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Accuweather forecast says its going to be really hot this week. The Ojai Post recommends you attach umbrellas to your 4th of July chairs on Ojai Ave, and don't leave your dog strapped to the top of your car.
Tuesday, July 3rd - 96 degrees
Wednesday, July 4th - 95 degrees
Thursday, July 5th - 96 degrees
From KEYT Channel 3 Santa Barbara via OjaiNews.com: 911 Emergency System Down in Ojai: A warning to Ojai residents. Ventura Sheriff's Department officials say they're 911 emergency system is not working as of Thursday morning. They are not sure what's causing the problem, but are working to get it back up and running as soon as possible.
Story Created: Jun 28, 2007 at 11:49 AM PDT
Story Updated: Jun 28, 2007 at 12:07 PM PDT
[UPDATE: 3:07pm] LAist.com is reporting a "Civil Emergency Message" along with an alternative emergency number (unconfirmed) of: (805) 384-1500
[UPDATE: 3:12pm] The VC Star has the story, along with a discussion, where Ojai.net is reporting "an AT&T network problem", and systems may be coming back online as of 2:43pm.
wherein each rediscovers youth's summit,
our proverbial, original, 'high noon'.
movie editor, Evan (and Jessie), and Tyler and Ali-Sun too ...
I hope that you can be the guests of Megumi-San and I, at
the friday 13 July opening of Harry Potter #5 at the Ojai
Playhouse. [after all, our movie editor should receive a comp,
and Megumi and I owe you, Tyler, for the Ojai Post birthday
party some months back.] hopefully many of our editors
and posters here at the Ojai Post will join us for a night
of (albeit UK/Hollywood) summer magick!
~~~
who are the wicked warlocks, and who the heaven-sent saviors?
how is it, this knowing we know?
each of us, entire valley family womb?
difference between good, positive nurturing healing spirit?
and that sick, hurting unhappy confused, passing dumb?
that together we bring the green and the clean,
musical-play visions of children, mountains and woods seen?
finding all the parts of the healthy good,
from every ancestor, every culture, world-valley wide?
Lakota 'mitakuye oyasin', Hindu 'karma, reincarnation',
Taoist 'heaven', Buddhist 'prayer', Polynesian 'heart' --
together building the whole of our 'inside.'
that silly me, uproarius 'we',
that did embrace a rainbow-world to be!
(thee, and child MT ...)
Although there are many options for monitoring truck traffic, such as CHP weigh stations, electronic GPS units, or 24 hour camera surveillance, Scott Ellison, a senior staffer at the Ventura County Planning Department who covers the Ozena Gravel Mine operation, has apparently come up with an idea that is not only simple but low cost and easy to implement.
According to an earlier news story in the Ojai Valley News, Scott Ellison said, "..it has been difficult to monitor trucks violating their travel restrictions because there are several mines in the area which use gravel trucks, each with varying permit restrictions, and it has been almost impossible to identify which mines the trucks are coming from."
For example, the Ozena Mine, whose trucks are frequently seen in the area, is only allowed to have project related truck travel in either direction on Highway 33 between Ojai and Casitas Spring for a very limited seven hours a day. That is from 6:00am to 7:00am and from 9:00am to 3:00pm on Weekdays and from 6:00am to 5:00pm on Weekends. Any of their trucks that violate this order could trigger a "Notice of Violation," and lead to major penalties.
(If you suspect a truck is in violation, please complete the "Catch at Truck Violation" form at:
http://www.ojaipost.com/2007/06/catch_a_truck_violation_report.shtml
The more complaints we receive, the easier it will be to take action against the offenders.)
The Ojai Valley News reported that the Ventura County planners are proposing a more aggressive program that requires trucks to be identified with PLACARDS, indicating which mine they are delivering for, as well as a fine to the mining company for each time a restriction is violated. To keep costs down, all enforcement through this monitoring system would be handled by citizens' complaints in writing to the County.
The simple brilliance of this plan is so remarkable, it is amazing no one came up with this idea previously. Kudos to the Planning Department and Scott Ellison for coming up with idea and then sharing it with his counterparts in the Santa Barbara Planning Department as well as some of the mine owners, all of whom appear to support the plan.
Given that the violations frequently occur at night or in the wee hours of the morning, we undertook a simulated demonstration so you too can judge just how effective Scott Ellison's strategy is.
Here is a Gravel Truck at 5:00pm Violating its Permit.
Can you spot the Placard and Identify the Mine?
Here is a Gravel Truck at 2:30am Violating its Permit
Can you spot the Placard and Identify the Mine?
Here is a Gravel Truck at 3:30am Violating its Permit.
Can you spot the Placard and Identify the Mine?
Here is a Gravel Truck at 5:30am Violating its Permit.
Can you spot the Placard and Identify the Mine?
And here's the Placard we'd really like to see at 9:00am
the next morning, when it is time for a...
Is it any Wonder that Mine Owners, Truckers and the Planning Department Love this Plan?
If you would like to share with our elected officials or the press about this plan,
please tell everyone what you think before it is too late!
And Remember Only You Can Report Violations and Save Ojai!
Food For Thought Ojai is sponsoring its second Locally Grown fundraising concert on August 25 at Libbey Bowl. The concert will open with winners of the Battle of the Bands which takes place earlier in the month, then follow with headliners Brett Dennen - currently touring with John Mayer - and Perla Batalla – Grammy nominated vocalist and Ojai resident. The event is a fundraiser for Food For Thought Ojai, a nonprofit organization that brings nutrition education, garden-based learning and environmental and agricultural awareness to students of Ojai’s public schools. The first Locally Grown concert in 2005 featured singer/songwriter Jack Johnson.
“This is a great way for us to get our message out to the community,” said Marty Fujita of Food for Thought Ojai. Funds raised will go toward programs that promote good childhood nutritional practices, farm-field trips, school garden programs and salad bar lunches that feature locally-produced, seasonal fruits and vegetables.
This year’s headliners are two local favorites who have risen to international acclaim. Perla Batalla recently appeared in Leonard Cohen’s critically acclaimed tribute film I’m Your Man. She has assembled a new band that brings a rich depth showcasing Batalla’s powerful voice and soulful, Latin-tinged ballads. Brett Dennen is a young singer-songwriter who has recently been ‘discovered’ and is skyrocketing to fame on tour with John Mayer and Sheryl Crow. His pure and timeless vocals and joyous lyrics promise great things.
Billed as a green event, Locally Grown 2 will promote a variety of consciousness-raising actions to minimize the human ecological footprint. For example, concert-goers will be encouraged to bicycle or walk to and from the event to decrease fossil fuel use, bring their own refillable water bottles, and visit a “Zero Waste” station at the event. As an incentive, raffle tickets for unique prizes will be awarded for individual ‘green’ efforts. Sponsorships to help underwrite the cost of the event are available, ranging from $200 for a program listing to $5000 banner sponsorships.
