Pickled Herring

Reminiscing

2011-08-21T21:31:00.000-07:00

I had a vivid dream this morning.
It was set in the Hughes Market shopping center on Balboa and Devonshire in what's called North Hills, not sure what it was called back then. It's between Northridge and Granada Hills and whatever they called East of Balboa and South of Devonshire.
Three of us were walking up the back parking lot parallel to Balboa. We were going to a church service- revival that a friend of ours was throwing. The friend was a combination of Lonnie Spector and Fred Khoury.
My companions were Dennis Wilkinson and a kind of Gary Mathern, I think. As we were walking to this event there was a line of half dressed young women and girls going into the Savon drugstore. I was told that they were auditioning for a Playboy photo shoot. They were in different states of undress and were wearing skirts or pants and no top. They got younger towards the back of the line. There seemed to be a lot of turquoise and light yellow on their clothing.
We were headed to a hall or auditorium near the men's store on the East leg of the shopping center. We entered through the back through a door next to the stage. We went right over to greet Fred- Lonnie who was sitting- standing along the East wall. His hair was short and had bangs in front and he was wearing a jump suit. I said; "Do you remember me? I'm Ron Wilkinson." He gave me a hug for a greeting.
The service- or entertainment on a stage that was too high to see. I went to the back of the hall to see the action on stage. It was a bunch of women dancing in colorful costumes that looked like what a Hindu Deity would wear.
The auditorium had sloped seating going down towards the stage. There were chairs along the walls interrupted by wood boxes. The seating was in two sections, an upper and lower section with an aisle between.
As I moved across the hall there was a small platform sitting on the center aisle right on an angle- 20 or 30 degrees facing the back. There was some miniature furniture on it and a little podium. From the back of the platform a homunculus male kid walked to the podium, he could see over the top. He gave his sermon anyhow.

Then I was attracted to a girl singing on a pedestal to my left in the same aisle. She was very attractive and singing country gospel. So I went to check her out and caught her eye. I was trying to cover and ignore her as she checked me out. She started to morph into a chunky looking round faced hillbilly girl with curly red hair that was shaved up her neck and an inch above her ears.
Then the "Hindu" costumed dancers were coming down from the stage and into the audience and people were filing out the door we came in. I had lost track of Dennis and Gary and I panicked because I thought they would leave me.
I had not told Rene (my wife) that I was going to this thing and it was 10 pm at night. She was going to be pissed.

More 1924 Los Angeles Plague Pictures

2011-01-19T19:51:00.000-08:00

Cal Ground Squirrels

Dog ratting at the San Pedro Hog Farm

Back of a business

Mexican neighborhood. Tear down?

The 1924 Los Angeles Black Plague!

2011-01-19T19:44:00.000-08:00

The forces were mobilized! Crews wandered around spraying different disinfectants, killing rats with bates and traps. Even hiring guys with guns and terriers flushing and shooting California ground squirrels! Crews were tearing down stables, hog farms, granaries, houses, businesses! They tore down a lot of the poorer parts of LA, like the "negro shacks"!
There were neighborhoods where the back yards were full of stored junk, lumber, trash; all rat breeding grounds.

It was a full on disaster. People were dieing of pneumonic and bubonic plague.
Scientists were locating "foci's" of plague. Norwegian and black rats plus the CA ground squirrels were the vectors.They found rat holes under restaurants, groceries, shoe and leather businesses.
This whole episode was photographed and documented. The photos are archived at UC Berkeley. It's a total treasure of Los Angeles street scenes in 1924!
My Father was 2 years old living in Echo Park. His older brother Harry had died in the 1918 flu epidemic. My Grandmother had a nervous breakdown. Her doctor, a Doctor Pahl, told her to have another child.He felt if she lost my uncle Bill, born 1917, she would go off the deep end.
They named my father Donald Pahl.
This piece of history is stunning to me. What if my Father or Uncle were taken away by this Plague? What if my Grandfather or Grandmother came down with it?
Live was tenuous then. Penicillin was not discovered till 1928!!
My Father was asthmatic, the doctor prescribed porter beer (prohibition time here) and they burned some incense crap when he had attacks. Pneumonic plague would of killed him.

The leather business had rats under the floor!!!

Freddy Cory (Khoury)

2011-01-10T23:43:00.000-08:00

Fred is a friend from 40 years ago. Last time I was in touch with him I found him at the Rainbow Room next to the Whiskey a Go Go on Sunset. He invited us (I think my wife to be, Danny Noonan, and Cheryl were with me) up to his place in the Hollywood Hills and I supposed we reminisced a little, and that was that.

A few years before that I carried some equipment for his band for two gigs in my Datsun pickup. One was at the Beach House Bar at the foot of Lick(?) Pier, where the famous Avalon Ballroom (Lawrence Welk's joint) was. I parked close to the doors of the Ballroom on the pier itself.

