today's Prohibitionists on web technology and savvy since, well, forever.

All of today's Prohibition II is promulgated and funded by the government and any organizations opposed to current drug policies are marginalized and insulted. Yet the forces of prohibition have long held sway only because they held power and purse strings. The wwweb changed that.

Just as an example... in Pete's post on the current UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs 2010 that took place this past week in Vienna, he says this:

I can’t resist showing this… The NGO’s (non-governmental organizations, including Transform, Harm Reduction Association, etc. many of whom are there to try to reform) tend to get shut out of key portions. However, they were promised a location to make their materials available to delegates.

The 160 representatives from 55 NGOs were given this table.

and he offered this photo of the one table 55 Non-Governmental Organizations were supposed to share:

So follow along with these discussions and see for yourself...

After Denny's posting, Pete followed up with a response: Marijuana Addiction - a response

After a vigorous discussion, again, Denny returned with a follow up post: Marijuana Addiction, part 3. Danny Chapin responds. This resulted in 63 responses. And it was my comments to this post that brought Denny to contact me, asking for an opportunity to post here.

And with me being the accomodating fella I am... any way here's Denny Chapin:

Bio:
Denny Chapin is the managing editor of AllTreatment.com, a directory for drug rehab centers and substance abuse information resource.

Should We Decriminalize Marijuana?

From a purely utilitarian perspective, one can arguably weigh the good and bad against each other, calculate these values according to some weighting system, and know the "right" action. The reality of everyday life, however, speaks differently. While we try to use Mill's calculus to decide the truly right action, we fail, and we fail miserably. Yet, regardless, we try to measure negatives and the positives from one another, and make what we deem is the right decision.

In speaking to the following questions and statistics, I in no way mean to claim I am fulfilling the complexity of the whole of this topic, but simply hope to show the information from a perspective, and make conclusions as I deem fit. As such, I'll preface my opinions with a disclaimer that I in no way represent the opinions of any institution, in writing this brief argument. I write simply to ask questions and hopefully challenge and evoke thoughtfulness. And with that, let me detail a few positives that could occur from the decriminalization of marijuana.

Decriminalizing Marijuana: Effects in the United States

Marijuana is used by 15.2 million people, at least, in the United States[1]. Of those 15.2 million people, in 2006, 829,625 people were arrested with marijuana related charges, and 89% of them were charges of possession only, with 11% making up sale and distribution related offenses[2]. The enforcement of these charges cost the United States government between 12 and 20 billion dollars a year. The United States federal budget for education in 2011 is 160.5 billion dollars, and if marijuana was decriminalized, that money could increase our federal education budget by 7.5 to 12.5%[3]. Decriminalization will also prevent these possession offenses from being processed through our police and court systems, increasing efficiency and, hopefully effectiveness, since police will be able to focus more on truly disruptive criminal activity related to stronger, more destructive drugs like meth, cocaine, and heroin that come into the United States from Mexico.

Does Decriminalization Create More Marijuana Users?

But despite these benefits, if we don't care about prosecuting individuals who use and possess marijuana, it seems logical to assume the use of marijuana would rise, since it's "less illegal" with less punishments. Interestingly, the contrary has been the case in the United States. The states of Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Oregon have all enacted marijuana decriminalization, where the offense of marijuana possession does not warrant jail time[4]. And these States have not seen an increase in marijuana consumption, as the Institute of Medicine's report on marijuana consumption indicates[5]. Another report from the Journal of Public Health is worth quoting:

The available evidence indicates that the decriminalization of marijuana possession had little or no impact on rates of use. Although rates of marijuana use increased in those U.S. states [that] reduced maximum penalties for possession to a fine, the prevalence of use increased at similar or higher rates in those states [that] retained more severe penalties. There were also no discernible impacts on the health care systems. On the other hand, the so-called 'decriminalization' measures did result in substantial savings in the criminal justice system.

- E. Single. 1989. The Impact of Marijuana Decriminalization: An Update. Journal of Public Health 10: 456-466.

We can see that decriminalization has proven to save American's tax money that would be wastefully spent on our criminal justice system in order to prosecute an overwhelming majority of marijuana users who possess an negligible amount of marijuana, missing the point of the actually preventing harmful drug distribution, crime, and violence.

How Should Treatment Centers Weigh In?

If decriminalization does not impact the number of people who use marijuana, marijuana treatment centers ought not to have an opinion about decriminalization as it relates to usage. And when it comes to costs, marijuana possession prosecution is simply a waste of money.

Most importantly, I think marijuana prohibition, decriminalization, legalization, etc, get a lot of buzz and force many to speak loud opinions about something most American's don't come in contact with on a very regular basis, and even rarer, to hear of someone who has a serious problem or caused themselves major harm because of marijuana. And to this degree, decriminalization is more of an afterthought in our social psyche, where the debate about medical marijuana and legalization take center stage.

So, to almost totally change subjects, I'd like to discuss what I believe is the true drug problem in America, alcohol.

The Real Problem: America's Relationship to Alcohol

In the United States, the most commonly abused substance is alcohol, a legal drug. Coinciding with this fact, treatment centers admit more patients suffering from alcohol abuse than any other drug, and of those patients, 29.9% of them admit themselves into treatment, as opposed to 14.8% of marijuana users admitting themselves into treatment[6]. Alcohol is a legal drug, yet in 2006, it caused 13,050 deaths from liver damage, and 22,073 alcohol-induced deaths, excluding deaths by drunken driving and drunken homicide[7].

Alcoholics and alcoholism is the purple elephant in the room of America's problem with substance abuse. And to this point, the fact that marijuana caused no deaths, has the fewest percentage of addicts admitting themselves to drug treatment on their own accord (along with 5.2x more people admitting themselves to treatment in sheer volume), and costs our country time, money, and energy, I believe marijuana consumption should require the least of our legislative "mindshare" when it comes to drug abuse.

Too many American have a dangerous relationship with alcohol, causing collapse in their body, their connection to their family members, and for our citizens, and scariest of all, the potential to get on the road and commit manslaughter. I feel regret that, as a blogger, the marijuana debate gets the most notice, when so many of us have been viscerally affected by an alcoholic in a truly upsetting manner. And to those of us who have not, we ought to count our blessings.

What should our government do? Make a change. But that is a whole other article ;)

Sources:
http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=3383
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=6376&page=R2
http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7370
http://www.drugwarrant.com/articles/treatment-statistics/
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/quicktables/quickoptions.do
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/alcohol.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/NCHS/data/nvsr/nvsr57/nvsr57_14.pdf
http://ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2010/02/02012010.html

notes

1 http://wwwdasis.samhsa.gov/webt/quicklink/US07.htm

2 http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7370

3 http://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/index.html

4 http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=3383

5 http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=6376&page=1

6 http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/quicktables/quickoptions.do

7 http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/alcohol.htm ; http://www.cdc.gov/NCHS/data/nvsr/nvsr57/nvsr57_14.pdf

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Obviously Denny Chapin has done his homework. Feel free to weigh in, I'll be checking comments in the a.m. and the p.m to keep this current.

Thanks Denny!
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“I believe that people have a right to decide their own destiny; people own themselves. I also believe that, in a democracy, government exists because (and only as long as) individual citizens give it a "temporary license to exist" - in exchange for a promise that it will behave itself. In a democracy you own the government - it doesn't own you. Along with this comes a responsibility to ensure that individual actions, in the pursuit of a personal destiny, do not threaten the well-being of others while the "pursuit" is in progress.”

- Frank Zappa

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the picking of pockets...

2010-01-30T07:09:00.000-08:00

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Calvin: "Do you believe in the devil? You know, a supreme evil being dedicated to the temptation, corruption, and destruction of man?"

Hobbes: "I'm not sure that man needs the help”

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My friend Carol, a schoolteacher in California, told me about this story...

In Madera just recently, the local school district superintendent received a 9% raise:

Budget-tight Madera Unified gives chief a raise

Facing severe budget cuts last year, the Madera Unified School District was forced to furlough workers, increase class sizes, and lay off more than 30 teachers and two dozen other employees.

But last month -- as another round of cuts loomed -- the district's board of trustees offered Superintendent John Stafford a new contract with benefits that equaled a 9% raise. It also promised him a retirement bonus. He was the only superintendent among similar-size school districts in the area to get a raise.

Teachers and union leaders were outraged. They chided the board for giving the district's top administrator a raise at a time when teachers are being pressured to work harder and, in some cases, are buying school supplies with their own money.

Stafford said that even though he asked for the new benefits in his contract, he didn't expect it would be so generous.

So what the heck is going on? I mean this isn't uncommon, this apparent spending of money like rich folk, when really there just isn't any money to be spent and others are making cuts and trying trying to find ways to make this all not hurt so much.

I've heard it said that every dollar spent on education is worth two dollars to society. I also know that one of the chief factors in keeping people out of prison is education. One overriding common denominator shared by those housed in our gulag of jails and prisons is that they are grossly illiterate and have only middle school education levels.

So, what's up MADERA? You lay off 30 teachers and your suprintendent of schools gets a raise? That must be one hot rocket of a super - a super superintendent - I tell you what. Because even tho' 30 teachers have been laid off you didn't have an equitable decline in student enrollment I'm sure...

This is one of those head-shaking moments... sigh... if someone can explain the wisdom in this (or even any common sense to it), please advise. Thanks...

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When the economy debacle hit there was a story that caught my eye:

Retirement Savers Lost $2 Trillion in the Stock Market

and rather than quote the story I'm grabbing this comment:

Lost Money

I'm 58, retired and totally disabled. My wife and I lost over 70% of our retirement based on what our "financial adviser" at Merrill Lynch told us. What a laugh. Now we are scrambling to keep our house, food in our mouths and medicine in our blood streams.

Does anyone know of law suits, individual or class action against Merrill Lynch for abusing and violation their fiduciary duties???

Just drop me an email-----

Regards

S.

So was there a bailout for the working folks like S? Didn't think so...

... but now we need to move on to this Mammonistic bit of gluttony - the Wall Street/Banking bonuses.

I'm not sure if our heads are entombed in the sand or we're (we being you and I, the distinctly individual citizens) just really not able to communicate with each other anymore but I know this blue collar, under employed senior male is pissed off. C'mon... what the hell!

- ok, I'm about to go off on a tangent so I'm gonna save that tangent and not digress, as hard as that is for me to do -

Here are 3 different takes on these executive bonuses, I found them to be both entertaining and relevant:

The earnings report for Main Street: A sorry account, indeed

Prakash Laufer

To add insult to injury to working America, in came the earnings reports from Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase. At these mega banks, balance sheets are healthy, profits are up and bonuses for top executives are bigger than ever. JPMorgan Chase just reported $11.7 billion in profits and $26.9 billion in compensation and bonuses. Goldman Sachs made a record-high profit of $13.4 billion in 2009 and is slated to hand out $16.2 billion in compensation and bonuses.

These are some of the same institutions whose predatory and unethically risky actions brought our economy to its knees. But, thanks to billions of dollars in government resuscitation, they seem to be recovering nicely from their near-death experiences.

The "earnings report" for the rest of the U.S., however, includes — drum roll, please — higher unemployment and continued foreclosures, with no relief in sight. It sounds like a raw deal because it is. Big banks and Wall Street financiers ignited the foreclosure crisis, setting our economy ablaze, resulting in the loss of millions of homes and jobs.

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Tax Wall Street Bonuses

Jim Hightower

Start with those bonuses. Yes, say the bankers, we're stuffing ourselves with money that we should be loaning out to help Main Street recover from the crash we caused, but – hey – we've also started a few charities to help, you know, the little people. So buzz off, killjoy.

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and then this little dittie from that bastion of the liberal media, CNN Money:

Botox to vacations: Where bankers spend their bonuses

Blake Ellis

Wall Street bankers are putting together their wish lists for 2010 -- and they're not holding back. After last year's dry spell, bonuses for top-level executives are expected to be sky high. Maybe even records.

At Goldman Sachs and Chase these execs are anticipating bonuses of more than $500,000 a piece, on average, so they'll have plenty to spend.

Read that one and weep, suckers!

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But seriously, back to my digression which is now no longer a digression! I knew I could do it... now what was it again?

... oh yeah...

I'm pissed! Listen, if there is someone using the terms liberal or conservative as hot button words, trying to get a rise from folks by lambasting in what I guess they hope is Twainesque in its literary brilliance, ignore the bastards! And you know who I'm talking about - the Limbaughs and his loud-mouthed peers. And I'm not talking about just those on Limbaugh's end of the political scale, I'm talking about all across the political field.