A presale of tickets for the Locally Grown concert will be held at the Sunday Ojai Farmers Market on July 1 and July 8. Ticket prices range from $20 for rear lawn seats to $100 for front row VIP seats. Tickets will be available online beginning July 9 at https://www.brownpapertickets.com .
More information can be found on the Food For Thought Ojai web site or by calling 805-640-5044.
Food For Thought is a grassroots, community-driven nonprofit organization, working in partnership with the Ojai Unified School District to bring nutrition education, locally grown foods, and agricultural literacy to the children of the Ojai Unified School District.
Note: Links to Brett and Perla take you to their MySpace pages where you can hear their music!
Hey, come on down for free computer advice tonight at Lavender Inn from 5-7pm. Join David Lawrence from Smart Technology Enablers and myself for help on everything from hardware and networks to doing business on the internet. We do this every other Tuesday evening. Who knows, maybe Arnold and Maria will show up with their laptops - look for the veggie oil-powered Hummer parked in front.
1st District County Supervisor Steve Bennett has kicked off his 2008 re-election campaign with splashes in multiple local media outlets...
LA Times - Anticipating the possibility of an "attack" candidate emerging, Ventura County Supervisor Steve Bennett on Monday kicked off his bid for a third term with a show of political muscle and campaign cash.
Ventura County Star - Expecting a rough ride to re-election, Supervisor Steve Bennett launched his campaign for a third term Monday with powerhouse endorsements and a hefty political bank account.
Ojai Valley News - A full year before the 2008 primary election, Steve Bennett announced Monday that he is running for a third term as the Ojai Valley’s representative on the county Board of Supervisors. Bennett, 56, said he decided to start his campaign early to deter potential opponents in the June, 2008 primary.
Food for Thought, the Ojai Healthy Schools Program, is addressing a couple issues at the School Board meeting tonight, where next year's Nutrition Services program and budget are on the agenda.
The meeting begins at 7 pm and is held at Ojai Unified School District Board Room, Room #1, 414 East Ojai Ave. - across from Azu, behind the Chaparral Auditorium.
A letter from Food for Thought after the jump:
Dear friends:
We at Food for Thought request that you book the evening of June 26 to attend the School Board meeting, where important aspects of next year's Nutrition Services program and budget are up for discussion.
There are two things we hope to address for which we want your support: (a) modifications to the District's Wellness Policy which Suzanne Lugotoff will be proposing in order to reduce her Department's deficit; and (b) aspects of the lunch. We have a small team assembled to speak on a number of specifics, but we want parents and concerned citizens to be present to demonstrate to the Board members community support for our concerns and approach. If anyone wants to speak, that's fine too.
Nutrition Services is working off a $120,000 deficit from this year, projecting a $160,000 deficit next school year. Basically, we expect Suzanne to request changes in the Wellness Policy that would allow for increased fat content (from 30 to 35%), that would increase the size of allowable Gatorade containers in vending machines at secondary from 12 to 20 oz. bottles, that would allow the sale of snacks at the elementary lunch including "vegetables" (chips), and increase the size of the breakfast baked goods.
Our argument in response is going to be a package of themes: (a) we have a health crisis in this country and this district derived from what we eat; sacrificing our children's future health is not an appropriate response to a situational deficit; (b) there will be some specifics on the health impacts of the proposed policy changes; (c) we're going to argue that the way to deal with the deficit is to create a lunch program that can be marketed to district families and thereby increase participation.
Please plan to attend the Board meeting; please also let us know if you will attend and if you would like to speak. (Reply to Lori.) As we get closer to the date we will let you know more specifically what time our topic will come up.
Thank you very much.
The story starts here. I appreciate Brett Wagner's direct reply on Saturday at 2pm (reprinted below).
Hi Tyler,
Thanks for writing... Just got your email. No, I hadn't seen the press release from YPD until you passed it along... I must not be on their emailing list...
It's unfortunate that in today's cyber age, misunderstandings can be so quickly blown all out of proportion - especially misunderstandings among us Progressives (who, the last time I checked, continue to be an underrepresented minority here in America).
Thanks also for the opportunity to perhaps clear up a couple of these misunderstandings...
First, my interest in the big voter registration drive scheduled for this Sunday in Ventura began when I received a mass email from the Ventura County Democratic Party titled "Ventura County Democrats on the Move in June!"
The very top entry in the mass email newsletter reads "As Democrats kick off Summer Voter Registration Drives in the 19th Senate District... Join Vote Blue and Young Progressive Democrats of Ventura County for a FUN Registration Rodeo Roundup this Sunday!"
The wording of this newsletter made a lot of sense, of course, since the group of email addresses to which it went out are obviously interested in stuff relating to the Ventura County Democratic Party. To the best of my knowledge, neither Vote Blue nor YPD took issue with that mass email.
I cut and pasted most of my mass email from that one, adding stuff that might appeal to the people on my list, who are obviously interested in stuff relating to my congressional campaign and our congressional district.
In a spirit of cooperation, I chose to begin my email with the words "In cooperation with..."
I continue to hope that we Democrats and Progressives will (soon) start learning how to cooperate with each other. Otherwise, the battle (including our ongoing effort to close the voter registration gap in Ventura County, which in most cities currently favors Republics) will be lost and we'll have no one to blame but ourselves.
While I don't want to every little snippet of the press release you sent me, I would like to encourage anyone who would like to sign up for our email newsletter (including YPD President Heather Schmidt who falsely accuses our campaign of deliberately not including her on our list) to please visit our home page at www.brettwagner.com - you'll see the sign-up area right there on the home page.
Regarding our campaign asking for financial contributions in each of our mass emails: Is that something new in American politics? How are Progressive candidates supposed to succeed without asking for campaign contributions? ...Just wondering...
In conclusion, could we Democrats - especially in Ventura County - please stop arguing amongst ourselves and finding fault with each other, and please PLEASE start learning how to work together toward our common causes.
Best wishes,
Brett Wagner
P.S. Sorry it took me so long to respond to your email, Tyler, but I've spent several hours responding to many of my longtime supporters who - upon reading the YPD press release - came to me expressing their disappointment with our local Democratic Party organizations and asking for advice on how we might go about "taking back our party" from those who would create dissension among us.
Our market or capitalist economic system does not take into account social cost of production. An entrepreneur delivering gravel to a construction site calculates the cost of land, machinery, labor, transport, trucks, fuel, etc. and adds some profit to the delivery sales price. The demise of a small town is not taken into account, the destruction of the quality of life of a blessed village.
