Photos from the Zappa Plays Zappa show at Stubb’s, in Austin, Texas.

The performance by Zappa et al playing his father, Frank’s music. Check them out if you ever have the opportunity, even if you’re NOT a Zappa fan. Why? Because it will be one of the best musical performances you’ll ever see. Special guest appearance by Eric Johnson. Steve Vai has been known to materialize as well.

GARLAND, Texas – For 22 years, Tim Timmons has fought the pain of multiple sclerosis.

Prescribed medicine couldn’t stop the spasms or help him sleep, he said. Ultimately, Timmons said, relief came in the form of illegal marijuana, which is why he is now pushing for the drug to be legalized.

While 13 states have legalized medical marijuana, Texas isn’t one of them. Timmons said he wants that to change since he feels like he’s been forced to support organized crime.

“I have to support black market crime, but they’re the ones forcing me to do it,” he said. “I don’t want to support organized crime more than anyone would.”

Studies have shown that marijuana can ease muscle spasms and numb pain.

The Texas legislature voted down the last three medical marijuana bills that would have given doctors the authority to prescribe the drug.

In the past, lawmakers defended the ban on medical marijuana by citing the American Medical Associations’ position on the topic. But, after 72 years, that position may be changing. The AMA announced last Tuesday that it’s reversing its policy of classifying the drug as a Schedule 1 narcotic, stating that the issue needs to be reviewed. The announcement was in response to a new medical report by the AMA’s Council on Science and Public Health, which detailed various medical benefits.

Many pharmacists and doctors argue that those benefits can be obtained through legalized drugs that contain the active ingredient in marijuana, THC.

“What they fail to understand is there is THC available in a legal dose called Marinol,” said Donna Barsky, a Plano pharmacist. “It’s a prescription item. All a doctor has to do is write a prescription for it.”

Opponents of medical marijuana say it’s healthier because smoking the drug can pull unhealthy substances into the lungs.

“Marinol just plain doesn’t work, or causes worse situations than you had starting off,” Timmons said.

Another medical marijuana bill is expected to be filled in the Texas legislature in 2011. by Steve Stoler Source.

I am in looooove with the holidays. Love all the movies, music (especially!), family… and could we even forget… the glorious FOOD. I am very excited for the upcoming holidays and even more so because in just a few days we are flying home to my hometown. Yay Lots of food to be enjoyed there, one thing Texas is far from short on is food. While the rest of the world starves, Texans are only getting fatter.
Bring on the Tex-Mex and pumpkin pie! Yessss!
Now I have to face the fire and get back to my food blogging. Like seriously. Yeah it’s kinda fallen by the way side because my camera went kaput. But! I do have a recent photo.
We are eating light this week due to our travel but tonight we are having either baked potatoes (hah, surprise!) or MorningStar chicken patties (had to try them).
I just got the recent Rachael Ray (seriously, dont hate) and have really gotten into her recipes that are under $10. Realistically, they are not under $10. If you don’t have any of the ingredients and feeding just 2 people…not under $10. You buy up all the stuff and you end up with slimy parsley and a whole jar of pickled jalapeños that sit in your fridge because lets face it, you’re NEVER gonna use.

Well my mission was obviously clear: find a recipe with ingredients we already have. (‘member that whole blog post? ahhh!) Like a melon in a pumpkin patch, there was the perfect recipe in her latest mag. And super easy and was a bona fide 30-minute meal. Took me less time, in fact.
And what we had was a yummy, healthy, hearty meal:
Couscous with chicken, broccoli, raisins & sliced almonds

Thanks Rach!

I won’t be in blogger-mode at all this week. I will be visiting friends and family for the Thanksgiving holiday but expect a Texas-sized (hah) update when I get back.
Happy Thanksgiving!! and happy cooking & eating!!

enjoy your turkeys!

C

Well, it seems like only yesterday we pulled the rig into our winter home site… oh yes, it was only yesterday!

After a very very busy summer and a rather exciting haul to Texas, I find myself falling behind in everything from silly forwards clogging the inbox to posting here. I apologize to those who emailed me with “Where are you?” and “Did you give up RVing?” emails. It’s just been a rather busy year. Quite frankly, I’m surprised we are already headed for December and 2010!

So I promise to post more in the weeks ahead. After all, you need to know about our crazy search for RV tires, our disappointment in Camping World (the one in Roanoke), tropical storm Ida and all the latest campground news!

I also will try to get caught up on campground reviews and posting photos. And for those who wanted more “inside” information on workamping – I’ll be sure to post more pieces regarding the lifestyle.

Meanwhile, I wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving holiday!