Fred's band was playing the first set before Black Oak Arkansas. This was before BOA was a band of renowned. It was a fun gig for me, I was under age and they served me pitchers of beer and I danced to the music. Shortly after BOA came on we smelled smoke and then someone shouted FIRE from the stairwell. I ran outside to get my pickup and the flames were coming from underneath the pier next to my pick up. When I pulled up equipment was flying down the stairs. We packed up the pickup and went across the street and watched the pier burn. That's how I remember it 40 years back.

They played at the Whiskey one night and I remember trying to nail the bass drum down to the stage because the drummer was kicking it away from him. We invited some "groupies" to the band apartment after the gig, it wasn't really exciting or gratifying, as least for me.

That was that, I didn't see Fred or stay in touch aside from the Rainbow run in.

So now I find friends on Faceplant along with Danny Chapman, the singer- harmonica player of the Vanilla Rain, the band that Fred , Dennis, Larry, Dave and Danny were in that they started in Jr High. VR was a very good band for a High School Garage Band and I was a fan boy and then a friend. We had a good time and had the usual teener adventures living in the SFV.

I hung out with most of them as individuals and I was close to Fred for a short time and we talked about ourselves and the state of our existence like young guys do at that age. We were pretty full of ourselves.I had other close friends from the band but I'm talking about Freddy here.

Danny sent me a video and a "7inch" CD with five compositions recorded by Fred back in the 70s. I was almost afraid to listen out of being disappointed or something. It turned out a lot better than I expected. I was surprised by his vocals, I had never really heard him sing. He wasn't really singing up front when I knew him, he played guitar, lead guitar- his voice was his guitar. I remember his father telling him BB King was great but BB needed to get rid of his guitar.

So this CD features his songs sung by him and his voice is good!! He plays some "refrains," breaks on his guitar but it's part of the piece. He does not go off like a "Guitar God." The songs are complete compositions and the vocals and lyric are up front. The lyrics are personal and poetic. Sounds corny but I hear some of the Fred I remember when we had discussions and debates though that might be more than it really was. We were blowing off our anger and frustrations as kids growing into men. So the songs are sorting out experiences he had which is what most songs- poetry is about. These songs are of a further evolved Fred sometime after we hung out.

The music is influenced by the Beatles, maybe Bowie, Freddy Mercury, there's a cabaret sounding tune as a last cut. My favorite after the initial listening is the first one; "Open Up."

Fred is a definite Tenor, and has decent range. I'm not really a musician so take all this with a grain of salt. His guitar got better more assured, it has become more vocal, it has good expression.

I don't think the band on the recording is the old band that I hauled around.

The video is black and white film that was transferred to video, not great quality, but it shows Fred singing and playing guitar. The music is dubbed over the video. Fred's styling in an Edwardian suit. He had all the moves down. It's fun to watch, takes you back to the glam rock days.

I'm not sure what happened to his music career. Danny said something about it and he, Fred, just let it go for some time. I've done the same thing with painting and making art. I have the feeling if he hung in there he might have had a career or a living from music. I think he expected greater things and playing as a session musician or clubs was not what he wanted. I'm just guessing though.

So I like the music and I will listen to it some more, get into it a bit more.

Thanks Danny.

Danny's a great musician himself and has some stuff I will listen to Their old band mate Dennis does music and composes too. It's really stunning to hear this stuff! It will take time to take it all in.

Next Post For This Last New Year

2011-01-09T23:07:00.000-08:00

1951 Norton 500 Single

Coolest bike of the New Year

photo is from this past weeks Las Vegas bike auction

More New Year Stuff

2011-01-09T22:57:00.000-08:00

Ray El Rey

"Take This"

New Years Stuff

2011-01-09T22:54:00.000-08:00

Last Year's Last Ride

on Dennison Grade in Ojai

12/31/2010

Saturnalia The Solstice

2010-12-21T20:07:00.000-08:00

This is the Pan's Labyrinth sound track video, I tried Saturnalia (search) but all I got is lame explanatory videos and bad music-dance. This film though not about the Winter Solstice is closer to the spirit of it than anything else I have found. I do feel something elemental and ancient in this event (stating the obvious).
My take on the Winter Solstice is that it is the shortest day of the year, the turning point and after the days grow longer. That's the biggest joy for me, the days get longer. In fact the Summer Solstice is the disappointing turn for me, days get shorter after that and I look forward to the Winter Solstice from that point.

Dick Lane

2010-12-05T23:07:00.000-08:00

Pro Wrestling, Roller Derby and Demolition Derby announcer on KTLA in the 50s & 60s. Part of my childhood. He's on the left in this video.

This is Great! Motorhead to the Rescue!!

2010-12-05T21:48:00.000-08:00

This is Very Moving to Me

2010-12-05T18:45:00.000-08:00

Fun Downtown Strip/ Big Hair!!

2010-11-29T21:28:00.000-08:00

Afghanistan, It's A Bunch of Crap!!

2010-11-14T15:10:00.000-08:00

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=profile&id=577306587#!/permalink.php?story_fbid=155932887783623&id=577306587&notif_t=like

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/exclusive-afghanistan--behind-enemy-lines-2133667.html

You Are Not I

2010-11-13T19:54:00.000-08:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/13/movies/13driver.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a28

Film of Paul Bowles' short story. Check the NYT link.