He does not calculate the decline in real estate values, that is the financial equity of townspeople he doesn’t know or care about, he does not calculate poisoning the air with its resulting ill health and medical bills, nor the loss of the tourist trade essential to local merchants, nor increased road accidents, nor the traffic jams resulting in longer commute times, greater consumption of fuel, deterioration of roads, their repair borne by the taxpayers. Some of these costs can be calculated, some can be estimated, but there are others like frayed nerves, noise pollution, noxious air that are ignored in a conventional economic calculus employed by our triumphant market system. This economic system that takes our pristine beaches, our majestic mountains and valleys and turns them into overbuilt vulgarized destinations where its beauty, the original reason for going, has been destroyed. Alas.
If it is the case that an alternate route exists that would not destroy this small town, but would add forty-five minutes for each trip, then surely that added cost could be calculated. And just as surely it would be less, much less than the cost to Ojai of becoming one more noisy diesel-fumed dangerous truck route.
There is a growing consciousness about the damage our economic system is wreaking on the environment by a misallocation of true costs. Our system and our values are based on money and accumulation, wants rather than needs, yet ironically we fail to calculate the true monetary cost of a project such as the gravel delivery project to show it’s insane, notably when there are sane alternatives. Not to mention the human cost.
What can be done? What remedies are open in this system? Do courts offer a possibility or will we like French farmers have our tractors block the roads to make it uneconomic to destroy a way of life for the residents of Ojai?
Ojai resident James Becket is a writer and director.
The Arnold story hits the LA Times, with a couple quotes from yours truly at the end...
The Arnold in Ojai? California's governor is staying mum about it for now, but this artsy little town 90 miles north of Los Angeles in Ventura County is abuzz with talk that Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, are house hunting here.
Say, does anyone know anything about a leaf blower ban?
This is a public service announcement and I have reported it at the request of one of the landholders residing in our sacred canyon.
A friend recently had her window smashed in while she soaked in Matilija's hotsprings and was told by police officers that there has been an epedemic of this kind of crime thruout the Ojai Valley including the Athletic Club on Fox and trailheads. On a more serious note, it was reported to me by eye witnesses (2 separate incidents that I am aware of) that unidentified young men have been throwing large rocks into the springs while people are soaking in them. Large enough for them to consider it 'attempted murder'. The latest 'rock throwing' incident occurred last Sunday night around 6 PM and horrified a young mother, father and their 2 and a half year old daughter. They escaped unscathed.
According to several recent articles in the Ojai Valley News written by Nao Braverman it appears that if Caltrans gets its way in strengthening the bridge on E. Ojai Avenue over the San Antonio Creek, then the gravel trucks now using Route 33 could easily go through downtown, the East End and Upper Ojai on their way to a proposed gravel plant in Santa Paula.
According to Nao Braverman's stories, "A new asphalt mixing plant to be built in Santa Paula has local residents concerned about more gravel trucks traveling through Ojai, this time on Highway 150 right through the center of town..." According to Bruce McGowan, a branch manager for Granite Construction Co., the firm intends to submit plans to the Santa Paula Planning Department by the end of the month.
"...The plant, which will get 70 percent of its materials from nearby sand and gravel mines, is considering purchasing from mines in Los Angeles County’s Palmdale as well as mines in the Cuyama Valley region. The remaining 30 percent will come from recycled materials onsite, said McGowan..."
"...Granite Construction Co., one of the nation’s largest constructions material producers, is in the process of purchasing a site on Mission Rock Road, just off of Highway 126 in Santa Paula. The company is seeking a permit to produce up to 450,000 tons of asphalt per year, with an initial production of about 250,000 to 300,000 tons.
But Granite Construction is not the only Santa Paula project that citizens are afraid might route truck trips through the Ojai Valley. A large-scale housing development project being considered in Adams Canyon might trigger the need for gravel or concrete, and send trucks through Ojai..."
"The (Stop the Trucks) committee’s goals are to prevent the Diamond Rock mine from routing trucks south through Ojai, to defeat the Ozena Valley mine’s permit renewal and ultimately for Caltrans to declare that the portion of Highway 33 above Ojai is unfit for heavy trucks."
Route 150 from Santa Paula, through Ojai, to Carpenteria is designated a "Truck Route" by Caltrans. The bridge at San Antonio Creek is the only bridge that has not been replaced or strengthened by Caltrans since the floods of 2005. As such it remains the only barrier to turning the central core of Ojai into an industrial route for gravel trucks.
Many people consider Route 150 and even more unlikely road for trucking than Route 33. Recognizing the significance of this bridge in blocking Caltrans' plans, the Ojai City Council has directed City Manager Jere Kersnar to inform Caltrans that is has not signed off or approved of their plans to upgrade the bridge.
I have written a column for the alternative agriculture journal ACRES,USA since 1998 and this is the last one.
Dr. Weil... suggested that the diabetes epidemic among young people that is upon us now, largely the result of the preponderance of high-fructose corn sweeteners in foods and beverages, will in time evolve into an epidemic of early-onset coronary heart disease for people in their thirties. This circumstance is nothing short of institutionally legitimized suicide. We are paying now to protect and promote unhealthful crops and foods and we will pay much more dearly in the future for the health care required to mitigate the suffering being self inflicted with each swallow.
August 2007
Michael Pollan, the author of the enviro must-read best seller Ominvore’s Dilemma and Dr. Andrew Weil, food and nutrition sage and author, have been actively campaigning this season for a complete overhaul of the federal farm bill. Every five years the USDA and congress create a legislative blueprint for public policy on many aspects of agriculture. If you want to affect the outcome, act soon; the House of Representatives will debate the measure towards the end of July.
Many other perhaps lesser known and more lightly taken critics of government food and farming policy than Weil and Pollan have been speaking out, however what marks the Weil-Pollan movement is the heat with which these normally staid fellows have been attacking our long-standing policies at the United States Department of Agriculture. Since both of them have been guests on the Oprah Winfrey show, the peerless cultural litmus-test, the message they deliver can resonate louder because Weil and Pollan have star-power name-recognition.
A crowd of us went south to San Diego to hear Pollan and Weil at a national nutrition conference hosted by the University of Arizona Program in Integrative Medicine. There were few farmers, and probably few sundry consumer types there, but there were hundreds of doctors, hospital administrators, professional nutritionists and medical school people in attendance.
The message, a simple one readers of ACRES will recognize, is that bad agricultural policy is equivalent to a bad public health policy. We are growing food and harvesting disease. It can not be said any clearer. Dr. Weil implored the notable attendees to criticize that policy openly and especially to congress in order to transform the way we have designed our public policy with regard to agriculture.