COUNTRY, COUNTRY, COUNTRY, COUNTRY!
NOT A GREAT PLACE TO VISIT.
NOT A GREAT PLACE FOR A VACATION.
NOT A GREAT PLACE TO HANGOUT.
NOT A GREAT PLACE FOR SHOPPING.
NOT A GREAT PLACE TO WALK THE STREETS AT NIGHT.
While I was there I seen a REAL crack house.
Smh, It was like 10 white people in one house.
Skinny ass fuck.
Itching and going crazzzzy.
Like I was in DOWNTOWN Dallas.
And it was STILL horrible, smh.
You know when you go to your city downtown.
That shit is all nice and shit.
Well this place was like where they keep the crackheads.
And while I was driving.
I seen this nigga doing the skanky leg and throwing up gang signs.
And he was skipping across the street.
LMAO.
The only excited thing.
I did was…
I went the Redskins VS. Cowboys game.
And the Cowboys won.
Then after that we went to the hotel room.
Pack our shit and headed straight airport.
It was like 2 doors down from us -_-
And that’s it.

Hope you all had a great weekend. As I mentioned last week there really isnt much on the plate this week as far as ecomic news. Mortgage investors will soon be closing their books for the year and are not likely to initiate any significant new positions unless a bizarre
and unexpected opportunity presents itself. Such an event is not likely to occur this week — so don’t look for a notable improvement in mortgage interest rates over the upcoming holiday-shortened trading sessions.

Today’s Rates:
30yr fixed- 4.625% 0+1
15yr fixed- 4.125% 0+1
FHA/VA 4.875% 0+0
USDA 100% financing 4.875%

Have a great day and let me know when to expect your loan application:) Keep in mind we service all metro areas in Texas: Austin, Dallas, Houston, Fortworth, San Antonio, Elpaso, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Buda and much more.

Cheers,

D. Stephen Steakley, Jr.
Austin, Texas Home Loan Expert
512-577-8898 ph
Austin, TX Home Loan – Quick Application

Amigos has scheduled web-based training in our live online classroom.  Available courses include the following titles. All times below are Central Time.

Javascript Basics
December 2, 4, 9, 11, 10:30am – 12:30pm
http://bit.ly/3Sa3bo

Tools for the Reference Desk
December 3, 10, 10:30am – 12:30pm
http://bit.ly/2EH5Eq

Reference Management
December 8, 15, 2009, 10:30am – 12:30pm
http://bit.ly/ktm6E

Project Management for Digital Imaging
December 15-18, 2009, 10:30am – 12:30pm
http://bit.ly/21mWOc

OCLC-specific courses:

Administrator Training for QuestionPoint
January 20, 27, 2010, 8:00am – 10:00am
http://bit.ly/6xdVGk

Basics of WorldCat Resource Sharing
December 1-4, 2009, 1:00pm – 3:00pm
http://bit.ly/1v2TIZ

Connexion Browser – Advanced Bibliographic Searching
February 17, 2010, 3:30pm – 5:30pm
http://bit.ly/5ELgYT

Connexion Browser – Editing, Upgrading, and Enriching Master Records
January 14, 2010, 3:30pm – 5:30pm
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Connexion Client – Basic Bibliographic Searching
February 3, 2010, 8:00am – 10:00am
http://bit.ly/4Rtivp

Connexion Client – WorldCat, MARC, and Client Basics
January 12, 2010, 8:00am – 10:00am
http://bit.ly/5Z4oDc

Constructing Custom Holdings in OCLC
December 8, 2009, 1:00pm – 3:00pm
http://bit.ly/3Eul0P

CONTENTdm 5: Adding Visual Materials
December 8-9, 2009, 1:00pm – 3:00pm
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CONTENTdm 5: Adding Textual Materials
December 10-11, 2009, 1:00pm – 3:00pm
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CONTENTdm 5: Maintaining Collections
December 15-16, 2009, 1:00pm – 3:00pm
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CONTENTdm: Customizing Multiple Collections
January 26-29, 2010, 1:00pm – 3:00pm
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CONTENTdm: Editing Viewers and PHP Style Files
January 12-14, 2010, 10:30am – 12:30pm
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Implementing Unmediated ILL in OCLC
February 9, 2010, 10:30am – 12:30pm
http://bit.ly/6lCYCJ

Implementing Odyssey Standalone
December 10, 2009, 1:00pm – 3:00pm
http://bit.ly/g7aAl

Implementing Odyssey Standalone
February 11, 2010, 10:30am – 12:30pm
http://bit.ly/7HRzQy

Ins and Outs of the OCLC Request Manager
December 9, 2009, 1:00pm – 3:00pm
http://bit.ly/2vu4WE

QuestionPoint Librarian Training
December 4, 11, 2009, 1:00pm – 3:00pm
http://bit.ly/3Gchs9

QuestionPoint Librarian Training
February 5, 12, 2010, 8:00am – 10:00am
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For the most up-to-date training schedule, a complete list of courses, descriptions, and a convenient online registration form, visit http://www.amigos.org/learning/calendar/ or contact Chris Brown at Amigos, 1-800-843-8482, ext. 2829, or brown@amigos.org.

