Dinner with Dexter

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Thoughts About the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (But first a public service announcement):

This year a huge change is coming...and it's not the Presidential election.

Boys, Supreme Court justice Anthony Scalia died unexpectedly this week. Now President Obama will nominate his replacement. This process will be contentious and possibly if the Republicans have it their way, will drag on for over a year, hoping that they can stall the nomination to the next Republican President. Scalia was very conservative in his decision making and having a judge who rules moderately would turn the balance of the court to a more progressive direction. Ideally you have judges who decide fairly and do not follow a liberal or conservative path, and base their decisions hearing all arguments. My preference is for a judge who is open to change, and is not blind to the hardships and unfairness that many citizens face. In many lasting ways the biggest impact a President makes are the Supreme Court appointments he (or she) has appointed in their time in the White House. See below for a list of judicial appointments by Presidents.

And now for the advertised topic:

Scroll down for a good read (link) of artists that did not make it to their Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame induction. Most did not show up by choice, some because of scheduling conflicts, others personality conflicts within their band and one legend that the Hall apparently neglected to invite to his own induction. I'm all for the artists hanging out with friends, receiving their just desserts and selling more records, reuniting or having fun but to me, something nauseating about rock and roll celebrating itself, especially since this is run by the record industry. Pretty much my feeling about all entertainment show business awards, and where we place our values.

Admittedly I was actually excited that one of my old faves, Chicago finally got in. This band, has suffered by existing too long (better in terms of their legacy and rock and roll lore if they had all perished in a plane crash 30 years ago) but in the subsequent years have been able to take care of their families and keep working. There's something to be admired about that, if not musically. They peaked in '69-'74 with Terry Kath's distinctive guitar playing and some nice material now and then up until 1984, when Peter Cetera finally left the band to sing theme songs for the Karate Kid and to make a nice Christmas record. The band replaced him with a musician who sounds like Cetera but with much less range then him. They have been punished for the last 30 years I guess.

Some type of dispute with Robbie Robertson kept the band from ever being nominated to the Hall with many bands of less influence (think with Blood, Sweat and Tears, the prominent horn charts, Robert Lamm's song writing, and Kath). And the Spinners have never gotten in either.

Anyway I read that the band was finally in, talk of a one night reunion with a big finale of 25 or 6 to 4 and Cetera strapping his bass again. Unfortunately it's not happening for the band or the Hall isn't going for Cetera's condition that all past living members be invited to the event, as a way for closure of old grievances. Oh well.

The article is from Cetera's website as is the "Make that 27" comments with it:

February 10, 2016

Make that 27! Happily moving on!
26 MUSICIANS TOO ROCK TO SHOW UP FOR THEIR OWN ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME INDUCTION
http://noisey.vice.com/en_ca/blog/26-musicians-too-rock-to-show-up-for-their-own-rock-n-roll-hall-of-fame-induction

Chicago Transit Authority

Make Me Smile

If you're truly hip, watch this (Questions 67 and 68)

Feeling Stronger Every Day (abrupt ending to the video)

Chicago with Al Green

What's This World Comin' To?

and then this one I discovered tonight. an oddity surely. I'm putting this here for me. The fashions are definitely mid '70's. This is a cover of a Duke Ellington song. A piece he wrote for a play about the day slaves were given their freedom (or at least thought the day had arrived).

Jump For Joy

Judicial appointments by president[edit]

President	Supreme Court	Circuit courts/^[1] Courts of appeals	District courts	Total
George Washington	10	n/a^[2]	28	38
John Adams	3	16^[3]	4	23
Thomas Jefferson	3	7^[4]	9	19
James Madison	2	2	9	13
James Monroe	1	0	21	22
John Quincy Adams	1	0	11	12
Andrew Jackson	6	0	18	24
Martin Van Buren	2	0	8	10
William Henry Harrison	0	0	0	0
John Tyler	1	0	6	7
James K. Polk	2	1	7	10
Zachary Taylor	0	0	4	4
Millard Fillmore	1	0	4	5
Franklin Pierce	1	3^[4]	12	16
James Buchanan	1	0	7	8
Abraham Lincoln	5	0	27	32
Andrew Johnson	0	0	9	9
Ulysses S. Grant	4^[5]	10	32	46
Rutherford B. Hayes	2	4	16	22
James A. Garfield	1	1	3	5
Chester A. Arthur	2	4	13	19
Grover Cleveland	4	2/9^[6]	30	45
Benjamin Harrison	4	2/10^[6]	26	42
William McKinley	1	6	28	35
Theodore Roosevelt	3	19	53	75
William Howard Taft	5^[7]	13	38	56
Woodrow Wilson	3	20	52	75
Warren G. Harding	4	6	42	52
Calvin Coolidge	1	17	61	79
Herbert Hoover	3	16	43	62
Franklin D. Roosevelt	8^[7]	51	134	193
Harry S. Truman	4	27	101	132
Dwight D. Eisenhower	5	45	129	179
John F. Kennedy	2	21	102	125
Lyndon B. Johnson	2	40	126	168
Richard Nixon	4	46	181	231
Gerald Ford	1	11	50	62
Jimmy Carter	0	56	203	259
Ronald Reagan	3^[7]	83	290	376
George H. W. Bush	2	42	148	192
Bill Clinton	2	66^[8]	305	373
George W. Bush	2	62^[8]	261	325
Barack Obama	2	55	260	317
TOTAL	113^[9]	766 (52/714)	2,869	3,747 from WIKIPEDIA

