I am an Anglophile

I have just started watching “The Criterion Collection”, a four-film set entitled, “David Lean Directs Noel Coward”.  I started with “Brief Encounter”.  Besides a perfect remastering of the original film, Criterion has added special features of most of the people involved, talking about the film, the production, and the people involved.  That is what makes the difference between just watching the movie and almost studying it.

I want to hold back on watching, for my first time, the next three.  I’m hoping to find like-minded people, who can watch the special features, either before or after the film [vote] and will have the time to discuss the film.  The next three in the collection are: “Blithe Spirit”, “This Happy Breed”, and “In Which We Serve”.   I want to do “Brief Encounter” again, at the end – it is England’s best picture ever.

We could do these over four weeks, on a specific night; or two days in a row; or over a weekend.  Meals, snacks, wine, popcorn, guests all in the mix.

I am a self-confessed, avowed Anglophile – no denials.  I acquired this affliction on my summer-tour of Europe in 1960, between my 4^th and 5^th year at University [Arizona] – I was not a bright student.

Landing in London for the first time in my life was awe-inspiring – hearing the mother-tongue a revelation.  Jet-lagged, I got up at 4am that first day and rode the tube all over town, stopping at an early am fish market, and then a bulk vegetable purveyor, ate “things” – winding up in some suburb where I stole a glass bottle of milk and a newspaper, and back at the hotel for the 9am tourist breakfast, but having seen and heard a glimpse of Dickens.

In my 5^th year [2 required courses], one I took was a fun course in British WW-I poets: Owen, Sassoon, and Brooke.  This graduate, expert’s class was for MFAs in English – the instructor told me she would not grade me, but I would get an “A” if I spoke my mind.   I did – “Goodbye, Mr. Chips” still makes me cry.

The clincher to my Anglophilic tendencies, however, was spending six years, mid-eighties, as an ex-pat, living and working in non-London England.  Half those years I was single, and the other half married, to an out of (above) my class English woman, who was a brilliant, Cambridge graduate (in English).

Some people of my age group yearn for those rock and roll times of Elvis, the Beatles, and smooth jazz, of their teens, which may have been their best times.  My memorable era was this eighties period in England, where I underwent another growth spurt.  So, I still associate “Hitchhikers Guide” (radio), and “Smiley’s People” (TV) with England.

Now that I am beginning to try and put together a regular weekly film viewing group, I am letting show my natural predilection towards British film, and I’m looking for ways to support a sub group of like-minded people, that might like-wise be willing to watch more than one British film a year.

A Quiet Day

Well today was supposed to be a quiet, restful day.  Yesterday I packed up a sixth of a cord of Walnut scraps at Calico, then unloaded them at home; cut up most of them with a reciprocating saw; and finally carried the pieces up (30-40 loads) my eighteen back steps, to my winter storage site on my back deck.  Four hours manual labor in the hot sun took me down to 173.4 pounds, as I advanced to my goal of 169 for my 63^rd high school reunion next month.

So, my goal for today was to pick up meds at Kaiser, and while at it, I scheduled my annual review for Sept 13^th, blood tests next week.  I picked up a 3 cubic foot (90 pounds) bag of Happy Frog soil amendment, and a new Jasmine vine from Harmony Farms, so I’d have something outside to do in the afternoon.  I was going to get in some reading for my book clubs.  [and hem up a 3^rd apron for my sink cover].

When much to my bewilderment, when I went to install the new Jasmine, I found that the the entire next three sections, 12-feet of fence line, had fallen, bottom to top 7 feet, into my neighbor’s yard.  This was going to be future work, section by section, probably into next year.  I wasn’t ready for this.  But as I assessed the damage, the neighbors couldn’t get to their garbage can, and other things.

From 2-4, I hedge-trimmed, shears-cut, and hauled sections of hedge to my driveway.  I did it in three sections, each 7’ X 3’ X 4’.  Correy can finish them up – into bags, then the dump.  It was hot, sweaty work, and when I took a shower at 4 pm and weighed myself, it was a recent low at 170.2.  Of course, I drank a lot of fluids and ate a steak dinner, but still, I’m a solid 173, after dinner and re-hydrating.

During all this frenzied activity, by me, my neighbor's gnome-cat watched with total aplomb.  I made noise, stirred activity, but like Lewis Carroll's cat, she just grinned.

OK, the weight thing is cultural – no one who hasn’t seen me in fifty years will know or care whether I weigh 169 or 181.  It is nice however, going back to my annual checkup above.  I was 190 in 2016 and 180 in 2018, getting to 170 in 2019 is a positive trend.  I did this in 2017 and the numbers came out great.