UNT will now offer degree options at Collin Higher Education Center in McKinney due to a new partnership between UNT and Collin College.  President Bataille participated in a signing ceremony on November 9^th to formalize the creating of the center.  Degree options include:

1. Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences — Two concentrations:  Alternative Dispute Resolution and Non-Profit Management, Volunteer and Community Resource Management
2. MS in Engineering Systems — Two concentrations:  Construction Management, Engineering Management
3. Ed.D. in Educational Administration (includes superintendent certification)
4. M.Ed. in Higher Education

The Camino’s 100 year anniversary is coming up and I think  a nice present would be a re-grand opening for the place.    The owners in Mexico need to come forward with some cash and bring this hotel back to what it once was…flagship hotel of the Southwest. 

Yes, the lobby/bar is nice, but the rooms/meeting rooms are dated.  This property is so unique and should be more of a draw than it is.  If I were them, I would be upset that the Doubletree has taken over as the premier downtown hotel.(btw, I am a big fan of the Doubletree and am excited they are here…but I want all of our hotels to be great)  Maybe it is time that ownership get transferred back to El Paso…who is up for buying a hotel?  I hear interest rates are really good right now. 

Here is a link trip advisor comments about the Camino…mixed bag as usual, but you can get a sense of what needs to be fixed.  Click here to view them.

My name is David and I am living El Paso.

Yesterday was another powerful service, wasn’t it?

I think we went through a record number of tissues as a congregation. The next time Pastor Mindy preaches, there will be a notice posted on the Monday Morning Review so you will remember to bring extra Kleenex.

I also just noticed on Pastor Eric’s facebook where he and Keegan are officially on their way back. Be sure to give them a warm welcome home. I’d wait a day or two to allow them time to recover, though.

Thanksgiving

As was apparent from the message and testimonies, we have a lot to be thankful for individually and as a congregation. We should also remember all God has done for us and give Him praise, not just for what He has done, but simply because He deserves it.

If you’re curious about what this might look like, check this out.

I think we all can dance and shout on half of something. Maybe next week we can persuade Eric and/or Mindy to demonstrate Bishop Jakes’ fancy footwork. Now, that would get the congregation dancing and shouting.

I sincerely hope each and every one of you have a fantastic Thanksgiving.

You Heard it at EFC

• “Sing to the King” – Various Artists
• “I Have Found” – Kim Walker
• “God, You’re Beautiful” – Anthony Skinner
• “God of This City” – Chris Tomlin
• “Mighty to Save” – Hillsong

On the Radar

Advent Choir – The Advent Choir is a new and exciting adventure for EFC and is open to anyone who would like to participate. The choir will sing throughout the holiday season beginning next Sunday. Practice continues tonight November 23, 2009 @ 7pm at EFC.

WorldChangers – The EFC children’s ministry, a.k.a WorldChangers, has a new website where parents can keep up with weekly lessons and everything else going on with their little world changers.

EFC Facebook Group – Have you joined the EFC Facebook Group? If not, you might be missing out on stuff happening at EFC. If you haven’t joined yet, you should. As of this morning, there were 50 members. That means over half of you still haven’t joined. What are you waiting for?

Revelation Bible Study – The Revelation Bible Study meets weekly on Tuesdays @ noon at EFC. It’s not too late – it’s never too late. Come join in this in depth study verse-by-verse through the book of Revelation led by EFC’s very own Curtis Ward, who is blogging about the study on his blog The Watchman’s Gaze. Check it out.

Last Word

By the time this is published, Pastor Eric will be somewhere over the Atlantic, and by the time many of you read this, he will be somewhere over Texas. Which means he will resume writing the Monday Morning Review next week, but it also means that next week we get to hear more great testimonies.

Have a great Thanksgiving weekend.

The TX Board of Pardons voted to spare the life of Robert Lee Thompson, who took part in a robbery that led to a murder. The killer was serving life. Perry chose to kill him anyway. Perhaps one day soon executions will not be a politicized football kicked around for votesand that our political leaders will come together with concerned community members and work to find ways to engage our society so that even the thought of killing doesn’t cross anyone’s minds.

