in public

i found myself at the mall again the other day for one of the monthly lego model builds my kids enjoy so much. we got there later than usual and the later you get to these things, the more the line begins to look like the outside of a 1982 who concert. needless to say we had some time to kill. so taking turns holding our spot we broke off into different scouting groups to make trips through the food court to the drinking fountain and the bathroom.
i hung my head over the rail of the upper level we were waiting on and watched all the people walking by. so many people just seeming to wander aimlessly. i picked out a little square of space on the floor below and started some statistical analysis of how many people who walked through my square were attached to electronic devices. 24% in case you're interested. and then i spotted these seating areas and decided to pay a visit.
i'm always fascinated by public seating areas. this one is as nice or nicer than many people's living room furniture. and it looks inviting. anyone can walk into the mall as it opens and sit down here all day. bring your newspaper or a book and a cup of coffee and idle the morning hours. and a better place for people watching you'll be hard pressed to find. although one certainly trades off the privacy and personal comfort of their own space for sitting in public, there's something i think we as americans miss in this exercise. a connectedness that dispels the notion that we are all kings sitting alone in our private castles. go out and sit for a spell, and watch the world pass you by.

leaves fall and change come
sing an ode to autumn now
receding our thoughts

today was the first day that felt like fall to me. the air is just beginning to crisp up and you can sense the earth has just slightly shifted its tilt. it's that in-between time when people aren't quite sure what to wear. and very soon the skies will stay dark longer and the chill will be upon us all.

my mind parks a stool
i idle away the hours
marking my place here

miss u

i lost my cell phone about a month ago. i actually did find part of it, but the majority was destroyed by cars on the 80 fwy which meant i had to go looking for a new one. now buying a new anything is a major ordeal for me, but it didn't help that i had grown attached to my little celly over the five years we enjoyed our relationship together.
i actually went to the phone store two other times before staying long enough to make a purchase. i don't know, maybe i just felt like it was too soon. i even went hunting around on the internet and found the exact make and model of my old phone on some website and briefly considered purchasing it again. but technology being what it is i figured even the most basic model would have to surpass what i had from back in 2005.
yeah, not so much. although smaller and basically the same type of phone, the new one has me missing my old phone even more. i'm not a big tech gadget guy, so this actually came as a bit of a surprise to me. when i'd be in a room full of people all talking about their phones and the various features i'd always chime in and say "well mine does everything i want it to..." to which somebody would answer "like what?". "it makes phone calls" i'd reply. and that is truthfully how i felt, and mostly still do.
so since this one does just that too, i figured it had to be something else. i guess it's kind of like that old line in a break up, "really, it's not you. it's me". only i don't have plans to break up just yet. after all we've only had one call together. i figure it may just take me a little time to warm up.
honestly i think what i miss is the familiarity. the look and feel. i miss the little picture that greeted me each time i opened it. the start up tone from a carrier that no longer exists. the glowing orange frame around my keypad. my ring tone. if you had an old timex watch, and one birthday you got yourself a new watch, sure you'd wear it, but wouldn't you find yourself going to look at the time and just feeling a little disoriented? ah well, life goes on right?

inspiration waits
golden opportunity
suited for framing

cover project

so as i went to prepare another record for today i discovered to my horror that my needle was broken. arrgggh! but though i have no music to offer this time around, i thought i might make another offering. the other day i came across rolling stone's list of the best 100 album covers. you can take a look at it here.
and although i think it's a pretty good list and i do have a few of these in my own collection, i think they may have missed a few lesser known gems. so here are some of my own personal favorites in no particular order. forget the content. the question here is can you really judge a book (or a record) by its cover?

midnight serenade - sammy kaye - columbia records

yeah, it's midnight. and as sammy exits the club to come out on the streets fresh with rain and stares up a the clock, we are left to imagine where he'll go from here. a lonely wanderer with no particular destination. the only question remaining is will we join him?

east of suez - 101 strings - somerset

this is one of those records i picked up just because of the cover. it's one of those wild bachelor pad records that promises more than it delivers. still, with titles like "in a persian market" and "temple dancers" the promise was enough at the time for all the young men planning harems.

do it yourself - music for gracious living - peter barclay and his orchestra - columbia

another example where the sum of its parts is not greater than the whole. in a time where so many americans were all about diy and home improvement projects, why not a little music to go along with it? let the revolutions begin!

james joyce a portrait of the artist as a young man - cyril cusack - caedmon

this selection for fans of ireland's greatest poet. i like the woodblock image and it's easier for me to understand than cyril cusack's thick brogue.

tahitian rhythms and jungle drums - augie goupil and his royal tahitians - decca

there are so many of these out there. tahitian, caribbean, hawaiian records. and they're almost always great for a cover. this one promises that if you learn how to pound the skins a lovely maiden just might show you a little leg.

