Excentric

I guess because I recently decided to straighten my teeth I have paid a lot of attention to the smiles of the olympic athletes. It's amazing how almost every athlete's teeth are perfectly aligned and pre-plowed snow white. Are they children of privilege or do they just have ortho-frenetic parents? Either way, I can't help but stare at their pearly smiles, even in defeat. And by defeat I don't mean being judged as a lesser athlete, but rather wiping out on the track with no other contestant within a skate, board or ski length in sight. It's beautiful that we all take a pause from our regular jabbing and sparring and shooting and bombing to watch our young athletes compete for a round piece of metal that they can hopefully cash in for endorcements for products most people could otherwise do without.
Speaking of products, my mentor and friend of yore used to ponder the concept of new and improved taste in pet food products. Who was volunteering to taste this stuff. And while Morrie is on mind, I am reminded of a call from Sedona's newest city manger who used to have copies of the Sedona Excentric mailed to him by our former police chief, Bob Irish. I told him that Irish, though quoted often, never really communicated his thoughts to the paper. Like about seventeen years back when we quoted the chief reporting a rampant increase in crime in Sedona, citing the example of a man stopping in the Basha's parking lot, leaving his driver's window down, exposing 2 season tickets to the Arizona Cardinals on the top of his dashboard. Upon returing to his vehicle, he noticed there were 4 tickets. We also advertised for free singing lessons, from Gregorian chant to Rap, taught in the privacy of your own shower. It makes perfect sense if you think about it. Everybody thinks they can be on American Idol based on their shower volcalizations and their ability to sing along with their car radio blasting at window glass rattling decibels.
Hey, President Obama met with the Dahli Lama, much to the chagrin of China's leaders. What do they fear? Could it be that a whole 10% of their population would convert from Taoism to Buddhism? Let's see, 10% of 1.3 billion is around 1.3 million  people. They lose that many people in bicycle accidents delivering Peking Duck and eggrolls annually. Personally, I prefer the eggdrop soup and Cashew Chicken. My wife makes me add tofu. Maybe it's the weight of the tofu throwing off the cyclists. There is an art to leaning to keep your balance when toting tofu laden carry out.
While repairing some damages to my home caused by the December 8 winter-soon storm, I have had the privilege of working with some terrific people, like the guys from Behmers Roofing, John Di Battista and his crew of C J and Sam, and Gus the drywall guy. Local guys who care about the quality of their work at an affordable rate to working Joes.
Well I'm wondering how snowboarding became an Olympic sport, but my age is probably interfering with the processing. Jumping and spinning from a youngster looks like fun, but hardly seem worthy of being deemed an olympian. Perhaps it's not that much different than tossing a long spear or hurling a ball on a chain or bowling a granite stone down an alley with broom handlers chasing  it for top position.
We'll see what tomorrow brings. Gotta like that Ono kid, Shani Davis and the team of Mancuso and Vonn.
Meanwhile Taliban leaders are being captured, Haiti is reeling under new storms, Iran is ready to be a free nation and Europe is ready to bail out Greece. Things are good, much better than they could be and we are all sitting one the edge of a tiny planet, forced to hold each other's hold to keep one other from falling off.
What a great world!
That's all for now . . .