It would be nice to see our governor work towards highlighting and embracing ideals like ‘conflict resolution‘ , peace, love of life etc..Rick Perry’s 200 plus executions have not been a deterrent. Murders still go on. That means we need to take another approach. If anything Perry’s penchant for executions has been a deterrent for other politicians to stay away from ‘peace and love of life for fear of appearing weak.  There’s a day coming in the ‘new Texas’ when things will substantially change.

-Davey D-

Out-of-Control Rick Perry Overrides Rare Clemency Vote, Executes Man Who Killed No One

by Liliana Segura, AlterNet

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/rights/144086/out-of-control_rick_perry_overrides_rare_clemency_vote%2C_executes_man_who_killed_no_one

Rick Perry is out of control. Even as the controversy over his execution of an innocent man goes unresolved, last night the Texas Governor rejected a rare clemency recommendation from the state Board of Pardons and Paroles for a man facing execution for a murder he did not commit.

Robert Lee Thompson was an accomplice in a violent convenience store robbery in Houston in 1996, when his co-conspirator fatally shot the sales clerk, a man named Mansoor Bhai Rahim Mohammed. Thompson himself fired shots that wounded Mohammed, but it was his partner, Sammy Butler, who pulled the trigger that would leave him dead. Butler was tried and sentenced to life. A different jury found Thompson guilty and sentenced him to death.

Thompson was sentenced under Texas’s Law of Parties, a cynical legal statute that allows multiple parties to be found guilty of the same crime, even if they did not directly participate in it. Similar to other felony murder statutes, Texas’s law states that “if, in the attempt to carry out a conspiracy to commit one felony, another felony is committed by one of the conspirators, all conspirators are guilty of the felony actually committed, though having no intent to commit it.”

Under the Law of Parties, defendants can be held responsible for “failing to anticipate” that the “conspiracy” would lead to a murder.

Numerous defendants who did not kill anyone have been executed under the Law of Parties; that Perry wouldn’t hesitate to sign off on Thompson’s execution should comes as no surprise. But yesterday Thompson was granted a recommendation for clemency by the state’s Board of Pardons and Paroles — an extremely rare move. The Board, whose members are political appointments, has only recommended clemency two other times in recent memory.

One of these was two years ago in the case of Kenneth Foster, Jr., who also faced execution under the Law of Parties. In his case, the murder took place while he was in a car, 18 feet away. A grassroots campaign rose up to stop Foster’s execution and in August 2007, Perry took the Board’s recommendation and spared his life.

Yesterday, the Board voted 5 to 2 to spare Robert Lee Thompson, a “highly unusual” move in the words of the Houston Chronicle, and one described by Thompson’s lawyer, as “hugely significant.”

“I’m thrilled,” he said, upon hearing news of the Board vote.

But in Texas, the Governor has the final say in clemency decisions. Despite the rare recommendation, Perry, who faces a close primary election next year against Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, was unmoved. Hours after the Board’s vote, he released a statement saying that he saw “no reason” to spare Thompson’s life.

Thompson was executed on schedule, at 6pm Texas time. According to AP reporter Michael Graczyk, “his mother cried uncontrollably, stomped her feet and finally demanded to be taken from the witness area before her son was pronounced dead at 6:19 p.m.”

Statements were released by the Texas Moratorium Network on behalf of family members of death row prisoners also sentenced under the Law of Parties, including one from Terri Been, whose brother, Jeff Wood, came close to being executed in August 2008 for a murder he did not commit.

“I must say that I was surprised to hear that the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles grew a conscious and voted in favor of clemency for Robert Thompson, since they unanimously voted for the execution of my brother, Jeff Wood, who was also convicted under the law of parties despite the fact that he is factually innocent of murder,” said Been. “However, I was not surprised to hear Perry didn’t jump on board the clemency train as the man has no sense of true justice.”

austincapital, originally uploaded by sherrykeating.

Taken almost a year ago and makes me miss night photography. Beautiful state capital building in Austin.

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My friend Jackie is originally from England, and, like I, she doesn’t get to see her family often. Because family visits are infrequent, when they do occur, they call for some sort of celebration. And so, with her dad currently staying with her, Jackie booked a table at the Rahr Brewery’s weekly “free beer fest”. As Doug and I had never been to one of these parties, we weren’t sure what to expect. But really, how can you ever go wrong with beer?