The Vast Blue Sky

2010-11-07T13:07:00.000-08:00

http://www.facebook.com/#!/note.php?note_id=195137211427&id=27357898219

More Death

2010-10-23T19:17:00.000-07:00

Raymond Taix dies at 85; owner of L.A. landmark French restaurant

2010-10-23T06:18:00.000-07:00

Raymond Taix, who owned one of the oldest restaurants in Los Angeles, the French establishment Taix that his family has run since 1927, has died. He was 85.

Taix died Oct. 10 of leukemia at his Pasadena home, said his son, Michael.

The restaurant owes its beginnings to an act of capriciousness at the height of Prohibition when Raymond was 2 years old.
After his French-immigrant grandfather built a hotel in 1912 in a French enclave downtown, he leased space to a restaurant. When federal agents accused the restaurateur of selling alcohol in the late 1920s, he tossed the keys to Taix's pharmacist father, Marius Jr., and challenged him to "do it yourself," The Times reported in 1992.

Raymond and his younger brother Pierre grew up at the restaurant in the old brick building at 321 Commercial St. As the restaurant thrived, the boys started washing dishes at Taix — pronounced "Tex" — when they were 12, their mother Claudia once said.
In 1964, a 39-year-old Raymond Taix appeared in a photograph in The Times with his father raising a toast to their restaurant, which was forced to close that October to make way for a parking structure for the new federal building nearby.
By then Taix had become a downtown landmark known for serving family-style meals and "good food at low prices," The Times said in 1964.

In Echo Park, the family had laid the groundwork for Taix to continue by opening another restaurant on Sunset Boulevard in 1962. Started by Raymond, Pierre and two other relatives, it was originally called Les Freres Taix — the brothers Taix.
Eventually, Raymond became the sole proprietor and the restaurant's name was simplified to Taix.

Two weeks before he died, Raymond was still actively involved with the restaurant, said his son, who manages day-to-day operations.
"He always told me that the restaurant was a Los Angeles institution," his son said. "He maintained the restaurant through difficult economic times and some very serious neighborhood changes in Echo Park. He easily could have thrown in the towel many times, but he stuck by it."
Evidence of his kindness and ability as a manager is reflected in the longevity of the restaurant's workforce, his son said. More than a dozen employees have worked at Taix for more than 30 years and two have endured for nearly half a century.
One of Taix's favorite sayings was, "If you aren't making mistakes once in a while, you aren't doing anything," said the Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, the Episcopal bishop of Los Angeles who is his brother-in-law.
"He was a gentle spirit in a very wise business body," said Bruno, who worked for Taix for eight years. "He had an open heart and made sure he treated his employees with dignity and respect."

Raymond Marcell Taix was born April 28, 1925, in Los Angeles, the second of three children. He also had an older sister, Lucille.
As boys, Raymond and Pierre appeared in films as members of the Robert Mitchell Boys Choir.
A 1943 graduate of Loyola High School, Taix attended Washington State University and Woodbury University. His friends from high school still gather regularly at the restaurant, Bruno said, adding that he played a mean game of gin rummy.
Taix joined the Army in 1943 and served in Guam during World War II.
Back home, he returned to the family business and the simple French country cuisine for which it was known. The roast chicken dinner that sold for 50 cents in 1928 — a dollar if a patron wanted to eat in a booth — goes for $13.95 today.
He also built a wine list that was "famous, amazingly broad" and "almost impossibly cheap," The Times said in a 1989 review of Taix that ran beneath a headline that declared: "It's Almost Like Home."
In addition to his son, Michael, he is survived by his wife of 28 years, Toni Rae Bruno Taix, and five grandchildren.

valerie.nelson@latimes.com
Copyright © 2010, Los Angeles Times

We used to pronounce it "Tays."

My Father used to take us to Taix the Echo Park location was right on top of where he grew up. I'm sure my Grandparents took my Father and Uncle to the downtown restaurant.
Dad was 3 years older than Raymond, they did not know one another.
I haven't been there in 30 years + -.Hopefully I can go check it out sometime soon.
Last time I was there I didn't think the food was that good.I think I was coming from a Dodger game.
I do remember Dad ordering a bottle of wine there. That was pretty special because he didn't usually buy bottles of wine at restaurants because they were expensive, at least back when I was a kid. Makes sense since Taix had "affordable" bottles of wine.
Dad got spendy in his later years. We would go to Bruno's on Centinela and Washington (?) and he'd buy some nice wine with dinner. After that there was always a bottle of wine.
Whatever, this was part of my family history.

A New Political Party

2010-10-22T16:15:00.000-07:00

Who The Hell is Running This Country??? Us or These Guys??

