Zona

My roots go back to this sleepy little paradise of a town just north of Cuidad, Obregon. (northern Mexico) My uncle still lives on the lot where my grandmother was born and raised. I really need to get back down there. It's been way too long.

The interesting thing is that these kids are sitting on the banks of a canal. The American man who adopted my mother, along with some German families started the canal system that made this area into the thriving agriculture area that it is today.

Their lands would be seized by the government in a land reform. Now different wealthy people own them. One of my other uncles, the brother of the aforementioned uncle, was an agricultural engineer helping the small farmers in Chiapas (southern Mexico) when he was murdered by what my uncle believes were cronies of wealthy land owners.

Another uncle/brother jumped into a canal to save his fiancee from drowning. It turns out that she was playing and knew how to swim. He didn't. They rest next to each other now at the main cemetary in Cuidad Obregon.

I posted this on my Flickr page then thought, what a good post for the blog.

(KO ko reet)

My youngest and I went south of the border so that he could reap the rewards of working the potato fields this summer. We stopped in at dad's favorite fast food burger joint for lunch. Dad doesn't like pickles.

Holy shit those ipods can hold a lot of stuff. He bought the top of the line model. He put all of his songs in there and still has room for about 6800 more. I remember when the "hot popcorn" was called a walkman. When I was his age (16).....hell, I don't wanna talk about what we didn't have. 

Lord, I can do as you say when it comes to loving my enemy. It's those sons of bitches that live in the same city as me that I have trouble loving.

After my son and I enjoyed sushi together we dropped by safeway to buy some drain unstopper. I learned that you can't use draino in the toilet.

Safeway had buy on get one free sales on cans of soup and canned ravioli so I bought 12 (24) cans of campbell's chicken noodle soup and 5 (10) cans of ravioli. Then we put the items in the food bank bin and started our walk home. Along the way we heard a voice behind us. "Excuse me, can I get by you guys"? I turned around to see a guy on a bicycle. We were on the sidewalk. As he went by I said "that's why bicycles are supposed to be in the street" to which he answered "piss off". Then after he had gone twenty yards beyond us he exhibits gran bravado. He gives me the finger.

I just helped feed the poor but now I want to put somebody's nose three or four inches into his brain.

Not very Christlike am I?

I remember a guardian of America standing at an interstate stop sign with a badge and a revolver during the midnight shift when a car approached. The hispanic driver timidly held up the card that allowed him to stay. His wife in the passenger seat held an infant in her arms. As the car stopped the guardian saw a toddler sleeping in the back seat. The man had the look of desperation and the woman had the pose of a mannequin. The guardian signaled the driver to continue up the road that leads to Los Angeles.

THAT guy was Christlike.

How about my grandson's new shoes? Wicked cool eh?

I'M SITTING HERE WITH MY HEADPHONES ON SO I DON'T HEAR THE PHONE RINGING. IT'S NEVER FOR ME ANYWAY. EVEN WHEN IT IS I GENERALLY DON'T WANT TO TALK TO WHOEVER IT IS ANYWAY.

MY FAMILY NEVER CALL ME.

That is unless it's one of the kids wanting a ride home.

I got a couple of messages on Flickr by people who discovered I had pictures of them from the Pride Week festivities. They asked that I remove them. I did. One was asking out of concerns for her family which was cool. The other didn't give a reason but I wasn't a big fan of the pic so I deleted it.

Here's my thoughts on this issue aimed at the other person and NOT the family. If you put yourself out in the open in a public situation and then see yourself and don't like how you looked. It's your fault. It's not my responsibility to censor my collection of photographs.

I don't take pictures to embarrass people unless they need a smack down, and that's limited to public figures. And besides, if you're on MY Flickr page you will remain pretty anonymous anyway unless I toss your picture into a group.

And from now on if you are participating in a parade or are making some sort of statement in your manner of dress or appearance and are obviously over the age of 18 you better realize that there is the possibility that your image may appear somewhere.

So if/when it does, build a bridge, and get over it.

Now if you'll excuse me I'm listening to Matt Good tell me that the future is X rated.

 

I was one of 20 lucky fans invited to Matthew Good's apartment for what may have been his final performance.

We all sat on the floor with portable fans keeping us cool and the dogs keeping us entertained while everybody arrived. The evening was a great mix of songs and conversation ranging from prostitutes and drinking until 4 am to movies and the music industry.

There was an guy from England and a guy from Texas. There was a girl who had flown in from Maryland and one who flew in from Edmonton.

Miss 604 was live blogging and ended up with a great post.

http://www.miss604.com/2006/08/good-stuff-live-blogging-from-matthew.html

(Sorry I'm bad at making links look good)

I enjoyed the evening very much as Matt is a very relaxed guy and seemed to enjoy the evening as much as we did. He told us his travel plans and still left open the possibility that he will never return to Vancouver or Canada.

So now I have the cherished memory of seeing him perform for what may have been the last time although I kinda hope that it isn't.