Jackie & her dad

Needless to say, we had a blast. The parties are held on Saturday afternoons in the brewery, and the price of admission gives you a beer glass and tickets to sample the various brews on tap. However, if you book a table, the glasses are included, and rather than having to line up at the bar, you get a server who makes sure the pitchers on your table are never empty. Add in live music, food (barbeque available, but you can bring your own), college football on the big screen – and a rowdy crowd that spanned the generations from early twenties through great-grandparents, and every social culture from hip-hop through hip-urbanite (or wanna-bes…). The highlight of the afternoon was when the band invited the crowd to join in on a song that everyone in the room (save us Canucks, and the Brits in our group) seemed to know. How much fun is it to watch a bunch of droopy-pantsed college kids belting out the music along with the bikers, the grandmas, the cowboys and the-far-too-sharply-dressed-for-the-event? Absolutely priceless, and yet another reason I love Texas.

A party in a brewery. Can it get any better than this?

Why, yes it can! A little live music.

On the big screen, Michigan vs. Ohio State. (We looked for you, Chas... ) And frequent updates on the TCU game. They beat Wyoming, and quite handily at that. 45 -10. Repeat after me, Chas - Go Frogs!

And of course, the beer... I am a pretty good juggler of beer glasses (at least I didn't break any, Doug. How about you?)

Doug is obviously having a good time...

...as are all the other beer drinkers...

Meanwhile, Don weighs the options for his next beer, and the band plays on.

Martin looks on (from the right of the picture) while Jackie is all smiles...

And so am I! Cheers!

My favourite thought for the day came from Martin. He and I were discussing our shared love of beer, and he told me that he views beer as the perfect  method of food preservation. He likened it to cheese – and if cheese is a way to preserve milk, then beer is a way to preserve bread. All I can add is “Long live the yeast”!!!

]]> http://talksmanymoons.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/those-darned-gays-ruined-my-marriage/ Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:34:51 +0000 Dindy http://talksmanymoons.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/those-darned-gays-ruined-my-marriage/

Thanks to homosexuals, I am no longer married to my husband of nearly thirty years. Nor is my daughter actually married to her husband of two years. In fact, she never was married, and Bill and I haven’t been married since 2005.

It all started with those blasted homosexuals who had the audacity to demand the same rights as everyone else in the US– to get married to a single partner of their choice in a mutual relationship in which both parties are of legal marriageable age. Why homosexuals want this right is simply beyond me– being allowed to go visit some sick person on their deathbed isn’t a piece of cake, after all, and anyone who has ever been without health insurance in this country KNOWS that we do a fantastic job of providing health care for those without it.

But for some silly reason homosexuals want to have the same rights as married people so they’ve been demanding the right to get married and have actually been successful in some hotbeds of liberalism such as Iowa and Vermont. Thank the god I don’t believe in that I live in the great state of Texas that doesn’t allow such tomfoolery.

In fact, Texans saw this push for gay marriage for what it was– an attempt to sneak the gay agenda in the back door and to force EVERYONE to marry someone with the same plumbing between the legs. Now Texans KNOW what is right, and one of the things we know is that if perverts are allowed to marry each other, then it’s going to ruin the marriages of all right thinking people.

So in 2005, Texans passes an amendment to make darned sure that any gays wouldn’t go doing some end runs to try to get their sicko practices through the back door so to speak. We banned gay marriage and said that not only would we not do it in Texas, but we wouldn’t recognize it if some queers got married in another state and then tried to come here and say they were married. Uh-uh, no sir. We don’t care what those liberals in Iowa do, they ain’t gonna do it here in Texas.

Except now Barbara Ann Radnofsky, a Houston lawyer and Democratic candidate for attorney general says that Texas went a little overboard and in our zeal to ban gay marriage, Texans managed to ban all marriages in the state.  The problem, Radnofsky says, is this tiny little clause in Subsection B of the amendment which states, “This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage.”

Um.

Texas cannot recognize any legal status identical to or similar to marriage? Um. I’m not a lawyer, nor do I even play one on TV, but I can see some fancy schmancy attorney getting up before a judge and saying, “Judge, if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck and since Texas says we can’t have anything that looks, talks or acts like a duck in this state, we can’t have ducks here.”

So there you have it folks. The red necks were right after all– if we start allowing gays to get married it WILL ruin the institution of marriage. They certainly ruined mine.

Humor. That’s a serious word. Especially when we’re talking about how it translates (or doesn’t) across cultures.

It has to do with so many “culturally wired” conceptions. It’s in our body language when we make the joke, or something as tiny as an inflection of the voice, or a look on your face.

And the subjects we use in our jokes. What makes a joke a joke in a certain culture? I’m still not completely clear after five years of living in France, immersed in the culture.

My husband says that when you make a joke in France, that it’s about something that’s too absurd to be taken seriously. But when I do the same thing, he often doesn’t understand that I’m joking. What’s the deal? Or more precisely, what’s the secret to humor – in any culture?