My more or less lamebrain idea of what we need for a new political party.
First, why; Because both parties are owned by corporations and the uber rich and are not really interested in we the people we really need a fresh new perspective. We need to get power back to the voters. Voters are mad and at the same time complacent and working against their own interests.
The new party in my view needs to be a progressive libertarian party. Libertarian in a social sense and progressive in a government sense.
The social libertarianism is laws against personal liberty must be eliminated. Drug laws in particular are expensive and an invasion of privacy. If you want to be a doper or a whore that's your prerogative. Police should concentrate on crimes against persons or property. This could include driving under the influence of drugs or unsafe use of machinery for example. Fraud and certain kinds of misrepresentation of product or services would be illegal. Monopolies and market fraud or manipulation would be illegal. Other destructive behaviors that threaten others of course would be outside the law.
Government as a social organizer and infrustructure builder and maintainer is desirable, some kinds of socialism would be used or instituted under law and could enhance free market activities. Government would encourage markets and innovation. Government would be efficient and would be reviewed and contained as needed. There would be a principal of only as much government as needed.
One social effort would be health care as a right of all citizens. Organisation of mass transport balancing private and public transportation.
Regulation in environmental protection, parks, city and infrustructure planning, building safety and planning. Local community vision of the built environment co ordinating with private property and property rights in Real Estate. Cultural development and schooling- education using the same local, state and federal mandates and resources.
These are the platforms and goals of the party I see and like any party there will be other visions and opinions within the party itself.
What the hell, that's my view or suggestion. I do know the two party system is corrupt and needs some shaking up and a third party might be a help.
I'm sick of all the half measures and lack of commitment that is co opted by the present powers. Selfishness and short sighted solutions will not work.
Power to the people!!

David Mann Chopperfest

2010-10-22T15:32:00.000-07:00

Death Wish

2010-10-04T21:49:00.000-07:00

Ugly Girl

2010-09-06T20:49:00.000-07:00

Harvey Pekar's Current Status

2010-09-05T17:21:00.000-07:00

other than dead, it's the publication of his ongoing projects, some finished some not..

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/arts/design/05pekar.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

The Illusion of Reality

2010-09-04T10:36:00.000-07:00

You cannot get this on BBC any more this is the place to watch this. It's an explanation of particle physics and even cosmology that you can understand. I did not realise what a Hero Richard Feynman was!! Check this out see all three sections. Quiz around Christmas!!
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=122043077845892

St Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast

2010-09-01T22:46:00.000-07:00

Listen to Yellow Snow first!!

Yellow Snow

2010-09-01T22:40:00.000-07:00

The video sucks but I like this version

The Water Bong Is So Smooth

2010-09-01T17:15:00.000-07:00

Free market has turned us into 'Matrix' drones

2010-08-30T15:19:00.000-07:00

Ha-Joon Chang, the new kid on the economics block, is out to bust open a few myths

By Rachel Shields

Sunday, 29 August 2010

Chang's new book argues that, as in The Matrix, people are brainwashed into seeing things as inevitable that are not

The Battle

A Conservative Perspective on thebattle for Free Enterprise

www.perseusbooksgroup.com/ba

A leading economist has likened the nation's acceptance of free-market capitalism to that of the brainwashed characters in the film The Matrix, unwitting pawns in a fake reality. In a controversial new book, the Cambridge economist Ha-Joon Chang debunks received wisdom on everything from the importance of the internet to the idea that people in the United States enjoy the highest standard of living in the world; an iconoclastic attitude that has won him fans such as Bob Geldof and Noam Chomsky.

Dr Chang's 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism is one of a spate of tomes published in recent weeks that question the future of the current system, including Capitalism 4.0 by Anatole Kaletsky, and Ian Bremmer's The End of the Free Market. Economists are keen to tap into the market for popular books on seemingly impenetrable subjects – highlighted by the runaway success of Freakonomics, which has sold more than four million copies since it was published in 2005 and is about to be made into a film.

South-Korean born Dr Chang aims to disprove what he sees as economic myths, including the idea that people are paid what they are worth, that the "trickle down" effect of increasing wealth among the rich helps the poor, and that education makes countries more prosperous.

One of the modern idols Dr Chang seeks to bring down is the internet. He claims that we overestimate the importance of new technologies compared to older inventions – such as the washing machine – and criticises the way in which internet access has been seen as key to countries' development.

"If you had everything, then I'm in favour of it. But when children don't have safe drinking water and free school meals, is it really important?" he said. "We have a fascination with the new, and we have to be careful not to project our own vision on to other people's lives."

A leading development economist, Dr Chang was much lauded for his 2007 book Bad Samaritans, which looked at the negative effects of globalisation on developing countries. He is now bringing his focus closer to home, considering problems in the UK. "It is like The Matrix. There is a reality where things could and should be better," he said. "In order to wake people up to that alternative reality, you need to show them that it isn't impossible. I'm not necessarily saying that I have a solution, but we have to recognise that some of the things we accept as inevitable aren't."

But while Dr Chang may not have the answer, he is sure of the problem – arguing that free-market capitalism has left the global economy more unstable, and people with less job security and greater feelings of insecurity, than ever before. His conviction that, post-recession, we should be rebuilding our country in a "moral" way – by acknowledging the social consequences of economic choices such as benefit cuts and job losses – will strike a chord with many.

