Van Halen

I'm not a big fan of this band but I heard this on the radio today and thought it was pretty catchy and very well played. By the way, David Lee Roth's uncle Manny was a pretty cool guy.

View from across the pond

 Thanks to Michael for sending this over:

Our "rotting pumpkin idol..."

Free falling

I had a wild dream last night. Somehow I fell out of an airplane a mile up in the air. Something managed to break my fall somewhat along the way down  and I was able to walk away, albeit with sore feet, knees and hips.

Which is apropos because I do have sore feet, knees and hips right now as well as an ankle ligament sprain that just does not want to heal. My brain must have tried to make sense of the pain I am feeling and came up with a plausible scenario.

Still the dream got me to thinking. Could someone actually fall out of a plane and walk away?

I found this site, Highest falls survived without a parachute. 

It lists twenty two instances but not a lot of people walking away, many seriously broken bones and fractures.

Luke Aikens landed in a net, that is cheating. Kobayashi was on skis, nope.

Juliane gets a serious nod, hiked out of the Peruvian rain forest for eleven days with her broken collarbone. Props to her.

Respect for this guy who traveled 18,000' downwards and only twisted his knee.

Capello managed to walk away like I did in dreamstate but it was only a hundred foot fall. Big deal.

Vesna survived the highest fall without a parachute, 33,000', but life didn't get that much better for her after she hit the ground. The Beatles fan flight attendant was the victim of a briefcase bomb, she ended up in a coma, temporarily paralyzed with lots of broken stuff. Later got fired for taking part in an anti government demonstration.

Guess I got lucky.

Sands of Time

Religiosity

I saw a poll I found interesting, How religious is your state? What struck me was not the relative piety of my state, California, which logged in at 39th but the disparity between Iowa and Kansas. Kansas is #10, Iowa #43. Am I misreading the heartland?

The other thing I noted was the relative lack of religiosity in the northeast, which captures the bottom rung of the poll pretty well.

*

In other religious news, we may lose 15,000 churches this year as record numbers of people are terming themselves as religiously unaffiliated.

And there's this:

Don Randi at the Mission Theater

 

This should be a great show coming up in November in Fallbrook. Don Randi was a member of the Wrecking Crew, and one of the most legendary session keyboard players in history. I haven't seen the whole band play but I have heard the guitar player before and he is phenomenal. 

Randi opened up one of the greatest jazz clubs in history, the Baked Potato, and performed with the eponymous house band. 

The list of singles and albums he played on is too big to list. Here is the largest screen shot I could capture. Playing on the Laura Nyro cut is enough for me to canonize her.

I plan on going. 

You can buy tickets by scanning the QR code. 

Join me there and let's sell the joint out.

Norman Blake - Spanish Fandango

So Begins the Task/Hold On Tight (Demo)

Dreidelveis

Sometimes I get these crazy ideas. Can't sleep, mind racing. I was talking to my wife before bed last night when I came up with this brainstorm for a new screenplay. Ran it by my friend Barry today, who was once a big shot and who had a long career in show business. His daughter is a Hollywood screenwriter, might be able to help me sell the angle. Frankly, I think it is a shoe in.

19th century orthodox Jewish guy leaves the yeshiva in Poland. Can't take any more klezmer music. Seeking neutrality as well as a release from the cacophony he decides to set his somewhat myopic sights on the Swiss Alps.

He trades his clarinet in for an alpenhorn. Cows instantly swoon at the dulcet sound of his reverent hornblasts like he's the pied piper of Lodz...

"Dreidelveis, Dreidelveis..."

Honest to G-D, I can hear the tune right now in my head. Seriously, I don't think it can fail. We might have to braid those payos, add a few blond highlights. Maybe work in a local angle, a gorgeous shiksa milkmaid forbidden love interest. Perhaps he introduces bialies or chopped liver to the hinterland? Or kosher Chocolate?

Nu, what do you think? How can it miss?

Sad and Beautiful World

Not quite pinpoint accuracy

I start off every morning playing three games on the Linked In platform, Zip, Queens and Pinpoint. I am fairly proficient at all of them but the best on Queens for some reason.

