Marty’s blog

Okay, here’s the thing; the paper is great - well as much as I can tell with my limited Spanish speaking (and reading) skills. But I do have some sense of history. So what’s with this name, El Conquistador News !?

Am I the only one who sees a problem here? This is a paper that serves the Hispanic population in my community - mostly Mexican I think. Why would you name a paper after the genocidal people who killed, raped and enslaved your ancestors, pillaged their civilization and destroyed their culture?

Would you name a paper for a Jewish community the Nazi Gazette or a periodical for an African American community the Slave Masters Herald?

Am I missing something here? Somebody set me right please!

I got a lot of compliments on the new house colors I chose, but also plenty of criticism and snide remarks.  The house was previously painted a faded blue and white.  I think many neighbors just got used to it looking that way and were afraid of the change.  It was so dingy looking, I admit, it was hard to see the potential.

Most loved it when it was done. And I told the few critics to wait until Fall, and it would look spectacular.  I think I am vindicated.

AP/Yahoo:  Mexican marijuana cartels sully US forests, parks

San Francisco Chronicle: National parks’ pot farms blamed on cartels; Mexican drug lords find it easier to grow in state than import

What? What!?! Maybe, for one thing, the U.S. government is way too busy spying on its own citizens and overseas military personnel’s long distance pillow talk with their spouses. Why not put some of those resources somewhere else, huh? Do you wonder why they can’t catch Bin Laden in the hills and badlands of Pakistan? Our government and our military leaders, it seems, can’t catch a rat in a dumpster. They should practice here in our national parks for a while, and maybe they’ll get better at it.

And the bad guys are flying in and out and around the U.S. with helicopters! The gov’t has the technology to monitor our emails and phone calls, but no technology, like radar…or satellites…maybe air traffic controllers…or manpower, to notice hundreds (thousands?) of illegal helicopter flights every year. This is almost embarrassing. It is embarrassing.

And by the way, where is the California National Guard? Oops, I forgot they’re in Iraq. And Afghanistan “addressing” the “poppy problem” over there. Not that we shouldn’t be addressing agricultural problems in Afghanistan - I think we should, but the irony is still there.

BBC News: Mammals facing extinction threat
“At least 25% of the world’s mammal species are at risk of extinction, according to the first assessment of their status for a decade.
“The Red List of Threatened Species says populations of more than half of mammalian species are falling, with Asian primates particularly at risk.”

Wake up folks. The “end of days” people - and that includes all Republicans…remember, they chose and support her, Sarah Palin - they don’t really give a shit about this extinction stuff, or the environment, or global warming. That kind of stuff. You know, nature. Why should they?

And please!! Don’t forget!! She, Palin, could easily end up as the leader of the free world! …shiver! A few electoral votes this way or that. A few “malfunctioning” electronic voting devices, and her policies could be America’s. And the world’s.

Are you trembling yet? I know, it’s hard to think about. Makes me almost want to bury my head in the sand. Except that it’s my ass -and yours- that would still be exposed.

Do you care? Do you care about your children and grandchildren? If you don’t have any, do you care about mine? Do you care about anyone’s?

I don’t fear tyranny or terrorists, joblessness or homelessness or poverty, running out of energy or a failing economy, disease or famine - as much as I fear for the future of our planet. Without a hospitable planet, nothing that humans do will matter, and there will be no practicable solutions for any of those problems. But I also don’t believe in the end of days. Though I do believe in very unhappy ones for our grandchildren if we don’t act.

The serious loss of species is not just some kind of silly, politically inspired, unjustified panic set off by “eco nutcases”, “tree huggers” and “liberal extremist environmentalists”. It’s real, it’s mainstream. Hell, it’s even in the news! Everywhere. If a person is not aware by now it’s because they have their head buried in the sand. Or stuck some place else. But I’m sure that doesn’t describe you! But maybe it describes your friend, your mother or brother, your neighbor whose head is…well you know where. So tell them. Over and over. And don’t give up. Keep telling them until election day. And after.

And this is important: Don’t forget to tell your kids. It’s kind of like the sex thing. In fact, it kind of matters more. You have told your kids, haven’t you? Don’t leave it up to the schools. You know better than that, don’t you? Yeah, it’s a little complicated at first, and maybe a bit hard to explain. But go ahead, you can do it.

We need to wake up. Quickly. We need a change in government. Now. We need leaders who are thoughtful. To which political party running for the White House would you attribute that adjective? Thoughtful.

I don’t believe in the end of days. Do you? If you do, then you are either horribly ignorant, or evil and I don’t like you and…well I don’t really want to talk to you? But I guess I have to. For my ass. For your grandchildren’s little asses.

Andy Griffith plays Sarah Palin.  We Netflixed “A Face In the Crowd” and watched it tonight.  Besides being a well made movie, this 1957 film has so many parallels to today, it’s uncanny.  Down to the current Sarah Palin phenomenon.   Be open-minded and you will see it clearly.  And it’s about the media - also not much different than today.  I have never seen this film before - Elia Kazan, 1957 - and it’s never shown on TV or cable that I can recall.  1957 - the year I was born, and I can see that, sadly, not much has changed in this last half century.

This flick is so timely, you must see it before the election!

And despite how I adore the old Andy Griffith show on TV for so many years, after seeing this film it’s clear he missed his calling as an exceptional dramatic actor in film.  Also one of Walter Matthau’s early roles, and Patricia Neal played a starring role.

I guess ”gardening” implies plants, but in this case, not - except for a small ornamental tree.  This project has been waiting to happen since I redesigned and replaced new front walk and porch.