Sometimes I think people don’t get my jokes simply because they know I’m not French. It seems that there is a kind of instantaneous intellectual analysis on their part, as in “She’s not French. Is she making a joke?” I may be totally off, but I think this sometimes happens and they hesitate because they aren’t sure I intended to make a joke.

Another thing…I recently got into a cultural tangle (mental, not physical!) due to a misinterpretation of a phrase. And it made me as mad as an old, wet hen as my grandmother would say. A Frenchwoman, fairly good acquaintance of ours, made a remark (a joke?) in response to a comment I had just made about entering the French culture by way of French cuisine. Meaning, by learning about the different regions and their different types of cuisine.

Now, in French, “cuisine” can mean either “food” or “kitchen”. She said, “You surely didn’t enter France by the kitchen.” Now, I interpreted that as meaning “You surely didn’t enter France by the back door.” And I was very vexed. To say the least.

Later, my husband told me I had completely misunderstood what she meant, because in France the saying would be “You entered France by the back door” (vous êtes entré par la porte arrière) and NOT “You entered France by the kitchen (door)”. Sigh.

Probably, she was making a play on words which I didn’t catch. A misunderstanding, or a “malentendu” as we say in French. I’m trying to arrive at the place where I can give her the benefit of the doubt.

It’s those kinds of things that make me want to speak in English exclusively for at least 24 hours. But, luckily, tomorrow is another day in the world of my ongoing cultural adventure.

Until then, à bientôt – see you soon.

Forced labour and rape, the new face of slavery in America

Guardian
November 22, 2009

“We have a problem with definition. It is not always straightforward and easy to explain,” said Laura Clemmens, a government lawyer in Dayton. “The hard part is bringing it into the light. At the moment these crimes are clouded in secrecy.”

From the houses of the holy,
we can watch the white doves go …

“Houses Of The Holly”, Led Zeppelin

Malo novosti iz danas ( nedjelja ) magičnog Texasa:
Ovakve slike se mogu još samo napravit iz aviona.
Slike su s parkirališta u Texasu, Split je u oblacima ,ne može se ni vidit, a u Texasu ni trunke oblaka, totalno vedro.
Ovakav prizor je stvarno za nevirovat.

Evo sad malo i o penjanju.
Danas smo išli na penjačinu u Texas. Neki su penjali ,a neki se divili krajoliku. Maja je danas napala teksaški klasik Masive Attack,  fb 7b.
To je jedan od prvih težih smjerova u Texasu, pravi klasik.
Masiv Attack je prvi popea Luka “The Postinje” Kivela , a do danas su ga ponovili Boći i Lija. Smjer je pravi muški, prevjesan, dinamičan…prava uživancija.
Maja ga je danas popela na brzinu i upisala treće ponavljanje,odnosno prvo žensko.
Idemo dalje, sezona je tek počela ….

Boris Zokić

Dakle, Maja Lozić i “Massive Attack“, FB 7B

Majjoooo

How little I knew about Southern Texas and the Mexican border country before I read this atmospheric memoir. Mention Texas, and Oil, Dallas, Houston, the Bush family would have come first to my mind. Only vaguely would I have remembered that for centuries the present day border between the US state of Texas and Mexico had been permeable, and in transmissible memory, shifting. Since the Conquest, John Phillip Santos’s San Antonio home in Southern Texas was part of Nueva España, later part of an an independent state, finally a late-comer to the Unites States. The people of Mexican origin that fate has cast up on one side of the border or the other naturally have a sense of heritage that transcends it.

In this passionately evocative memoir, John Phillip Santos weaves a fabric out of the threads of his Mexican ancestry, and considers how his family have come to make their home in Southern Texas, what they have brought with them, and what they left behind.

Santos’s way back to the history of his border-transcending land and cultural heritage is the family, through which near-direct connections can be made across more than one century, by family members who lived well into their nineties with recollection intact, repository of family memory – and family forgetting. The narrative is woven together from the strands of the four families that converged in his parents’ marriage.

On his father’s side, the families Santos and Garcia came north to San Antonio from the Mexican border province of Coahuila, when the revolutionary politics of 1914 threatened danger to homes and families. His mother’s family were Tejanos, from around Cotulla and Laredo, of whom he says

The long history of the Lopez and Velas in south Texas and the borderlands left them with that aloof quality that comes from seeing many nations come and go as would-be masters of the land. The United States of America was only one incarnation. They knew there had been other worlds before this one, even if they might not be able to name them.