a toast to benny goodman - benny goodman orchestra - crown

no need to go into benny goodman here. king of swing? sure sure. i just really like this strong graphic image. a reminder of all encompassing fascination in the new atomic age.

countdown time in outer space - dave brubeck quartet - columbia

another jazz great dave brubeck. brubeck with his signature horn rim glasses and west coast cool had covers which usually featured modern art. so like patrons to the moma we are invited to dig this crazy non representational piece whilst also digging dave.

love is a many splendored thing - richard hayman and orchestra - mercury

i love it when the cover to a soundtrack immediately makes me want to see the movie. and though i haven't seen this one yet, its on my list and bill holden here with jennifer jones in his arms is suitable for framing.

baby doll - ray heindorf and wb orchestra with smiley lewis - columbia

another soundtrack cover. and another one i bought for the cover. i actually only have the cover. the record could not be located at the time of purchase. but that's ok. this one just draws me in to the disturbing world of tennesee williams, elia kazan and actress carrol baker. and i want to know more...
well there you have it. my vintage record cover round up. maybe the next time you're out visiting your local second hand store you may want to take a second look in the dusty record bins. there be art there.

from the city streets
i leap to look back now with
my head in the clouds

hurdy gurd

he took an orange from the fruit vendor then grabbed the hands of the rag man and the scissor sharpener, and danced a jig to the music of the organ grinder, letting his soul fly far away to join the cast of the carousel...

shameless promotion

my cafe press shop is now open for business. as i am still a newb to the whole process it may take me a little time to get up to speed, but in the interim i have this one offering for any devotees who may want to proudly show their affiliation. more to come in weeks ahead. for now, check us out at http://www.cafepress.com/toastrobot.

my mind drifts to a
sunday windy enterprise
i like flying kites

hidden stuff

i have been observing the morning creatures right outside my door in the early morning hours before i head off to work. somehow in daylight their activity eludes me. it amazes me that we are all more concerned about getting to work than about what lays all around us as we go.

everything in nature contains all the powers of nature. everything is made of one hidden stuff.
- ralph waldo emerson

come ride the machine
that transports you back in time
to stare in your eyes

(photo courtesy ridethemachine)

when you're a kid you don't always understand what's going on. some kids are born older and can't wait to grow up. and some of us knew perfectly well that ignorance was sweet bliss. we like to think that time is linear and that as we move forward we're leaving the past in our wake, but the truth is we're carrying it inside. and as the man says "you may be done with the past, but the past ain't done with you".
i remember me and my brother going to stay with my grandparents for a week or so when i was about 7 or 8 years old. i asked why and their explanation didn't satisfy. so there we were. dropped off at an apartment complex. and i wasn't really sure when i'd see them again. it was summer and i spent the days riding my low rider trike around and around the apartment walking paths. the sun sometimes hitting my eyes like lens flares. my legs reached the red pedals of the trike perfectly. it was the last summer they would. i fell into a trance staring at my feet. watching my brown suede desert boots spin around and around on the pedals. pushing. reaching the limit of speed on my little machine. around and around the apartments i rode. taking information in at high speeds and not being able to process it all.
at night me and my brother slept on a sofa hide-a-bed in the apartment living room. my brother would ask when my parents were coming to get us and my grandmother didn't exactly know. when the lights were out he would sometimes sob a little, his back turned to me. at last they came and we were free. and though we hadn't realized it yet, things were very different. i know why so many kids don't want to grow up. they look into the eyes of all the adults and see so much sadness and abandon. and they fear what is waiting for them.

(photo courtesy bighappyfunhouse)

calendar tells us
no more summer days at lake
we all take the fall

small houses 05

location: church st., murphys, ca
up hwy 49 and through the beautiful gold country into angels camp, then up murphys grade road you will eventually find yourself on beautiful main street in downtown murphys. the town isn't that big and as the saying goes if you blink you may miss it. but miss it you should not. although it appears to have a sleepy facade there is always something going on here.
as a kid i would stop here with my best friend and his family on the way up to their cabin to have an ice cream cone, something i still do with my own family going home from her family's cabin. the town is one of many from the gold rush era that managed to stay alive through the 20th and into the 21st century. and although mark twain and most of the prospectors have departed, there's still gold here.
the little house pictured above is on church street directly behind main. i spotted it one afternoon on one of our ice-cream walks. it's an unassuming dwelling in a humble looking little town. and if you do find yourself driving through the gold country sometime, stop by and check it out and take a step back in time.

endless mosaic

infinitesimally
connecting us all

church in our hearts

take that axis scum...

