Harnessing The Power Of Entropy For Productive Use |
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for current monkey biz go HERE  compelled to drop in here and make mention of a couple of things before attending to more immediate matters; yesssss we back in the Mountain Time Zone, back on the border, the Momz & ourowndamnedself dallied a bit on the way back, stopping in Laughlin, NV to allow us a little recreation by the riverside, kinda nice there actually, maybe head back that way and check it out more thoroughly sometime in the future...okay, Binky, you askin' what's so goddamned compelling? Some things to share with you all, first from the fine and twisted mind of D. Asmussen via the S.F. Chronicle/SF Gate (happens we stopped briefly on the auld sod-- berkeley --whilst on the return portion of our sojourn to points west, picked up the local fishwrap, oh joy, oh rapture...), in particular this very timely item of his (more Asmussen madness archived here); OH, and speaking of things chronicle-ish, pal Euphorbita who sent along pic you see alongside this also sent along link to fine Jon Carroll item, and manOhman, do we miss our nearly daily fix of J.C. (yah, we know, available on line but we won't go into details of the hassle we gotzta deal wit dese days...) And Then, oh yah, yourstruly would regret not mentioning editorial cartoon by Tom Meyer, timely like a muthafukka, and that allusion folks make re Iraq:Viet Nam, well, it gets more accurate every day that passes (watched PBS News Hour last evening, ten more dead soldiers commemorated at end of show, cursing that lying, smirking, simpering moronic waste of space as each name and face is introduced...) 
okay, and finally getting our new yorker mag delivered to us in somewhat timely fashion (never knew l'Marquis would get so attached to the new yorker...)and got to point you in direction of timely piece by George Packer in the 9.27 issue. Una cosa mas, t'was our good fortune to be listening to KPFA radio whilst driving outta the Bay Area on Thursday afternoon, managed to catch Caroline Casey (of VisionaryActivism.com) interviewing the Freeway Blogger -- Whooooooo Hooooooo! -- and inspiring it was, we currently collecting some cardboard, got our white paint and markers, now just need to work up the courage (goddess knows we already angry & spiteful enough) to get out & hang some signage off some select el paso freeway overpasses... 
but first, a word from our sponsors (Not Really!)- If you're traveling in the North County Lands, where the wind hits heavy on the borderline, seek out lodging at the Los Robles Lodge, you'll get plenty of bang for your traveling buck. Really and truly, you'll find 'em on Cleveland Ave in Santa Rosa, and while yourstuly not a pro at this "on the road" kind of thing, we know a decent bargain when we run into one and LRL is a preeeeety good 'un...  so the main reason for this little trip west is behind us now, and in this case, the us referred to be the monkeemomz and ourowndamnedself. l'Marquis thinks one might do a lot worse than find oneself laid to rest, in that ultimate and very final way, in this lovely cemetary in the hills just outside of Palmdale. Not by any means an old and long established facility, rather more of a recent enterprise, maybe in operation a dozen years or so, lots of space still awaiting those seeking that "eternal" resting place. Dozens of crows about on the afternoon we were there, brought to mind the opening credits of Six Feet Under, the sound of their taking flight overhead on this quiet and slightly breezy sunny afternoon will be something yourstruly will remember a long time. Never been in the Palmdale/Lancaster area before and wouldn't mind coming back sometime to explore it a little further. We drove in from the east via Hwy 138 out of San Bernadino, caught some interesting sights along the way, a few pics taken here and there, jessferdahalibut. a brief visit to those environs to be sure, but we got out and explored what we could in our short time there. Disappointed to make trip to local museum only to find it Cerrado but we did also discover a fine little cafe where we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast. We were not expecting a large group to attend the interment ceremony so we were pleasantly surprised to discover more of the Los Angeles family had taken time away from their routine & responsibilities to join hands with us in Palmdale. A beautiful afternoon, lovely hillside location, a brief and moving ceremony, particularly for our Momz and her sisters Tali & Pat, brother Jesse. Pat was joined by her grown children & some of their kids, Rey & Elsie's daughter was in attendence along with her own daughter, and all of us afterwards joining up at local Mexican restaurant, Don Juan's (simply a co-incidence that; funny thing was we had spotted it on our drive back into town after our excursion to the Antelope Valley Indian Museum, noted its location on Palmdale Ave in a very "approximate" way, and after the ceremony, all of us looking at one another and wondering where we could meet up for someplace to gather together and share a meal, many of those in the group looking at yourstruly and the monkeemomz since we had been there the longest and explored a bit, well, why not? All turned out nicely after the initial small navigational error on yourstruly's part, getting us back to within a block of the restaurant but heading in the wrong direction, everyone following myself as we made a U-turn to correct  that wee error and get us all there without any further complications). Next item on the agenda was a visit to the resting place of mis abuelos, Alfonso and Luisa, grandpopz passed away back in '79, our grandmomz nearly eight years ago. The main reason for our visit was to attend to (finally) updating the headstone/monument on their gravesite. Been a little bothersome to the Momz for sometime that it has taken so long for anyone in the family to finally get around to addressing this matter, so it was l'Marquis' great pleasure to assist in seeing that this task be completed so that by the time we visit mi abuelita's gravesite in january to celebrate her birthday, we will finally see a headstone commemorating BOTH grandparents. Hooray for the monkeemomz! We were met at Resurrection Cemetary in Montebello by uncle Chuy (Jesse) and aunt Tali (who was joined by spouse Fidel and son Victor who also attended the previous day's