According to Weil and Pollan, one way to alter our perception of the paradox is to think of the legislation not as a farm bill but as a food bill. In so doing, more people would get wise to the fact that the food the government publicly promotes, and pays for with our money, are merely surplus calories we need not consume. It also is food for livestock which ends up being a direct subsidy to the meat processor/marketing industry. And both bad meat and sugar are the end products which only benefit the few biotech and chemical corporations which control what is produced on millions of acres of US farmland each year. The rest of us are buying a job. Beyond our borders, the dominance of the corn/soybean/livestock hegemony in the US eventually commands farm policy and nutrition possibilities in the larger foreign producer-nations that are equally as friendly to the bad product that Monsanto, Pioneer, et. al, have brought to our communal table. It’s a global crises in health and in farming. US policy is global policy.
It was a foregone conclusion that the money pipeline these farm bills authorize, from the US Treasury to the agricultural community, would be gamed ultimately so that monopolies like Monsanto are the biggest beneficiary. They are so good at it, they expect us to kick around poor people getting food stamps instead of pay attention to their institutional corporate larceny. Cover Iowa with Roundup, we don’t care. The bottomline benefit to Monsanto, et al, is at least 10 and probably more like 20 billion. They have nearly done away with the competition, just as have Cargill and Archer-Daniels-Midland, linking seeds to the chemicals they make, linking intentional overproduction to artificial price levels that assure continued use of the chemicals, continued purchase of the seed, and continuance of the dire food system.
This is why Monsanto’s people frequently are appointed to oversee the USDA, FDA and the EPA. The notion that this decades long relationship is a conflict of interest presupposes that there was some other intent. Take care to stow such trivialities, because collusion and secular sins like conflict of interest no longer interest arbiters of law nor lovers of ethics.
We will take this opportunity to reiterate that public monies supporting private production are inadmissible practices according to the international trade treaties mandated by the same people now preparing to extend the humiliating paradox another five years.
Dr. Weil described a health care system increasingly burdened by avoidable epidemics of our own making. And he deplored the nutritional quality of most hospital food, calling it a “professional disgrace”, to find hospitals outsourcing factory food even fast food style meals for patients and encountering junk-food dispensers there. He called on health professionals to pledge to change the dietary regime in their hospitals and clinics. He called on the public to demand better patient care, because only the best food is medicine.
Dr. Weil noted that it has been strongly established that a “ plant based diet is a superior alternative” to a diet based on processed foods and industrial meat production. He suggested that the diabetes epidemic among young people that is upon us now, largely the result of the preponderance of high-fructose corn sweeteners in foods and beverages, will in time evolve into an epidemic of early-onset coronary heart disease for people in their thirties. This circumstance is nothing short of institutionally legitimized suicide. We are paying now to protect and promote unhealthful crops and foods and we will pay much more dearly in the future for the health care required to mitigate the suffering being self inflicted with each swallow. The situation is about as bad as our continued tolerance of the tobacco industry. Perhaps its worse. They will never put dire health warnings on a can of Coke that says: Consumption of this product may cause diabetes, obesity, dental caries, heart disease and premature death.
The coming crises, like the present one, will affect middle and lower class wage-earners, those who are uninsured and are least prepared to pay for the kind of care needed. So our hospitals face another challenge that could be avoided with more thoughtful, even courageous policy.
Changing the name of the farm bill is only one way of helping people see that farm policy becomes food policy. Making clear the correlation between farming, food and health is another.
Public policy in agriculture regarding farm subsidies has been re-shaped for the past eighty years so that what was once a safety net for impoverished farmers has become a slush fund for the agricultural industry. There is nothing “ free-market”, “democratic” or “independent” about it, but its still draped with red, white and blue. Longstanding criticism of farm subsidies has exposed rich corporate recipients as undeserving, but this apparent scandal seems to leave us unmoved, decade after decade. We also are well versed in the relationship between subsidy recipients and members of congress who get some of the money kicked back in the form of campaign contributions. We seem to be inured to such behavior.
I have omitted criticism of biofuels, the new bonanza for Agribiz, only because of space limitations. But it’s the stupidest boondoggle since nuclear power-not that it surpasses it. Every day the sun bestows a kazillion killowats upon the earth, but, farm subsidies to the contrary, we seem to not appreciate gifts.
In June, the USDA’s National Organic Program seemed willing to abide by public pressure and not, for the moment, allow a number of conventional ingredients to be used in manufacturing certified organic products. A few food colorings and processing aids, the use of conventional intestines in organic sausage, and the use of conventional hops in making organic beer were all proposed and then quietly tabled. Another round of unnecessarily wasted energy and time was miraculously averted. Thank you to those who made this so. We have suggested in the past that the National Organic Standards Board and the staff at USDA merely elect to not deliberate such petitions when they arise. This is why they have been selected to make decisions. The criteria for allowances/exemptions are very clear in the law and have not been altered in the rules. If I petitioned for the use of plutonium as a disinfectant in my greenhouse, would any energy be consumed in deliberating such idiocy? If Budweiser can’t find enough organic hops, let them make less organic beer until the hops are available. If a scarcity of intestines exists, merely stamp out the sausage into patties. The hamburger is already sold in that form.
Elsewhere, we have identified a few organic farming practices that seem to be of some service. The little birds abide well in the term broccoli set side by side the newer seeded beds of beans and the transplanted tomatoes. The acrobats speed in and out of the blue broccoli, chasing down their prey and yet close by their shady refuge against an unforeseen strike from above or below. Hedge farming provides beneficial habitat for all nature, with an abundance of diversity assuring a homeostatic ecosphere en micro. Everybody truly gets theirs, nobody gets too much, and the blue bird, of the darkest sky blue sky, skims in out of the golden sun beguiled by a delicious grasshopper
This will be my last column. Its been ten years, which is a good run. I am parking it because I know there is much more going on in the realm of politics, organic regulation and in certification than I am able to study. You deserve someone who can tell you a month in advance what is important and not merely report a month too late on what transpired already. Out here on the edge I am not conscious of national and international concerns as I once was. I still regret any insults due to omission, lack of fact or zeal. I have enjoyed the relationship with my editors, especially with the enduringly patient Sam Bruce, who makes me sound an awful lot smarter than I really am, and with the members of the organic community I have met through my association with ACRES. I can not thank Fred Walters, which would be insufficient praise, because what he and his family print here is the most courageous journalism. I love you Charles. Thank you for the inspiration and for the loan of your indignation. I doubled my acreage and the horsepower in my tractor, so I better go pay for them now. Later.
To customers and friends, I want to give a heartfelt THANK YOU to all of my loyal customers and friends who helped to make this store a Magical Kingdom. When I started Ojai Creates! eight years ago I wanted to transform an empty lot into a statement and example that a small store with spirit can flourish while offering an alternative to large spiritless box stores. You helped to make that happpen and I'm grateful for the many magical moments we've had together.