Excentric

With some relatives huddled in Maryland, I have been left with the feeling of helplessness in AZ, resigned to watching the news of Snowmageddon. Surprised that the attacks from politicians have been limited to vile lies about global climate change. What part of Global don't they understand? It's another reminder that the entire world revolves around them and their contributors. Keep waiting for bin laden to claim al qaeda is behind America's northeastern blizzard. Actually, a lot should get done now that hell has frozen over. So, a couple of snowstorms and all the icebergs in Antartica have reformed, all the dead polar bears have come back to life and mankind has had no negative effect on the environment; oh yeah, nature is also responsible for Toyota's auto failures. Maybe nature is the reason for job losses, bank failures, home foreclosures, and stagnant wages - wait - they're right - Human Nature! Is greed human nature or simply a sin? Speaking of greedy sinning politicians, I marveled at the lack of knowledge Newt Gingrich had on the Daily Show when he professed that the shoe bomber was an American citizen. I guess being an Islamic militant from England is closer to be an American than being an Islamic militant from Nigeria. I can see how the skin color could confuse him, after all, his is from Dixie. Dixie, where teabaggers eat their own. Just ask Ron Paul - not conservative enough for a movement he is given credit for starting. Now the southern talking heads are calling for Paul to be replaced, by a true conservative - one who agrees that government is responsible for everything wrong with America and that the politicians they put into office will do their bidding. Then, we'll have a real America, run by the few people with big enough wallets and big enough mouths to tell the majority of Americans what's good for them, as opposed to them now being told what's good for them.
Once in power, things will be set straight - no one will be gay (especially in the military), no religion will be recognized as legitimate besides Christian, no teenagers will have sex before marriage to someone of the opposite sex, there will be no Medicare or Medicaid, no food stamps, no public schools, no voting without passage of tests designed by them, no immigrants, no unions, no foreign trade, no taxes, no public infrastructure (including no highways, police, fire, emergency responders, bridges, mass transit, traffic signals or road signs, no parks, no courthouses, no government buildings, etc.) - everything will be privatized and run by the very CEOs who got bailed out and gave themselves big bonuses.
Gives new meaning to just say no, huh?
Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. Wow, what rhetoric. It's almost as if the person who spoke those words was just standing in front of a lecturn, using a teleprompter. Let's look at some other presidential quotes: George Washington: "Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder;" Thomas Jefferson: "One man with courage is a majority;" John Quincy Adams: "Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost;" Franklin Pierce: "We have nothing in our history or position to invite aggression; we have everything to beckon us to the cultivation of relations of peace and amity with all nations;" Theodore Roosevelt: "The only man who makes no mistake is the man who does nothing;"  Thomas Woodrow Wilson: "If you want to make enemies, try to change something;" Harry S. Truman: "We need not fear the expression of ideas—we do need to fear their suppression;" Richard Nixon: "A man who has never lost himself in a cause bigger than himself has missed one of life's mountaintop experiences. Only in losing himself does he find himself;" James Earl Carter, Jr.: "The best way to enhance freedom in other lands is to demonstrate here that our democratic system is worthy of emulation;" Ronald Wilson Reagan: "America is too great for small dreams;" George Herbert Walker Bush: "I want a kinder, gentler nation;" William Jefferson Clinton: "We need a spirit of community, a sense that we are all in this together. If we have no sense of community, the American dream will wither;" George Walker Bush: "Recognizing and confronting our history is important. Transcending our history is essential. We are not limited by what we have done, or what we have left undone. We are limited only by what we are willing to do."
I wonder what the teabaggers think of these quotes, both republican and democrat. It would seem each was driven at some time in their term of office by a love of country.
The very first American president talks about virtue and the highest bidder and the current Supreme Court opens American politics to the purses of multi-national corporations, unions, bankers, insurers, and the likes to offer their personal choice for high office. Remember when they used to say, "America, best government money can buy?" The joke is now on us. Fool me twice . . .
An amazing thing happened. After calling the Associated Press to complain about their "close enough" reasoning for putting events IN Sedona instead of NEAR Sedona, I came across a couple of news stories that actually stated the events took place NEAR Sedona. Is somebody actually reading what I write? I didn't expect anyone to listen, never mind react. Maybe there is hope after all. Nah, just a coincidence.
My prayers and good thoughts for those dealing with the blizzard. Keep on digging!

That's all for now . . .

Excentric

I had a chat with someone from the Associated Press office in Tucson recently. I told him I took offense to yet another report about the October tragedy at Angel Valley as taking place in Sedona - not near Sedona, or around Sedona, or close to Cottonwood, or near John McCain's compound - but IN Sedona. His explanation was that Sedona was the closest city. I informed him he was wrong, in fact, Cottonwood with its recent annexation into the Cornville area made it the closest city. And, if they were using the name Sedona for sensational reference, they should have stated that it was just over the banks of Senator John McCain's houses. He argued the point, though I'm not sure on what premise, and finally just said it was close enough. Close enough. That's what has created a huge credibility problem with the media, corporations and the government. Close enough. Saddam didn't actually possess weapons of mass destruction, but he was close enough to having them that 4,000 plus men and women from the United States and scores others from around the globe had to give their lives. Close enough.