Horny Flowers

    The Horniest form,

   possibly the Sexiest:

earth life that we know

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

 I water my planter box garden

Each afternoon at 3:30.  The garden

Loves bees and other bugs.

 In book club today, we spoke of

Trees and other flora.

 I watched the drooping sun,

Wine glass in hand,

As a black butterfly, small bee,

then a monster bumble bee

ravage, in succession, this delicate

lavender flower.  She enjoyed it.

It dawned on me that whether one believes in a Religious God, or a scientific god, all life has a purpose, interwoven with all other life.

The more I listen to NPR’s “Science Friday” and/or read books, the more I believe that all life forms enjoy sex.

The bee with the Passion Flower, burrows deep into the center core.

A mating long and happily sought.

My Kaiser Doctor was right

(I am a slow learner)

As we all know, I am averse to taking any kind of pain medication or drugs of any kind.  However, over the past few years, I have found that my muscle recovery time from bouts of strenuous activity has been taking longer and longer.

This past Thursday, I spent the day with a dozen fifty-pound bags of dirt of various sorts: first loading them in the car, then unloading them to my backyard; then opening and adding them to my new garden cabinet.  In total, that meant lifting a ton of dirt.  The day before I built the new cabinet: measuring, cutting, drilling, screwing; wielding tools and wood; and clearing the area (hedge-trimming) for the new cabinet.  The day before that, I loaded and unloaded the car with a load of walnut wood from Calico, climbing in the 10-foot high scrap pile; selecting armfuls of pieces; filling the back of the car with about a yard of fireplace-sized pieces – about 600 pounds.

When I was younger, my muscles would bounce back the next day.  No Longer!  By yesterday, end of week Friday, I was sore allover: back-ache, leg ache, and arm ache.  These past few years, it has taken me days, weeks to recover.  When I have complained to my Kaiser Doctor about this problem, she said, “Take an aspirin”.

So last night I did – one 200-mg Advil PM.

My lifestyle isn’t going to change – I’ll be as active forever.

But I’m going to add that one 200-mg Advil PM tablet to most of my Friday night’s regimens in place of the 81-mg aspirin.

I took the day off today, partially because I was feeling so good this morning: arms strong, legs bouncy, and no lower back pain.  A good night’s pain-free sleep did the trick.

I even have them around only for a situation, probably once a month or two, where I know I’m going to have a problem sleeping.

Only Ten Years Since ...

Change comes to KGGV in 2009

2008 was a year of consolidation and stabilization at KGGV.  That was our third year and we mostly did the things that we had done in years before, but we did them better.  The economic crunch snuck up on us, but hitting the fundraising panic button in December, brought us back into the black.

As with other changes, in years past, we regretted the departures of Helena Giesea, Guy Fox & GAX, Sheila Koren, Ari Herman and Sharon Wikoff, the teens, Sophie Weiner and Bryce Youngberg, and Katt off to New Zealand.  Since 2006, KGGV has launched 94 different programs, hosted by 71 different local people.  Our stasis point is 50 shows with 43 DJs. 

As the year wound down, the loss of Beth Hearn, as head of station, seriously rocked the station volunteers.  December was a quiet month.

But spring appears to have come early this year, and the daffodils blooming in front of the radio station are inspirational.  We look now to the new people who joined us in 2008 to pick up the tasks of those who have departed.  This new baker’s dozen brings youth, fresh energy, and passion to KGGV for 2009’s challenges: Bruce Robinson doing the RR Gardener Sundays at 11am; Linda Jennings on Saturday nights at 8pm; Lois Pearlman and Leslie Warren, community activists, on Thursday at 1pm; Nancy Jo Wood has a Friday noontime program and is involved in Programming; Doug Fogel hosts a 1pm Friday Health program; Jerry Louis does a music show Mondays at 7pm; Laura Mueller interviews locals at 11am on Saturday mornings; Brian Martens hosts evening reading programs; Maria Viegas is our New Orleans Chef on Saturdays at noon;  Zoe Puckett provides late night dance music on Thursdays and supports our Underwriting efforts; Patti Blaylock has recently launched her “Soul Café,” and is also our PSA contact; and most recent is Meg Krewszewska, who launched, to rave reviews, Sacred Sounds.

So, the goals for 2009 are to blend the passion of the newcomers with the wisdom of the old-timers to form some organizational niches, which can move the station forward along several lines:

1.)                  Fundraising is the paramount issue for 2009.  Specifically, establishing consistent and sustainable sources of income.  To that end, we have opened a position of Fundraising Coordinator.  Applications are being solicited from the volunteer staff.  This would be a two-year position and span all fundraising events as overseer.