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Chinese New Year

Gung Hay Fat Choy (Gunng hay fhaat choy)! Lunch at Aunt Janey's with Doreen, George and Matteo, Hingee and Mike. It's really cool how much Matteo enjoys the boys and in return, equally so. Then over to 30th Avenue, joined by Kevin for dinner, to watch some of the NBA All-Star hijinks, and a toast to Mom (her birthday this week). Traci called earlier before going to a game at Marquette. I floated out the idea to Dexter that maybe when he's out of school (earlier than Oliver, and scheduling for the four of us has been difficult) to consider a trip to visit Traci in Chicago.

Nice to meet Liza the pup, fun to watch her nibble on Mike, to visit with the bison in Golden Gate Park and also to walk on the newly rebuilt back stairs at 30th AV.

Friday, February 12, 2016

Chew Blue Lou

The celebration of Chinese New Year's is represented by the color red. Beginning a new tradition of wearing red pants or red tights. The boys seem thrilled by this enhancement as Dexter responded with "are you trying to tell me something!?" and Oliver proudly showed me his interest in track as he runs away as soon as I drop him off at school. It's the year of the monkey (Oliver's year) and if the monkey=scoundrel, well that would be appropriate.

Today I finally was able to blast a soft tension ball from our back porch over our fence and over the Emergency Response Building Construction, the next yard and across the street behind it. I'm kind of happy about it. It was a rising line drive that went over the center of the building (I usually pull these Dexter spheres- I didn't want to write Dexter balls to the right of the building). On rainy days the moist thick air slows down the momentum but it's been sunny and warm, and the spheres carry. A distance of about 220 feet I'd guess and 40 feet high.

launch view, ball landed in front of the house as seen through the construction building in progress.

view #2

reverse view of Emergency Response building facing our backyard

landing point

Raccoons have finally discovered our pond. A morning after I had cleaned out the filter I noticed the area in disarray. The long sunning sticks were toppled, one out of the pond, one submerged. The filter was even out of sight. Climbing in and reaching into the very cold waters I found parts of the filter. Crawling and cleaning, my moments turned into a scene from a horror movie as after I spotted a a fish tail on the rock, I discovered one headless fish, then another, and more. Fresh kills, or preserved in the cold morning air. I knew I had until night time to determine what I could do at this point so I left my clean up until later. I spent the day researching, seeking advice at the plant nursery and getting materials at the hardware store. It took a few hours but laying out some thick chicken wire and applying 100 ties to prevent any space that animals can slip into or use as leverage to pull apart. I know that it's possible that if they are determined, the raccoons might pull up the fence but this is what we can do, short of electrifying the fence or some sensor lights. Some of the smaller fish are still alive, and while I didn't do a detailed sweep of the murky water, I did find one turtle and suspect, hope that the other small one is still present. Hibernating they wouldn't have darted around as the fish did, likely believing they were going to be fed. I don't blame the raccoons for doing what's natural but hey, just eating the heads is kind of wasteful.

Improvements nearly complete. Finally completed by the first hour of evening's darkness

I am sorry your end was likely grim Lou. Posing for family photos in August. 25-28 years was not a bad run. Thanks for being my friend. Can't say we had many cuddly moments but you were unique and special to us.

PS: Happy Birthday Perry and Happy Anniversary Kathy and Bob!