I looked up the website of Angel Valley. In fact, they state in their opening sentence that they are IN Sedona. So, I called them. The woman owning the compound referred to a spot further in the description that it was close to Sedona. I reminded her that the first sentence says IN Sedona. She agreed it may be a little misleading, especially when I told her that reportes were quoting her and saying she was IN Sedona. If she wasn't actually IN Sedona, how was I to know that the quotes that were attributed to her were acurate or just close enough?

When lending institutions deny people the right to refinance their homes or at least renegotiate their payments or restructure their loans, one has to wonder whatever makes them think they have earned the amount of money they reward their owners and upper managers. I don't begrudge anyone for making huge amounts of money. Indeed, some stinkingly wealthy people have done some good in the world with their money. But, to deny struggling, decent Americans the opportunity to maintain some sense of dignity by retaining their most prized possession while stuffing your pockets is obscene and so is any politician that isn't doing everything possible to see those ways are changed. Close enough. The bankers didn't actually set up new lending practices to help struggling Americans, but for many politicians it was close enough.

When our government officials say the proposed health care bill will kill grandma, or take away your medicare or cause your premiums to rise; they know they aren't reading from the actual proposal, but it's close enough to use to scare the bejesus out of Joe the plumber. Palin couldn't really see Russia from her house, but it was close enough. When they say this initiative is going to create1 million jobs - even though the facts show it will only create 985,00, we accept that asclose enough. But whne you are one of the 15,000 who are left unemployed is close enough good enough? When our leaders allow polluters to clean up most of their mill tailings because it brought temporary work to their area, but the pollutants went unseen into an aquifer and the company mining the land thinks it got close enough to the stipulated regulations, is close enough good enough?

Imagine sending missiles into an area an being just a little off target. It hits the house next to the intended target, an innocent family is killed. The bad guys live to kill again. Is close enough good enough? What about when someone is sentenced to death because of an eye witness that picked out someone that looked like the person who actually committed the crime. Now imagine DNA evidence shows the condemend to be innocent. Now imagine it was discovered too late. Now imagine the accused was your brother, or father, or son. Is close enough good enough?

In sports, they have institued replay. Not because the refs were crooked, well not all of them, but because with the kind of money the winning palyers, managers and owners can amass, close enough wasn't good enough. I realize we can't replay every move we make, but we are given an opportuinty with every breath to get better than close enough. We can actually report that the sad event where people lost their lives in October happened at a place outside Sedona, and, as its neighbors, people IN Sedona grieve for their loss and pray for their families and loved ones left behind. IN Sedona, people have the ability to show compassion, love and understanding where needed, not because they exist within the majestic walls of the crimson cliffs, but because, like all other human beings, we possess an innate desire to extend a hand, lend a shoulder or offer an embrace. I imagine the same holds true for Cottonwood residents, who just showed they could be civil about a very unpopular issue - the mago statue.

The leader of Dahn Yoga and creator of the concept of the man-made monolith had many opportunites to admit that though his intentions were grand and sincere, he may have missed the target, and his goal having fallen short, chosen to address the citizens of Cottonwood and proposed to relocate mago, saving face and increasing his credibility. He just didn't get close enough to the people he affected.

That's all for now . . .

Excentric

Always thought Cape Cod was the only other place on the lower 48 that I could call home besides Sedona. Actually, I live in Cornville, zip code EIEIO. Wouldn't have it any other way. Left Virginia Beach more than 21 years ago. When I talk with friends or family back east I tell them about being stuck in traffic here, which means I had to stop for a cow, quail, roadrunner, feasting raven or some other form of life to clear the road. That hasn't changed in 21 years. Truly, open space is Arizona's greatest asset. Most of the people that come here get that. They go about their lives, tryng to make ends meet and appreciating what nature has to offer. Some, mostly big city folk, who think building and growing Sedona to suit their needs (the things they left behind) want to destroy it all. They usually end up running for some kind of political office. Those who think they can improve on nature have their heads stuck so far up their egos that they will never get it.