"Another myth that needs to be busted is the idea that we can discuss economics without any moral implications," he said. "What kind of economy we build changes us, so what we do in terms of monetary policy determines who we are."

Dr Chang also highlights the way in which economics impacts not just on our wages and living standards, but also on our characters. He said: "In conventional economic theory, it is thought that we are born as perfectly formed, rational, self-serving agents. But where you work and what kind of work you do are important in determining your character."

While Dr Chang may have many fans, his belief that the welfare state should be expanded has prompted criticism from some economists.

"It is a very unfashionable thing to say at the moment, but people have to realise that cuts have long-term implications on the fairness of the culture," he said.

Dr Chang, who moved to the UK in 1986 as a 23-year-old graduate student, argues that an emphasis on equality of opportunity is futile – likening life to a race which everyone starts at the same time, but where some have weights strapped to their legs – and that we should instead work towards greater equality of outcome.

"People have been drilled into thinking that there is equality of opportunity and whatever comes out at the end should be accepted. But the effects of not having equality of outcome are felt by the next generation. It is not simply that you don't have enough money; if your parents are from a certain background, you don't even aspire to another background. You can ameliorate some of these things through the school system, but not all of them."

What his peers say...

'I think the internet has probably changed the world more than the washing machine'

Dr Ruth Lea, Economic advisor to Arbuthnot Banking Group

'Different organisations do behave differently, and structures have an effect on our actions'

Professor Robert Wade, London School of Economics

'Of course the crisis revealed the futility of the dominant system of economics'

Professor James Galbraith, Lyndon B Johnson School of Public Affairs

'Just about every economic decision that you make has a moral aspect'

Dr Timothy Leunig, Reader, London School of Economics

'The dominant paradigm about capitalism being best for all is an illusion'

Professor Bob Rowthorn, Professor emeritus, Cambridge University

Food and Drug Caterers

2010-08-26T21:42:00.000-07:00

This is a segue from Orpheus's Meth Lab request.

This is a food truck which is a blog in itself but I'll dispense with the first idea.

A Meth Lab Truck, just like a food truck but it serves meth- and why not other drugs??- cook up the meth and serve it fresh!!

OK part 2; LA food trucks, they used to be the "worst," roach coaches, taco trucks, the best were studio caterers trucks, same configuration just better food. Now it's "viral," every chi chi restaurant and entrepreneur is doing one now and they have routes and fans-customers.

www.findlafoodtrucks.com/

That link has links, so check it out and be disgusted or thrilled!! In my case there's no difference!!

Here's the George Carlin Rant

2010-08-24T18:03:00.000-07:00

It's so true.

2010-08-24T17:56:00.000-07:00

Charlie Christian 1916- 1942

influenced every jazz musician after him....

Serfdom in America

2010-08-18T17:04:00.000-07:00

This is where we are going.
I just got fired by some patronizing jackass who was paying me cash. He's a land rich idiot up in Ojai.
I just imagined him putting his employees into indentured servitude, he does not pay them enough to make a decent living and keeps them off of unemployment and the tax rolls (including Social Security). Soon landlords will make you work for them so you can "pay rent." Pretty close to serfdom in my book.

The Sutra of Complete Awakening

2010-08-02T21:53:00.000-07:00

Case 45 from the Book of Equanimity: “The Sutra of Complete Awakening”

Preface to the Assembly

A manifest koan depends solely on right now. The absolute manner distinguishes only itself. If you try to set up gradations or intentionally strive, then all of this is painting eyebrows on chaos, or attaching a handle to a bowl. So how is tranquility achieved?

Main Case

Attention! The Sutra of Complete Awakening says, “Be at all times without deluded thoughts arising. Moreover, with regard to all deluded states of mind, do not try to extinguish them. Dwelling in the realm of delusion, do not add discriminating knowledge. When knowledge is absent, do not distinguish reality.”

For years I wouldn’t talk about this koan. I have tremendous respect for the teachings of the Buddha, and I just couldn’t talk about this thing that I hadn’t fully digested: “Be at all times without deluded thoughts arising.” This is a very steep suggestion that Shakumuni Buddha is putting forth, but it’s also a very beautiful statement. It’s an extremely dangerous teaching, but it goes to the heart of practice. The whole realm of deluded thoughts is a place where a lot of Buddhists, at one point including me, create a shadow, a sense of shame, a feeling that one cannot measure up. How do you feel about this – not what do you think, but how do you feel? Does it make you feel deluded? Does it seem impossible?

The key is the first line in the Preface to the Assembly, “A manifest koan depends solely on right now.” Everything depends on right now. In delusion, the mind splits the experience of this moment into two. You can think of all kinds of things, but this doesn’t alter reality in any way. If you think there is a particular reality and you begin to believe those thoughts, there is the problem, the split between what’s real in this moment and your thoughts. Even the thought of enlightenment is a delusion if enlightenment is something other than the place where you stand. If you’re splitting up your reality, you’re creating a shadow; the idea that life should be something other than that of the human being you are in this moment.