We cannot afford to be divided further. Lord knows we can always find reasons to not like and hate each other. Heck, a lot of us can't get along with our own families let alone neighbors or strangers, but we really have to take a break. We can't afford to let our national experiment in liberty fail. (and liberty has nothing to do with government)

Liberty is essential, it's like water. Without it we die. Either physically or spiritually... we die without the essentials.

Liberty, freedom... that is a state of being. It is in our contract, a universal declaration of individual human sovereignty. But with that sovereignty comes a great weight of responsibility. Because to be free we cannot deny freedom to another. Freedom is reciprocal recognition of another's right of existence as much as it is of our own existence. Were this a world of only one... cooperation would need not exist. But there are 7 billion of us crowding together here on this earth.

And we allow others to excite us to dischord at our own expense and at great risk to our social order. Finding ways to hate one another takes no effort, but it does tend to create a need for a referee - aka government. And the more dischordant we become the more need for someone to break up the fights.

We've moved beyond (and yes there are still some bastions of ignorance remaining where this doesn't hold true) using inciteful speech like "nigger." I mean I was a kid who thought the story of Little Black Sambo (there was a Sambo's restaurant chain - try opening a restaurant with that name today!) was great. I loved it. The first time I saw a black man I asked my dad if that man was little black Sambo. I'll wager he was embarrassed just a bit.

I see it these days... skin color is about as significant as hair color. We notice but we move on. So what keeps us apart? Why are we allowing our pockets to be picked like this? How can 1% of the population hold as much wealth as the the bottom 50%?

If someone is using inflammatory rhetoric, ignore them! Seriously... we need to seek cooperation, we need to create cooperation, we need to work this out together, cooperating is the only way to do do that! And this is a big ship and it's gonna take some strong arms to keep that wheel turning us back to the good.

It is not a competition of insults - that's for friends - and those who insult are a large part of the problem. They're the scab pickers that won't let wounds heal.

[and trust me, I'm not a liberal, I am a true independent and take my own stands on issues - the two party system is also part of the problem but that is another whole blogpost - æ]

So listen for venom, don't get sucked in thinking there is another segment of humanity that for some reason needs reviling. We're all the same, we all were once seed and egg (except for Dick Cheney), and those who seek to divide us are our enemies.

Those who seek to divide us... from within or without...

are our enemies.

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Reason # 32 for not tailgating...

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“Every kind of peaceful cooperation among men is primarily based on mutual trust and only secondarily on institutions such as courts of justice and police”

- Albert Einstein

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When disaster strikes... helping Haiti

2010-01-16T13:00:00.000-08:00

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“Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people.”

- Dr. Carl Sagan
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... sigh...

Guesstimates from Haiti on the death toll from the disastrous 7.0 earthquake is at 140,000. Haiti...

... a devastated landscape, a neglected population, a nation long a pawn of world powers and human greed and incivility...

Haiti, the western hemisphere's poorest country has long suffered from a human earthquake of exploitation, yet little has been done to alleviate that perpetual disaster. Thankfully humanity does have a compassionate streak that compels our actions, mobilizing us to provide aid, coming from all around the globe to lend our hands, our backs and resources.

My mind is so aswirl at what to say here, I can't keep up with my muse so bear with me while I sort and sift through my thoughts...

I denigrate no one's help in such a disaster - needs are immediate, instantaneous and overwhelming. Cries in the dark, crushed bodies, families broken, children orphaned, food and water scarce already becomes almost non-existent for most. Trauma and crisis, hunger... the wails of frightened and injured children...

Close your eyes and imagine the terror - and thank your stars for what you have, the blessings of stability.

I really wished I could understand or have someone explain to me how it is that the most noble human traits will arise in response to the Haitian quake yet we collectively ignore the hunger, malnutrition and starvation that takes tens of thousands of human lives - mostly childrens' lives - each and every single day.

I seriously, seriously cannot grasp the fundamental flaw that causes us to not just ignore the daily catastrophe of the neglected but to also endeavor so damn hard to kill and murder one another day after day after day... whether through warfare or civil/societal violence. (see, I'm starting to get steamed and if I were speaking I'd be swearing beyond using "damn")

And when I get really pissed off is when jackasses like Pat Robertson open their mouths and let the putrid dreck that fills their heads fall out. And Pat did, again. Jackass... here's what Pat said:

"Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it [...] They were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon III, or whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, we will serve you if you'll get us free from the French. True story. And so, the devil said, okay it's a deal."

To quote Red Foreman from That 70's Show "Dumbass!"

The best quote I've seen this morning while going about gathering my info comes from Andy Borowitz over at Huffington Post:

Pat Robertson has become a "public relations nightmare" and a "gynormous embarrassment to me, personally," God said today.

Yay god.

Add Rush Limbaugh to the Jackass List (if he isn't already in one of your top slots):

"Everything this president sees is a political opportunity, including Haiti, and he will use it to burnish his credentials with minorities in this country and around the world, and to accuse Republicans of having no compassion."

Thankfully the White House called Limbaugh's statement "really stupid." 'nuff said...

Back to the positive side... people who help. We have so many fine people helping through organizations like Doctors Without Borders(Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF), or, like here in Oregon, we have the Oregon Disaster Medical Team, all medical professionals reacting and working hard at getting their volunteers and equipment there expeditiously.

I don't have money to give, but I do have my art. And while I haven't heard back from them, I am going to donate 50% of the profits from any sales of my photos at RedBubble during Janruary (sic) and February, to the Oregon Disaster Medical Team. Framed prints run about $120 (US) and gift cards are $5 or so... I'll let you know how sales go. Please, do consider a purchase, I can use the $ too...

Here is the Gallery: welcome to the world I see...

And here are some samples:

Do what you can. Give money, give time, support the orgs supporting those in need. And please, ignore Pat and Rush. Amazing how it is that smart people can be so stupid...
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I watch Bill Moyers Journal on PBS Friday nights when I can. Last night I was able to catch his interview with Greg Mortenson on his work in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Amazing... people like this inspire me. These kinds of examples are just too freaking rare.

Craig Mortenson

Mortenson has so far built over 130 schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan, helping to educate nearly 60,000 children. For Mortenson it's a process of love. And of respect. He could not get any of his work done if he did not humble himself and adapt to the tribal/clannish culture of the region. He works through the elders, the local headmen and even the Taliban.

He spoke of his being taken hostage by a local group. He said he wasn't tortured but he sure wasn't treated well. Until he started talking to his captors about the upcoming birth of his child and asked for a Q'uran and an Imam to teach and translate. Funny... he explained that the Q'uran doesn't advocate suicide - it's a definite no-no - or any of the other nonsense the Muslim haters portray. He explained why his task of school building gains and holds support of the locals - it's because the Q'uran calls the pen mightier than the sword, calls for respecting the women and elders... I guess I'm going to have to learn more. Sigh... this education stuff just doesn't stop!

Mortenson is also an author and his book Three Cups of Tea
One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time is now mandated reading for any U.S. official working in Afghanistan, including our military generals. The book's site also includes his other books.

Again... these are the people who deserve our support. Mortenson has a program, Pennies for Peace. Here is a summary from the About The Program:

The Pennies for Peace service-learning program began at Westside Elementary School in River Fall, WI in 1994, when students, through their own initiative, raised 62,340 pennies to help Greg build his first school in Pakistan. Greg came to Westside at the invitation of his mother, Jerene Mortenson, who was the principal at Westside.

Aah... Greg also blogs, using Google's BlogSpot (same as Morning Donut): Greg Mortenson's Blog. I will be adding Greg's blog to my list of links in the left hand column of this blog.

As always, thanks very much for stopping by. The growth of this blog is on account of you all. I have nearly 1,000 visitors a month now, up just a bit from the 100 or so I was getting in my first year... and my readers are from all over the globe.

Fight for right, fight for peace, end the wars, feed the hungry, educate the uneducated... in other words - do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Peace
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“If I were asked to give what I consider the single most useful bit of advice for all humanity it would be this: Expect trouble as an inevitable part of life and when it comes, hold your head high, look it squarely in the eye and say, 'I will be bigger than you. You cannot defeat me.'”

- Ann Landers

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Avatar - The Word for World is Forest...

2010-01-08T21:41:00.000-08:00

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“The important thing is not the finding, it is the seeking, it is the devotion with which one spins the wheel of prayer and scripture, discovering the truth little by little. If this machine gave you the truth immediately, you would not recognize it,”

- Ursula K. LeGuin
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When I was a young man I was stationed in Thailand in 1973, serving with the Air Force. I lived in the small town of Takhli, north and a bit east of Bangkok. I arrived in March of '73, not knowing quite what I was getting into. I was a GI. I went where I was told and pretty much did what I was told.

I worked as a photo lab technician, running film processors, printers and doing copy work of the images produced by the F-111 pilots flying missions over Cambodia. We worked 6 days a week, 12 hour shifts - and there wasn't a lot of down time. When there was time off it was spent sleeping, maybe going to town for a Chinese movie (Bruce Lee!) or if Sunday was the day off we could go to the Takhli Gardens (Tahkli Ga-den) where local bands played rock and roll (sometimes good, usually mediocre to bad) and dance, drink and hang out.

In December of '73 we stopped bombing Cambodia. Suddenly my work went from 6 days on to 2 days on and 5 off. I went native. I rented a small bungalow in town for $25 a month (I think I was making about $200/mo) and spent my time reading, going to Bangkok or taking the bus east into the hills and visiting monasteries, or going to the ruins in Ayutthaya or hiking out into the local rice paddies with my camera and a few of the local dogs (snake alarms).

I spent a great deal of time laying in my front porch hammock, eating and sleeping while I was reading. Just out front of my complex was a kwiteau (Thai noodle soup) stand run by a woman by the name of Nit. Nit made the best kwiteau... I'd eat at least 2 bowls, maybe 3 and I had to be her best customer. I could send one of the little kids down with some money, give them a baht and Nit would bring my soup plus the spices in their little jars, fish sauce and a soda (orange spot!). The traditional kwiteau comes with luk chins, little pork meatballs. The slang for kwiteau with luk chin was monkey ball soup. Made with flat noodles, bean sprouts, green onions and shredded bamboo shoot - and of course monkey balls- it's ubiquitous and pretty standard street fare. And I love it.

But I digress... (again)(still, always)(I think I think and talk with a lot of digressions too...)

Anyone with a television couldn't miss the previews for the new Sci-fi flick Avatar. I went and saw it today with my kids. Wow. Don't miss it if you have a love for good movies.

Before the release of the movie the previews I saw made me think of Ursula K. Le Guin's wonderful classic novella, The Word for World is Forest.

I read the story (a Hugo Award winner) in a copy of Harlan Ellison's Dangerous Visions, a wonderful and challenging collection of science fiction and speculative fiction. Ellison is a master and his Dangerous Visions collections were great introductions for me to many authors of the genre. More importantly were the ideas entering my head. Politics, environmentalism, religion, spirituality, science, love, hate...

But Le Guin's story was a standout. It struck a note in me I had never heard. Well, at least didn't recognize...

Life is sacred... it is what is. I mean physics tells us that none of this... this whatever is around each of us, our space, our home, our environment... none of it exists. There is no matter, there is electricity and lots of space - what Michio Kaku calls the cosmic foam (or Custard as some I know prefer to call it) - that seperates molecules in their spinning and whirling dervish existence. But, here we are, tapping on keys on our qwertys, making sense or not. Life is all around us and I'll be damned if it ain't, 'cause it is. And I think we treat our home like shit. And that is the message of Le Guin's tale and of Avatar, the movie.

"We don't get it."

And we are the poorer for that. A disconnect like we have manufactured for ourselves away from the natural world is a dangerous thing. Especially if, as a culture, we are incredibly immature.

In reading reviews today I was looking for others who saw the Le Guin connection. And there are plenty. But there are other influences as well. Avatar is the epic tale, the iconic hero story, with a happy and good ending. If you were cheering for the tall blue folks and their big trees, of course.

That immaturity I speak of? It's plain and simple. We're spoiled. We have too much. We don't share and we don't play well with others much anymore. To those who would say "of course we care you hippie moron!" I can only say that in a world where 30,000 people die each day not from old age but from starvation and malnutrition, we obviously don't care. At least not enough as far as those 30,000 people go.

In Avatar we cheer for the natives and dislike the human invaders. We go against our own.

But not really. What we do by cheering the natives in Avatar is acknowledge humanity's indigenous roots. We have been humanoid for a long time. Like... a realllly long time. We've been civilized (and I truly do use the term loosely) for just a blink of time in our long existence as humanoids.

I've never really understood this arrogance we display... like this... this stuff we have, makes us any different than the us we were when we slept in caves and huts. And that's a scary thought. Not that we're like our native selves but that may have been like we are. Yuck...