marvel on the march

at the safeway across the street from my house i spotted these little superheroes in a gumball machine. one of my kids bought the iron man. as they learned to tell which one was coming next by spotting it in the spindle at the bottom of the case, they informed me that captain america was next. having a soft spot in my heart for the star spangled avenger, i kicked down a dollar to add him to the collection. hulk and thor came courtesy of my friend cory who brought them to work. and now all our avengers are assembled.i really like the design of these characters. they remind me a little of the mighty muggs that were around in toy stores the last couple years. although these are a little more reasonable at only a dollar, and their packaging is ingenious as well. the body of each comes inside the two halves of the head. so what comes out of the machine is just a little plastic ball.

as the release of the upcoming avengers film is still over a year away we still have time to remember them as they were. as a kid i think i dreamed of a time like this. when hollywood would really sit up and take notice and do the superhero film treatments seriously. and as they keep rolling off the line i've got to say for the most part they've gotten it right. but as i finished watching "the watchmen" the other day something seemed missing to me. i mean it was a great adaptation i thought, but still something was missing. later as i went back through the original graphic novel i realized what it was.
the central relationship we readers have had to these stories in the past is our imagination fused with the fantastic storytelling and art in these books. in film all of that gets filled in. don't get me wrong, it's great, just different. i guess it's always been like that as books get adapted to film. at least now those doing the adpatations are the very nerds and geeks like me who had that hollywood dream when they were kids too.

the end (of summer) is near...

a vanishing breed
that once filled the roads must now
run with buffalo

A+S Vintage 2010

our local bmw and ducati dealerships hosted their annual vintage bike show this past saturday and many fine examples of vanished marquees were on hand to represent. i've mentioned a+s a couple of times on this blog and i continue to be impressed with the quality events they put on. although the attendance seemed to be down from last year, probably because they chose to hold it on 9-11, there were still many faithful vintage mc fans roaming the grounds.
river city beemers was on hand again to cook up bbq with donations going to the american red cross. there was a swap meet this year and gps training inside the dealership. and actor perry king whom many may remember as "chico tyrell" in "lords of flatbush" was on hand to judge the best in categories and take rider concerns back to the ama, of which he is on the board. overall this continues to be a great event.
and i captured a few of my personal favorites here as nominees for best in show. thanks again a+s.

great looking indian

beautiful mv single cafe racer

ultra rare italian picola 150

custom "rat chopper"

keep an eye out for the classics...

wake to no alarm
i trip a sunday haiku
make my rest in it

night runner

i seen him at the gas station
he’s parked next to the pump
standin’ at the counter with that toothpick danglin’ on his lip

he’s askin’ for the luckies
as he points back to the wall
and he puts his hand inside his jacket to feel that pistol ridin’ on his belt

outside his lady’s pumpin’
she’s got bleached hair and tired eyes
and a heart full of old desires

there’s a birdcage dangling
underneath that rear view mirror
with a tiny blues guitar that’s sittin’ in there

now he’s reachin’ for his piece
he waves it so’s the man can see it
he points the barrel to the drawer and says “go get it”

he taps his stacked heel cowboy boots
against the cold linoleum floor
as that toothpick dances on his smiling lips

the man behind the counter fills the bag
and throws a couple candy bars in too
because he’s told to do

the old lady’s finished now
and her man comes wildly running out
and screamin’ “chupacabra!”

he hops inside and hits the gas
and throws the bag up on her lap
and the two of them are hauling ass and runnin’ with the night

bell rings we slide the
pole and race to climb ladder
which rescues from fire

faces part 04

it's been a while since i shared some faces. so today i thought i would pull a few more out of the ether.
(titles given, but alternates welcome : )

game face

ear bud

fastened securely

"if a face could launch a thousand ships then where am i to go?"

-bread

find your place of peace
and retreat from chaos
to restore your soul

frances

my wife and i had the chance to attend a wedding recently. we hadn't been to a wedding in a while. and as they are one of the last of the vanishing social rituals, we weren't exactly sure how to dress. barbara has this great copy of amy vanderbilt's "book of etiquette" from the 1960's which we love to peruse, and of course it all made so much more sense then. there were rules. you knew the rules. and then, if you chose to flout convention, well, that was your call. but there were still rules. and now it seems we have no rules.
so as we prepared for the wedding barbara said "let's do it up. forget whether or not everybody will be there in cowboy boots and hawaiian shirts. let's dress like we're going to a wedding." and so we did. she in a dress she had just made, and me in my old (but still very fine) sharkskin suit. yes, we were ready to cut a rug as we headed out the door. and the wedding was beautiful. the bride was a queen, and the groom was in love with his bride, you could see it on his face.
and as we walked out of the church i spotted a beautiful little lady in a lemon suit and gloves and asked if i could snap her picture. she grabbed my arm and blushed and turned away. "why?!" she asked. "because you're beautiful" i told her. she relented. i asked her name. she said it was frances. and then we told her our dilemma about whether or not to dress up for a wedding, to which she replied "i always do". well said frances.

invitation by
generous co-worker to
dine at their request

sunday sees the world through a different lens. take time to exit the routine.