For me this passage, even though it refers to just one element of a multi-layered narrative, has proved important in my understanding of the whole. The bigger picture is the centuries-old history of a greater Mexico and Nueva España, and the microcosm is the family, politics merely distant thunder. The revolutionary period in Mexico of 1910-14 is the event that changes the destiny of his father’s family, but this is not the book to read for the history of that revolution. The family became an American family, but we do not learn about the US political landscape here. Rather, we learn what it means to treasure and celebrate the mestizo heritage, its melded elements drawn from ancient pre-conquest knowledge and culture, and from the Conquistadores’ Hispanic culture and Roman Catholic christianity.

I had some difficulty with the structure of the narrative at first, as it seemed so fragmentary – only with a bookmark in the section of family trees, and with Google maps open in front of me, did I learn to cope with it for about the first 100 pages. But gradually, the idea of a tapestry being woven, and threads of narrative stretching out and looping back, became much clearer. Santos’s life takes him away from San Antonio to study and work, but a thread connects him to his family, and a tug on it will bring him back. His poetic imagination (so very vividly on display in this narrative) is fed by the disjointed memories, and the inherited knowledge of his extended family, brought up as he is in a tradition that revers ‘the Elders’. As a boy, he discovers the legendary Voladores, and their ancient pre-conquest ritual dance, when San Antonio hosted the exhibition ‘Hemisfair’. Later, in Oxford, he finds voladores in a pre-conquest codex in the Bodleian Library, and they follow him in his dreams to New York. So the structure rather ingeniously mirrors the patient piecing together of clues and shreds of memory and from parents and grandparents, great-aunts and great-uncles.

There must have been frustrations on both sides, I feel. John Phillip in some cases wants to know about the past from people who are looking to the future, whose current prosperity has counted on them moving forward. They are reluctant to open up to him. In turn, he finds it hard to understand why anyone should want to forget:

It sometimes seems as if Mexicans are to forgetting what the Jews are to remembering. We have made selective forgetting a sacramental obligation. Leave it all in the past, all that you were, and all that you could not be. There is pain enough in the present to go round. Some memories cannot be abandoned. Let the past reclaim all the rest, forever, and let stories come to their fitting end,

This ‘long’ family of his, with nonagenarian aunts and uncles born in the century before last, trail their mestizo heritage with them, lovingly described. The first glimpse we have is of the world of the viejicitas (the English translation ‘little old ladies’ barely covers it, though it does have some nuance of indomitability and capability), who knew so many things, and could make so much right that had gone wrong. They grow herbs and wonderful culinary plants, cook fragrant dishes, make up remedies for ills. One aunt dismisses her healing powers as ’some things I heard when I was a little girl’, but these are skills that stretch back to before the Conquest. The men are ingenious, inventive with technology, knowledgeable about harnessing natural resources (mining coal, making charcoal), and wedded to the land – ranchers in spirit if not in fact.

To find the ties that bind these scraps of memory and knowledge to the past, the author travels deep into Mexico – to see what is left of Tenochtitlán beneath Mexico City (answer: more than we expect); to take La Ruta that tracks the advance of Cortes and his Conquistadores; and to trace his fascination with the pre-conquest dance-ritual of the Voladores to its roots, finding in these explorations the parallels and images to feed the context of his family history. He follows his need to go back, getting past this huge barrier in his family story to find his Mexican past:

It had always seemed that over the last one hundred and fifty years – from the time Texas was separated from Mexico in the 1830s, among the Lopez and Velas of my mother’s family, and then again during la Revolución, when the Garcias and the Santos crossed the border and left Coahuila behind – the story of Mexico had ceased to be a part of our family. Separated by eighty years, there had been a double betrayal of Mexico, the negation of a negation, repeated and reversed, across these four families’ pasts. Mother’s family was abandoned by Mexico – left behind in Texas – while my father’s chose to abandon their country, la tierra madre, for Texas, during Mexico’s hour of greatest need.

We became Americans, and as such, we were no longer a part of the ancient compromiso, no longer obligated to keep a solemn vigil over Mexico’s destiny, or, if necessary, sacrifice ourselves for it. By leaving Mexico, and being left by her, our forebears meant to free us from that endless cycle of sacred duties to dance and chant and make sacrifices and pilgrimages, so that the cosmos would continue to exist.

In particular, his search for family memory brings him constantly looping back to the untimely death of his grandfather, Juan José Santos, found by his brother and his son, Juan José Jr (John Phillip’s father). Suicide, accident or violence? Reluctantly, his family provide the pieces of this puzzle that ultimately has no solution. But to do so he constantly has to challenge the instinct for forgetting.