Personally, I think we're devolving. I think we used to care more, before we discovered stuff. I believe we once loved sunsets more than mirrors, that we knew and respected the beauty, bounty and power of the natural world.

My images of nature are just that for me. For me trying to capture the raw, eternal beauty of this earth, our sole sustenance, is a duty. I remember well the day I stood for the first time in a crowd and spoke on bealf of the wild. I haven't turned back.

I will be reducing the prices on my prints from RedBubble in the next week or so. I'll post a new blog when I do.

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“To be matter of fact about the world is to blunder into fantasy -- and dull fantasy at that, as the real world is strange and wonderful.”

- Robert A. Heinlein

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Holidays, holy days and everyday days...

2009-12-20T17:19:00.000-08:00

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“For everything that lives is holy, life delights in life”

- William Blake
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For those of us in poverty, Christmas is not an easy time. Expectations and pressures to produce gifts can and do depress many.

This season has many faces. One of those faces was found dead on the street here in Eugene last December: Major Egan... why'd you do it? There are around 250,000 homeless veterans in the U.S. Many suffer from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). Deaths like that of Egan's touch me, they infuriate me and they help to feed my skepticism that humanity is salvageable as a specie.

On the other hand there are those who do act humanely, who give and share and make these winter holidays special. There are those who go about their lives and share Christmas with friends and family, give gifts to the kids and make the holidays special for those around them.

Whatever your perception and level of participation during this season's activities, remember that every day around our solitary blue water planet 10s of thousands of our fellow humans - our family of man - starve to death. We neglect those with the least and too often celebrate those whose riches are beyond boorish. We need a serious reprioritization of where our efforts and resources are aimed. We need to care and this time of year especially is the season to show that care. If you can, give. If you are needy, accept help. If you are just folk, celebrate and love your family and friends. Enjoy life. But always keep those with lives of tragedy in mind and maybe this year... leave an open seat and setting at your Christmas table as a reminder that there are far too many Major Egans falling asleep on our streets and back alleys, cold and often drunk, never waking again.

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My daughter Robin's choirs have been performing a lot this fall/winter. It's enjoyable doing my photographic thing for them. I know the choir director, Mike McCornack, appreciates it. One of my pleasures is watching the interactions between the teachers and the kids. Truly the best teachers love their students and in turn are loved in return. Teachers are a big part of our children's lives and should be a positive influence on them. Which is what I see watching Mike and Willamette HS' band director Bart Ellis direct their students. The kids smile, they enjoy (although you know what? there are young curmudgeons! I was shocked...) producing their music and they become better people for the doing. They work hard and it shows.

These images are from their performance last week of the WHS Winter Festival, a combined effort of the schools bands and choirs.

(this image is all bands, all choirs - and a few alumni who came on stage and joined the group for a great and wonderful performance of Handel's The Hallelujah Chorus, directed by Bart Ellis)

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Many years ago when I lived in California near the coast I used to spend a lot of time at the Guadalupe Dunes and Perfix Beach (I've blogged about that special place here. Why I mention it now is because during one of my camping trips to the Dunes and Perfix Beach (full moon, great weather) as I was walking at night along the beach I wanted some music other than (or to go with) the rythmic roar of the ocean's waves. At certain times of year the Bull Kelp "whips" that wash up on the beach dry out with the air bladder drying round and gourd-like. There are plenty of driftwood sticks and lots of small pebbles - the basic ingredients for a handmade rattle.

So that night, under the full moon and alone on a beach miles from anyone I created music with only the natural items in my local environment. Later on, after the trip, I was telling Grampa Semu about the rattle making experience. He told me the kelp rattles are indeed old style, once used by California's coastal tribes.

Under the coaxing of a dear friend I am going to begin making rattles again. I really am an artist. It's what floats my boat... I'd rather be creating than almost any other activity. So, I will be offering for sale these handmade rattles, roughly a foot long or so, made with supplies gathered on the coast in Central California, each one a distinct creation, unlike any other. The handles are leather wrapped and small shells are used as decoration. These are true Chumash style creations, based on my experience that full moon eve so many years ago.

They will be priced in the $50 - $75 range. If you want one made for you, contact me at allan_e@efn.org Here is one made for my friend Patricia way back in the '80s:

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While I'm dealing with art and being creative and offering you my artwork I want to show what the photo products from RedBubble (where some of my galleries are) look like. The galleries are here: welcome to the world I see...

I've set the prices so I have a decent margin. If you want tomething different than what is offered there, contact me and let's figure out how to meet your wants. I was real pleased with my RedBubble calendar and so were those I heard from who had purchased one. The prices for these prints framed is about $110. Print size is approximately 8" x 12".

Cards can be made from any of the photos in the galleries and run about $5

And of course I do portraiture:

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And just because there is already so much photography on here today... why not a few more. Enjoy (and thanks for stopping by)!

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And this year... remember that extra setting at your Christmas dinner table. For the Major Egans among us. They may go unseen, but they are here.

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“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.”

- Elie Wiesel

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Stupid, stupid, stupid...

2009-11-29T15:01:00.000-08:00

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“The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.”

- Harlan Ellison
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Ok... a bunch of stuff to cover! Let's get this gig started...

Stupid, stupid, stupid... I wouldn't want the karmic debt this dumb-ass just inherited. Criminy... I've included some relevant news articles below. The fact that these spend-my-way-to-enlightenment folks also fasted, including no water, shows how incredibly ignorant those who ran this were.

Kansas City Star:

Sweat lodge deaths cast negative spotlight on guru

James Arthur Ray led a group of more than 50 followers into a cramped, sauna-like sweat lodge in Arizona recently by convincing them that his words would lead them to spiritual and financial wealth.

The mantra has made him a millionaire. People routinely pack Ray’s seminars and follow the motivational guru to weeklong retreats that can cost more than $9,000 per person.

-snip-

50 people at $9,000 = $450,000

From Indian Country Today
Concerning the deaths in Sedona

Arvol Looking Horse (Chief Arvol Looking Horse is the 19th generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe Bundle.)

-snip-

Our ceremonies are about life and healing. From the time this ancient ceremonial rite was given to our people, never has death been a part of our inikaga (life within) when conducted properly. Today, the rite is interpreted as a sweat lodge. It is much more than that. The term does not fit our real meaning of purification.

Inikaga is the oldest ceremony brought to us by Wakan Tanka (Great Spirit). Nineteen generations ago, the Lakota/Dakota/Nakota oyate (people) were given seven sacred rites of healing by a Spirit Woman, Pte San Win (White Buffalo Calf Woman).

-snip-

What has happened in the news with the makeshift sauna called the “sweat lodge” is not our ceremonial way of life.

When you do ceremony, you can not have money on your mind. We deal with the pure sincere energy to create healing that comes from everyone in that circle of ceremony. The heart and mind must be connected. When you involve money, it changes the energy of healing.

-snip-

At Huffington Post:

What good are the ceremonies if they cannot save a people?

Tim Giago (Lakota)
Founder, Native American Journalists Association

-snip-

I am not going to dance around the consequences of Arthur Ray's stupidity because he was blatantly using a religious ceremony of the Native Americans to enrich himself and what is worse, he didn't know any of the sacred rites that accompany the inipi nor did he know the Lakota/Dakota/Nakota language, an intricate part of the ceremony.

According to the recognized and respected wicasa wakan (holy men) of the Sioux Nation, the Tunka Oyate (Spiritual Grandfathers) know and understand the Native tongues of the Sioux people and any inipi ceremony without this ingredient is no ceremony at all. That should have been the first clue to the new agers attempting to usurp the rituals of the Sioux, rituals that are much older than the Holy Bible.

-snip-

And finally, the NY Times:

Deaths at Sweat Lodge Bring Soul-Searching

-snip-

At least seven other people have died in ceremonial sweat lodges since 1993 in the United States, England and Australia, according to news accounts compiled by Alton Carroll, an adjunct professor of history at San Antonio College who also moderates the Web site Newagefraud.org.

James Arthur Ray, a self-help expert from Carlsbad, Calif., led what was billed as five-day “spiritual warrior” experience at Angel Valley, which concluded with a tightly packed sweat lodge ceremony. Participants paid about $9,000 each for the weeklong retreat, which included seminars, a 36-hour fast and solo experiences in the forest.

The authorities say that at any one time 55 to 65 people were packed for a two-hour period into a 415-square foot structure that was 53 inches high at the center and 30 inches high on the perimeter. Mr. Ray’s employees built the wood-frame lodge, which was wrapped in blankets and plastic tarps. Hot rocks were brought into the lodge and doused with water. Mr. Ray, who conducted the ceremony, left the area on Thursday after declining to give a statement to the police.

-snip-

Dr. Carroll, who is partly of Mescalero Apache descent, said the Angel Valley sweat lodge was the “best example I have seen, sadly, in a long time of why it is extremely dangerous to conduct sweat lodge ceremonies without proper training.”

OK, I put those together soon after this incident occurred. What has our most recent enlightened ego guide encountered in the weeks since this sad, sad (did I mention stupid?) incident?

Well, let's see...

Hmmm... it seems the lawsuits are piling up. No surprise there, he deserves his day (or days) in court. I also know some Lakota fellers that would love to have some time with him, perhaps in one of their "warrior sweats" where they really crank up the heat.

I've participated in big lodges, small lodges, hot ones, warm ones, family sweats and men only sweatlodge ceremonies. The only injury I've ever seen came when someone (non-Indian) used the wrong kind of rocks and they exploded in the fire. As karma goes this was pretty instant because it was the one who picked the rocks that got zapped by flying shards. I think they hurt.

I've written here about the sweatlodge before, so I'm gonna repeat myself (I once was head of the Department of Redundancy Department) a bit.

The sweatlodge ceremony is really, really old. Native American traditions pretty uniformly agree the ceremony is so old know no one knows how old it is and often it is a tribe/nation's oldest ceremony. But sweating is, after all, an international affair. For some it was hot baths in hot springs, for others - like my kin in Scandinavia (hello Lillkrokvik!) - the sweat practice is conducted in the sauna.

The problem Mr. Ray encountered is that he copied the sacred ceremony of the sweat and then ran it as a means to make money. Wrong wrong wrong. The sweat is the most humble of ceremonies and often the most humbling. You sit on the ground in a structure made from sticks and covered with whatever. Again unfortunately, Ray's folks at Angel Valley covered theirs with plastic tarps. Wrong wrong wrong. But in the lodge there is nothing but water, earth, fire and air... on the ground in a dome of sticks... no choirs, no fancy stained glass, maybe some sweetgrass, maybe some sage, cedar... maybe even someone will sing who has a good voice. Even the prayers are humble and pretty generally never for one's self but directed towards those in need - food for the hungry, shelter for the homeless, blankets for the cold ones... protection for the voiceless...

Ray's instructions also called for fasting prior to the ceremony, including a fast from water. Duh... hello? A sweat lodge can drain a body, sweat can just pour off a body to the point that the body's sweat is no longer salty. Of course that's one of the health benefits of sweatlodge, a complete flush of the body's water supply.

Your skin is your body's largest organ and holds toxins that can accumulate. A sweatlodge heats your entire body - in a sense it is an oven - and one's body gets hot all the way thru. It sweats! Lots... and lots. If you don't have water in you, your body will revolt, kind of like a collective "oh no you don't!" from your organs. Add to it the possibility of the wrong rocks or the addition of some "special herb mixture" and you have a recipe for disaster. And of course the proof is in the pudding... 3 dead, dozens injured.

Native people are glad to share, they'll give 'til it hurts. But when you desecrate their sacred things, you've gained a whole lotta people not liking you so much. I've never been chased away from a sweat, never been criticized by indigenous folks for doing my own sweats... but I have been trained, I've participated in hundreds of sweats and every one is a learning experience. I also respect my own indigeneity...

We ALL are indigenous. There is no escaping that little truth. Everything we have (except for those moon rock samples) has come from the earth. We are earth...

James Ray... I most certainly hope you get all you deserve and that no one ever gives you another dime again.

How sad... can you say "cheese"

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And some photographs... I've been away from the blog for over a month, been working on some changes. Here's one of the biggies:

Gone, the moustache I've had for about 15 years since last I didn't have it. Gone, the hair...

I've had my long hair for 35 years. When I got my last haircut in October of 1974 it was my last one because, 1) I was wanting to become a hippie, 2) I had people telling me to get my haircut for 24 years, and 3) I decided I was going to go 24 yers w/o getting a haircut. I've adapted my life, my social/cultural relationships around being a man with long hair. And yeah, I ran into plenty of cultural bigots. Idiots I prefer to call them. But I've always had the option of NOT having long hair. Skin color can't be changed. And if that's what you've got for an excuse to hate... how sad for you...