Fortunately we've found two artists who promise to keep our tradition of Aloha Spirit alive. On August 1st, Kirk Lowry and Iris Williams will take over ownership of OJAI CREATES! at the new location at 606 E. Ojai Avenue.
I will be involved in training, coaching and helping for August and probably longer. For the next three years I will be following my curiosity and bliss. At this moment it looks like I'll be learning guitar and keyboards, writing, singing and performing songs, photographingand making travel movies of favorite places like the Na Pali Trail in Hawaii, Inca Trail in Peru, Isle of Skye in Scotland, and temples and gardens of Kyoto, Japan. I will study some languages - Spanish, Portuguese, French and Japanese. I will probably start an Eckhart Tolle group and an Artist's Way group, help produce a Celtic Winter Solstice celebration, stage an event or two that bring retired folks together with pre-schoolers. I might try some import/export and would love to find a local living space on a year-round creek/stream with a view. I will spend more time with family, friends, community and nature.
If you'd like to be part of any of the above, please contact me. Please plan to support OJAI CREATES! and Kirk and Iris at the new location...and support all local businesses.
John
[Editorial note from Heather: The new location is in the current Cardinali Bros. Music Store. From what I've heard, Cardinali's is moving to Meiners Oaks. All typos above are mine.]
As the former Ventura mayor and author of popular slow-growth law SOAR, Richard Francis has been urged to run against 11-term incumbent Elton Gallegly for CA-24 in 2008, according to an LA Times article penned by Catherine Saillant.
In a recent interview, the 63-year-old legislator said he was in excellent health but hinted that he still was thinking about retirement after two decades in office. For now, all [Gallegly] will publicly say is that he is keeping his options open for the June 2008 primary.
"The dynamics have changed dramatically in the last year or so. Now [the Republicans] are in the minority," Gallegly said, referring to the Democratic takeover of both houses of Congress in November. "Leadership has put a full-court press on some of the more seasoned people. It's an honor to have people trying to convince you to stay."
Gallegly also may face pressure because of his unwavering support of the Iraq war.
Gallegly, who has voted to support President Bush every step of the way, said he stands by his votes. "I don't know anyone who likes war. I don't like war," Gallegly said. "But I don't like people who posture to do us great harm."
What a curious statement. Is he equating the Iraq war with 9/11? Who are the people that are "posturing to do us great harm"? Is it worth the lives of 3500 American soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis to go to war based on "posturing"? If he is referring to the supposed WMD's, is he stubbornly refusing to admit that the intelligence was wrong, or worse, that it was doctored, stovepiped and manufactured?
Republicans are well aware that George W. Bush and the Iraq Occupation are a gigantic albatross around their necks. Whether they jump overboard, throw W. to the sharks or go down with the ship, it doesn't look promising for the GOP nationwide in 2008.
Former Democratic congressional candidate Brett Wagner sent an email out to his list today that began:
Dear Friend,
In cooperation with "Vote Blue" and Young Progressive Democrats of Ventura County, The BRETT WAGNER for CONGRESS campaign team would like to cordially invite you to join all of us Democrats for a FUN Registration Rodeo Roundup this coming Sunday!
Less than five hours later, a press release from YPD was issued titled Young Progressive Democrats of Ventura County Denounce Congressional Candidate's Unethical Behavior, stating that:
Brett Wagner released an email announcement to his supporters with no authorization or agreement whatsoever from the sponsoring groups, stating that the event was being conducted on his behalf and involved his election committee. Says YPD President, Heather Schmidt, "Wagner has never contacted our organization and won't even put us on his email list."
(emphases mine) More after the jump...
The original email from Wagner in its entirety:
=================================================
Dear Friend,
In cooperation with "Vote Blue" and Young Progressive Democrats of Ventura County,
The BRETT WAGNER for CONGRESS campaign team would like to cordially invite you to join all of us Democrats for a FUN Registration Rodeo Roundup this coming Sunday!
Sunday, June 24th 2-6pm
2:00 PM: Training - Topping Room, EP Foster Library, 651 East Main Street in lovely dowtown Ventura
3:00- 6:00 PM: Hit the Streets! Voter Registration in Ventura, organized by Vote Blue.
6:00 PM: Pizza Party - after you return materials and lots of completed registration forms for NEW Democrats,
enjoy the very best Western Style Pizza California has to offer!
With your help, this voter registration effort should help kick our voter registration drive into HYPER-DRIVE!
Now that the pendulum of American politics has finally (whew!) begun to swing from right to left, let's all do our part to help KEEP THE SWING GOING OUR WAY!
And for all of us living in California's 24th district, this is our best chance to help switch our congressional district from RED to BLUE!
Hope you'll be able to join in this Sunday!
Best wishes,
Brett Wagner
Democratic Congressional Candidate,
CA-24
P.S. Knowing that no political campaign can operate only on good wishes, please consider making an online contribution today at: https://etribute.durkeeandassociates.com/c.php?c=bwagner
You can also mail your contribution check to:
Brett Wagner for Congress
DURKEE & ASSOCIATES
1212 South Victory Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91502
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Contributions are not tax deductible
for federal income tax purposes
FEC #C00038976
Kinde Durkee, Treasurer
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
=================================================
and the press release from Young Progressive Democrats of Ventura County:
=================================================
Young Progressive Democrats of Ventura County Denounce Congressional Candidate's Unethical Behavior
Ventura, California - June 22, 2007 - On Sunday, June 24th, 2007, the Young Progressive Democrats of Ventura County and Vote Blue are co-sponsoring a voter registration drive in the city of Ventura.
Unfortunately, on Friday, June 22nd, 2007, at 12:50 PM, 24th United States Congressional District Candidate Brett Wagner released an email announcement to his supporters with no authorization or agreement whatsoever from the sponsoring groups, stating that the event was being conducted on his behalf and involved his election committee. Says YPD President, Heather Schmidt, "Wagner has never contacted our organization and won't even put us on his email list."
He also included a link for campaign contributions, implying support and endorsement by the sponsoring organizations.
This unfortunate statement and implication by Mr. Wagner is in NO WAY accurate or correct and neither the Young Progressive Democrats nor Vote Blue endorse any candidates at this early date.
The Young Progressive Democrats of Ventura County and Vote Blue both sincerely regret any confusion or misunderstandings that have been caused by Mr. Wagner's unauthorized claims. "We will not support candidates that make false claims and corrupt our purpose," concludes Schmidt. "Young Democrats don't condone that shade of ethical behavior."