interment ceremony). Another beautiful SoCal day, nice to spend some time there in the company of the Momz on the hillside where my grandparents are laid to rest, then after Chuy and the Momz finish their business with the cemetary administration, we off to lunch at local little restaurant, Tepayac, where yourstuly enjoyed what is likely the largest Club Sandwich on earth. Damn, that thing was MONSTROUS, yummy too, couldn't eat the entire thing, so some of it made the trip north, yep, on sort of a whim ourself and the Momz decided to head north to Santa Rosa and visit Brother Kenneth, wife Elizabeth, Ken Jr, Leala & the young BeckyMonster and poochster Ginger. It was a big surprise to Bro K when we called to tell him we were in town on Tues night, spent a fine day in one another's company yesterday and are presently taking care of a few last minute chores before getting back on road, intentions of returning to EPT by Friday, long as the goddess of the road trip smiles upon us,  maybe a brief stop in Laughlin NV for a little fun & games. What a pleasure to be able to access some of our bloggos favoritos via Bro K's fatpipe, PLUS utilize all his goodies (cuteFTP, Photoshop, ACDSee, etc.) to get this all up and online in a FRACTION of the time it is taking to do this whilst l'Marquis enjoys his stay in the comforts of chez Pivarnick. Okay, katz und kitteez, is time for us to pack up the wagon and move on, wishing many blessings and smiles on you folks dropping in here to see how ol' yourstuly is doing, noticed some notes from some of you in the mail while checking here in S.R., will try to get replies out to you once back in the desert S.W. Oh yah, the other good news of late is Bro K and Liz found a buyer for their Santa Rosa home, and likely they too will soon be joining up with the rest of the clan in the desert sometime soon. Ciao, amici mio!
oh and yessssss indeed ladz und lasseezz, many other things occupying ourowndamnself at this time, much of the news of late has had us shaking our ol' shaggy visage in (usually) dismay, why it was only a bit over a week ago that the announcement of a thousand amerikhan military casualties, and jeez, they sure add up quickly don't they? Yourstruly was actually beginning to feel just a wee bit positive re the results of the nearly upon us November election, but after experiencing these last few weeks here in one of amerikha's hinterlands, oh dear, that prospect of another four years of the cad-minstration and their idiotic ways. Can you spell emigrant, Binky? sure we knew ye could...  one of the nice things about being back in the bosom of one's family is catching up with the adventures of some of the younger members of the clan. Brother Dave is father to two fine strapping boys, both in high school, Michael a junior, Matthew in his freshman year. Both (at least thru last year) have maintained excellent grades and managed to be involved in extracirricular activties, largely athletic endeavors, and both of them successful in their chosen field/s of competion. Michael is enjoying some tremendous success this year, having been selected as one of the top ten competitors to watch in E.P. high school cross country, and in the three meets run this year to date, he's finished first in each one. Young Matthias will begin wrestling later this year and the whole family is wishing him great success as well. We mention our young nephews 'cause we proud of 'em of course, but the other weekend Brother Daniel and lovely spouse Janet invited the Momz and ourself over for dinner, Janet's Dad happened to be along that evening, and while Dan and I were sitting out in back, he tending to the meat products cooking on the grill, said fellow joined us outside and the subject of the hurricanes in Florida came up,  ourowndamnedself offered up the possibility of several hurricanes wreaking havoc in Florida within a month being an example of God's Wrath being inflicted on the denizens of Fla. for the shenanigans taking place there in 2000. Mind you, we were offering this up in our typical twisted way, a variant of that oft posited conclusion that AIDS is that same superior being's punishment upon those of a homesexual persuasion. Anyway, this gentleman asked if yourstruly was not entirely behind our resident in chief, and, well... those of you who know our predilection in this regard can imagine our response. Turns out our friend is all too willing to be supportive of the moron residing in the white house, laments the fact that "we haven't gone in there as committed as we ought to have been and really kicked ass in Iraq". In my list of reasons to be fearful of another four years of George is the spectre of conscription, particularly in light of the younger members of the clan approaching that age of being considered ripe candidates for selection as cannon fodder. Oh, he blew that off, he had been in Viet Nam you see, and he didn't see any parallel at all to that extremely stinky pile of shit the cad-ministration's goonsquad has gone off and jumped into on our behalf. I vewwy vewwwy wapidly stated that l'Marquis would avoid any further discussion of this  and other related subjects, experiencing this incredible moment of clarity amidst the realization that we were speaking with someone who was at a huge disadvantage in his grasp of the ugly realities of what has happened to this nation & world since a particular ex-governor of texass insinuated himself upon us as leader of the free world.oh and the local news? the local fishwrap? It's an ugly reality folks, that outside of that liberal bastion that yourstruly still refers to as home (berkeley in our blueblood after half a life spent there) and those few other concentrations of same dotted about, sure seems likely that the great majority of folk you and mineowndarnself would consider fellow citizens, goshdarnitall, they are being fed pablum and lies on such an incredible scale. The marvel that is the El Paso Times makes USA Today look good! 
katz und kitteez, it be late, SO, a few pictures of this and that & we shall ask for your indulgence, we be back here 'fore too long...
see ya after the funeral, maybe we update from the road should there be public library access in Palmdale. be sure to stop in & visit the usual suspects, all deserving of your consideration & a careful perusal... a little earlier this month hasta lluego, amigos, y que te vaya bien... |
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