All this is told in a beautifully lyrical prose. The language is that of magic realism, but the story and the characters stay just this side of magic. He handles a macaronic mixture of Spanish and English in a masterly fashion, (something that is so difficult to bring off without a whiff of parody), scrupulously providing an English translation for all Spanish words and phrases, so readers with no Spanish need have no fears in picking up this book; all words and phrases, that is, except a recurring word compromiso, which, thanks to help from a friendly fellow-fox, I think here means covenant or commitment. It is an important word throughout the book, and I felt I needed to be clear about the meaning. The descriptive passages are almost photographic in their clarity, particularly the descriptions of the harsh landscape of Coahuila, with its small towns, mines and ranches.

Good friends of mine from San Antonio brought me this book as a gift on a visit to the UK. I am so grateful to them – I have never visited their part of the world, and this is such an enlightening picture of it. The Elders have died, taking their memories and forgetfulness with them, the large families of previous generations give way to smaller, with fewer people to receive the story, but John Phillip Santos has pulled it all together into one enduring poetic history.

Penguin Books Australia 2000. 298 pages including Penguin Readers’ Guide. ISBN 13: 9780140292022

We pulled into Austin around 7:30, ready for dinner and drink.  We followed people’s recommendations (no advance research) which led us to some good eats, a nice Texas Real Ale Coffee Porter, and a great bar, Lustre Pearl.  Again, it was Sunday, so it was delightfully chill, the air was warm, and the whiskey was cheap.  And I was able to say many many times, “we’re not in Kansas anymore.”

We followed more local recommendations for breakfast and coffee, starting with breakfast tacos (new to me) at  Juan in a Million.  Juan in a Million won the Best Handshake from a Restaurant Owner, and I’d agree.  We were taken through a rowdy dining room back into what appeared to be an empty employee cafeteria, but people soon began to trickle in, and the atmosphere improved.   I tried the egg and chorizo taco and a migas (scrambled eggs with tortilla mixed in) taco.  Both were delicious.

Before hitting the road again, Coffee was necessary.

As you can see, Nina shows a marked difference between pre and post caffeine:

On November 22, 2009 Americans around the country will gather to rally against this unconstitutional, private bank.  The Houston Area Liberty Campaign, in conjunction with Young Americans For Liberty – UH Chapter, the Harris County Libertarian Party and Restore the Republic held the End The Fed Rally in Houston from 2 to 4PM, Sunday, 11/22/09.

Jake and I attended the event where there was a variety of speakers from congressional candidates to chiropractors as well as a key note from Ron Paul.   I was particular struck by the diversity of the attendees, that spanned ages, races, political affiliations.  This was an ecletic group of people who were brought togeather by a common purpose, that is to pass legislation authorizing Congress to audit the Federal Reserve.

This event comes on the heals of a Congressional vote  on Thursday 11/19/09 that approved legislation introduced by Congressman Ron Paul to audit the Federal Reserve for the first time in the central bank’s 95-year-history.  The audit will investigate the Federal Reserve monetary policy specifically how much the central bank has lent and will lend to specific banks.  Fed Chief Ben Bernanke and other key members of the Obama administration, including Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, had vigorously opposed the move.

1. I was the last person to be picked up by the Super Shuttle.
I began my homeward journey far too early this morning. In order to avoid the $70 cab fare to Newark, I decided to hit up the cheaper option, Super Shuttle. I had mixed feelings about this choice, but ended up going through with it. And guess what? I was the last person they picked up. Meaning, I basically got a super ballin’ blue van-cab for less than half the price. Yeah..

2. I had the entire row of seats to myself on the plane.
That’s right kids. No uncomfortable forearm brushes with various middle aged hairy men for me. I used two tray tables and it was glorious. I came close to laying down- but ended up deciding that was a bit much.

3. This Guy.

4. I finished Breakfast of Champions.
What a fabulous book. It was a bittersweet moment to finish it.

5. Right as I finished Breakfast of Champions, The Idolness of Gods by Echo & The Bunnymen started playing.
No joke. I mean the EXACT moment that I finished the book. It was seriously perfect. I can’t even explain why that song was so appropriate to end that book. It is, as I discovered in this moment, the perfect credits song.

6. This lady.

7. Listening to my vinyl for the first time since August.
I don’t care what you say. It sounds different, and it was lovely. What record did I choose to listen to? The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place, of course.

8. Discovering that I still know how to drive a car.
No worries, ladies and gentlemen. It’s just like riding a bike.

9. The smell of home.
There really is nothing like it. It’s just so comforting. As much as I love life in the big city, I can’t say that it’s comforting. It just feels really nice to be home for a bit. Also, it’s so quiet here- I appreciate that so much more now.

10.  This little face.

Overall, it was a pretty great day. In the words of my love J. Spaceman:

And I
I feel
Feel like
Feel like I’m gone
Feel like I’m going home

Take it down to my
soul, lay it back, feel
so good…

Nicole