For more information about the Young Progressive Democrats of Ventura County
http://myspace.com/vcyoungprogressives or email YPDofVC@gmail.com
For more information about Vote Blue
www.votebluecommittee.net or email Info@votebluecommittee.net
Contact:
Young Progressive Democrats
Heather Schmidt
President
YPDofVC@gmail.com
(805) 340-4642
With graduates of Nordhoff and Chaparral barely a week into their summer, there's probably still plenty of celebration going on...even if it takes the form of relaxation and recreation before school starts again for the 95% of Nordhoff graduates who principal Dan Musick says intend to attend college. Between both schools, every student that the VC Star interviewed plans on pursuing their passions and talents, and that means leaving the valley, often for very distant places. For those who stay behind - as well as for the rest of us - our world of opportunities is in the Valley all around us.
The Ojai Valley Green Coalition last night hosted Trudy Ingram in a presentation and forum about exploring the Ojai Valley's ecological footprint, a measure of peoples' use of nature, linked and converted to land area. The opportunity is tremendous: our current consumption patterns as a community require 22.3 acres per person per year to support us, while we only have 3.9 acres available per person. So we're operating at 18.4 acres per person per year over the capacity of our natural bioregion to sustain us, the majority of that excess being in "energy acres" needed to absorb our CO2 output - mostly from transportation and buildings. (Gas up with care: use the ojainews.com Gas Prices tool to find where it's cheap!) To "help the earth care for us", as Trudy suggests, we need to see and seize this world of opportunities.
The Planning Commission of the City of Ojai presented its 2006 Design Awards on Wednesday, and while the criteria for said awards bears further investigation, i'd strongly suspect that we're looking at a "pretty" contest more than an award for those with the most progressive look at how to make buildings which use less and collect more energy. If we're to be a truly sustainable and model green community, these types of considerations must go into our development consciousness. So far, there doesnt look to be anything related on the City Council agenda for Tuesday the 26th.
Meanwhile, i saw a double-hopper gravel truck turn right onto Ojai Avenue from Montgomery Street. If we expect people to continue bringing their tourist dollars here, expect them to still turn out for our still buzzing Music Festival, and expect our youth to want to stick around after graduation, we'd best manage our world a little better. The opportunities abound.
Three days in Central Tennessee with 80,000 of our very best friends, probably relatives....
Dusty dusk lay upon that part of Manchester where Bonnaroo unwound,
and the most resourceful folks put up wet bandanas against the dense
pollution. I had not seen dust so bad since I had walked the road
between Montero and Yapacani in central Bolivia with a mob of Cambas.
Now my fellow half-clad walkers emanated not from a third world
vision, but that of another millennium. All I needed to see was
Charlton Heston steering a chariot through the masses and my CB
DeMille hallucination would have been complete. Horrific hordes of
game but dazed aficionados and marginal tribespeople kept coming and
coming and stumbling through the haze. Its 96 degrees with nary a
breath of wind to scoot the storm of powdered clay away from our
faces.........
Bloggarroo: "…can't hear it on the radio…"
'Woulda got this out sooner but there's no WIFI in Wartrace,
Tennessee. It's the only town that had a hotel room left to rent in
these parts with Bonnaroo goin' off down the road in Manchester. We
are lucky Olivia found it and she is good at it. Even Murfreesboro is
booked, far to the north. We are halfway between Chatanooga and
Nashville, in the horsefarms and vales. Its hot and muggy and reminds
me of Texas. I never did like being landlocked that much.
The Bonnaroo is why we come over here , to see Wilco primarily and
experience what else the indies are bubbling up with. Sorry, but
other than Wilco, String Cheese Incident, Railroad Earth, and Richard
Thompson its all mysto to me, but I am game for whatever. My wife is
keen to see a few novelties and I plan on looking for surprises on the
small stages, and at an early hour. I have known for weeks that the
Incident begins at Midnight on Friday, and my chances of being upright
for this, one of their last gigs since Billy Nershi announced his
retirement from SCI, are very slim.
Me and Mahmoud cooked the Bonnaroo plan up back in the spring as a
benefit to the boys for doing so well in school and to prove we are on
their side while performing stealth chaperoning functions. Dariush and
Dylan are good boys with good grades and are good musicians. Dyl
pulled a 720 on his English SATs late in the spring, so he gets
Bonnaroo. His mom says we owe it to him because the last two summers
we hauled him to weddings. Even if one was in Hawaii, it still was a
bit of a buzzkill. But now we are wondering who really enjoys the
prize more, me or him. By all means it remains special. They would
not be able to go without the supervision, loose as it is. They are
camping with the rest of the droves.
We, meanwhile, are at the Walking Horse Hotel in Wartrace 24 minutes
from Manchester, and the boys have put up a little tent somewhere in
Bonnacity, where there is a three case of beer limit per person, I
will have you to know, and only 3 liters of hooch per inebriant for
only three days.
As parents we don't have much to prove and are not so naïve to think
the boys would be bowled over by our sudden flare for the hip, if
Bonnaroo qualifies for hip. No, hip its not. Its something else,
probably fantastically awesome.
Dyl knows at least, as for my sketchy credentials, which I proffer
with humility and humor.
He'll be listenin' to Jimi some evening at home and I'll say:
" I saw him at the Winterland back in 1968 play that song with his teeth."
Dyl will just look back at me expressionless, sort of absorbing the
image of crazed old Jimi Hendrix playing a Foxy Baby guitar solo with
his incisors.
" Cool," is all he'll say, usually, unless he needs clarification.
I suppose it should be more amazing that Dyl finds my musical tastes
coinciding with his after a span of three or four decades. He listens
to Green Day, I listen to Green Day. Another example, to underscore
the paradox, somewhat bent backwards: I am familiar with Swing, but my
father and I never have shared much interest in Glenn Miller.
Ellington, on the other hand, could have been a different story. But
that will never come to pass.
On the other hand, Dyl's generation embraces and feverishly seeks the
raw, content-rich rock and roll of Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Frank
Zappa, and I enjoy a seamless attraction to Nirvana and White Stripes.
I think I discovered Wilco, but that is not an apt example because
many of Wilco's members have been professional musicians for close to
twenty years, and Dyl's only 17.
Olivia told her mom she would dress nice at Bonnarroo. She said she
would put ribbons in her hair and wear a linen top. I said she better
mix in some foxtail grass for her hair and some dirt, judging from the
dominant look we observed Thursday afternoon when we arrived. Olivia
is sporting some very badass little black boots with a velvety surface
festooned with sprightly little florals. The boots were for the mud.
Too bad we brought boots because if we had not then it would have
rained and the mud might have been preferable to the dust that ensued.
The next day we chowed down a late breakfast at The Waffle House in
Manchester, just off the 24. Waffle House was busy with Bonnarooters.