On the subject of egos and nature, I feel compelled to address a topic of considerable consternation along the highway connecting Sedona to Cottonwood.  A 40+foot statue has been erected by the Dahn Yoga owner, Ilchee Lee. While the area has proven time and tme again to be one of religious and spiritual tolerance, the blonde-haired, porcelain-white faced, Asain-eyed statue has a large group of citizens up in arms. Personally, I celebrate the tloerance and diversity of the area, but I believe the size of the statue calls into question its representation. The structure is called Mago, wich is supposed to represent Mother Earth or Mother Nature. Either way, a dedication to Gaia of such magnitude begs the question why it would be placed in a location that would block the red rock views and natural beauty created by Nature. The conflict bothers me. I feel the statue should have been about 4-feet tall and representative of the Native American Mother Earth. While they do have a giant Kokopelli, I wonder if they realize he represents not only seasonal changes, music, dancing and fertility, but, according to some of my Native friends, his Cassanova michief led Kokopelli to detach his penis and send it down the river to "have his way" with the innocent young maidens who were bathing in the stream. Older depictions showed more of a phallus, long and erect. Catholic priests cut it off and put a sash or cloth around future depictions while Christianizing the Indians.

So now, Kokopelli and Mago share park space alongside Harubang statues, and seven statues representing Jesus Christ, Buddha, Mother Mary, Confucius, Socrates, Dahn Guhn, and Chief Seattle. People of other faiths have commented on the lack of representation of their diety's icon. One even wrote to complain that there wasn't a Torah or the Ten Commandments, as followers of Judaism don't really have any icons. So, it seems many don't want anything there, some want everything there, some don't care what's there, some want the hair color changed, and I want something that actually represents Mother Earth - something that allows me to view and appreciate the original Mother Earth and not a giant piece of clay.

In all fairness, the crosses in the steeples in the Catholic church across the raod are taller, so tall, in fact, I can see Alaska from there.

That's all for now . . .

Excentric

Roof job completed - Bob Behmer, Tim, Kim, Nate et al were professional, responsive, thorough and fair. I couldn't have had a better experience. My roof looks great - and for the first time matches the color schemes of the rest of my house. We bought the house 18+ years ago, putting in a bid that was at first refused but accepted after the owner thought it was sold and moved to another area. After that deal fell through, our offer was accepted. Mind you, the house was interesting - no heater, I chopped wood for seven years - so, the owner had to carry the loan with 15% down. He had built the house for his first wife, who died in the house, the Kelly green house with green tiled roof. His next wife hated green, enter beige vinyl siding with matching beige soffit and cocoa brown fascia - and the 30-year green roof. Now the roof tile is brown and makes the house looks great.

December 8th's storm caused some damage and leakage resulting in damage. Already did insurance claim guy, blogged about that experience earlier - wasn't bad. Finding the right windows and door at an affordable rate is a tough task. Hoping all work is finished in 30 days, before my mom-in-law arrives from Cape Cod for 3 weeks. She's a good egg and mellowing with age. Actually, she's one of the few relatives I really like. Maybe it's because she listens to your likes and dislikes and almost always finds something to bring you that you are sure to enjoy - whether it be food, cooking tools, house things, like holiday trinkets and candles. For a couple of years she was involved in helping me decorate our house as the one with the tackiest Christmas lights and displays. We won for years, hands down. Hoping to pass those tools to a nephew with a sense of humor.

Heard from a dear old friend from North Carolina. We used to play music together in Woodbridge, Virginia and then years later in Norfolk and Virginia Beach. We went to rival high schools and didn't care. We created harmonies to Catholic hymns at Sunday mass. We were roommates once, along with his older brother. I learned a lot from those two. As time passed, I felt more the teacher and continue to enjoy our relationship. You know, you tell your blood relatives you love them, and you really do, but not usually because of how they are, but who they are. By that, I mean how they are around others - children, cats, dogs, plants, older people, strangers, relatives, friends. It's how we are that defines who we are.