The trouble comes from not fully understanding the nature of thought. Many people try to cover up thoughts when they’re ashamed: “My mind should be clear.” So people try to practice a “clear mind”– trying to push away the mind that’s actually present in this moment, thinking that a “clear mind” is better than whatever kind of mind that’s manifesting. That’s pushing away one mind and seeking another. There’s a split, a dichotomy between what this mind contains in this moment and what I want it to contain. Sometimes we talk about “true nature” as if there’s some other nature there. If you’re dwelling in the realm of ideas and using your mind to reflect on reality, the split’s right there. I remember asking Maezumi Roshi, “How do I take practice into everyday life?” His answer: “Just do it.” I asked the same question again three or four years later. “Just do it.” Again ten years later. “Just do it.” It’s not about ideas or approaches or plans or schemes. It’s just what is here, now.

“In regard to deluded states of mind, do not try to extinguish them.” As soon as you recognize that there’s something called “delusion” and you try to move from it, what are you doing? You’re creating another separation, rather than just getting on with your life and letting go of your ideas and fears about delusion. There’s no problem here - there is no split. But so long as you’re moving towards something else, there is a problem. Do you think you know what a deluded thought is? How can there be a deluded thought when there’s full awareness? People underestimate the value of these things called “delusions.” Things that we regard as deluded are often the things that actually interest us. I am really interested in delusion. It’s highly underrated.

Why are you moving away from these things that are so interesting? Why don’t you just thoroughly be those instead of pushing them away? What are you striving to become? If you don’t live wholeheartedly in the midst of them, they’ll always persist as something separate from yourself, and you’ll never be at home in them. Think about some of the things that are always troubling us that we regard as delusion like sex, power, money, fame, gain. We like to say, “Oh, I don’t do this.” The problem is that we’ve not felt them. We’ve not experienced those things. What do they do? How do they live? Not how do they live out there somewhere, but right here now. I’m thinking of Hawaii. I’m thinking of having sex. So what? How does that affect reality? Does it even touch it? But we give these thoughts so much power because we don’t understand them. We create a split there with our minds, and we make a shadow. “When my life is free of these things, then I’ll be enlightened.” Really?

A dharma brother for whom I have great respect once said to me that one of the big changes in his life was when he allowed himself to be thoroughly jealous. He let it in. Not, “I’ll let in a certain amount and disown the rest,” but completely and thoroughly. The problem is that most of the time we don’t do that. Instead we think, “Buddhism says I should be at all times without deluded thoughts.” What a deluded thought! The nature of the mind is to think. It’s not about blanking out what is coming up in your mind. Any idiot can do that. Practice is to understand how the mind works regardless of what comes up.

There is a reason for having everything you have, there’s a use for it all. Shakyamuni Buddha had everything that you have. Greed, anger, ignorance, love, wisdom, compassion, drive, determination. He didn’t exclude anything. He wasn’t a saint. He named his son, ‘Hindrance’. He left his wife. But he didn’t stay there. He came back and he thoroughly made amends for those things in the best way that he possibly could. He wasn’t any different than you or me. He had a dysfunctional family, and what did he do with that? He used it to the best of his ability. There were no excuses there. And yet, what do we do with him? “The Buddha’s up there, and he said these things.” Question what the Buddhas, the teachers say! In questioning what they say, you make it real for yourself. You may disagree with them, or you may see that there’s a kernel in there that’s true. And I don’t mean just in Buddhism, but in all aspects of your life.

”Moreover, with regard to deluded states of mind, do not try to extinguish them.” Again, what are they? How do you use these things? I don’t see a dividing line between enlightenment and delusion, except where the light of your awareness is not shed on what you are doing and what you are at any given time. That’s what enlightenment means – the light of your life is shed on the place where you stand. How can you say that “awakening” doesn’t exist in you now? How much awakening do you want? When is it going to be enough? The people who have the most courage are the ones who can swallow whole the place where they stand. The Tenzo said to Dogen, “If not me, who. If not now, when?” Beautiful words, but can you swallow it and practice it? If you’re not the one who’s awakened, then who are you? And if enlightenment’s not now, then when?

Master Rinzai said that the six rays of divine light never cease to shine, and that if you see it this way you’ll be no different than Shakyamuni. The six rays are your life: seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, tasting, thinking. This last, thinking, is the trickiest. Dogen said, “When you sit, think of not thinking. What kind of thinking is that? It’s non-thinking, the essential art of zazen”. If you’re intimidated by thought, or you think you’re hindered by thought, you should really look at that. If somebody throws a rock through the window when you’re deep in thought, you come out of it immediately. There’s no thought there, but immediately there’s a response to what’s actually happening. Non-thinking is the very basis of your life. That’s the way it was before consciousness arose for you. It’s always there right from the beginning. We get so used to self-defining that we get lost in the labyrinth of our own thought. And then we’re afraid of this shadow – “Oh, I shouldn’t be thinking.” And worse, “This zazen is really bad because I’m thinking a lot. Why should I bother doing zazen?” When has your life been hindered by that? You’ve still got a nose and two ears. Why do you judge it? “This is good zazen, that is bad zazen.” So what? It’s your life. You’re a human being, and that’s what’s going to happen.