Pinpoint gives you five clues and you have to come up with an answer. I think I have missed two or three out of the two hundred and ninety nine games I have played.

I failed once again last night. Difficult. These are the clues. See if you can figure it out. When you get the answer it seems so easy.

I hate losing.

Oy

I showed a couple friends the proposed Trump coin and they thought it was a joke. "Uh, no, this is real." Strange times we live in, to be sure. Not sure it is legal to put a living person's likeness on a coin but as they say at the White House, "legal shmeagal."

I saw a great illustration last week where Trump didn't just put his face on Mt. Rushmore, every face was his. Wish I had kept a screenshot.

There has never been so partisan an administration. Yesterday the USDA refused to brief Democratic Congress people after they briefed the Republicans. "Far left losers" or something like that. I wonder if it ever occurred to the GOP that they might find themselves in the minority position one day and get a taste of this sort of thing themselves?

Just might happen but it is a shitty way to run a government. Warfare.

I have a lot of friends on the right who tell me that Dems want to give illegals free medical care. Now this has been thoroughly debunked, in fact it is illegal for a non citizen to receive Medicare or Medicaid but many people are convinced that it is happening. If it happens it is extremely rare. And they want to use the money for transgender surgeries. 

The CBO has previously said it can’t tell how much of the $19 billion in emergency Medicaid spending from 2017 through 2023 actually went to “illegal aliens,” but the overall sum amounts to 1% of Medicaid spending during that time period.

It is true that illegals game emergency rooms, which have an edict to serve everybody. I was sitting in one once where a man was trying to get help for his fatal pancreatic cancer, which can't be fixed in an emergency room. But that is an entirely different story.

Of course, these workers also pick your crops and there might be some small benefit to keeping them alive.

I have friends on both sides of the political equation and they have one thing in common, they are both getting seriously triggered.

Many start the day with a grocery list of the other side's sins. I don't think this is really healthy, to be permanently bent and angry. That is one of the reasons I dialed down the blog this year, didn't need to raise my blood pressure.

I know what is going on, will try to foster intelligent discourse when necessary, but don't need to be pissed off continually. Try to laugh at the absurdity.

Get a hobby, take a walk, or perhaps a new tranquilizer script? Whatever it takes.

Soul Kitchen

Now that's a sandwich.

I'm not really a white bread guy, we called it balloon bread when I was a kid because of the way it stuck on your upper palette, but it does have its place.

Great way to make a beautiful old pair of Sioux moccasins pliable again! No mustard or mayo required.

Cool Cool Water

Close call

 

Rob's down there somewhere...

I dodged a bullet yesterday. Walked into the back of my shop and saw water on the floor. My plumbing is really old and I had a leaking angle stop in the back bathroom. Turns out that I had minor damage but nothing that would kill me.

Ray gave me a name of a great plumber, Jessie.

He showed up quickly. It took him about an hour to get things capped off and fixed temporarily. He was very cautious and fastidious, not to mention inexpensive.

If this had happened in another week, it could have been totally disastrous for my gallery. Wouldn't have seen the leak for a very long time and it would have been an economic calamity for me.

Yesterday must have been the day for it. My friend Rick had a water heater go out. Tom put an iron bar through his main line, while planting his plumeria. The problem with these sorts of things is that there is no early warning system, you know things are bad when you see water on the floor. Thank god I caught it early.

Lucinda Williams

Sierra Strother

If you have ordered or eaten at Bakin' it up, the bakery located across the street from my store, you have probably run into this young lady, Sierra Strother. The first thing you notice about her, apart from her obvious beauty and fitness, is her humility and sweet disposition.

I had no idea that she was also an athlete and performer until I saw her showing someone a snippet of her on Tik Tok the other day. She told me that she started out in dance. I think she is part of a circus troupe now. Pretty amazing.

When I went in for coffee and bread pudding today she told me I could find some demos of her on YouTube.

What an athlete. Incredible!

Dead Chroma

There's never been a rock and roll marketing machine like the Good Ol' Grateful Dead. Now they have branded the iconic Steal your Face colors with Pantone. Talk about squeezing the last drops of moisture from the sponge. 

