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Various & Sundry, part twelve

Friday, March 25th, 2005

— I woke up this morning with a distinct phrase in my mind: magnesium fusion triggers. Look, I don’t drive the thing. I’m just ridin’ shotgun…

— Marty called last night and we talked about a subject that’s totally captured his excitement, the new Sony PS Portable. Hey, you’re allowed to get excited about something like this when you’re thirteen. For me, at that age, it was probably Art Linkletter’s “The Game of Life,” or something like that. However, I can’t help but think of this quote from Ben Stein: “I tremble for the day that the next generation has to provide for themselves with what they have learned from their video games.” Relax, Ben. They’ve probably learned more than I ever learned from watching too many hours of “The Avengers,” “The Prisoner,” “Hawaii Five-0” and “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”

— From what I can discern through the Associated Press, Josh and his 623rd Field Artillery unit was with the convoy that came under attack on Sunday morning, but it stayed with the trucks during the battle and sustained no casualties (from a Bruce Schreiner byline story).

— The new brochure we created for the Brass Band Festival is a major hit, according to our friend who’s retiring as director of the Visitor’s Bureau. I told her I hoped our work makes a good impression with her successor. She said she thought it would and will put in a good word for us. Sounds promising, but the new person brings strong connections to her former employer, a previous client of ours turned competitor. All I can do is stay positive and make my case at the appropriate time. I’d insert a link to the Festival, but the site is just too ugly. Wait a second! This is a job for Website Makeover™ Man!

— Dana and I are heading back up to Indy today to check on Bruce. Normally I have my Rotary Club meeting, but we’re dismissed for Good Friday, so we’ll deal with any urgent matters in the studio and then hit the road before it gets too late.

— I decided to google for “magnesium fusion triggers” and found myself reading an overview at GlobalSecurity.org about special weapons facilities on the Indian subcontinent. OK, so what am I supposed to be more scared of, the metastasis of the World Wide Web, unchecked nuclear proliferation in South Asia, or my own dadburn subconscious?

Posted in Business, Community, Current Events, Dana, Family, Friends, Marty, Personalities, Playtime, Studio, Television, Time | Comments Closed

Two Clansmen in harm’s way

Monday, March 21st, 2005

Fully absorbed most of the day in the Salvation Army Advisory Board retreat— new member orientation, committee meetings, and strategic planning. When I got home I found out that Bruce has an inflamed pancreas and continues to be critically ill. Dana and daughter Terie (Marty’s mom) will head back to Indy in the morning. Somehow I’ll force myself to concentrate on client commitments and hold the fort in the studio while keeping our son in my thoughts and prayers.

Meanwhile, news arrives that nephew Josh has lost a brother in arms on an escort mission…

Posted in Community, Dana, Family, Marty, Priorities, Studio | Comments Closed

Various & Sundry, part nine

Thursday, March 10th, 2005

— There’s nothing like a good ol’ ranting, stream-of-consciousness letter to the editor. I can’t even manage to achieve that in my own private journal or semi-private blog, and yet there will always be these bold, opinionated souls who’ll fire both barrels in the local newspaper for full public display.

— Why do some things have to get so complicated? I’m starting to become very sensitive to the chlorine at the Wellness Center pool, just when I’ve gotten into a beneficial groove with my swimming. This morning I did 80 lengths in a little over an hour and never felt so strong in the water, physically or aerobic-wise. We’ve decided to switch our membership to the new fitness club at Centre, partly to find a lower chlorine level, and that should take effect next month. Meanwhile, I had someone tell me that their natatorium is having trouble with its chlorine regulator.

— We finally got the pro bono brochure for the Band Festival out the door for printing. It’s alarming how long some of these freebie jobs take. Wouldn’t you think we’d know how much time something like this would require when we volunteer our services to the community? Oh well, it should be a nice piece.

Posted in Angst, Blogging, Community, Exercise, Music, Studio, Time | Comments Closed

One Earth Tour comes to Danville

Wednesday, March 9th, 2005

The rhythmic perfection and exuberant athleticism of the KODO performance at Centre last night was powerful, mesmerizing, and deeply satisfying. I knew the word “Kodo” from my book by Kensho Furuya (Kodo: Ancient Ways— Lessons in the Spiritual Life of the Warrior/Martial Artist), but I wasn’t sure whether it literally meant “Ancient Ways.” The KODO artists boldly but reverently exalt “Taiko,” the traditional Japanese drum, which is the ancient symbol of rural Japan. Their musical interpretations connect at a fundamental human level that must be experienced to fully appreciate.

Trivia: What television theme features the Taiko? Answer.

Posted in Art, Community, Music, Personalities, Television | Comments Closed

They see a plate of them and weep

Friday, March 4th, 2005

Spent three hours today in front of a hot griddle at Kentucky School for the Deaf making pancakes for the Danville Rotary Club. Once a year I adopt my little-known identity as the greatest fried-foods artist since Neolithic times. Usually this annual fundraising event is scheduled around the middle of February, which enables me to show off by making heart-shaped pancakes. This year the timing was off, but did that stop me?

Modesty eludes me when it comes to my Rotary pancakes. I suppose they can only be described as perfect. Just ask any of my numerous pupils (the community’s best and brightest). That they hold me in total, ring-kissing awe on this particular day allows them to act like they don’t know me the rest of the year.

As far as Dana is concerned, it just makes me smell like grease.

Ah, the sorrow of genius…

Posted in Art, Community, Creativity, Food, Friends | Comments Closed

After the silence

Sunday, February 13th, 2005

The rhythm of raindrops striking metal roofing punctuated each heartfelt expression rendered within the old cabin. Over the weeks, our group had moved from stunned disbelief to analytical precision. Every legal doctrine, ethical nuance, or metaphysical possibility was now open to full scrutiny. Lord, what has Mack set in motion with his generosity of spirit? I stopped to look around the room and was grateful beyond measure for such a circle of incredibly bright and deeply caring friends.