Maezumi Roshi at 65 was one of the most highly acclaimed Zen masters, both here and in Japan. Once he said, “My head is so busy.” He was using thought to help people. A beautiful tool. And he entered into that realm of thought freely. What a beautiful thing to do! Not because he wanted to be somewhere else or he was fighting to have a clear mind. What are you afraid of? What’s wrong with thought? It’s a birthright of human beings. How does it stop you? Trying to fit yourself into a particular context such as fearing thought or delusion, just doesn’t work.

Why do you need to be enlightened or deluded? Why do you need those labels? Why do you need to distance yourself from what you are? It’s like this. It’s what you know and experience now. Just practice it. As Dogen says, as sure as you lift up your foot, it’s going to come down. If you practice what you know in your bones it will become the reality. It’s just like practicing any art. You get better and better at basketball, at writing. But if you say, “Well I can’t do it,” and don’t practice it, what chance have you got?

That’s where the faith resides in Buddhism. If you don’t think that you’re awakened, flip it over: “I’m awakened. Now what?” Play with it. Sometimes your own habits get ingrained in your own head, and the belief that you have about yourself becomes a fact. To put it another way, supposing this is it? What are you going to do? How are you going to live?

Kindly transcribed by Bill Shinjin Butler

San Pedro

2010-08-02T20:46:00.001-07:00

A Good Version

2010-08-02T20:30:00.001-07:00

Love

2010-08-02T20:18:00.001-07:00

The Real Truth, George Carlin Tells It, Pay Attention

2010-08-01T17:29:00.000-07:00

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=705316184#!/video/video.php?v=159216125164

The God of Early 60s Guitar

2010-08-01T13:46:00.000-07:00

I won't call it @*%$ music, it's bad ass!!

Here is What it Was Like on the Enemies List

2010-08-01T13:25:00.001-07:00

Here's the Truth

2010-08-01T11:33:00.000-07:00

http://counterpunch.org/roberts07302010.html

Space Rays

2010-08-01T11:02:00.000-07:00

http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/cosmic-ray-puzzling-pattern-icecube-100729.html

I think this is interesting

Beg, Steal, Borrow..

2010-07-30T11:21:00.001-07:00

Leonard Reference to Frankie Laine

2010-07-29T13:48:00.000-07:00

From "Ladie's Man"

Terrier Man Turned Me On to This

2010-07-26T09:57:00.000-07:00

Eternity is an awful long spell to go without coon huntin! What kind of tea party are they havin in there anyway.

The Stockton Mile

2010-07-25T22:15:00.000-07:00

I'm going this year.
http://www.stocktonmile.com/index.html

Did Bradley Manning Act Alone?

2010-07-25T21:34:00.000-07:00

Did Bradley Manning Act Alone?
This is a big mess!

Doc & Merle, More Merle Fest

2010-07-24T20:05:00.001-07:00

From the Okies to the Hillbillies.

I'm on a Merle Fest, This is Funny

2010-07-24T19:56:00.000-07:00

Merle's the Best

2010-07-24T19:47:00.001-07:00

Don Knotts

2010-07-24T15:13:00.001-07:00

Harvey Pekar

2010-07-24T14:50:00.000-07:00

I want to get this;

2010-07-22T22:17:00.000-07:00

Shinya's Indian, he's gonna take it on the Motorcycle Cannonball Endurance Run.
It's a 16 day coast-to-coast run for motorcycles made before 1916. Jeff Decker among other antique motorcycle collectors are entered. They start in Kitty Hawk, N. Carolina on Sept. 10 and end in Santa Monica, So. Cal. Sept. 26. I hope to be there.

2010-07-21T21:13:00.000-07:00

Sing along with Mitch, thanks to Drew Freedman.

2010-07-20T22:51:00.000-07:00

I'm doing the visual thing here today.

The Old Country

2010-07-20T22:46:00.000-07:00

I bagged this from Jay Lynch on Face book. I've seen it before, this version has subtitles on it which makes it that much more enjoyable.
I love people who can make fun of themselves and have a great time doing it. The ethnicity helps the whole effect.

This is Fucking Great, The Iron Monkees Mashup!

2010-07-16T22:13:00.001-07:00

DJ Schmolli: The Trooper Believer
Mashup Industries - Saturday, 17 July 2010

Worked on My Bike Today

2010-07-11T00:43:00.000-07:00

Put the dimmer switch back in the handle bar, painted the handle bar, pipes and frame. Touched up the scratches that is. Will have it running tomorrow. It won't have the derby on the primary NBD I have a belt drive primary.

2010-07-03T22:29:00.000-07:00

I BBQ'd today so I won't tomorrow.

I've never been a flag waver. I do consider myself lucky to have landed in this particular place at this particular time but I will not say this is the epitome of civilisation or countries. We certainly have more of a lot of stuff and technology. Maybe we have more "freedom." In the long run at what cost to others now and in the future??

I remember having this conversation with my father and part of it was; more is better. There's more people living now due to big food sources- the green revolution, better medicine, transportation, bigger stuff and places. It seems that has it's drawbacks these days. Some think we should just keep charging ahead, ignore the consequences or mitigate them the "best you can."

