new and old

time now to re-engage with our toy segment here on the show. my little guy spent all of his hard earned money at Christmas time to get me a new car. it's the 2011 mini cooper s "challenge". and although i'm not a big fan of production racers, i do like this little rally monkey.
and of course it reminded me of where it all started. 1959 earls court motor show introduced the original mini. a revolution in small car motoring at the time. so now i have both. and although the new one may not have that 60's charm and the right hand drive, it does go like the devil.

member review

so first, a little background. i like so many others came to the netflix as a disgruntled movie lover tired of paying those ridiculous late fees, which as i understand it was also the impetus for the creation of the company. although it took some getting used to (no more instant gratification in running down to the rental store for that quick hit) i soon became accustomed, and then fell madly in love with the company. and in fact it really felt there for a while like we were all of us sticking it to the man as we watched the video rental giants began to topple. (hard to believe as a former blockbuster employee that they once sponsored a college bowl game) and there was a certain elegant control i know i felt when checking in to my work computer the morning after putting that red envelope in the mail. reviewing and then reordering the queue. a mystical pleasure at finding hidden treasures on dvd while i sipped that morning cup o' coffee. and it seemed like our love affair would go on and on, even as the number of movies in my queue grew longer than a year of days.
then tragedy. first the great recession hit the reset button on all non-essential expenditures (i know, like film watching isn't essential?) which killed all media in our home for a time. and although initially a bitter and jagged little pill, the hiatus ultimately proved quite positive. i realized how much time i was wasting night after night, sitting mindlessly in front of the tube. (and yes, it was still a tube) then i discovered the local library, and learned to work the system, gaining access to the entire placer county library network. i was singing the praises of our great shared institutions of learning. but after about a year my folks kicked in with a one year gift subscription to the old netflix. sure, it was only a 1 disc, unlimited streaming, and not our old 3 at a time, but it was nice to be back. i'd missed the familiarity of the queue. and although i had knocked off quite a few in the interim, the access to the new releases was a plus.
but something had happened in the absence. where i used to jump on the new releases, as if there was some limited shelf life to them, the thrill of the hunt was gone now. it just didn't matter like before. and if this was art after all, wouldn't it keep indefinitely? and i certainly wasn't riding the zeitgeist any more. i mean i'm just a regular dude. it's not like i work for the ny times or something.
the following year the folks re-upped our subscription, and it was during this period the company made its fateful decision to separate the streaming and disc plans, basically doubling the price for many of their loyal followers. we who know the story, remember what happened next. a spiral of members walking away in feelings of disgust and betrayal as netflix watched its value drop by nearly half. (hmm, double your price - lose half your customers) we were still grandfathered in under our subscription, and i wondered what our plan of action should be once it expired.
now here we are, just a few days in to paying for the same plan, and i just don't know how to feel. on one hand i too wanted to join the angry mob and walk out on my former lover. i had been wooed away from blue to red. i'd learned the fight song, preached its good news, and now i felt no love returned. but as i have weighed all the options in recent days, it seems that some of my fire has smoldered. when i think of how much i used to spend on cable tv, and how little i got back in return, it's easy. and going back to the all free route, although tempting, takes a lot of work. and for less than 20 bucks a month i am getting access to quite a bit of film and tv archive. so, although i no longer go out and rah rah anymore for netflix, at the end of the day i'm giving them a solid 3 stars for like. (but look out red, something better comes along and it was nice knowin' ya :^)

raise a pint

time now to share one of my favorite new presents found under the Christmas tree this past year. 4 shiny new drinking glasses featuring marvel superheroes. i think my family must have known the loss of my old captain america glass and sought to replace it with some bonus companions! and i am very grateful for the gift, although i initially wondered about the criteria for this selection. most popular? biggest money maker? it certainly seems to me they might have done the distribution a little differently. perhaps a 50 year anniversary of the fantastic four for beginners? which could then be followed by a charter member avengers set in anticipation of the un-released film. and how about putting the wolverine into a set of other x-men?
but then i suppose this logic would eventually lead you into some questionable territory. i mean, i can see a world war 2 set with cap and bucky and maybe 2 more members of the old invaders group, or perhaps sarge fury and dum-dum? but if you try and group these heroes by their supporting characters, you might find yourself with thin choices. (who really wants a rick jones or thunderbolt ross glass?)
and this whole line of thought reminded me of the release of empire strikes back in 1980. back then the merchandising machine was just building up steam, and burger king won the rights to distribute special collector glasses for the film. each week a new character was featured on a collectible drinking glass available when you purchased a soft drink. our family didn't make the weekly trip to bk as some did, and so when we finally got there i was pretty excited at the chance to score one of these. i hoped for boba fett, and would have been happy with luke or the droids. but as fate would have it we ended up showing up on lando week. sorry billy dee. i sure didn't appreciate you then.
but i do appreciate these new additions to the cupboard, keeping the kitchen and kool-aid rations safe from evil doers. excelsior!

last season's comments
as the glow of memory
fades into distance

see the baby king
come now to reconcile us
with peace and mercy

sounds of silence

so here we are again, perched on another Christmas eve's eve. the baby's in the manger. the presents are under the tree. our hearts and minds are weary and distracted by all the madness. and have you ever listened to snow? so quiet when it falls, it seems to blanket the air. it forces us to listen. sometimes you just have to stop what you're doing and be quiet. listen...