An example: I was taking my wife to the dentist a hundred miles from our home. Six miles into the trip, I run out of gas - my car  - my responsibility. Now the computer says I have 102 miles before I'm in need of fuel. The fuel gauge itself reads over an eigth of a tank - and we stall - on the highway, nothing, bupkiss. I limp to the side of the road. She gets out, calls a neighbor, asks her to meet her to take her to her car and starts walking - cool as a cucumber. How she was at the time made we love who she is. There are always going to be myriad obstacles tossed our way in a variety of sizes, shapes and intensities. How we are about those everyday events defines who we are. I have been making a pool of friends based on how they are. Some I've known for a very long time, some I've not, others I have yet to meet and am looking forward to the experience.

Cardinals got spanked today, but that was to be expected. All the psychics are putting other people's money on the Saints to go all the way. I have liked them since the few fans they had at a time of continuous losing streaks would wear paper bags over their heads at the games and called the team the Aints. I guess I have always been a supporter of the underdog. I was so used to being the underdog, that my affection for the blue collar grunt with a pipe dream earned my salvo of cheers. The winds of victory for the Aints looks good this season since they caught a Brees. Way too poetic for late night. My friend needs positive thoughts for his back, so anyone reading this, send Tony's back some love and healing light.

That's all for now . . .

Excentric

I had little respect for Pat Robertson and Rush Limbaugh before their inane voluntary mental discharges today regarding the deadly natural disaster in Haiti. My wishes for the best possible outcome goes out the living and dead, trapped and wandering, poor and befuddled. I have always found it spiritually contradictory to wrap oneself in the shrowd of Jesus while spewing hateful intollerances of others of differing religions, races or political parties. A good friend recounted a story of growing up in a small Texas town about Christian people who sang, "Jesus loves the little children...red and yellow, black and white, they're all precious in his sight." I guess it may have sounded biased to sing, "Jesus loves the Christian children...red and yellow, black and white, if they're Christian they're all right." But that's what Pat Robertson and Rush Limbaugh spew - a genuine disdain for anyone who doesn't follow the tenants they chose as their reality.

Sunday at World Fellowship service in Cottonwood, Dr. Rev. Sue chose to repeat a thought we shared and a quote I had written in the Sedona Excentric a couple of years back..."What if some, or all of everything you thought to be true was wrong." As a nation, we don't seem to deal with "what ifs" well. We accept a premise, theory, axiom or postulation as fact or truth and then seek out others who agree. The more people who sign on, the easier it is to contol those who refuse, for they are the minority and not the believers of the accepted truth. Remember the confrontation between Galileo and Cardinal Bellarmino? - we're havin' an inquisition. Fortunately, many baby boomers in America are asking questions again, this timewithout fear of shunning or retribution from their government or loved ones and close friends who desire to stay the course.

Something else I enjoyed about working with Morrie (see previous blogs) was his love for the unknown and libertarian style of religious thought. We called ourselves Agnonstics because we knew there was something greater than human life - there just has to be. I mean, if this is the best the universe had to offer, climate change here we come. I heard the president of ASU is coming to NPR. The plug for the show included results from a poll that showed college grads don't have much of a desire to stay, work and play in Arizona, and Arizonans value the open space, terrain and environment as their greates assets. Someone should share that information with the Sedona City Council, a group seemingly hell bent on making sure land be used for whatever purpose may come along as long as that purpose isn't preservation. Many don't know that Pine Valley in the Village of Oak Creek was actually traded by the Forest Service for Florida swamp land. Now the Forest service did need that land to extend their Evergalde protection, but Pine Valley? Wise ranchers (actually land barons) are working the same magic in Seligman for General Crook Trail area land.