Our waitress, Kansas, for Pete's sake, was on the brink: talking to
her self, fumbling and desperately trying to make our Waffle House
experience pleasant. I concluded early that she was under the
influence of some medication. Zoloft or Vicodin was our guess. She was
a well mannered lass completely over her head with the flurry. She
apologized profusely for no reason. She gave us 300% more cutlery than
necessary, as if to cover some glaring deficiency that only she could
see. She needed to be prodded carefully in order to bring coffee a
number of times and finally got it right. Olivia's request for hot tea
was nearly more than Kansas could accomplish. She never did bring
Mahmoud his water.
" That seems to be a tough request," he noted sympathetically, when
Kansas was out of earshot.
A southern comic strip couple, red-eyed and wearing western, clops up
to the booth adjoining me and as the lady sits down and slides over
the gent apologizes for the ruckus he and his "tramp from Alabama" are
making.
" Your what?" she warns.
" My wife," he begs to correct.
" You got that right you sorry son of a bitch," she grunts, and as I
half-turn I see her lift herself out of the booth and aim a hard kick
at hubby's jewels. Her rascal pivots nicely as if from practice and
receives the whacking sharp kick in the flesh of his upper thigh.
" Ouch!" he exclaims.
" Ouch is right, now sit down and shut up."
Olivia and Mahmoud got grits with their eggs, which I thought was
very respectful of them, seeing as we were so obviously in the South.
I got the hashbrowns, which the menu ballyhooed as the best in the
world. Turned out they were not even close.
We later deduced that the lone serving of hashbrowns is what probably
sent me away vomiting like a champion seven hours later after a
decliningly dispirited afternoon. That was all I ate all day and I had
one beer, just to mark the record.
We haul the daring boys some waffles and eggs to-go and a gallon of
water. The grounds are big, the treks long and the sun warming at 11
AM. We meet up with Dar and Dyl near a falafel vendor. They wolf the
stuff down and between bites announce without rancor that a mounted
deputy safety patrol woman has seized Dylan's 14 unauthorized T shirts
he had been selling for only a few minutes. These are the best T
shirts in the whole place it turns out, featuring a large Statue of
Liberty proudly holding up a gas-station hose-nozzle in place of her
lamp.
" That's kind of screwed up. I guess they got to crack down on illicit
commerce early before it gets out of hand. You should try selling
ecstasy next time instead." I have heard "EX", 'rolls' and "E-bombs"
earnestly murmured sporadically in the short time we have been
traveling through the village.
While we hid in the shade waiting for Richard Thompson, a lovely
blonde photographer with 16 inches of telephoto asked us about
Woodstock, I lied, as if I also was one of the 14 million other
people who claim to have wandered into that seminal 1960s event.
"What is the biggest difference for you, comparing Woodstock to Bonnaroo?"
" The latrine angle seems to be better managed," I replied
thoughtfully, as if primed. "Oh, and there is a lot more water
provided. And the food operation is taken care of. No comparison
there. There is less nudity, which is not an upgrade, but its still
early. And it seems that there is more grass here, " She looked at the
ground around us.
"You know, weed. "
" Of course."
Not that we have not noted a huge presence, owing to the fact that its
only one in the afternoon. The prevalence of smoking pipe vendors with
fancy ware also serves as an indicator. But Canabis is definitely one
of the most prevalent smells on the big farm now covered with people.
Since our hosts have loudly and frequently suggested that illegal
substances are not allowed here, we think its some kind of crazy that
we have not heard earlier that marijuana use is legal in Tennessee. As
time goes on the smell of sweet burning bud is omnipresent.
That, and the odor of tobacco. I take to calling the show Bonnarette
to emphasize how many cigs are continually lit, many poked
unglamorously in the chops of some seemingly sweet and very attractive
young women. But their male companions are sucking them down mightily,
so there is your permission. American Spirit has a big demo-booth to
promote their non-cancer causing, non emphysema inducing brand. It's a
Twig light Zone throwback to the 1950s, when it was claimed that
cigarettes were a health benefit. The promise of tobacco without
consequences. Everybody, except around six people, is clutching some
kind of light beer, which automatically requires the accompanying
cigarette. Other substances induce the urge to smoke as well, we note.
Richard Thompson is way under appreciated. Though around five thousand
people are thunderstruck by his electric and acoustic ( Leo Kottke,
take a seat for sec.) guitar, we know and Thompson knows, that
side-venues are probably all he can expect in these Days of
Brittany-or even Manu Chau, who probably knows more than four chords
but figures they are not required. Thompson thanks us for coming over
to the "has-beens and over the hilI venue" at THE OTHER tent.
Thompson does not have three hands. I counted them.
I have followed Thompson since the mid-60s, when my friend Boe
Paschall started listening to eclectic folk-rock exponents like
Fairport Convention, which featured Thompson, and Bert Jansch and John
Renbourne, solo guitarists who later were members of Pentangle. They
were perhaps a more thoughtful discovery to go along with our Procol
Harum. Thompson's mournful storytelling has been constant over the
years. At Bonnaroo, he's accompanied by a vintage rhythm guitarist who
also plays a ska-inflected alto-saxophone, your basic master-drummer (
don't really run into too many bad drummers these days) and a bassist
playing an electrified stand-up that provides more than the common
beat; it's a featured instrument just as would be a piano. His
playing reminds me of a Stanley Turrentine concert I attended ten
years ago in Austin. I have some Thompson downloads in my future. If
you recorded this set, I need it. Richard Thompson does not have three hands.
I counted them.
Saturday may have been glorious elsewhere, but I lay in bed finishing
George Packer's Assassin's Gate and channel surfing deliriously
through the abysmal central Tennessee cable feed, puked out. Brian
Lamb's 2000 interview with Harold Bloom on CSPAN landed like a miracle
as I recuperated. I saw no Lips, no Mule, no Rice. I missed Railroad
Earth, Ziggy Marley, Xavier Rudd, Ben Harper and of course the
stardraw of the quarter century, The Police.
Sunday I improved and I had to. I felt like I had spent 4200 dollars
just to see Wilco because I had thought they were not going to play
the west coast. That is a brave admission. However, such activity is
not entirely out of character. The stars are aligned in a goofy way
about all of this though. A week before we leave town for Tennessee,
Olga and Trent say their daughter is going to marry the keyboard
player, which is too coincidentally preposterous. Then Wilco can eat
breakfast every Sunday they are in town at our place. We are somewhat
giddy with the novelty of fandom: Jeff Tweedy staring moodily at his
scrambled eggs in my restaurant, slapping jam on our all-organic spelt
toast, asking hoarsely how much coffee refills are.
Mahmoud and I are somewhat interested in the data regarding 'Bonna.
They are grossing sixteen million on ticket sales, and have bought the
530 acre farm adjacent to I24, probably for a million, since its
Interstate-handy. Plans are afoot to make green improvements and max
the place into a quasi-theme park. What are the principals making?