Yesterday I ordered a ton (1.5 yards (cubic)) of pea gravel for one of our small Japanese “influenced” gardens that we’ve been planning with the help of friend Barbara Geiger.   Interesingly, yesterday, I headed straight home from the landscaping supplier after ordering and paying for the gravel, and the guy delivering it arrived just behind me.  How’s that for fast service!?  I ton of gravel = $25.  Delivery = $40.

I have loved consulting with Barbara about this whole landscaping project, which will take many years to evolve further and to complete.  I like how she listens to your ideas, helps to refine them, diplomatically inserts her own ideas (which are always better than mine) and just helps the whole concept evolve.  I easily understand why her students love her classes so much.

The first thing I had to do was to prepare the area by grading the sub soil.  Then I transplanted a Japanese maple from where it was growing in an inappropriate area, where it was getting too much direct sun.  Next I laid down some landscaping fabric to control weeds.  And finally, the Signora and I shoveled multiple loads into the wheelbarrow from where the gravel was deposited in the driveway and carted it over to the garden area between the front walkway and the house, dumped it and raked it smooth about three inches deep.

Finally, I strategially placed some nice rocks found around the property.  We are not using any kind of mathmatical formula that Barbara mentioned was/is a common way to place elements in a Japanese garden.  I decided to just use my eye and intuition, which usually works for me.  What is very important is to not place them in rows, or in patterns that don’t have a natural kind of look.  What is also important to me, which I always like to do when I design, is to place things as to draw a person forward and around an object - to create intrigue, and a desire to view the thing from different angles in different lights.  Most important is to always keep it as simple as possible.  Never add objects just for themselves - even if they are beautiful,  unless they enhance the whole composition.

Anyhow, here are a few pictures of yesterday’s work.  Not complete, but I want to live with it for a while to see what I might want to add or change come next Spring.  i also want to see what it looks like in Winter.  Right now it’s kind of beautiful in it’s starkness and simplicity, I think.

The good news is I’m starting to get some music work again.  The not so good news is that the pay for musicians still has not caught up with the cost of living these days.  And coupled with the shitty pay, there’s the cost of gas and other stupid outlays.

A couple of jobs I’m doing require a tuxedo with tails as the men’s dress code.  I’m a little miffed, since I already own a regular tux, which I was thinking I needed to replace soon due to its gradual threadbareness.  Now I have to put that money instead into that idiotic 19th Century anachronism - the tailcoat.

I keep telling classical music friends and folks around me, those that will listen, that if we still want an audience in the next decades, shouldn’t we become a little more modern?  Keep in mind, many in classical music still consider Stravinsky “modern” - you know, all those classics from the early 20th Century.  And Bartok?  Ohmygod, some of the old farts still think his music from the 1930s is still way out there!

So now that means I have to shop for clothes.  Oh god, I’d rather clean my catch basin!  But, yes, it is a necessary evil.  And I do buy clothes now and again.  Once or twice a month I buy a new pair of work jeans at Menards for about 18 bucks each, and that’s all I pretty much wear.  I buy shoes two pairs at a time, but I only wear sneakers (are they still called that?) which I pick up at those discount places where I can get two pairs for 40 dollars.  I buy work t-shirts and sweatshirts, underwear and socks in bulk, and once in a while my wife or someone will buy me a sweater or a pair of slacks or something, so I don’t often have reason to do any special shopping for clothes.

I’m like a fish out of water when I walk into a clothing store.  If I have to go, I usually sprint over to the meanswear section, grab a couple of mediums of this or that and dart to the checkout, then take one deep breath when I get back to the car and feel guilty about all the money I just wasted.

So here I am running around trying to find a tux with tails!  Long story short:  After a couple day searching with no success at finding anything under $500 or $600 dollars, I was at the paint store over in downtown Crystal Lake and remembered there was a local meanswear place down the street.  I popped in, and even though they don’t usually sell tails, they do rent them.  They’ll see what they can do.

A day and a phone call later, they found a used/like new tux they can get me - pants and jacket - for $100 bucks.  Yes, that’s not a typo.  I’ll spend more for gas in the next two weeks!  And…it’s made in the USA!  So two days later, it’s in the store, they even adjust the hem on the pants, and find a new white bow tie (also part of the silly dress code) for ten bucks more and I’m on my happy way. Well, except that I still have to wear the thing.

Thanks J. Scott Menswear!

I wish I could be more optimisitic, but again today I’m not. I experience this undertone all around me. It’s so plain, and so impossible for me to deny.

Yahoo News: Obama Backers Worry His Race Will Hurt Him in `Middletown, USA’

If John McCain and Sarah Palin are elected in November I won’t shed a tear for a failed Republic. Such a Republic and its culture deserve the consequences of their sheer and absolute stupidity. Even our founding fathers (and mothers), I think, would agree. I know Franklin and Jefferson would.

“In these sentiments, Sir, I agree to this Constitution, with all its faults, — if they are such; because I think a general Government necessary for us, and there is no form of government but what may be a blessing to the people, if well administered; and I believe, farther, that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years, and can only end in despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic government, being incapable of any other.” Ben Franklin, 1787

“The government you elect is government you deserve.” attributed: Thomas Jefferson

I will be blurry-eyed, not for the Republic, but for myself, and all the individuals who will suffer - even those who will have destroyed the Republic with their majority votes of ignorance, greed and racism.

Sorry to be so bleak, but if these two Republicans are elected, we are not in for happy times. And indeed, we will deserve it. Why do so many people imagine that despotism can’t happen here and that good government can possibly survive if not “well administered”.

Many of my relatives, grandparents and older friends, from Germany in the early 20th Century and into the 1930s, told about how most there had said “We are the most civilized country — highly educated and the most cultured. Nothing bad can happen to our fine democracy. Don’t worry, Hitler and his people can do little harm.”

Some of the fringe benefits of not mowing your lawn.