Man, that might sound sappy, but I felt it, I wrote it, and I’m sticking with it…

Posted in Community, Friends, Gratitude, Nature | Comments Closed

Gone too soon

Wednesday, February 9th, 2005

Danville lost another fine man this week, my friend Morse Marcum. If Dadbo had grown up in Kentucky, he would’ve known all the things Morse knew. We had many enjoyable lunchtime conversations about wildlife in the knobs, tobacco, timber, horses and mules… But there was one specific interest that only we seemed to share among locals: murals. Every time Morse would visit a town that had a mural he would bring his excitement to me and we would brainstorm about creating a mural in Boyle County. But we never found a patron. Rest easy, Morse. If I ever get to do another mural, I’ll surely dedicate it to you.

Posted in Art, Community, Creativity, Dadbo, Death, Friends | Comments Closed

Various & Sundry, part five

Sunday, February 6th, 2005

— Last night Seth showed me a piece of his work that he’d done with a non-linear digital editor and I must say the young man has some clear talent for media. He achieved a nice level of dramatic impact by creatively combining words, music and existing footage. Impressive. The potential is there. I agree with Dana: Given these aptitudes and developing skills, his keen mind, strong voice, and natural good looks, he could chart a course in any number of broadcasting or communication fields. If he wanted to, and it appears that he might want to.

— I watched a stimulating presentation by Sam Harris on C-SPAN today.
First time I’d heard of him, so all I can think of initially to call
him is a “radical agnostic,” but I’d have to say he may be the most
thought-provoking non-believer I’ve encountered since Ayn Rand.

— Took part in the annual Super Bowl Sunday mountain bike ride in
Forkland. Can’t remember the weather ever being this mild, so Dan and I
opted for the longer 20-mile loop. We tackled some remote knobs I’d
never seen before, but fell behind the group, missing our last turn.
Ended up turning it into a 30-miler, with a stop at Penn’s Store. The
light was failing, but we warmed ourselves by the stove, had some good
conversations, and then set off to find our vehicle on Minor’s Branch
before it got dark.

Posted in Community, Exercise, Family, Friends, Personalities, Television | Comments Closed

Various & Sundry, part four

Thursday, February 3rd, 2005

— Over nine thousand objects large enough to be tracked and catalogued? To a galactic neighbor, our planet must look like one of those Kentucky back-road junk heaps.

— Many, many years ago, when we were first allowed to operate the Sony reel-to-reel recorder, we taped numerous television theme songs and incidental music from our favorite shows. We became so familiar with the tape that each musical introduction seemed a natural part of the one to follow. We committed to memory lyrics and melodies, including those from obscure, ill-fated shows that we never even watched. Years later, Mombo surprised me by transferring that strange collection to audio cassette. To this day I occasionally pop in a tape when driving alone and I must admit that very few things in my life, including pop music contemporary to the time, will provide me such a visceral connection to my quirky adolescence. Love on a Rooftop, Mr. Terrific, The Shady Rest, Jean Gaston-Andre, Judd for the Defense, T.H.E. Cat, David Vincent, Rango, The New Number Two… I guess you had to be there. (“Ask the butler to lend you a buck, my dear!“)

— Before Mack went back into the hospital he was kind enough to look at my old Conn C-Melody saxophone (the one that used to belong to Uncle Luke), and became excited about taking it with him to Lexington for a discussion with his sax repairman. Turns out it needs very little attention to be perfectly playable, even after 25 years of storage. He had a setback in his healing not too long after that, but not before I had the opportunity to shoot his combo when they played at the open house for the new Community Arts Center in downtown Danville. I made a montage for myself and all of his friends as a focus for our positive thoughts and prayers for recovery.

Posted in Community, Family, Friends, Mombo, Music, Space, Television | Comments Closed

Various & Sundry, part one

Friday, January 21st, 2005

— I’ve gotten a week into this experiment and have yet to properly thank Brendan, my undaunted sponsor and kind host. So far so good. I managed to solve most of the anomalies I was experiencing by updating the firmware on our Netgear firewall/router. Although I began my first private journal in 1971 and have maintained regular entries for the past 20 years or so, this online record of thoughts is a new and stimulating venture. In time I’ll gain a better sense of how its public nature affects the tone and quality of my postings.

— Last weekend our family gathered at Kelley Ridge for a mighty demonstration of Clan-Power to achieve as much physical transformation as possible. Uncle James mused that it was the kind of event that could inspire Clan legend. With the bitter wind knifing through us as we split and stacked firewood at the edge of the ridge, Seth replied, “You won’t ever hear me talking about this day.”

— There hasn’t been much of a downside to my accepting an invitation to join the Rotary Club ten years ago, but I am beginning to notice something. One of the serious drawbacks to building relationships of affection with a bunch of great old guys pushing 80 is to witness their failing health. What have I gotten myself into?

— As true as it is that there’s no greater love than to lay down one’s life for another, I want Josh to accomplish in Iraq what he was trained to do and then safely return to his family. That is my simple prayer. I’m not precisely sure what he was trained to do, but I know that living and working each day in harm’s way is a given. I’m reminded of the closing line in The Bridges at Toko-Ri, “Where do we get such men?” The answer to that question is the same with every generation, and, as far as I’m concerned, no poet has described this vital breed more eloquently than Katharine Lee Bates when she wrote, “Oh beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife, who more than self their country loved and mercy more than life!”

Posted in Angst, Blogging, Brendan, Community, Family, James, Prayer, Verse | Comments Closed

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