2.)                 In support of the Fundraising Coordinator, we have put in place Zoe Puckett as Underwriting Manager to handle what could be out largest source of income.

3.)                  Programming is important to all radio stations – achieving audience appeal and providing a consistent and sustainable programming format is the domain of the group we put in place last year, the Programming Committee.  This group was achieved through open applications from the volunteer body.  It has been our most successful venture of last year.  This year will see three replacements on the Programming Committee, again through an application process open to the volunteer body.

4.)                 Events management spans the third most important set of goals for 2009.  Of course, event management overlaps fundraising, station management and programming; that is why we have defined an Operational Advisory Committee, at Board level, to deal with more detailed management of KGGV events.  The centerpiece to this committee is the concept of a Volunteer Coordinator.  The Volunteer Coordinator provides a communications conduit from the volunteer body to the Executive Committee.  In an equivalent manner, the Operational Advisory Committee becomes a management team fully capable of running the station: Programming, Fundraising, Volunteers, and Station business.

5.)                 The final goal for 2009, strange as it might seem four years on, is to document this approach to KGGV management, and the relationship between Board oversight and day-to-day management.  Documentation of policies and procedures will remain the responsibility of the Executive Committee, as they are the delegates of the Church Council and the Congregation.

6.)                 The keystone to the radio station is the KGGV Executive Board.  This year Ed Smith fills the Moderator role on the Board; supported by Pam Tinnin, our Pastor; Peter Andrews, Treasurer; and Randy Wells, Chief Engineer.

Final word from Peter

     There was a lot of chaos this past year, as will be true for any organization with volunteers of the 50-99 size such as our radio station.  They aren’t strangers.  They are your neighbors.  Some attend Church.  Some attend groups that the Church supports.  Some would be better friends if we came together more often.  One of my biggest failures last year was not uniting the two groups for Camp Cazadero.  That will happen this year, I hope.  It’s a good mission – costs nothing – and provides few headaches.

The same can be said of the radio station – good mission – cheap – happy.

Holiday Reflection

Spending holidays alone is a major cause of depression.  That’s true for me.  I’ve been retired for the past ¼ of my life: with a wonderful, paid-for house, a calendar of rewarding volunteer activities, and a contact list of scores of people who are off-line visiting with their friends and family.

For the first ¾ of my life (to date), I have been a family man.  MS-Word is telling me, don’t be gender-specific, but that is the truth; for many people I have been a father-figure, unfortunately, not so much for my own daughter, but we had a second chance.  I retired to bucolic Monte Rio which I dearly love, but the no family hits me on holidays.

The first family I fathered, broke up in the sixties, and I seem to have strived to compensate for that loss ever since.  Once I was more mature, I liked being a father.  It’s still a bitter memory for my first wife but our daughter has turned out better and more successful than either one of us individually; and that’s rare these days.

I spent decades raising kids ever since that first debacle.  I loved every minute of it.  We Dads, especially stepdads, don’t get much acknowledgement; it’s a labor of love, for the mom and the kids.  The summer Bar-B-Que I miss most.  Stepdads mostly play the role of moderator, but when it comes to Bar-B-Que, they rule.

I forced the issue for a few years, and some others tried to continue for a while.  I’m now happily locked into the house in Monte Rio, thinking of getting a cat, and maybe enrolling into another poetry or art class.

Going Clear by Lawrence Wright

1970’s

I had forgotten just how, into all this crap, we all were back in the seventies.  For me, it was Silva Mind Control, EST, both at the Jack Tar Hotel in S.F., Triangle pyramids, cocaine snorting, self-indulgence, pot, LSD, egocentricity, and I still try and forget the clothes.

2020 (50 years on)

In a broad, historical view, there’s minor difference from the 1890’s hawkers of elixirs and patent medicines, electro-magnetism, or loco weed; and don’t forget the “Elmer Gantry” of the 1930’s.  “There’s a sucker born every minute.”

Book selection

A few of our book club may recall my old penchant for carping about journalists who dare to switch from Sunday supplements to full-length book format, either novel or non-fiction.  9 out of 10, to my mind, don’t make the transition well.  Wright’s writing [sorry] carried him enough to avoid much criticism, but he woefully lacked an editor, who could slash and burn.  This was a subject that had great appeal for the Sunday supplement crowd, to prize-winning acclaim.  And who could say no to a pile of a hundred packets (a hundred in each) of hundred-dollar bills?  So, he expanded it, without a leash.

What did I Learn – I need to Learn

I and my seventies, so smart friends, thought Tom Cruise must be dead by now.  No one could believe this malarkey in this day & age.

The Internet and social media means:

    THERE IS A PLACE FOR EVERYONE, NO MATTER HOW INSANE.