Bigots suck. We're all bigoted to a point, but most of us work on growing up and acting like adults who live in a world we have to share with a variety of folks. I mean really? I don't like a whole lot of people and am a pretty private person, but I'll be damned if humanity doesn't keep shining through our patina of collective stupidity, displaying wonderful, loving and good hearted acts of grace. And those moments are almost worth all the other shit we put each other through and keeps me from just writing humanity's sorry ass off. Hate is just bad form... and we all benefit the less there is of it.

So... the hair is gone, the 'stache is gone. Why? It was time. Things in my life are changing. I have stuff I need to accomplish in this last decade or maybe two left to me here. My photography is at a level that I have to get out there and sell myself. I can't keep climbing ladders and scrambling on rooftops for too much longer. And I certainly can't make as much money in the building maintenance biz as I can looking through my camera.

So, for a bit, my posts may be spread out a ways. I'll try and get images posted if I don't have time to write.

AND BY THE WAY! Thanks to those who have purchased my calendar. I could stand to sell a few more though, so please, support the arts, support your local artists... buy one of my beautiful, all Oregon images calendars: Allan Erickson's Oregon
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My daughter's choir joined with the high school's Jazz Band to hold a PieFest as a way to raise money for a trip the band plans to make. As always, it was a fun show and I took the camera to provide images to both groups (a funny sidenote here, at 58 I finally get my photographs into the high school yearbook!):

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Went up to Washington for Thanksgiving dinner with my little sis and her family. The trip began with this moment of terror:

my son Alex, has his driver's permit. After some heavy pre-trip trepidation it was the realization that my dad had to teach me freeway driving in L.A. that helped eased my nervous hesitation. He did real well... he even drove thru some fairly heavy rain:

(I even sat in the backseat, thus the, uh, backseat view)

We had a wonderful dinner, some good family time. My grand niece Keira provided a great target for my camera:

I love my rural NorthWest... I-5 may be handy but it's not pleasant for me to drive it. Which is just my distaste for BIG showing through I guess. Once I get a chance to get off the freeway, I do. We caught this scene as we crossed the Chehalis River at Porter after leaving my sister's on our way back to Eugene:

I also have to admit a prejudice for liking Portland. I love its skyline and passing through at dawn or dusk is always a treat. This shot taken from my perch in the backseat:

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And here are a few more just 'cause:

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- “The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.”

- Albert Einstein

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KRVM

2009-10-21T18:39:00.000-07:00

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“Music and rhythm find their way into the secret places of the soul”

- Plato
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When I first came to Eugene one of my great "discoveries" (think Chris Columbus) was finding a local commercial free radio station. A station that plays Rock and Roll, Blues, Bluegrass, Reggae, World, Classical, Swing, Country...

The station? KRVM... "A high powered mega-corporate owned station where the music is mainsteam and the DJs without personality?" you may ask... "No," I respond, "a station run 99 % by volunteers, housed in a local High School and operating at 1100 Watts." That, dear friends, is (or was) KRVM, 91.9 FM .

These days things are - like the rest of life - the same, but different. KRVM is still housed in Sheldon High School, here in Eugene. During the school year student DJs are still spinnin' the wax in the daytime.

You see, KRVM has a mission:

"To provide quality community radio while educating area high school students and volunteers in the techniques of broadcasting."

Really. This station TEACHES people! Really... and they entertain. Evenings and weekends have programs tailored to specific musical genres. Here is their program guide. Personally... I have my favorites but you should go see what programs they have that fit your tastes. After all, you don't have to be in Eugene to listen to KRVM. And you don't have to listen to 1100 Watts. These days the station is scorching the ether with 15,000 Watts of listening power - ONLINE as well as on the FM dial of your radio! Yes... this little slice of that something-is-right-in-the-world pie can be heard anywhere that has internet. To listen online go HERE. Also... not only is KRVM now broadcasting at 15,000 Watts, they're broadcasting in HD. That rocks.

The folks who host KRVM's programs are knowledgeable and personable and they don't play commercials! They may have short blurbs about the businesses that underwrite much of the station's costs but they also read the names on-air of those listeners who donate, even if you're a supporting listener in Dublin, or Cincinatti, or Morocco!

I really have only a few shows I make it a point to listen to. Otherwise I'm content with whatever is on. On Wednesday, between 5 and 7 p.m. is Professor Pete with "the Bump School - the best in funk - new skool, old skool & nothin' but funk." And of course, where would I be without the native tunes Nick Sixkiller lays down on Thursday nights at 7. Indian Time plays a lot of powwow music, but Nick mixes in rock (Indigenous!), folk (Joanne Shenandoah) and the razor sharp tomes of John Trudell. Nick starts each show with Jake Swamp's "Giving Thanks" from Joanne Shenadoah's wonderful Covenant album.

Nick Sixkiller

Of course... being the old '60s and '70s era fan that I am, my favoritest show is on Saturday's at noon... Magical Mystery Tour, hosted by Ed K and TC. Of course you may also find Nick Sixkiller sitting in as host, or the Professor himself, Jivin' Johny Etheridge. That's the way this station is... you just can't lose! I mean heck, you can even listen in on Sunday evenings to Rockin' Rome dancing in his underwear...

Oh, and by the way... KRVM is in the midst of a pledge drive right now. If you go HERE, you can donate and maybe receive a gift from KRVM. Support radio that supports us, the listeners! And without the support of the listeners, KRVM would not exist!

Many thanks to Ken Martin and Nick Sixkiller for giving me the ok to come down and shoot the station during Indian Time (Thursday nights at 7pm!). So folks, here is an inside (and outside, but not so much) look at the greatest radio station ever... Welcome to KRVM:

Karen Proden. host of Thursday Free 4 All (a variety of acoustic, rock, world and electronic music - plus occasional studio interviews.)

Karen and Nick

Jivin' Johny Etheridge

Two minutes to airtime!

Look at Nick go! 1 minute to airtime!

Nick talks to a listener... with only 30 seconds to go! Will he make it?!?!

Headphones on, Chief Jake Swamp cued up... it's 7 o'clock and Nick's on the air.

And the stacks of CDs:

KRVM is a classic and wonderful slice of what is best about Eugene. And a slice of what I like best about people...

Oh, and when you join KRVM, tell 'em "that Donut guy sent me."

A few items I should have added when I did the original blogpost:

Friends of KRVM
KRVM-FM - Wikipedia
KRVM 91.9 FM on MySpace
KRVM 91.9 FM - Facebook
KRVM (KRVM) on Twitter

And "Oh" #2... don't forget to buy one of my all new, first ever, awesomely beautiful 2010 calendars!

Until next time...
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“It's not true I had nothing on, I had the radio on.”

- Marilyn Monroe

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Thoughts...

2009-10-05T16:23:00.000-07:00

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“Without forgiveness, there's no future”

- Desmond Tutu
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Ok, first things first.

2010 is coming up. We all need calendars don't we? heh... (drumroll please)

Well I have calendars! Yep... now don't hurt yourself in your orgasmic fit of glee and joy... but if you enjoy my photography and like reading my blog, be one of the first to buy my first-ever photo calendar:

Oregon

Doesn't that just make your mouth water? And at only $25.65? Wow... buy 10 and give them out as Christmas gifts!

But really? These are nice, quality stock calendars and your purchase(s!) will help me continue doing whatever it is I do. What do I do anyway? Hmmm... I'm gonna have to look into that.

Thanks friends. Support the arts and support your local artists.
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Many years ago... decades ago actually... I lived with a woman (yes, a woman. Shocking isn't it?). We lived together for quite a few years and I was unofficial step-dad to her daughter. She was near life-long best friends with my best friend's now-wife (who is also one of my best-friends). We did stuff together. We got along really well. My family liked her. Her family tolerated me... She was my match. No offense to any woman I've been with since, but she was the best. Gorgeous/cute, small, smart, funny... sigh...

... and then shit happened. It ended. Life went on for us both and we never saw each other again.

Well, I had wondered all these years what happened to the daughter and about a month ago did some googling and came up with a phone number. I called and the gentleman I needed to talk to wasn't home. Later that evening I get an email from best friend's wife with a picture of C, the woman I used to live with. Well, with some more googling one thing (as they tend to do) led to another and C and I are now back in contact. We've exchanged emails and spoken on the phone a few times. This Saturday we'll be seeing each other again for the first time in over 25 years. I figured she'd be living in some upscale multi-$100K type house so big she'd have someone hired to clean it. Wrong. She's single...

I know the dangers of projecting so I'm not investing any what-ifs, nor am I ignoring the obvious... and the obvious to me is that the universe has a weird sense of humor! I'm heading to California to my nephew's wedding this Saturday. C's nephew has his wedding Saturday. My nephew's is at 6 pm. Her nephew's wedding is at 6 pm.

I mean c'mon... God has a script writer? Anyway, it should be fun. I'll clue you all in somewhere down the road. But not a bad tale, eh?

And remember I said she was smart? Well she teaches HS lit. And she writes.

You all didn't know I also wrote poetry did you? I haven't much since college (as someone once said to me "we all write poetry in college") but C sent a poem, I responded with one of my own. She sent another, I responded with one of my own. Here then are those poems, published here for the first time anywhere, ever! ©Copyrighted of course...

C's #1:

Before Desire sighed her first
lonely breath, this was unfolding;
from the rise of her heave came Love
and with the fall of it came Life.
Between the two you and I gasped
our first breath on a path free,
curious, blessed, and inspired.
This is my source, my spring,
my umbilical cord nourishing me
with Desire eternally.

From what source are you?
Is it the same as mine as I claim
or is it Nature that gave to Uruk
its walls gleaming like copper;
its leagues of city, gardens, lowlands
and temples laid out by the Seven Sages?
Open your copper tablet box—
open its bronze lock and tell me
the gleaming glory of your source.
I desire to know.

And I responded with this:

Desire...?
... to get home
again, lost
on trails crossing generations
following...
what? Life? Love?

Or is mere survival
the core? Desire?

My desire is light
love and flesh and kin
desire to crush
those who hate and harm
desire to cradle
babes and lovers,
petals and feathers...

Desire to get home
to leave these plunderers
desire to be safe
a moment, an eve
a day, a year,
a life...

Home... the source,
the well,
springs eternal
quench the thirst
when long journeys
lead us on
paths shared,
paths lost,
paths found again.

Desire? Desire? DESIRE?!?

God yes...

In all its forms
desire drives and lifts
and builds and crashes
mighty walls.

Desire...
... a touch
that makes us gasp,
that gasp
that is solely the moment
and uniquely
ubiquitous.

Desire?

Like Joseph
the Chief
and Teresa the Saint,
Martin the lamb...
desire drives
unbidden.

Source?

...aaah, yes.

So I wrote another and because that's the way she is, C responded with her own. I like the way they dovetail side by side:

Spontaneous Eruption______Visceral affection

I see not_________________I feel surely
what is ahead_____________what is ahead
I know this road___________I know this chance
curves__________________awaits
and twists________________with promises
and passes places__________and lingers divinely
ever much so strange_______laced with grace so dear

And I may pause__________And I may recall
or stay a bit_____________or remember differently
but I travel______________but I recall
often long periods________the tender nights
alone_________________together
never afraid____________youthfully hopeful
for me_________________for us
but for those_____________but for us
whom I love_____________love melted down

And tragedy stalks_______Yet Draconian vows
while blessings make_____prove matchless when
this road sometimes______fate with peace
sweet.____________________embrace.

Epic should it be__________Epic surely it is
an adventure shoor_______a journey needed
because always___________because surely
- it seems to me -________-it seems to me-
a shortage________________a curse
of men___________________of men
and women willing________and women unwilling
to give all_________________to affirm their soul
that it takes_______________and live nobly
to make this place_________to make this place
THIS earth________________THIS earth
ours again.________________ours again.

Want to___________________Sure, let's
walk awhile?_______________walk awhile,
Talk awhile________________Talk awhile
and share_________________get caught up
this path a bit_____________and gaze up
and perhaps_______________at the moon again
a meal____________________over a meal
maybe two?_______________or two or three.

And that's it. No photos today, altho I have quite few to put up. I'm going to try and do another post before I head to dueling weddings this weekend. If not, then next week for sure.

Thanks for stopping by for a donut! I'll be back soon.
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“My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together”

- Desmond Tutu

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alright...

2009-09-11T07:35:00.000-07:00

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“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.”

- Henry David Thoreau
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I've been real busy. What with the Eugene Emeralds finishing their last season ever at Eugene's beautiful and historic Civic Stadium, 2 senior sittings, working 3 shows in a week (2 at the McDonald Theater, 1 at the Cuthbert)... son and daughter heading back to school...

