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Showing posts from May, 2014

Reasons for Ramada. YOU DO YOUR THING. LEAVE THE REST TO US.

This is the commercial I have a fleeting presence in; after 3 hours of casting in the Sandy River from 5-8 a.m. the 5 seconds of screen time was the result.  Paid well for the effort and another check off the bucket list.

Illusory

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What does it take to enrage you?  That moment when your words fly on pure emotion because enough is enough.  Is it a driver that cuts you off at high speed?  What about being an eyewitness to blatant racism or on the receiving end of some obvious injustice? I know some people who never express rage.  I admire them but know full well I am not capable of such distance from that which would bring about such a strong response. Another senseless shooting and 7 people die at the hands of a mentally ill gun owner.  The father of the 20 year old college student lets it fly and somehow millions feel a new sense of relief.  He calls the politicians bastards who do nothing, he wears his pain in public.  The news media responds but we all know that nothing is going to change.  We are the gun country.  We are the place where anybody, anytime, can be cut down just for being there when somebody else snaps. Usually the perpetrators are delusional.  They have the look.  They leave videos or manif

Moment to Moment

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We hear a lot of talk about staying in the moment.  There is a Zen parable that I love because it takes this difficult challenge to the extreme.  It goes something like this.  A traveler was chased by a viscous tiger to the edge of a high cliff.  Slowly the tiger advanced until the poor guy was backed off the crumbling hillside.  As he is falling, presumably to his death, he sees a blackberry bush growing on the side of the mountain and catches sight of one particular berry growing there.  "What a perfectly beautiful berry! " he exclaims as he continues to fall.  Staying right in the moment. I agree; some folks are better at this than others. When I take off for the mountains and fly fish on a stream or lake, I have to be ever conscious of staying in the moment.  One lapse could mean everything from taking an unplanned dip in the water to missing something important like a fish taking a fly or even the beauty of the surroundings. Yesterday, I was able to flee the bonds

Linked

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I'm a big fan of Antiques Roadshow.  It's the kind of TV program that is both entertaining and informative.  It's history too.  It's hard for me to realize that there are people who are not fascinated by a 300 year old piece of furniture, a book Ben Franklin published or a What about letters from the Civil War, turn of the century toys or a menu from the Titanic? I've been trying to get tickets to the program for three years now, but it's by lottery only and you have to have more luck than fascinating objects for appraisal.  Just missed again this year.  I'm told that about 100,000 folks apply for 3000 tickets, so it's a real crapshoot. Still, I keep thinking what I might have taken to the show.  Aside from a wonderful old watercolor painting of a young African American girl in a yellow bonnet I bought about 40 years ago in a Texas antique store, the remaining 4 objects would be up for grabs.  My wife's family has a relative wo is famous for his oi

Take This

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Some people call it karma.  Some just note the frequency with which it occurs.  Some never notice it at all, while others can predict it. It has other names, but I just like to think of it as the universe evening things up.  Not revenge, but an equaling out in the form of something big.  Something life-changing.  Something well deserved. It has probably happened to you.  I know a few accomplishments or random acts, or perhaps just surprising consequences that have drifted into and out of my life fit the bill. That's why when California Chrome won the Kentucky Derby last weekend, it was much more than just a victory for the little guy.  Sure, all those elements were there.  An $8,000. horse drawing away from the best 3-year-olds in the country to win the first leg of the Triple Crown is more than enough to put a week-long smile on the face of those who don't live in the fast lane.  But what I'm talking about here is 77 year old trainer Art Sherman. This is a guy wh

Derby Day II

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I was hoping TW would pick up the phone when I called yesterday.  Not surprised when he didn't.  There was always the chance that he'd call back after I left a message.  What bothered me was that the phone never rang.  My call went straight to the answering machine recording.  "Not available now, please leave a message..."  I know he's dying.  I know he might not be home or in a position to come to the phone or maybe even in the hospital. A couple of years ago I wrote a piece called Derby Day.  A slice of memoir that detailed how we used to meet up early on Kentucky Derby morning and play the early races.  He lived in Marin County and I lived in the East Bay.  I'd usually pick him up at a BART station, then we'd coffee up, get bagels, and head over to the Top of the Stretch Room at Golden Gate Fields. Then went MIA.  He just dropped off the radar and everyone assumed the worse.  There were so many reasons to make that assumption.  This Vietnam vet had