I just find it sad and curious that a band with this kind of gelt cashes in continually while people like their long time workers like lighting engineer Candace Brightman and soundman Harry Popick are so broke they are forced to start go fund me sites for their serious medical issues. Steals your face right off your head.

Really?

 

https://www.reuters.com/world/italy-poll-finds-15-see-attacks-jewish-people-justifiable-2025-09-30/

https://www.algemeiner.com/2025/09/30/viral-video-jewish-tourists-assaulted-florence-sparks-outrage-surge-antisemitic-attacks-italy/

https://www.ynetnews.com/jewish-world/article/h1idgsikll

Bruce Cockburn

Another one of the great fingerstylists.

Snapshots in the garden

Nothing spectacular, just checking in.

I like this time of year. In Mediterranean climates certain plants like to bloom in the fall. The chorisia tree just favored us with a few blossoms. It is only a few years old and will look better and better with time.

We have an old biplane sculpture that was getting obstructed by purple sage out front. 

Todd made it visible again this week.

I like our old plane. The sage is so vigorous that it will be covered up again in a year or so.

I have one beautiful and massive Canary Island Palm on my property, which I planted when it was a baby.

Unfortunately the South American beetle is laying waste to these palms in our county, marching north and west every day.

I hadn't heard about any reaching Fallbrook yet but Tom told me he just lost his last week.

That is the first one I heard of dying in Fallbrook, had seen their destruction in Oceanside.

I asked someone who should know, he said there were others.

Sad.

I have been hitting mine with a systemic insecticide about three times a year.

I guess it is time for another dose.

Wish her well.

I have seen people with whole yards of Phoenix canariensis, never understood that but, oh well.  Some people are in for a heap of trouble.

Paul Butterfield Blues Band

Train I ride, sixteen coaches long...

Never shared this with you but last trip to Texas I saw a train derailed in the desert, cars scattered everywhere. 

Never seen anything like it, this side of Kyiv anyway.

I was about fifteen minutes east of Van Horn, about 6:30 in the morning.

There was nobody on the scene, it felt like it just happened.

Later I talked with a thirty year railroad engineer and he said I must have got there right at the moment it occurred.

Said it would be all put together in a couple days.

It was tidied up when I drove past it on the way back.

You never know...

 

People often ask me how I know which painting to take to a show? I have a bunch of them and they can't all go.

The truth is that I don't. It is a mercurial project, I don't pull the ouiji board out or anything like that, but it is essentially a spur of the moment thing, I do it by feel. As I'm packing.

I know that my van has finite space, pretty much fourteen painting boxes across, hopefully leaving enough room for totes, clothes and utility items like my ladder and dolly.

You have to think about your audience but who knows exactly who will show up? I am leaving soon for Texas but I am throwing a couple California paintings in to the mix, a photograph from New Orleans, a print from Carolina. I found a lovely Bucks County, Pennsylvania painting by Fern Coppedge, bringing that.

You never know, you could bring an obscure Maine painting and have that couple from Penobscot show up out of the blue but it is not really the high percentage play. You also don't want to keep bringing the same merchandise because people have really good memories and art can get stale. Doesn't hurt to skip a show or two. Fresh sells. But it is all honestly little more than a guess.

This trip looks like it is trending Southwest for me but I don't want to be too southwest because a lot of people in Texas see too much of it and are frankly burned out by it. I brought a mixed race nude last time and had several people remind me that I was in the bible belt and to be careful. 

So I will bring an assortment, a few abstracts, a couple small nudes, things I like, because it is always easier to make a case and sell something that you love.

I did really well with young decorators at the last show and found that although they were not extremely knowledgable, they were enthusiastic and had a look they were after. 

They favored a lower price point than I might sell at in say, my Santa Barbara show or Santa Fe. 

But they bought.

The market is changing and younger collectors are favoring more super saturated color and more graphic works.

I made sure to bring some this time.

So you have to think affordable, you have to have something for everybody price wise so people don't get alienated. And tastes change. What was popular last week might be deader than a doornail today.

So it can't be a show off museum of my best stuff. I am there to sell, not preen. 