ends and beginnings

although the calendar says the new year is still over a week away i think we should actually mark it tomorrow. tomorrow marks the shortest day of the year, or solstice. it is the day in ancient times when people actually observed the sun standing still. it happens twice a year, and after tomorrow we begin the slow crawl back toward summer. it is a time of natural transition. endings and beginnings.
outside my front door most of the trees have already stripped themselves of their leaves, and moved into a kind of hibernation period for winter. and in traditional fashion many of us too are wrapping up seasonal activities as we prepare for the end of one year and the beginning of another. i don't often make new year resolutions, but if i did i'd start tomorrow.

you took this form to
make our appeal from low and
high you represent

favorite things 17

while walking through the aisles of the roseville antique trove last year, i spotted this crude little nativity on a shelf. it immediately drew me in. something in the way it looked, the unpainted wood and hand hewn figures reached out to me in a kind of kinship. in fact the more i interact with each one, i have a sense that i am not unlike them. crude form altered by the creator's hand, and made to worship the baby Jesus. and now i am pleased to have them in my home, as they will continue to remind me of these things, and draw me closer in at this time of year.

Christmas checklist

stay focused. there's still lots more to do...

the registry

these are some shots from a recent outing with the boss at his local club breakfast. joe is a member in good standing of the porsche 356 registry. and very soon his own car will be on the road at these meets. we met this day in the parking lot outside san mateo's "mimi's" and i walked around like the new kid in school sizing up the student body. there were easily over a dozen examples of kaiser iron that morning in all manner of vint and condition. the great thing about this club though is that for the most part these guys really drive their machines. i watched as one after another came speeding up in the brisk cold of morning blasting its air cooled honesty for all to hear.


as i walked i watched and listened to the conversations between the owners, picking up new information on their passion and the subtle nuances between models. the fact that what looks like a cosmetic error is actually a drain hole for a sunroof car. as a more or less average carrera pulled up i was astonished as joe leaned over and told me what it was worth as is. and even as the economy has turned so many other investments upside down, all these guys have seen a return both financially and emotionally.

we fly off to stars
to fight against unseen foes
and blow them away

xmas dreams

as i gaze around the living room i am indeed reminded that Christmas time is here again. it sneaks up even as the years seem to speed up. and i can still remember gazing at the new school calendar in september and trying to estimate the days until Christmas break. months seemed to take years. and then we had our brief reprieve. and then it was back to a new year. and as the days grow ever shorter my sadness index increases in thinking about all those now gone days. we move from the anticipation and wonder to the responsibility and planning these holiday activities. sometimes i just miss riding in the back seat of the car and watching my mom or dad drive. and then it didn't matter where we were going. we were cared for, and that was enough.

time now for call and

response to a weary and

waiting world below

assumptions

went walking through our still new to us neighborhood the other night. it is named for the local catholic parish that surrounds it. and each night if i step outside at 6 i can hear organ music and church bells ringing. last saturday, headed off to find ourselves a Christmas tree, i heard the bells chiming earlier than usual. this time it was 5pm. so the following evening i decided to head over there and check it out. i saw that they have a 5pm vigil service listed each saturday, but no mention of the 6 o' clock chimes. I later put an e-mail into the parish for an answer.
while i wait though, i have been reflecting on why it's even important in the first place. hearing the distant sound of bells and organ reminded me that i am part of a community, even if i do not attend this church. and in our little digital global community, where we can skype our friends and family in london or buenos aires, i was really digging this old time call to listen. i think about all the little villages and towns through out history that have had a central clock tower or church steeple to put the call out. in these bygone days they announced celebrations or solemn occasions and even sent out alarms for fire and attack from the enemy. so that all within listening distance had opportunity and warning to respond.
and as i walked back home i longed for a deeper sense of that community. in these ever more post modern times i wonder if there will ever again come a time when we will need such a system to call us together.

my rest

today sort of a grab bag day. woke up late after a long day defending myself against allergy. sneezing and runny nose. i will need to figure out how to manage it better. a day of allergy attack wrecks me into the next day. spent this morning taking it easy and watching everyone decorate the Christmas tree. thumbed through an old u.s. camera book i bought years ago on the streets of berkeley in route to breakfast with my wife.


i was inspired and so went looking for something right outside my door to photograph. our neighborhood is already rich with layers of historic texture, so it didn't take long to find a few willing subjects. back inside now and it is quiet. i need quiet more regularly than i have been getting, and so will look for ways to engage it. there is though, always compromise it seems. life is an unending rhythm, a dance that often makes me feel out of step. then it's time to slow it down, feel the down beat count, and begin again.

Christmas toast

this last Christmas was wonderful, and part of what made it so special were so many handmade gifts like this present from my son jake. it's a tiny toastrobot! he had apparently been secretly whittling it down from a single block using a tiny band saw blade. the result of his patient artistry brought tears to my eyes Christmas morning. holding this little object i could literally feel the love he had put into it. the toast is even removable and slips nicely into the slots he cut on top. you can have your iphones, kindles and x-boxes. this was a finer gift to me than any of those.

the day after

still basking in the afterglow of a weekend celebration where everything that was tightly packaged beneath the tree has exploded to all corners of our home.

holy

and once again, the circle brings us nearly back to the beginning or the end, depending. and as i have stumbled around this Christmas season, making my rounds and sampling the eggnog, a certain song has permeated my consciousness this year. I didn't go looking for it, but rather it found me. and it has inhabited my meditations on this season. to fully appreciate the meaning check out wikipedia's article and the original literal english translation here.
if you can take the time and escape for just a few minutes, i invite you to hear it again afresh. this version is one of my favorites. a little like being back in my boyhood church and then suddenly seeing the walls explode. nothing to watch, so just close your eyes and feel the love that is reaching out to you from Heaven.

(photo courtesy of fred waring and his pennsylvanians)