I do believe science is part of the answer and the scientific principle is one of the main principles we need to go by. Life or the care of life and the human civilisation is not all science but it's a big piece of the solution. The idea that we are part of the bigger system in this world is an important fact and is a key to our survival (my Buddism). In a way I could give a rat's ass, if humanity keeps peeing in the stream it gets what it deserves (uh oh!! where's the compassion?). I hate ignorance though and there seems to be a lot of energy pushing ignorance. So I do push back and of course it's in my own LITTLE way.

What do I do about that or this?? My best, which is taking care of what I can and that's mostly me and my wife (and dog).

Happy Fourth!!

My Ad for Services on My Tribe Blog

2010-07-03T21:14:00.000-07:00

I've been on the Alt Housing and const tribes and they are talking about all the alternative "green" building techniques that I'm familiar with. I've been in construction since 1970, mostly production housing but recently up in Santa Barbara doing remodels on high end commercial and residential stuff.

I had the whole earth catalogue and a sup scrip to the periodical that spun off of it. I went to Sim Van Der Rin (?) seminars in Occidental, CA back in the late 70's I own the whole collection of Christopher Alexander's Pattern Language Building and Planning (of which Prince Charles commissioned a boat house for the HMS Rose).

So I know all that new age hippie building shit. I've done adobe brick making and old fashioned post and beam with mortise and tenon. I've done concrete slabs and footings the steel in them.

I'm a master finish and framing carpenter. I can do material take offs, labor take offs, budgeting, plan approval, IOW shuffling them through the local planning- plan approval and building and safety requirements. I can deal with sub contractors. I've done stuctural steel co-ordination and elevation-plan check. Helped correct steel detail sheets before fabrication.

So, If you are building your Green energy efficient dream house I can facilitate that and even provide some sweat.

Update: I crashed My Bike

2010-07-01T21:08:00.000-07:00

About a week and a half ago, Sunday, spent the night in the Ojai Hospital to see if I bruised my heart. Broke ribs 4 & 5 right over the heart and it hurt bad for a few days. Strange pain patterns in time, one day OK the next in misery. Now I can still feel the pain in the ribs and I've slowed down on the vicodin. I'm going to try working this coming Monday.
The bike is OK, there is a dent in the left tank and the clutch cable was kinked, sheared the mini toggle for the hi beam, mashed and scraped the derby on the primary cover and bent the shifter scraped the floorboard below that.
The crash itself was just below the tunnel in the Matilija Gorge, a decreasing radius turn. I layed it down and didn't highside, I must have jammed the handle bar into my ribs(?). the Bike was on top of me in the dirt off the road. I was going up the canyon. I was a squid, to fast for my skill set, stupid judgement. All the bikers that stopped were great and helpful. They did not let me get up, it was hard to breathe.

2010-05-16T18:49:00.000-07:00

http://baselinescenario.com/2010/05/16/13-bankers-lehrer-newshour-edition-and-another-connection/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BaselineScenario+%28The+Baseline+Scenario%29

Banks, can't live with them, can't live without them. Bring back Glass Steagal!

Fred Neil

2010-05-16T00:13:00.000-07:00

Fred Neil, Peter Case posted about him and put a link to a song. I was not a fan of his, really didn't even come onto my radar till Tim Buckley recorded Dolphin.
Good to hear him now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXe7caP_Crc&feature=related

2010-05-15T23:03:00.000-07:00

Here's my 72' Shovelhead. This was taken last year, it has the Chopper Dave

air cleaner on it which is gone for the standard S&S air cleaner.

I was having starter problems which turned out not to be the starter. it was a jumper wire on the circuit breaker block. Now I'm leaking gear grease, I think it's coming out of the main shaft seal behind the clutch basket. Kurt doesn't think so or wants definite proof. I'll keep topping it off in the meantime.

Have not been riding it with other custom bike folk because of my poorness and assholeness and I have not made great effort too anyhow. I'm riding tomorrow, by myself, which is fine.

Purpose

2010-05-15T22:38:00.000-07:00

I got a job after two years +or-. It's a cash job chasing termite a rot damage on houses along with some retro fitting (upgrade remodel) and maintenance.
So during this horror I sold my knucklehead project, my dodge Dakota pickup was repossessed, I was in a big depressed funk. Life was shitty and frustrating. I went to dozens of interviews and I did not get hired. The job search sites were not worth a shit, Craigslist worked. I sold stuff and got some interviews and finally this job.
Hopefully I can post some interesting stuff on this blog. I'm not going to have a theme, just what comes up. Obviously it's about me and my interests and whatever I might pitch. On facebook I friended some old Tribe friends and comic artists from the old hippy underground comic movement and some more current artists in that vein. I've posted and 'shared' a lot of political and financial posts from Huffpost, NYT, Naked Capitalism and Baseline Scenario.
I'm a 60 year old jerk and asshole, I've been told, I figure I must be.
I hope it's not all narcissistic bullshit, we'll see!