Anyway, I just wanted to give a heads up on a few things.

First off... !!! I have a new site for my photos. This is an arts site, for artists. Image hosting is free and I'm just blown away by the quality of the artists. Wow. And yesterday I had one of my images featured on the site's homepage after only being there 5 days (apparently that's a major accomplishment at RedBubble). The wwwebsite is RedBubble and my galleries can be found here. Everything in the gallery is for sale and you can order direct from the site. Please do!

The Emeralds closing games were beautiful - photographically and humanly. I have to give props and thanks to the Bebans for allowing me to continue as the team's photographer and for their love of the game and the stadium. I'll be posting more at my Eugene Emeralds Photography blog on the closing of Civic plus posting a gazillion photos of the Ems and the fans.

I will also be posting a gallery of the 3 senior sittings I've done recently over at my photographer's blog. Thanks to the girls for being such great subjects - Kayla, Robin and Sam.

And I was speaking of working shows... last night (Wed, Sept 9) I was at the McDonald Theater working the Michael Franti and Spearhead show. Of all the shows I work Spearhead is the most fan involved... literally everyone is bouncing and dancing and having a good time. I'll be at the beautiful outdoor Cuthbert Amphitheater tomorrow night working the Crosby, Stills and Nash show. I don't know if I can take my camera to that event... some artists don't want pictures taken of them I guess... I do know I shot over 200 pics last night and I'll be posting plenty of them soon.

And I'd still like to get this shot to this family... I ran into them at the "new" bridge just above Opal Pool and my digital Pentax was new to me. But it is such a nice family picture I'd really like them to get a copy.

Now... here is a dilemma that not only touches on the freedom of religion issue but has caused some consternation at times in my life. Say you're doing a day hike, somewhere out in the woods, the hills, along a river trail... and right in front of you is this:

Do you:

a) pick it up and keep it as a special find, or

b) walk by it and admire it but don't pick it up?

For me it's an easy answer - pick it up! Of course...

... but once you possess such an item you are in violation of federal law and can be fined up to $5,000 and a year in jail. For me? That feather is from creator and it being in my path is a sign of recognition and a great gift. But here is the rub, I am not a recognized member of any indigenous tribe here in the US and only tribal folks can posess such items. No matter the circumstance of its being found, no matter even that my religious beliefs and practices are intimately connected to the land... I am not legally permitted to carry such an item. Sigh...

I've mentioned way back in the blog somewhere the music project "One Giant Leap." Well by now if you're a regular reader you know I like my PBS. OPB (Oregon's public broadcasting station) is really full of fine programming. Well last night I watched a bit of Playing for Change and I can't recommend it enough. If you like music and understand its potential as a bridge over troubled waters, this show is for you. But here, you decide, check out this version of Bob Marley's

War/No More Trouble

And I would embed the video here but being on a dial-up modem totally restricts that option for me.

Peace out... I'll be back.
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“Herb is the healing of a nation, alcohol is the destruction.”

- Bob Marley

“I always felt rock and roll was very, very wholesome music.”

- Aretha Franklin

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Happy Birthday Robin...

2009-08-28T12:05:00.000-07:00

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“And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.”

- Abraham Lincoln
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My daughter Robin just turned 18.

Happy Birthday baby girl!

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“It takes a long time to grow young.”

- Pablo Picasso

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Fotographic Phriday...

2009-08-21T11:45:00.000-07:00

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“Our task must be to free ourselves...by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.”

- Albert Einstein
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Little to say, in fact I'm not sure which photos I'll be posting. I usually gather 'em up and hold them in a folder until I'm ready to post. So... pardon me while I dig thru my virtual pile of photos and find some recent goodies. I'll be right back...

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ok... these are all recent.

And seriously? The photos scattered throughout the Morning Donut's archive are for sale as prints, and I could really use the money. I could use a lucrative shooting assignment as well. Heck, even a moderately good paying schtick would help. So contact me... anyway... here ya go, enjoy:

Shot at Portland's Saturday Market. The fellow with the accordian was great. I went and met a friend for lunch (Hi Cinde!) and was amazed at the quality of the street musicians... I'm not much on Arts and Crafts so I have no idea about the merchandise there but I sure enjoyed a perfect Sunday afternoon of Portland summer weather.

The couple here is from Brazil. They asked if I would take a picture for them on their camera and I said "sure, as long as I get to take one of you two for my blog." I didn't even get their names but as you can see they were enjoying their NW summer visit and more than happy to share their day with me/us.

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The Ems continue to be a wonderful venue for my work. These two shots represent a couple of different aspects of the game for me. The first, of Ems' manager Greg Riddoch, is another image portraying the human, family oriented aspect of minor league ball. The player is left-handed pitcher Nick Greenwood, introducing his dad to Rid. These guys may look like men but they're really young men - kids - and no amount of talent will serve them better than their bonds and relationships and the quality of people they encounter on their road thru (or out of) the minor leagues.

This second shot is Ems' catcher Jason Hagerty tossing his bat aside, just taking off for first after launching a pitch for a hit into the outfield. The pose is classic sports photography and it's so cool to be able to grab that specific split second. Just like Chick Hearn, Jim Murray and Vin Scully (I'm a west coast guy so forgive the obvious territorial nature of the examples) are classic sports voices, there are those moments where image wise, it all comes together. Others have done it, obviously, but within a game there are really only a limited amount of visual moments to capture and they're repeated game after game after game so it's natural to see similar images throughout a sports history.

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The rest of today's pics are from here at the farm.

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The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives.”

- Albert Einstein

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Life, and death...

2009-08-12T11:01:00.000-07:00

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“For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one”

- Kahlil Gibran
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Walter Cronkite Dies

So long Uncle Walter, thanks for the memories... I was there pretty much the whole way. Of course journalism has changed and few it seems are those in mainstream media today who are real journalists.

Of course if you want a news desk that talks, a talking head that makes sense, I'd recommend the Daily Show's Jon Stewart. He's funny, topical, accurate, has great guests... and probably next in line for the title of "America's most trusted man." But that may just be me...
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One of my problems in posting was that my niece has just lost a baby. His birth and death are the same day. The family gathered at my sister's house for a memorial service last weekend. It was not a raucous affair but it was good seeing the family get together. My siblings and I get older. Our kids are adults (or soon-to-be adults) and there are more little ones than there were a few years ago.

I may post the photos from that service but not today. I've already loaded the ones below and I need to select the ones I want to post here. Here is Kyler's obit:

Kyler Jay Frichette

Born in Seattle, Washington on Jul. 27, 2009
Departed on Jul. 27, 2009 and resided in Elma, WA.

Kyler Jay Frichette of Elma, died Monday, July 27, 2009 at Swedish Medical Center, Seattle. Kyler is survived by his parents JD and Kirsten Frichette of Elma. He is also survived by his brother and sister, Carter & Keira Frichette of Elma and grandparents, Peggy Frichette and Lori & Curt Rupe.

He is preceded in death by his grandfather, Gary Frichette and great-grandparents, Sig & Vivian Erickson, Mary & Floyd Rupe and George Novotny. According to the family “Kyler Jay- the son we lost too soon, but will forever be in our hearts”.

The family suggests in lieu of flowers, memorial donations be made to the March of Dimes. A private celebration of Kyler’s life will be held 2PM Saturday, August 8, 2009 in Elma.

And I was asked to write a poem for my unseen and unmet nephew. Here is that poem:

Kyler Jay Frichette

aaah... little one

spark of life,

spark of love,

spark of hope...

dimmed so soon
so much too soon
but no regrets
please know my tiny nephew
all is love

a mother
a father...
family all around
who will miss you
weighted not by what wasn’t
but buoyed by loving,
sharing grief
and us all wishing you well

in peace please go
and greet
those gone before
who know our love
and will bless you just the same

In life... a glow

in the void?

who’s to know
but here...
... your light remains
the essential spark
of light
come anew in dark

Blessed babe
down the road
may we all meet you
with a smile...
a hug...
and the quiet recognition
that makes us say

“aaah...”
little one
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And here's my current offering of photos. Yep, the guy on the hay bale is me (my daughter took the photo).

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“Birth and death are not two different states, but they are different aspects of the same state. There is as little reason to deplore the one as there is to be pleased over the other.”

- Mahatma Gandhi

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aaah... summer... means more bayzboll!

2009-07-19T17:29:00.000-07:00

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“Passion, it lies in all of us, sleeping... waiting... and though unwanted... unbidden... it will stir... open its jaws and howl. It speaks to us... guides us... passion rules us all, and we obey. What other choice do we have? Passion is the source of our finest moments. The joy of love... the clarity of hatred... and the ecstasy of grief. It hurts sometimes more than we can bear. If we could live without passion maybe we'd know some kind of peace... but we would be hollow... Empty rooms shuttered and dank. Without passion we'd be truly dead.”

- Joss Whedon
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Sorry about the prolonged absence... shit happens. Like computers having issues at really bad times. Like... you know, WHEN YOU NEED THEM! Damn...

My last post was on the Ems and the opening -- again -- of their season (my 3rd). And when the Ems season starts, my summer workload goes up. Going to the games, shooting the action, the fans, that is an act of love. I'm happy, nothing exists beyond the local environment. I'm focused on what's around me and shooting at Civic Stadium... sigh... how can I go wrong?

With this being my 3rd year I know the light, the sweet spots for photographing the action... and I have fun. Shooting. The work comes when I am sitting here at the 'puter and editing all those images. Unless...

... unless the computer has issues. And mine did. I'm on a humble eMac. 20 Gigabytes and just the software installed, no additional anything. I don't use PhotoShop and I hardly use much beyond the word processing and iPhoto. Of course I'm on the internet and I have my duties wwwebwwwise, but this computer has served me and my kids for about 6 years now. Faithfully, day in and day out, this little dynamo has served my family well. But...

... but, like anything else, a little rain must fall. And as happens for many of us, when it rains it pours. First my CD burner died. A critical tool because I burn CDs for the Ems and for my files of every game I shoot. Well, ok, I think "I'll get that fixed" but then my day job kicks into overdrive because it's summer and I can't get the computer to be fixed because I'm short on time and short on dollars after a really sparse financial winter and spring. And of course there is always Murphy.

When I worked in lumber I learned that not only did Murphy work in the lumber industry I came to believe he was born in a lumber yard. Because... well... because shit will go wrong in the lumber biz. Friday afternoons it's guaranteed that someone will come in when it's close to closing and what they want is now buried, in the back and at the bottom. Or when a truckload of lumber comes in and the forklift gets a flat... Murphy gets around.

Anyway, I tried to download all my Ems shots and store them on my external hard drive but pushing all those photos onto my backup caused my iPhoto to freeze up. So now I'm really stuck. Not only can I not burn CDs I can't even process the images! I'm screwed. And of course my bud and boss, Bryan Beban, the Ems general manager and director of operations of Civic Stadium is getting... mmm... agitated. He basically tells me that he has folks waiting for photos and where the heck is his stuff. He says he's put his faith in me and dammit I better produce. Of course the next game he sees me and says "sorry I sounded like a dick but..." and I have to assure him that I understand, I've been an employee for a long time and understand the need for production and I wasn't producing. Bryan's a good guy, a bit on the OCD side but that's ok, someone has to be neat and tidy (becuase it's sure not me!). I only have trouble understanding his love of '80s music. Gack...

Anyway... the 'puter is fixed, $90 (including labor) for my new CD burner. But the iPhoto thing... first I tried updating but for some reason I was now down to less than 500 megabytes of available memory and I couldn't update. So then the search began for more memory. I cleaned out files dumped pics, cleared 1700 emails out of my email program... and I now have... not much more memory . But then... digging deeper I find the stash of my daughters iMovies shot with the 'putercam. Well she won't miss 'em and certainly doesn't need 'em... to the trash! And lo and behold, like a giant vat being emptied, whoosh! I now have 19.5 gigs and holy moley, I'm fixed. I upload iPhoto update and damn... mine is still stuck. But it's not stuck on other users' desktops. Ergo...

... here I am. I've spent the last two days processing (editing for brightness, contrast, dumping the bad, keeping the good) and burning close to 1,000 images from Ems games. So guess what you're getting from me today (photographically speaking)? And topmost in my mind was getting the team pic done in time for deadline. The games could wait, but I had to have that team photo done!

Yep, more bayzboll. But for me? It's photography and I'll be darned but, damn, I'm pretty good at this. And I enjoy it. People smile. Usually... some not so much, but really at an event like this, most are there for a good time. And as always there are those who are just... not happy and not much to do but not catch a case of grumpies.