The same friend who recited the Jesus loving all the children song confessed that The Matrix was her favorite movie. Sadly, the media, in cooperation with major corporations and some government muckamucks have made it a reality in America. People are either ill-informed or uninformed, sometimes by choice, but usually by being force fed the crap the pruducers' owners decide to unveil under the guise of important breaking news. For years, everything from the crime rate, to identity theft, to the economic collapse was being blamed on illegal aliens. But not just any illegals, only those from south of the border who speak Spanish. Good thing that America never had a large group of British or French or Dutch or German or Italian or Irish or Polish or Russian or Asian enter without proper paperwork and visas. Otherwise, there may have been some negative assertions made of those people. I'm always amazed at how few people I meet are Native Americans, except of course for the Native Americans. Now there was a group of people with a bad immigration policy. Good thing they were so trusting. Sign here! A friend of mine from Australia once told me that they got the best deal - they got the British prisoners, we got the Puritans.

That's all for now . . .

Excentric

Mentioned Morrie a couple of times. His name was Morris Horowitz, founder of the Sedona Excentric. My wife and I had moved from Virginia Beach, VA to Lake Havasu City thinking we still needed to be around water. Havasu was hell-  not just because in the time we lived there, April 27 1987 until April 27 1988, was it one of the hottest climates in North America, but because I was managing a restaurant/bar and working like hell for a nominal wage. We moved to the Village of Oak Creek after landing a job at Los Abrigados. I soon realized I wasn't cut out for restaurant management. The higher ups may have realized the same earlier than I. Anyway, I applied for a job schlepping furniture for Canyon State Moving Company. They offered a job the next day. I asked if they were as hard up as I was, for surely they must have noticed that with my build, I was probably only good for lifting the couch cushions. The office manager Sasha Valckuck laughingly confessed that they indeed were that desperate. I worked for a few months, lost weight and added muscle, but knew there was no way I would become a master furniture hauler.

While talking with Sasha one summer morning I mentioned reading a column in the local paper called "Ask the Record Man." I found it amusing, as I had been in rock and roll bands in Virgina for many years. I suggested the column's author was posessed with a wicked wit, but was a bit of an asshole and I would like to meet him. She said his name was Morrie and she would introduce me the next time he dropped her off at work, as they lived together. She assured me my apology was not necessary, for Morrie could at times be an asshole. She pointed me out the next morning, he waved and drove off. My wife and I were invited by Sasha to join her and Morrie for cocktails at Judi's Restaurant that Friday night. I wasn't sure what to expect, but as Morrie and I sat at the bar, drinking, the discussion turned to music. It turns out that Morrie had worked for Decca records in Michigan. Our backgrounds led to an evening of drinks and laughter and more drinks and musical trivia challenges and more drinks. Morrie was the first non-politician I had met that became more lucid the more he drank.

He tried to impress me by announcing The Strawbs were the band with the best harmonies and I back at him declaring I owned their only two released albums. We're old - this was vinyl. Not impressed, he told me of his 10,000 record collection - he and Sasha used to own a music store. In a feeble attempt to toss him a curve I exalted the Bonzo Dog Band, to which he named the musicians and what year they recorded their work. I was informed later that he had a selective photographic memore - music albums - the musicians, dates and studios recorded. After many drinks he asked what I was doing wasting my life schlepping furniture and asked me to come work with him on the Key to Sedona Coupon Books. I agreed.

In the midst of selling advertising ot the second run of the KeY to Sedona, Morrie started the Sedona Excentric. He gave away and traded for a couple of ads and put out two eight-page papers. he started this paper after drinking with the publisher of another publication who bet him he couldn't do it and would print it if he did. Well, he also charged a hefty fee for the printing. With the third issue in the computer, Morrie came to me and announced he was a bout to write a bad check for the coming issue and needed me to go out and sell some ads to pay for it. I put the Key on hold and headed Uptown, where I fould 4 business owners amused enough with the first two editions, to back the next four. Returning with $420, Morrie jumped with
glee, grabbed my arm, told me that the paper only cost $400 to print and we had made a $20 profit and needed to celebrate - on to Judi's. We never looked back. Later, I'll tell you the shrewd tactics we employed while creating a publishing empire.

That's all for now . . .