I talked to my son this morning. He and the band are in Bangor, Maine and play in Portland tonight. The tour has met a significant amount of difficulty. Lots of shows fell though and many of those were because the people in charge of the venue/bar didn't make any effort to advertise at all. No fliers posted around town. Nothing. I must have a misconception about owning a night club or bar because I always thought that the main objective is to fill your establishment with customers consuming stuff that you make profit on by providing in as large of a quantity as possible.

I dunno maybe I'm just stupid in thinking that two live bands might attract these so called customer types into a bar or night club.

Silly me.

We've been tossing money into his account because we kinda like the idea of him eating at least once a day. He IS having a decent time though. Travelling all through Canada has been quite the adventure. They got the full treatment which included being scorned in montreal because they don't speak french. So now dad refuses to capitalise two more words.

www.ihatethejohnsons.com

Hit that link and get on to their my space page if you can because they're still posting videos and stuff from the road and some of them are quite funny. 

PORN!!

I came across two things today that were sexual in nature. One was a guy destined for fame and fortune if he plays his cards right. The other was just a fool.

First the fool. This guy had on a PINK t-shirt that said.

JUST
DO
ME

To the right of these big words were smaller words.

Poke me
Ride me
Bone me
Mount me

and others. In short, this shirt was meant for a FEMALE but dumbass didn't know that until after I asked him, "dude, you really want somebody to bone you"? Hell, maybe he still DOESN'T know.

Now the possible legend.

True name. As per his birth certificate.

Richard Stang.

Dick Stang. Now who wouldn't want THAT name???

I wish I could've pointed him in the direction of t-shirt boy.

Matthew Good was lamenting on his blog on how downtown Vancouver today is not the downtown Vancouver that he cruised in his heyday. The cool bars with hungry bands are now paved over with trendy nightclubs with silicon enhanced airheads. He didn't quite word it that way but I don't want to plagerize his post. I just want to give you the idea.

My soon to be 18 year-old daughter once lamented to me that she would like to have seen the 70's as I saw them, as a curious teenager basking in the glow of Elton John while watching the fading sunset of the Beatles. I explained to her that she would now be my age if she had experienced that all first hand.

I saw great things just as Matt saw great things and when we compare them with what we see today how can we find the present as anything but lacking for us?

My father grew up in the depression as one of 13 children. A few of his siblings died in infancy. He grew up in a family that huddled around listening to radio shows at night. All of the kids worked as soon as they were able and put that money toward supporting the entire family. He graduated high school and was drafted, like his older brothers, into military service. What would separate his family from many others at the time was that nobody was killed in World War II.

I grew up in a depression of sorts in that, although we were not poor, I would later realize how close we were. I don't think any child realizes their social status until it is pointed out to them. I grew up with a black and white TV that turned to color and I watched as the Beatles performed on Ed Sullivan and as the Vietnam war was protested and man landed on the moon. I saw TV move from Lucy and Desi in separate beds to dealing openly with racism as Archie Bunker yelled at "meathead".

My high school got a computer the size of a desk that we all marveled at in 1975 as we watched the Watergate hearings.

HBO was my first experience in other than local TV in Tucson in 1980.

I came home from my second trip to Bolivia in 1983 to full blown cable TV and chants of "I want my MTV". THAT was culture shock.

First cell phone was 1998.

First home computer was 1998.

All these are things MY kids grew up having at their feet.

Added since originally posted:

So when my kids are my age will their kids want cool stories about Green Day and Nirvana and how was it like to watch Survivor? My kids have all taken turns swiping my Led Zeppelin and Police box sets and a couple are into Pink Floyd. It's like a pop culture melting pot around here. I think I was lucky enough to catch the first years of what effects just about everything today.

What I see around town as facades will have those who are living in that world lament someday that THAT was the scene and is now sadly lost. This may lead a cycle that ends with Charleton Heston pounding sand before a half buried decaying statue of liberty.

I feel now that I will never grow old like my parents did because you can still hear the music I grew up with on tons of radio stations. The TV shows I watched as a boy are STILL heralded as ground breakers. The moon is still the farthest man has gone. It's all still so close that I can touch it with a slight reach of memory.

What do I lament about?

I lament that I have friends that I will never meet face to face. Friends whose words appear to me on a screen in a room in my house. Friends half my age and even younger who have written things that made me laugh and cry. Maybe it's better that we never meet.

Because then I might actually feel old.

 

 

 

I break my silence today to send prayers drifting like silent whisps of twilight haze to a good friend who feels pain that nobody should have to bear.

Today he laid his beautiful sister to rest.

She was kidnapped, possibly raped, and murdered by an animal who was eventually apprehended in California after committing two more murders. Therefore it is very likely that my friend and his family will never have justice. He will more than likely receive a life sentence in California and Washington State will accept that and not seek a trial that would cost millions to the taxpayers. That just the way things work sometimes.

She was missing for about a week and feared dead as this man, who was known to police as a serial rapist, was named as the primary suspect after her car was found abandoned. He was thought to be headed to Mexico. He was apprehended when he tried to carjack somebody and brave citizens overtook him and held him for the police.

I thank God that her body was discovered. A horrible thing for the family to have to identify their sister and child but they have the solace in that they were able to be with her and lay her to a peaceful rest. I will never be able to find words that will console my friend when he returns to work.

Those words just don't exist.