I guess my strategy is to have a wide range of inventory across the price spectrum and hope that something strikes a chord with the audience. 

I sold a lot of low to middle range native american last time so have to remember to bring that.

In Santa Fe they only will buy the best examples, good still sells in Round Top.

It is a long show and you have to have backup. I have plenty of that. I knocked it out of the park in the spring, will there be a sophomore curse? We shall see... An awful lot of time and expense involved.

I bought this nice painting from an estate in the Bay Area yesterday, the artist is Ron Riddick. CA (Cowboy Artists of America) Emeritus. 

It is titled Dream Weaver.

It is well painted but it wasn't cheap.

There is no certainty. 

After many decades selling art I know that occasionally I will guess wrong and fall on my ass and have said ass handed to me. 

It is a given. 

Hopefully that doesn't happen this time.

My booth

I had an eighty foot booth of walls last time, this time I am down to fifty six in my forty foot long booth. After I get my smalls back I will see what else I can shoehorn into the van. I am taking two pieces of western furniture this time so it will be a definite squeeze.

I had a man from Texas call me a week or two back and ask me if I was going to be there this time? I sold him several things last time. He said he wasn't coming if I wasn't going to be there which is nice to hear. Maybe I will make a sale?

So cross your fingers, say a little prayer for me and hope that I guess right.

Texas Bound

 

If you're over  that way, come visit me at Round Top in Carmine, Texas in  October.

The Blue Heron Gallery will be exhibiting at the Big Red Barn. 

More info here.

Tony

 

I got a free IPhone 17 pro max from ATT this week with a trade in. Dave days that it has a great camera, I haven't quite mastered it yet. I had been using a 14 plus.

But I did find it gave me a lot more sharpness, focus and control in the difficult cross lighting environment of the concert last night.

And also it gives one the ability to change the aperture and separate the background on shots like this one I took of my pal Tony today. Not quite the same as my nikkor ƒ1.2 but not that far off.

Hail to the King

I am an unabashed fan of Elvis Presley. 

If you get Netflix make sure to watch this recent documentary chronicling his 1968 concert comeback.

His first stage appearance in seven years, after a string of dumb movies, after a bout of fear, you see him retake the throne with every power intact.

Commentary by Springsteen, Robbie Robertson and Billie Corgan (really, why?) you get a look at one of the most amazing concerts in history.

Can't Let Go

Lucinda

My friends Mary and Steve had reserved balcony seats at the Belly Up Tavern to see Lucinda Williams. Did I want to go?

Heck ya.

We met at Davanti Enoteca in Del Mar for dinner, one of my favorite Italian restaurants. Had to try their focaccia again. Excellent as always.

My friend Kevin joined me to fill the extra seat. He had never seen her before. Kevin is from Indiana and is not really into twang and Lucinda is a Southern woman. I sent him some Youtube videos and he was okay with it.

The show was the second night in a row in Solana Beach and the opening of the tour. To my chagrin it wasn't scheduled to open until 9:30 and that would be a late night for me, off a very exhausting week.

I have seen Lucinda four or five times. I love her but she is not for everybody. I have several friends that can't stand her.

Part chanteuse, part poet, felt like punk, heroin/cowboy roots with a literature degree mixed in somewhere, at least metaphorically speaking.

The band was smoking. Two great guitar players, Marc Ford and Doug Pettibone from Long Beach and Ventura.  Ford used to play for the Black Crowes, Pettibone has played with her for a long time. She always gets great musicians every time.

Place was packed. I asked my friends if they could spot anybody under forty? Maybe one guy... Lot of older people rocking out and shrieking for their hero, I honestly felt like the youngest person there and I'm no spring chicken.

Lucinda had a stroke in 2020. She is now 71.  I don't think it has been easy for her. A man carefully walked her to the mike in the beginning and she stayed in one position, clutching it tightly all night. Certainly different than the last time I saw her, she was quite animated when she totally outplayed co-bill Chrissie Hynde at Humphrey's.

Hey, we all get older and we get to a point in our lives when everything hurts and we all do the best we can.