Monday, February 1, 2016

Hiking Huckleberry

These days leave us with few weekends where we are all together, without obligations or opportunities that pull us apart. While we are grateful that the boys have friendships and places to go to, it's very special when we can all be together. At the same time it's not always easy motivating everyone to get outside but hey, the rains have ceased and daylight beckoned. We headed to the Huckleberry Botanical Regional Preserve which I know sounds more like a jar of jam is a quiet and pretty place for a cool hike. Oliver and I went here in late August. Today we were still spooked by the possibility of mountain lions but perhaps feeling strength in numbers, or 50% less chance of getting munched on. No mountain lions, nor any wildlife to be seen. The physical absence of the company of pretty creatures be it a cat, an eagle or a crow. We would occasionally hear other people and the water from recent rains rolling down the hills. Otherwise, just our footsteps and Oliver's endless chatter. I think I would have preferred the crow.

photo by Dext

not exactly sure what Oliver is sniffing

I guess most of all, days together are fulfilling. We are fortunate.

Hiking Huckleberry Happiness.

Saturday, January 30, 2016

Like Lawrence Brown, Oliver's Band Concert

Oliver's band concert led by his instructor, Mr. Reiss was kind of nice. These shows can be painful filled with out of tune violin strings searching for one note for a long time, but not here. Adding the theme from Jurassic Park in the program was an appealing touch. Oliver's progression with his trombone playing, as unlikely as a chosen instrument considering its bulk, is admirable. I write this even though he ignored my pre-concert encouragement to yell "solo" and then play for 20 minutes.

Academically the boys are in a good place with really good grades, better now than ever. I even tried to talk down some of Oliver's teachers at his parent-teacher open conferences asking if a line of citizenship grades (S,O,S) was code for help or in one case if "O" stood for "ouch". Although we may not have chosen to place one of those bumper stickers that seem to imply we have a honor student, you do not, we were happy that he was proud to have earned one and without asking, immediately placing it on the car. I told him that I would alter the word "honor" to "horror".

Can you find Oliver? last row of players, second from the back..don't look up.

watching the bigger kids play their set and sitting with his buddy. they were being silly most of the time

And from public file photo: Harbor seals that we have in Alameda. They like to sit at an abandoned pier and when its sunny and warm, of which it hasn't been for some time, there are dozens. Harbor seals are smaller, rounder, cuter than their sleeker sea lion cousins. The next photos are where the harbors congregate and one curious fellow who swam up to near where we were to check us out, craning it's head to look at Maria and Dexter, then back to me.

Alameda

Hi!

Took Oliver to see the Harlem Globetrotters and he had a lot of fun. I can see how the Trotters could conceivably lose a game once in awhile; that to allow them the energies of their shenanigans they do not play defense at all. The other team that plays them does try to make their own shots, and seem to be allowed to rebound once (after that the ball must go back to the Globetrotters). If the Globetrotters miss their fancy shots (which they did to a large extent at this game) and some ill will is generated (not likely as teams do not block shots) the other team might might refuse to participate when they receive the cue to turn the ball over and play the buffoon. Still, as a 90 year tradition and pure fun for the kids, it still works.

Dexter's disco room

Oliver refers to me as "Chub-O" or "Chub Chub". I call him "Chub Chub Jr."

Monday, January 18, 2016

Shoes on the ground

Dear Dexter and Oliver,

I hope you guys never take Dr. King and the Civil Right movement for granted; as recently that in my lifetime it was illegal for interracial marriage in some of our United States (California struck down this law in 1948)- all the way up until 1967. In other ways that some citizens are treated are separate and unequal was an accepted practice, and still exists today.

It's not just about about a dream, but more specifically a vision of what could be, what should be and honestly, what isn't. So many good people,of different nationalities and gender placed their feet on the ground and walked to places they were not welcome, but had every right to visit- and many paid a bitter price for doing so. I can't imagine resisting peacefully while hate filled folks struck you and those you cared for with pipes, spat on you, yelled at you. This no longer will be or can be the way of today. That was the decade of the pass; in that we will suffer from your blows in our nonviolent protest until it awakens the conscience of the country we share to bring us to a greater good. If these lessons have not been learned, the future response will not be nonviolent.

Our United States did learn from the Civil Rights movement but now as rogue police continually kill defenseless citizens and either are released from responsibility or with only minimal punishment, mistrust and divisions are created in our communities. There is no better than a good police officer but nothing worse than a bad one.

Some of the great leaders of the movement still exist among us and we can remember their courage and honor their sacrifices; Congressman John Lewis, Diane Nash are two individuals that continue to inspire. Dr. King died much too young, and I feel a little unsettled when his memory is simplified as just a dream and a holiday. The call for days of service, movies like Selma are worthwhile efforts if we embrace them their meaning. Some people strive for these values everyday and I am grateful for knowing them. I hope too that you guys will seek to do the right thing, not just what benefits yourselves. When you see injustice, you will find a way to make it right. Be smart; protect yourselves and your family but don't look the other way. Be empathetic, care, and act. I have confidence that you will.