Baseball at this level is a hometown thing. And for us in Eugene, we're blessed with the beautiful and historic Civic Stadium. A facility in serious need of a million dollar upgrade. For a lot of fans I've talked to, from conversations overheard... it's not so much the Emeralds as it is the atmosphere of Civic that draws people. Framed with the tree covered south hills in the background and holding around 6,000 people Civic is a fine facility. But it's old and needs a Phil Knight to throw a million bucks at rebuilding the substructure, upgrading the lighting and leveling the field (from left field it's an uphill climb to home plate).

This possible loss of Civic Stadium is truly an important issue for Eugene. I'm going to be doing some writing on this along with Ems' photos on my Ems blog.

And if you're a bayzboll fan, please see more from me and my Pentax at my Ems' photography blog: Eugene Emeralds - baseball photography.

What I'm posting here are images that I probably won't post there. Of course a few may be in both places, but hey, they're my blogs. Besides, these aren't schwag photos, these are gleaned from hundreds of shots.

Enjoy. These are from about 5 different games...

Starting with a few of those who open the games:

... moving on to fan warm-ups:

... and of course no players, no game:

... but the fans... the fans are everything. No fans and professional sports isn't...

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“Sports do not build character. They reveal it.”

- John Wooden

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It's baseball time again!

2009-06-25T08:02:00.000-07:00

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“Baseball is a game where a curve is an optical illusion, a screwball can be a pitch or a person, stealing is legal and you can spit anywhere you like except in the umpire's eye or on the ball.”

- Jim Murray
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For 3 months of the year I get to be part of professional baseball. I am the photographer for the Eugene Emeralds here in Eugene. The Ems are the minor league single A short season affiliate for the San Diego Padres.

Photographically it's a pure joy. Socially... I get to hang out with jocks. And I'm grinning as I say that. I play sports (or at least used to) - softball, football and basketball. I ran track and cross-country in High School. Not well, but I liked running and what better way than competing at it and working out on a regular schedule to get to do it. I know my competitive lack of success came not from lack of ability but from lack of application. I didn't take it serious and I didn't care that I didn't take it serious. My gawd! I was a teenager in southern California, there were girls, beer and rock and roll. And tackle football on the weekends...

But these guys... this is serious stuff for them. With enough hustle, skill and a few strokes of luck any one of 'em could make millions of dollars a year and have a place in the limelight.

And really, seriously... as political as I am, as much as I dislike pro sports and the overpriced entertainment industry sports has become, at the pro level these guys are still just playing ball. I'd sure play a game with a stick and a ball and lots (sometimes) of running, for money. Besides, the game may be played by them, but they are watched by us. Because we want to. We like going out to an evening baseball game, sitting in the stands and watching not just the game, but each other. And the kids?

It's magic for them... it's peanuts and hot dogs and crowd roars and the beer guy "COLD beeeer herE! Getcher cold beer!" It's action, it's other kids, pennants and ice cream and color. It's autographs and uniforms and the cracking of bats... and lots of people. It's bugs lit up up as they fly under the stadium lights and foul balls and bigger kids with mitts running to get a ball hit into the parking lot...

For me, as the Ems' photographer, it is a pallette of color and motion and emotion. It's focused intensity...

and occasionally there is a visual twist

And there is always the ongoing teaching. The young guys listening to their manager and coaches. And if they listen well, they will learn what they need to know. This is no different than any aspect of society... the handing off of information, the sharing of knowledge because certainly, this is a game of skill. And those who demonstrate the best skills, will be rewarded.

I'm a fan of the Ems. I'm a part of the Ems and images like these are what they have me there to do. How cool is that? If you like baseball please visit my Emeralds' blog:

Eugene Emeralds - baseball photography

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“Baseball is almost the only orderly thing in a very unorderly world. If you get three strikes, even the best lawyer in the world can't get you off.”

- Bill Veeck

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Wordless Wednesday... on Tuesday... las flores...

2009-06-08T22:36:00.000-07:00

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“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Maryanne Williamson
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Ok... I'm a day off. Maybe...

Tuesday, Wednesday... who knows? And does it really matter? The world goes on, calendar or no...

All photos are of flowers from here at the farm, taken in the last week. Enjoy...

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“The artist is the confidant of nature, flowers carry on dialogues with him through the graceful bending of their stems and the harmoniously tinted nuances of their blossoms. Every flower has a cordial word which nature directs towards him.”

- Auguste Rodin

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Torturing Democracy...

2009-06-01T22:06:00.000-07:00

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"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.”

- Isaac Asimov
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Sometimes...

I was sitting here at the qwerty last Friday night. I usually have the TV or radio on and depending what is on determines how much I listen. Well, this night the TV was on and it had been turned to PBS. Bill Moyers show is on at 9 and I really like Bill Moyers. Moyers is one of my favorite journalists.

The sound was down low and I was involved in whatever I was reading. But then a few words caught my ear... Bush, Cheney, torture...

The program that was on was Torturing Democracy.

I was never a fan of the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld cabal (cartel?). In fact, now that they are no longer in office I can flat out say I despise them. My general lack of harsh criticism of the Bush administration was tempered by the office of President itself. In spite of an election system that has grown inefficient (corrupt, many would say), I still believe our founders left us with a system meant to be a thing of near beauty. But the previous administration was despicable. And the issue of torture is the issue that tips me to the word "despicable."

The program, Torturing Democracy, reinforced all that I had previously heard and learned about Bush and Co.... lies, propagandist manipulation of media and actions that served only to paint our country in a light that allowed those within whom an anti-American passion already burned to hate us even more.

George Bush will not go down in history as a great man and his administration - secretive, arrogant and mean spirited (the Cheney influence) - will undoubtedly have many skeletons emerge from the closet...

But please, go and view that documentary. Powerful stuff. Angering stuff...

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My son Alex is in a band - Naked In Alaska - and they have been playing around town here in Eugene, down in Grants Pass, over on the coast in Coos Bay... well they've been passing out flyers for an upcoming show that will be over in the Bethel neighborhood's Bethesda Church Garage (June 11th if you can make it)(and if you do make it? be ready for loud). The show is a fundraiser and NIA is the headliner. The boys have been going around town posting flyers and talking up their show. I saw one of their handbills and saw that the benefit is for a definitely worthwhile cause - the Invisible Children.

The Invisible Children are the child soldiers in Uganda's extended crisis of violence. Here is Wikipedia's breakdown on the story:

Invisible Children: The Rough Cut is a film about the plight of child soldiers and night commuters in northern Uganda. The documentary was filmed in 2003 when three young men from Southern California—Jason Russell, Bobby Bailey and Laren Poole (then 24, 21, and 20, respectively)—traveled to Sudan "to find a story".

Instead, their adventure took them into the depths of northern Uganda where they discovered thousands of people affected by the brutality and attacks of a rebel group known as the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). The documentary chronicles their experience as young Americans learning firsthand about a conflict largely unknown to the international community, while also informing audiences about the great humanitarian crisis of child soldiers.

I haven't seen the film, but when I can I will. I may have to buy a copy. And of course I'm glad to see my son and his friends dealing with issues like this one. Surely the plight of children forced to fight as soldiers is a wrong in need of correction.

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Anyone who clings to the historically untrue -- and -- thoroughly immoral doctrine that violence never solves anything I would advise to conjure up the ghosts of Napoleon Bonaparte and the Duke of Wellington and let them debate it. The ghost of Hitler would referee. Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor; and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. Breeds that forget this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives and their freedoms.”

- Robert A. Heinlein

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Franti! W/ Spearhead, in Eugene, May 24, 2009

2009-05-25T11:09:00.000-07:00

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Humanity has advanced...not because it has been sober, responsible, and cautious, but because it has been playful, rebellious, and immature.

-Tom Robbins
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I love Michael Franti & Spearhead. They're probably my favorite current band. I was at their show last night at Eugene's Cuthbert Amphitheater. (Here's a video if you haven't seen this band before: Time To Go Home)

The Cuthbert is a very nice, outdoor venue, located just east of downtown Eugene in the broad expanse of Alton Baker Park. Near the Willamette River and next door to the University of Oregon's Autzen Stadium, the amphitheater (which sits amidst open fields and large trees) was made better this year by the recent removal of the old, uncomfortable wooden benches and having those benches replaced with more grass (festival seating) and fixed, comfortable chairs. It is already a beautiful venue but the new changes enhanced it that much more. For music venues, creating an atmosphere that enhances their concert experience is as important as the quality of the music. Which is why Horning's Hideout makes for such pleasant shows.

The Cuthbert is used no more than 5 months of the year. So in those 5 months... it gets used frequently. For years tho' it went under utilized. Concert management from my eyewitness experience is not an easy business and plenty of folks lose their... shirts. But the Keseys keep bringing in quality acts and I'm sure they really appreciate bands like Franti's, which bring a large, money-spending crowd.

The nice thing about Spearhead is that their message is so community oriented. Family friendly and peace oriented these are folks who come to experience the Spearhead vibe. And it is an infectious vibration. Hippies, yuppies and just plain folks - folks from all walks of life - become like one, moving to Spearhead's driving rhythms and playing off of Franti's intense energy. Few shows' audiences are so animated as a Spearhead crowd. These folks dance, sing along and when Michael says to "PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR," everybody puts their hands in the air.

Because I work as part of Harmony Event Medicine's crew, an audience's vibe can be the difference between day and night for us. With a Franti crowd, there will be no fights. Someone may (did) get too drunk but they don't make waves. Unlike some shows we work... for us, a show like this is fun. Way fun.

So more pics, less words. Here's Michael Franti and Spearhead:

As I was taking these I kept noticing the light changes on the raised arms and hands of crowd and I saw them how I wanted to see them in an image... and heck, I was pushing my ISO to 1600 (ISO is the same as ASA for film) and even then it's just my years and years of shooting that allows me to shoot hand-held at slow speeds with confidence. And with a digital that confidence is boosted knowing I can shoot my ass off and I'm not spending anything other than time so... I shoot and shoot and shoot... and all that shooting allows me to come away with a select few better-than-good images. So I wanted to capture those waving limbs, those dancing digits and celphone cameras in motion. Pretty cool what I ended up with...

And I know I'm just putting these out here to the wwwonderful wwworld of the wwweb, but folks, please, if you use my images, give me photo credit whn you can, please. I appreciate Spearhead allowing people to shoot photos and I'm a promoter of their music so... as they share their music, I share my images.

Oh... one last thing. Michael was talking about our troubled times and he acknowledged those of us out here who are un-employed or under-employed. Well Michael, ummm... you know you guys should have a photographer... (nudge nudge, wink wink, know what I mean?)...

(Michael brought this young lady up fom the crowd near the stage. She was sooo jazzed, grinning from ear to ear and she got a kiss. If anybody in Eugene knows her, here's her pic)

Many thanks to the many good folks who work hard making sure shows are safe, friendly experiences for concert-goers. I've grown so used to working shows I can hardly go to a show just to go and hear the music. Thats just... boring. I like knowing what happens behind the scenes. The perspective is so much different between patrons and staff.

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And today is Memorial Day. Remember the vets and let's bring the soldiers home. A shout to my daughter's friend Ryan Fling serving with the U.S. Army in Iraq (a likewise greeting to all of Ryan's peers - all you GIs - no matter in/on which particular swamp, desert or iceberg you've been stationed, they're all great places!).

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“Music and rhythm find their way into the secret places of the soul”

- Plato

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some more o' this, some more o' that...

2009-05-22T19:36:00.000-07:00

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“Anarchism has but one infallible, unchangeable motto, 'Freedom.' Freedom to discover any truth, freedom to develop, to live naturally and fully.”

- Lucy Parsons
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OK, bare with me here... I have absolutely no idea where this is heading. But I suppose we should find out, eh? (Do you like the way I can type with a Canadian accent, eh?)

And why not start with Lucy Parsons. Imagine... a black woman (woman!) standing up for what is right, standing up against what is wrong. In the late 1800s no less.

The word anarchy...

Pronunciation: \ˈa-nər-kē, -ˌnär-\
Function: noun
Etymology:
Medieval Latin anarchia, from Greek, from anarchos having no ruler, from an- + archos ruler

... gets a lot of abuse these days. People confuse chaos with anarchy. They are distinctly different and not interchangeable. Even with the growing understanding of chaos theory in nature (a butterfly farts in Belize and it snows in Minnesota, or something like that) we still confuse some basic things... but then, we're a pretty confused specie aren't we? Anyway... I make no claim to any deep understanding of science and the theories scientists arrive at by whatever means they do. What I do claim is a very basic, natural perception of the world around me. To me nature makes sense. And the chaos theory does too... kinda.