She sang her heart out. Sang a song for the President to the joy of the crowd, "You don't rule me."

My hosts had to leave early, Steve was showing his Ridgeback in Los Angeles and had to be up at four in the morning. (They won, first place, a point)

Kevin left after the set when she started doing a Mississippi Fred McDowell gospel number that I loved. 

Ended up doing a three song encore, including you stole my joy and the energy got higher and higher.

I really had a good time. Didn't hear Jackson or Can't let go, two of my favorites, but saw a performance where the band left nothing on the table and I left satiated for the long drive back home. Don't have too many one o'clock nights anymore.

Grateful to my friends for the ticket. Not sure how many tours Lucinda and I have left.

*

I drove through Del Dios on the way home and thought about how many nights I had drove that road drunk or stoned in my youth, not knowing exactly where I was or how I got there? Much easier to navigate during this year of sobriety.

Peace out.

And so it begins...

Chilling White House memo that should scare the hell out of anybody who cares about free speech. This snare looks awful wide. Where are all the GOP brass on this? Not a peep... 

Did you see Senator Lindsey Graham is all in on a third Trump term? Why not a Putin style President for life? Had a dream last night where they were hauling liberals off to the gulags...

Here's the plan to foment dissent and political opposition...

NATIONAL SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL MEMORANDUM/NSPM-7

MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE

               THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY

THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

THE SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY

SUBJECT:       Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized

               Political Violence

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby direct the following:

Section 1.  Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence.  Heinous assassinations and other acts of political violence in the United States have dramatically increased in recent years.  Even in the aftermath of the horrifying assassination of Charlie Kirk, some individuals who adhered to the alleged shooter’s ideology embraced and cheered this evil murder while actively encouraging more political violence.  This was preceded by the 2024 assassination of a senior healthcare executive and the 2022 assassination attempt against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.  Two separate assassination attempts against my own life in less than 3 months took place during the 2024 Presidential election cycle.  Riots in Los Angeles and Portland reflect a more than 1,000 percent increase in attacks on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers since January 21, 2025, compared to the same period last year.  Just yesterday, a shooting targeting an ICE facility in Dallas resulted in multiple casualties.  Separate anti-police and “criminal justice” riots have left many people dead and injured and inflicted over $2 billion in property damage nationwide.

This political violence is not a series of isolated incidents and does not emerge organically.  Instead, it is a culmination of sophisticated, organized campaigns of targeted intimidation, radicalization, threats, and violence designed to silence opposing speech, limit political activity, change or direct policy outcomes, and prevent the functioning of a democratic society.  A new law enforcement strategy that investigates all participants in these criminal and terroristic conspiracies — including the organized structures, networks, entities, organizations, funding sources, and predicate actions behind them — is required. 

These campaigns often begin by isolating and dehumanizing specific targets to justify murder or other violent action against them.  They do so through a variety of fora, including anonymous chat forums, in-person meetings, social media, and even educational institutions.  These campaigns then escalate to organized doxing, where the private or identifying information of their targets (such as home addresses, phone numbers, or other personal information) is exposed to the public with the explicit intent of encouraging others to harass, intimidate, or violently assault them.  As in the case of several ICE agents in Los Angeles being doxed, the goal of these campaigns can be to obstruct the operations of the Federal Government as well as aid and abet criminal activity the Federal Government is lawfully pursuing.  These campaigns are coordinated and perpetrated by actors who have developed a comprehensive strategy to achieve specific policy goals through radicalization and violent intimidation.

There are common recurrent motivations and indicia uniting this pattern of violent and terroristic activities under the umbrella of self-described “anti-fascism.”  These movements portray foundational American principles (e.g., support for law enforcement and border control) as “fascist” to justify and encourage acts of violent revolution.  This “anti-fascist” lie has become the organizing rallying cry used by domestic terrorists to wage a violent assault against democratic institutions, constitutional rights, and fundamental American liberties.  Common threads animating this violent conduct include anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity; support for the overthrow of the United States Government; extremism on migration, race, and gender; and hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, and morality.  As described in the Order of September 22, 2025 (Designating Antifa as a Domestic Terrorist Organization), the groups and entities that perpetuate this extremism have created a movement that embraces and elevates violence to achieve policy outcomes, including justifying additional assassinations.  For example, Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin engraved the bullets used in the murder with so-called “anti-fascist” rhetoric.  

The United States requires a national strategy to investigate and disrupt networks, entities, and organizations that foment political violence so that law enforcement can intervene in criminal conspiracies before they result in violent political acts.  Through this comprehensive strategy, law enforcement will disband and uproot networks, entities, and organizations that promote organized violence, violent intimidation, conspiracies against rights, and other efforts to disrupt the functioning of a democratic society.

Sec. 2.  Investigating Domestic Terrorist Organizations.  (a)  The National Joint Terrorism Task Force and its local offices (collectively, “JTTFs”) shall coordinate and supervise a comprehensive national strategy to investigate, prosecute, and disrupt entities and individuals engaged in acts of political violence and intimidation designed to suppress lawful political activity or obstruct the rule of law.  This strategy shall include the investigatory and prosecutorial measures set forth in this section.

(b)  The JTTFs shall investigate potential Federal crimes relating to acts of recruiting or radicalizing persons for the purpose of:

(i)   political violence, terrorism, or conspiracy against rights; or

(ii)  the violent deprivation of any citizen’s rights.

(c)  The JTTFs shall also investigate:

(i)   institutional and individual funders, and officers and employees of organizations, that are responsible for, sponsor, or otherwise aid and abet the principal actors engaging in the criminal conduct described in subsections (a) and (b) of this section; and

(ii)  non-governmental organizations and American citizens residing abroad or with close ties to foreign governments, agents, citizens, foundations, or influence networks engaged in violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (22 U.S.C. 611 et seq.) or money laundering by funding, creating, or supporting entities that engage in activities that support or encourage domestic terrorism.

(d)  The JTTFs shall consult and coordinate with executive departments and agencies (agencies) as needed to determine whether such agencies can apply existing authorities or exercise their own authorities, as appropriate, to support the JTTFs’ investigations and relevant prosecutions of political violence.

(e)  The JTTFs may, to the extent permitted by law, request operational assistance from and coordinate with law enforcement partners when investigating domestic terrorism.

(f)  The National Joint Terrorism Task Force shall provide regular progress updates to the President through the Assistant to the President and Homeland Security Advisor. 

(g)  The Attorney General shall direct the Department of Justice to prosecute all Federal crimes, to the maximum extent permissible by law, related to the investigations described in subsections (a) through (c) of this section.

(h)  The Attorney General shall issue specific guidance that ensures domestic terrorism priorities include politically motivated terrorist acts such as organized doxing campaigns, swatting, rioting, looting, trespass, assault, destruction of property, threats of violence, and civil disorder.  This guidance shall also include an identification of any behaviors, fact patterns, recurrent motivations, or other indicia common to organizations and entities that coordinate these acts in order to direct efforts to identify and prevent potential violent activity. 

Young Rascals

Trip to Yuma

I drove to Yuma the other day to pick up some paintings, which included this beautiful Bill Schenck. It was about a four hour trip and I approached it with a bit of dread. 

But it turned out to be a great drive and day.

I left at 6:00, did the Costco fillup in Escondido and made my way down to Interstate 8 east.

They must have had a lot of rain in East County because it was really green for the most part. 

Not too hot either, quite enjoyable.

Basically had the road to myself.

I drove through Jacumba and checked out the hot springs, which has become a real destination for the hipsters.

"Come here, leave different."

Hmmm.

Made it to El Centro and had lunch, sopes and flautas.

Same as it ever was.

I met my friend Rick Merrill in Yuma, at a park.

He cast this heroic bronze of a member of the Mormon Battalion back in 2006.

It is located at the exact point where the battalion crossed the Colorado River.

Rick is a very talented artist and a helluva nice guy.

On the way back I decided to skip the traffic on the fifteen and go through the back country. 

Eleven minutes longer, who cares? It was beautiful up there in Mt. Laguna, cool and perfect.

All in all, for an eight hour journey into 115° weather, a very nice day.