Arie Uittenbogaard does a fair job of giving a comprehendable explanation in his Chaos Theory for Beginners:

"Nature is highly complex, and the only prediction you can make is that she is unpredictable. The amazing unpredictability of nature is what Chaos Theory looks at. Why? Because in stead of being boring and translucent, nature is marvelous and mysterious. And Chaos Theory has managed to somewhat capture the beauty of the unpredictable and display it in the most awesome patterns. Nature, when looked upon with the right kind of eyes, presents herself as one of the most fabulous works of art ever wrought."

Amen to that! I like it when I find smart people who are good explainerers. If you're interested I'd also recommend a look at Chaos Theory and Fractals (by Jonathan Mendelson and Elana Blumenthal).

In a sense (and keep that fractal art image above in mind) I kind of think it a bit... mmm... interesting... that chaos theory when presented in fractal art is very much like the visions one experiences under certain entheogenic experiences. Nature is finally being understood by the western mind in a way similar (but using a far longer and more complicated route to get there) to indigenous people. Which of course is where we all came from. Except, of course, those who are descendants of those who star seeded the planets.
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My daughter Robin had her first solo with her high school choir the other night. Gads that girl can sing:

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And of course... more pics, all shot close to the farm here:

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“There are many examples of old, incorrect theories that stubbornly persisted, sustained only by the prestige of foolish but well-connected scientists. Many of these theories have been killed off only when some decisive experiment exposed their incorrectness.”

- Michio Kaku

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well, who coulda known?

2009-05-11T07:30:00.000-07:00

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"I can assure you that, given they exist, these flying saucers are made by no power on this Earth."

- President Harry S. Truman, 4 April 1950
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[ae note to readers: none of these photos are mine... the milky way shot is from Astronomy Picture of the Day, taken - and copyrighted! - by Larry Landolfi. The photo is a composite... but very, very nicely done...]

I mean seriously... I've been a pretty pragmatic fella throughout my life. I'm hard to convince but I'm easy to get to listen to ideas because I am continuously curious. It's the cat in me...

Now I don't know if you've ever seen things in the sky you couldn't identify or that you identified as a flying saucer (or a UFO). I've had 3 encounters (and a few outstanding dreams) with unidentified moving objects in the sky. I'm also a big fan of science fiction and speculative fiction. So, while I'm very earthbound I also keep an eye on the sky.

Grampa Semu used to talk about the star people. He said they were regular visitors and that the old ones could call them...

When we lived at The Nature Conservancy's Crump Lake Preserve in southern Oregon I discovered Art Bell. And say what you will about his show but Art had many outstanding guests. I'm a fan of Michio Kaku from my hearing his interviews with Art. Living out in the middle of that vast high desert with its starry night-time vistas made it interesting hearing the Art Bell show, because I'd sit in the truck and fiddle with the AM dial at night, picking up stations from all across the country while above me, in a desert sky, clear and free from light pollution, the Milky Way blazes and can be seen as 3 dimensional...

That night-time AM listening started when I was a kid and got my first portable(!) transistor(!) radio. I would keep it under my pillow and listen to the Lakers' games broadcast by Chick Hearn or surf the music stations when I should be sleeping. Sometimes I could pick up Wolfman Jack on "the BIG X E R B baby!" It was Wolfman who turned me on to James Brown and a lot of soul and R&B music never heard on big-hit, popular radio.

But... there was a night when my little sister, Lori, and I were home alone. There was a high window that faced south. And this particluar night we looked up and through that window we could see a light travelling amazingly fast over the L.A. harbor, heading east. We ran outside and the light suddenly stopped, took a right turn, sped forward, made another 90º right turn and flew back out over the Pacific. I think I was probably about 11.

When I returned to the states from Thailand in 1974 (that's another story... and it has all the critical elements to a good tale - sex, drugs and Rock&Roll) I bought a VW van (yep). A buddy of mine that came back from the same base close to the same time flew into L.A. and travelled east to Denver with me on my roundabout journey to my next duty station down in Texas. When we got to the west face of the Rocky Mountains in Utah and headed over them towards Denver, we stopped and picked up a hitchhiker at about sunset. Well, this hitchhiker proceeded to tell us how he had been watching a light moving up and down the face of this mountain off to the southeast. Well, we could see the light, but... you know... anyway we drove on into the dark, up the face of the Rockies, with me behind the wheel.

I came to a place that I could see the hitchhiker's light. My friend Jeff and the hitchhiker were now asleep. I saw a turnout and pulled over and parked so I could see the light over on the other mountain out my windshield. I flashed my headlights (headlights! headLIGHTS! not head lice...) and not noticing any change in the light I pulled back onto the highway.

It was cold and dark outside and not much traffic. My passengers asleep, my instrument lights bright and reflecting in my windshield... I noticed a light out the driver's side window. And the light was travelling at a speed that kept it even with me. I thought there was a light in the cab reflecting off the window. But no... this light disappeared when we'd pass through a cut in in the hillside only to appear once we passed that highway cut. It would flicker as it passed behind trees. I had to wake my guests for this!

So I turned to them and yelled "Wake up! You gotta see this." When I turned back, no light... so...? What was it?

There is another UFO encounter that I'll share sometime, but right now it will detract from this tale.

Because... I'm moving on to another aspect of flying saucers that shocked me! Aghast I was! Simply stated... I witnessed a program that proved once and for all that flying saucers are real. And I know it is true because I saw it on PBS! Are you ready for this shocking revelation?

Flying saucers are real and they were developed by the Nazis:

I didn't know? Did you? If you did... why the heck didn't any of you tell me? All those hours listening to Art Bell and never once did I hear flying saucers were a Nazi product... but what about Area 51? And Roswell? Well... consider that our government has been known to lie to us. You know, nothing big... just little white lies.

Of course... and neither do they ever use us for guinea pigs (never mind the Tuskegee Airmen), or operate hypocritically like they are (and have been for decades) with the drug war and medical cannabis.

So here is the only PBS link on the Nazi flying saucer story:

History Project: UFOs: The Real History

But it was popular enough that you can view it from several sources, via a streaming torrent (whatever that is) from several links on Google

Aye lads and lassies, we don't get the real scoop often enough. And when a government (not just on UFOs and flying saucers) deliberately lies, obfuscates and acts to deceive those from which it derives its power... surely we must take that as a sign that an overhaul is required...

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After I give lectures—on almost any subject—I am often asked, "Do you believe in UFOs?". I'm always struck by how the question is phrased, the suggestion that this is a matter of belief and not evidence. I'm almost never asked, "How good is the evidence that UFOs are alien spaceships?"

- Carl Sagan, 'The Demon Haunted World,' 1996.

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Wild Kingdom

2009-04-29T07:26:00.000-07:00

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“From the oyster to the eagle, from the swine to the tiger, all animals are to be found in men and each of them exists in some man, sometimes several at the time. Animals are nothing but the portrayal of our virtues and vices made manifest to our eyes, the visible reflections of our souls. God displays them to us to give us food for thought.”

- Victor Hugo
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This past weekend I was sitting here at my qwerty working on the last blog post and a movement out the window caught my eye. Bald Eagle was on the ground out in the grass field right in front of the house, maybe 100 yards away. And he was tearing at something with his beak. I grabbed my camera, put on the telephoto and opened the front door...

... knowing I should have gone out the back door and used the house and the trees for cover. But I didn't.

As soon as I opened it, the front door squeaked and the eagle alerted. As soon as I stepped out the door the eagle took off, its' prey dangling from those huge talons.

But so heavy was whatever it had that Eagle couldn't get but a few feet off the ground. It landed maybe a quarter mile away out in the rye grass (the seed farm around me has rye to my east and fescue on the south and north fields). As I watched through my camera I saw that it had a goose. And the goose wasn't dead...

When I moved to get closer Eagle flew away from his prey.

I stopped and waited. Soon enough Eagle took off, flying back to the meal he was determined to eat.

Then he dove and came in at the goose skimming the top of the grass...

Goose was loose! Goose was still alive. But Eagle wanted Goose.

The end result of this pursuit, of course, was never in doubt...

And to get himself alone with Goose, Eagle flew off, across the road and away from the pesky yahoo with the camera.

I can only offer up a "thank you" to Marlin Perkins, host of the old Wild Kingdom TV show. It was nature programs like his and those to follow - the National Geographic specials, Jacques Cousteau and the many others - that influenced in no small part my love for nature's ways.

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“What fates impose, that men must needs abide; It boots not to resist both wind and tide”

- William Shakespeare

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Not me, or...

2009-04-26T16:20:00.000-07:00

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“Herb is the healing of a nation, alcohol is the destruction.”

~ Bob Marley
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I know, I know... but I can't stay off the "drugs" topic. Actually I can but there is so much about life today that involves drugs. Legal drugs and illegal drugs.

Let me explain...

Today is April 20th. 4/20, or 420. You know, the unofficial stoner holiday. Today is also the anniversary of the Columbine mess. It's also Adolph Hitler's birthday. Now if that isn't a mix that deserves to have their strings intertwined...

Oh yeah... I'm going to throw random urinalysis into this mix. I hope nobody minds.

So... how does cannabis, Hitler, the Columbine massacre and random drug testing tie together?

For me it was a matter of watching the evening news, listening to my son talk about his day and how all that ties into my work history.

Hitler we all know. Columbine, most folks know about. Pot? Yeah, we all know at least something about that (even if if what we know is wrong). And drug testing? Hang on, I'll get there.

The Rise of Adolph Hitler

I'm not a big Hitler fan, so if you want to know more than what is common knowledge, do your research. There is a lot out there... Google shows almost 6 million hits. What we do know that I need to mention is that Hitler was a master manipulator of fact and the media. He gained his power through a tactical campaign of manipulating public opinion. A lot like the campaign against cannabis.

"OK, Allan", you say, "how does Columbine tie into this, other than it happened on April 20th?"

Oh c'mon. Give me a hard question.

We don't really know what triggered seniors Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold to commit such an horrendous act against truly innocent kids. Kind of like we're not sure what exactly triggers kids into doing drugs. But we have some ideas. Chief among them is that kids need recognition. They need to be noticed and paid attention to. They need the parents around them to take their lives seriously and work with all the hormones, growth and childhood angst that the kids are dealing with. But we adults too often don't do these things. And subsequently we miss a lot. We miss the signals that kids send.

Lord knows I do. I'm a single dad w/ two teenagers... a broke single dad with two teens. And thus I've just tied random drug testing into this. When I was fired last summer I wasn't fired for bad work habits or being inefficient. It was just the opposite. I hadn't been fired from a job for 25 years. In fact I have been fired twice in my life. The job I lost was a retail position. I worked in hardware. As a retail salesman, I shine. I'm helpful, intelligent, friendly, even indulgent when that is what is needed.

Which is easy to do... within limits. Some folks just can't be pleased, but after over 40 years of being involved with the public on a business level I have to admit 98% of us just want honest, helpful assistance when we have questions. Kind of like kids...

Now here is where drug testing comes in. I'm not just pissed about losing my job, I'm beyond incensed -- but no worries about going postal, I use cannabis and engage in stress relieving activities - like writing this blog - and working on my photography. Speaking of which... a photo break:

And I guess I've got a case of the mung sai because that firing is not right. Don't get me wrong, I'm not whining, I've learned to roll with the punches... but that failed drug test ties right into students. I think the figure is now 15% of our school kids are drug tested.

So, let me ask: do you approve of drug testing our school kids for drugs?

And let me ask that question again: do you approve of drug testing our school kids without a warrant?

See... for me the crux of the matter is what it says in the Bill of Rights

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

What does that say again?

"no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized"

A search without a warrant is unConstitutional. It is fairly plainly written, even a forklift driver/window cleaner can understand that. So what is the problem with the Supreme Court? They may be scholars of law but they don't know shit about common sense, apparently:

Supreme Court hears arguments in school strip-search case

Supreme Court justices on Tuesday revealed sharp differences over whether Arizona school officials acted properly in strip-searching a 13-year-old girl.

Conservative justices stressed schools' need to combat drug abuse. Other justices suggested that the specific search, involving ibuprofen, might have gone too far. The court's final answer will guide educators nationwide, as the justices determine when standard constitutional protections give way to school safety.

"Having an aspirin tablet does not present a health or safety risk," Justice David Souter said.

Justice Stephen Breyer added that the strip-search of eighth-grader Savana Redding may have been "a little extreme," and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg conveyed dismay at the search's intrusiveness.

See... no one asking "were the parents present?"

C'mon, what are we teaching our kids? Big Bro' knows best? And of course all this discussion of teens, school and drugs brings me me to this little nauseating tale:

Goose Creek Raid

I'm not even going to say much about that... I try real hard not to swear in my writing.

For me, having been fairly intensely involved in drug policy reform for over a decade now I've got my school of hard knocks degree in drug policy. And what I've learned makes me sick. Really. A lot of what I know seems like it should be common knowledge. But I watch mainstream (network) news and I know it is more a case of what we aren't told than us not wanting to know. Things that you have to dig a bit to find. Regional happenings that don't move past the national filters.

There are way too many stories to tell 'em all here, but a couple have gnawed at me and won't let go, so I will use tham as prime examples of why I fight this Prohibitionist scourge. I believe drug Prohibition to be a real debacle, man made. And man can end it. But here, meet Donald Scott:

ARMED AND DANGEROUS
Ranch-coveting officials settle for killing owner

Early on the morning of Oct. 2, 1992, 31 officers from the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, Drug Enforcement Administration, Border Patrol, National Guard and Park Service came roaring down the narrow dirt road to Scott's rustic 200-acre ranch. They planned to arrest Scott, the wealthy, eccentric, hard-drinking heir to a Europe-based chemicals fortune, for allegedly running a 4,000-plant marijuana plantation. When deputies broke down the door to Scott's house, Scott's wife would later tell reporters, she screamed, "Don't shoot me. Don't kill me." That brought Scott staggering out of the bedroom, hung-over and bleary-eyed -- he'd just had a cataract operation -- holding a .38 caliber Colt snub-nosed revolver over his head. When he pointed it in the direction of the deputies, they killed him.

-snip-

Despite a subsequent search of Scott's ranch using helicopters, dogs, searchers on foot, and a high-tech Jet Propulsion Laboratory device for detecting trace amounts of sinsemilla, no marijuana --or any other illegal drug -- was ever found.

And even more than my own calamitous direct contacts with the drug war the case of Zeke Hernandez just continues to act as a catalyst to maintaining a voice on the topic of our drug policies.

CASUALTIES OF THE DRUG WAR

Zeke's story was one of the first I had heard about innocent civilians directly killed by our drug war (Prohibition 2.0). Equally as sad... Kathryn Johnston in Atlanta. Kathryn was a near 90 year old black grandmother shot by police who broke down her door on a drug raid based on a perjured warrant and rubber stumped by a judge. She had no drugs. She did have a pistol...

But she lost the gun battle, the police planted drugs and... well, here, you read it:

Kathryn Johnston: A Year Later
92-year-old woman's death has done little to curb the use of paramilitary police tactics around the country.

[...] everything about the Kathryn Johnston murder was corrupt. The initial arrest of the ex-con came via trumped-up charges. The police then invented an informant for the search warrant, and lied about overseeing a drug buy from Johnston's home.

Ms. Johnston didn't actually wound any of the officers. They were wounded by fragments of ricochet from their own storm of bullets. And there was no marijuana. Once they realized their mistake, the officers handcuffed Ms. Johnston and left her to bleed and die on the floor of her own home while they planted marijuana in her basement.

And the names of those with similar stories just gets longer and has become a litany...

Drug War Victims

It is not just what we are teaching our kids but what we are passing on to them. Do we really want to hand them a system that we've forgotten to stand up for? A system with laws based on lies? A system that says "even though you haven't done anything wrong we need to make sure, so just pee in this cup." A funny thing here is how those who have been heavily involved in setting up the system that seeks mandatory drug testing are also those who are the captains of the drug testing corporate world.

DRUG TESTING.
IS IT WORTH IT ?

Carlton Turner was once the United States' drug czar (under Reagan.) After this, he became a very rich man as an advisor for drug testing companies. His partner, Peter Bensinger is a former head of the National Institute on Drug Awareness. Another partner was Robert Dupont, also a former NIDA director. Former White House drug advisor Donald MacDonald now owns Employee Health Programs, which contracts MROs to drug testing programs.

Start a war and then sell the tools of that war. Wow, now there is a story we've never heard before...

And I could go on... about how the early "teen camps" were abusive failures that ended badly for too many and those who were profiting from those "camps" are also *cough* leaders *cough* in the anti-drug movement.

I could talk about a young missionary mother - Veronica Bowers - and her infant daughter Charity, were shot out of the skies over Peru

Or I might mention U.S. Army pilot, Captain Jennifer Odom and her crew and how they were shot down over Colombia and how her Commander, "Col. James Hiett, the top U.S. counter-narcotics official in Colombia, [...] was helping his wife launder the proceeeds of her cocaine smuggling through the U.S. embassy with the help of his chauffeur."

But I won't... I have to go wash my hands. Happy 420... sigh...

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“I've tried everything. I can say to you with confidence, I know a fair amount about LSD. I've never been a social user of any of these things, but my curiosity has carried me into a lot of interesting areas.”

~ Dan Rather

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No pelabra Wednesday...

2009-04-15T04:11:00.000-07:00

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When even one American - who has done nothing wrong - is forced by fear to shut his mind and close his mouth, then all Americans are in peril.

- Harry S. Truman

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Wordless Wednesday?

2009-04-08T05:38:00.000-07:00

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“Politics has become so expensive that it takes a lot of money even to be defeated.”

- Will Rogers
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I've seen this elsewwweb and thought "heck yeah." Mid-week... work, kids to school... it is a day when we are in the week's mid-stride, momentum maintained and life is rolling. Why stop, except for a breather maybe? I've seen the "Wordless Wednesday" blogposts where the author(s) post only photos. Sounds like a good idea. And now that spring has finally sprung I'm taking more photographs.

I think I'll be joining the "Wordless Wednesday" movement. Any complaints?

Here then from this week - just shooting around the house - a few images of flowers, harbingers of the summer to come.

Enjoy.

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While I have yet to read a novel typed by a monkey I have read things on the internet that show me that jack-asses can type.

- me

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Stuff...

2009-04-05T06:43:00.000-07:00

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Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."

- C.S. Lewis
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My daughter Robin has submitted her short story "The Blue Swing" (posted here last year) to Teen Ink magazine. She wants me to mention it because visits and votes are what will get her from online to actually being published in the print edition. So... if you are so inclined, go visit and give her a boost. Here is Robin, in full writing mode:

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And while I'm at it, better get this one out of the way. This is another road trip photo. When I take these, I'm driving... but don't worry! I'm not looking through my viewfinder, I just point the camera in the general direction and shoot. Alex and Kita in the back seat:

(Alex is the one on the left)
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On one of my drives in the coast range, at Alsea Falls, I stopped at this private roadside picnic area. It is a pretty nice spot along the river. I got out and was checking it out... but then I noticed the picnic table. I mean really noticed:

... and I remembered a story I had heard about one of Oregon's old family timber mills having cut a single board for a picnic table. Hull-Oakes Lumber cut this table in 1986 (and the picnic area is their company picnic site). Nothing exciting about that you say? What if the board -- that is one, single board, almost 1,000 board feet -- is 85 feet long, 34 inches wide and 4 inches thick. Now that's a slab! There are not many mills that can cut such a massive board... Hull-Oakes is a steam driven mill tucked back into the end of a valley leading up into the east side of the coast range, a real nice place.
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I have found a larger venue for some of my writing. I've already posted here a bit on the drug war, but this isn't where I want to talk about that topic.

Sooo... I was talking with Tim King, editor of Salem-News.com and they will be publishing my work there. And as drug policy is my political focus these days that provides me a great outlet with a far bigger readership. Here at Morning Donut, since I installed the ClustrMap, I've had just over 11,000 page views in 2 years or so. In the first 3 days of the article being posted at Salem-News there were 15,000 page views. (And to you folks coming here from there, welcome to my humble little corner of the wwworldwwwide wwweb).

I also received over 40 comments. Here is that article: President Used Marijuana but Mocks & Dismisses Legalization

I mean I'm not shy about being an activist. I prefer to do it privately but that defeats the whole point of being politically active, so... but it is a nice non-paying pat on the back to draw so many people (it was a record setter at Salem-News). I'm still looking for that paying gig though. sigh...
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And here is a mish-mash of images, most of them I don't think I've posted before. And please remember... I am a poor and struggling single dad and I just love selling my photos. So any image (pretty much) you see here is for sale as a framed print. Just contact me.

Enjoy!

(man... I've got coffee cake baking in the oven... mmmm... smells so good. I'll let you know how it turned out... )

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"The smoking of the leaves, flowers and seeds of Cannabis sativa is no more harmful than the smoking of tobacco... It is hoped that no witch hunt will be instituted in the military service over a problem that does not exist."

-- "The Marijuana Bugaboo,"

editorial in the Military Surgeon, by Col. JM Phalen, 1943

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Under gray skies...

2009-03-24T08:07:00.000-07:00

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“If humanity does not opt for integrity we are through completely. It is absolutely touch and go. Each one of us could make the difference.”

~ Richard Buckminster Fuller

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I sure hope Barack Obama is as real as he comes off. I’ve just watched his interview on CBS' 60 Minutes. He definitely is smart and for sure has a sense of the everyman about him. But the weight of his responsibilities, man, he has far more than a full plate, I sure wish him well... and his obvious disdain for Dick Cheney is heartening! I see nothing I like when I see Dick on TV. But it was so very refreshing to see a real smile and hear intelligent speech coming from the mouth of our President - for a change.

I’ve often thought that what we needed as a President was an everyman... a practical, smart, open hearted man. Being able to throw a football, shoot hoops or even to get an opening pitch to the catcher without bouncing it... would be a sign for me. Well here he is.

Brother Marty actually alluded to the proposition that I’d probably lose a one-on-one basketball game with Mr. Obama. I don’t know... sure, he’s younger, taller, played college ball... plus he’s black... Me? I’m a short longhaired Scandinavian who wonders what the best route back to the old country is. With a pretty good 3 point shot.

Really tho’, is Barack Obama a common man’s man or is he another corporate shill? A lot of voices out there are saying that the megacorporate banking/financial industry has just screwed us big time. I’m inclined to agree, from my blue-collar, forklift driving, busted and broke perspective.

Which is a point Obama made that I liked. He said that a worker in (he named several states) would be glad to make $75,000 a year - without a bonus. Amen to that Mr. President, amen to that...

I swear, our obsession with stuff... with plastic googaws and shitty fast food and big fancy houses... I don’t get it. Comfortable I understand. But there is a facade we construct that allows us to fool ourselves into believing that we are it. That we are the be all and end all of life in the universe and lordy we’ve reached the pinnacle, look at us we’re just hot! But that’s my cynical view.

My real view is that mostly we are just folks. It is unfortunate that in but a few short generations we have become so dependent upon the sysyem for all our needs. From a country that for 150 years had a population that was in majority rural and lived on a subsistence lifestyle. But family farms have gone the way of the dinosaur. And it is too bad. One of the nice things about living in Oregon is that we have such a large rural population and there are a lot of small farms and ranches. This - in my mind at least - is the level of living that is sustainable.

I mean really... rich is ok. I spend a lot of my working hours these days in the homes and businesses of folks making far more than $75,000 a year. And I say thanks. I appreciate rich folks. They keep a lot of us in the service industry working. And they have lots of windows... (I clean windows, really...) and some mighty nice views!

But there comes a point with wealth. I just can’t believe that executives in a failing industry can justify million dollar bonuses. But this is an old rant (which I know I will return to) and I actually had started out just intending to post some more photos. So, without further ado...

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Wayne Eastburn

I've seen Wayne around Eugene for years. When I started shooting for the Eugene Emeralds he was a fixture and knew all the sweet spots in Civic Stadium. I always defered to Wayne... if he was in a spot that I wanted, I waited until he had moved. Standing down near third base, over the Visitors' dugout, I stopped one day to say Hi to Wayne and a fan sitting there noticed the size differential between Wayne's huge telephoto lens and mine. Wayne is of course using the Register-Guard's top dollar cameras and I'm using my affordable camera gear. Anyway... that led to a bit of guffawing as "lens envy" became the topic for some barbs directed my way. I've snuck in a couple of shots of Wayne here and there (one of those things that seems to be common among photographers is that we like being behind the camera, not in front of it). This is one shot last summer at an Emeralds' game. Wayne retired in 2008 and I've run into him a cuppla times since at the local Fred Meyer store (now owned by Kroegers). Just a real nice, old guy, with a great eye and a lifetime of experience behind the lens.

For the birds:

This isn't a photoshopped image, it is as it was. Several options for titles come to mind...

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I went for a drive a couple of weeks ago, with the sole intent of shooting some pictures. I went west out of Junction City on High Pass Road, then doubled back and went north on Peoria Rd (which cuts from Hwy 99E in Harrisburg, over to Corvallis. A real nice - but short - drive. Anyway, here are three of the images from that day:

As always, photos are © Allan Erickson, use with permission only.
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“Find your place on the planet. Dig in, and take responsibility from there.”

- Gary Snyder

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