They have to be splitting over a million. What do the Police and
Widespread Panic get paid, versus Richard Thompson and Gillian Welch?
What is the fee for a food vendor, a non-profit, a clothing or art
vendor? How many mounted, T-shirt snatching Safety Patrol members are
there?
How many are employed at Bonnaroo and how many are volunteers? We
wonder how many outhouses there are for eighty thousand people. What
will it take to pump them all dry every morning? The coordinators aim
to recycle much more than the 56 tons of trash they handled last year.
How much does it take to insure this? The water in the center fountain
is being recycled and pumped back in to service after a dose of
chlorine. I suppose this means to eliminate whatever pathogen might be
in this ever-more densely foaming soup, but we wonder aloud if the
goals are being measured and if anyone else has wondered about the
other incidental pollutants that might be in the mix? Perhaps after
the second day its not necessary to apply sunscreen if you just douse
yourself in everyone's common shower. Drug residues also make the question provocative.
Shouldn't somebody print up a cheap primer for the 'Bonna employees so
that when you ask them something they know the answer?
"Sorrybutdontknowthat" becomes a running joke.
From across the baked ground Sirens beckon us into a tent but the
refuge is not false. Angel Band is three women who sing in a secular
choir with David Bromberg and his veteran cronies. They are not for a
moment in Tennessee and neither are we, but momentarily lifted to a
musical paradise together for as long as they sing. Their voices meet
in a three- cornered space a few feet above their heads, showering
golden notes down on us, amazed. Their cumulative effort, which they
acknowledge may be their greatest achievement to-date, is Just Call Me
Angel In the Morning . My uncharacteristic sobriety achieves a certain
cognition, wherein I am sure these Sirens are that good.
Sunday at Bonna was more of a trial than the other days with the dust
and the heat. Beneath the blessed trees battalions of festivalians
collapsed red-faced with the heat and red-shouldered with their
sunburned emblems of merrymaking. Some had definitely been to the
party and now lay sprawled, recuperating beneath the thin protection
of the sun-parched trees.
Slim shade was ingeniously discovered as a result of necessity, along
the narrow edges of fencing, to the sun's lee against various utility
islands built to enhance music or sell the beer and lemonade. The
smallest music venues provided intentional shade one hundred by one
hundred feet, but still hundreds and thousands were left in the glare,
sweating and waiting while they sucked down a beverage with one hand
and shielded their eyes with the other. The cigarette butts piled
higher and higher.
Bob Weir is obviously going through the motions of playing rather
perfunctorily with his better-intentioned mates in the ghastly-named
Ratdog. Because he includes Franklin's Tower in his set I will forgive
his perennial sloppiness. Aging, ragged Dead freaks gratefully repair
to the pitiful shade as Ratdog exits without an encore, which I find
perfectly predictable. They are so done with this gig.
Dusty dusk lay upon that part of Manchester where Bonnaroo unwound,
and the most resourceful folks put up wet bandanas against the dense
pollution. I had not seen dust so bad since I had walked the road
between Montero and Yapacani in central Bolivia with a mob of Cambas.
Now my fellow half-clad walkers emanated not from a third world
vision, but that of another millennium. All I needed to see was
Charlton Heston steering a chariot through the masses and my CB
DeMille hallucination would have been complete. Horrific hordes of
game but dazed aficionados and marginal tribespeople kept coming and
coming and stumbling through the haze. Its 96 degrees with nary a
breath of wind to scoot the storm of powdered clay away from our
faces. This is dedication. Being willing to ignore such affronts to
personal safety are a measure of how much the music means. Surely
there must be many more than me to observe this ardor. Mahmoud,
similarly inspired, relates stories his grandfather told him about
the dust on the road to Mecca during his life's pilgrimage from Tehran
to Saudi Arabia in the 1930s. At least we don't have to fear storms on
the Red Sea or robbers along the road. Just hashbrowns
We wait for Wilco to arrive in one of the Earth's longest half hours,
nearing four thirty on Sunday afternoon as the sweaty haze begins to
barely abate. The air is dirt. We are among hundreds of listless red
youth lounging as if in a prison yard. Men now outnumber women seven
to one. Is it intelligence that has driven the females into the shade?
Its impossible that Tweedy and Wilco's appeal is cut by gender.
A grown man next to us near the recording zone begins to cry in the
dirt because his taping device has stopped functioning. He may just be
frustrated that he is so witlessly high he is unable to process the
error and fix it himself, but he is a big red-faced mess. His sober
wife can not console him.
Wilco surfaces from backstage and launches into known work. Jeff
Tweedy is pleasing, pleading, wry and poignant. The Irishman can make
you cry. Its something in the genes, the W.B Yeats gene. He can paint
the little scary scenes and can make you think and wander around in
his words caroming off meaning and reference. I wanted to see if there
really were thirty three Thank Yous ( we counted on Kicking
Television). I miss Wishful Thinking, which Johnny and I use as a bit
1band are masters of the unexpected but perfectly placed lick or
transition. There is no rote, always a sense of practice and purpose
on message. Tweedy's music is the road meant for the lyric to travel
upon. The 4200 dollar rock and roll show is as much as I bargained
for. This is some shit to work by as your picking green beans.
Wilco has fashioned a sound, a repertoire, a musical effect that puts
one in mind of The Band. Such a broad claim can not be made unless
you are certain of the storytelling originality the two bands share,
the musicianship and magnificent complementation within the art, the
realization that you have never heard music like this before. And it's
a hard-won art, perhaps harder because Wilco's commentary relates to a
more commonly shared reality. With The Band, we reduce them not at all
by being mindful of Stoneman's cavalry tearing up the tracks, and the
partied-out hillbilly ethos up on Cripple Creek. Just as Chest Fever
served as a continually played anthem 35 years ago, Jesus, etc.,
serves now.
I am very pleased to welcome Steve Sprinkel to The Ojai Post. While most of you know him as the Farmer married to the Cook, Steve describes himself as a "certified organic farmer, organic retailer, farm journalist, essayist and author and public speaker". Maybe he will share his eventful trip to the Bonnaroo Festival in Tennessee.
Elsewhere, got a new camera, looking forward to taking some photos for y'all...
Food For Thought Sponsors Battle of the Bands! Winners to Play Libbey Bowl
Food For Thought is sponsoring a local Battle of the Bands for youth in Ojai and Ventura. The three winning bands will open the Locally Grown fundraising concert on August 25 at Libbey Bowl featuring headliners Brett Dennen - currently touring with John Mayer - and Perla Batalla – Grammy nominated vocalist and Ojai resident. The event will be the second Locally Grown fundraiser for Food For Thought Ojai; the first concert in 2005 featured singer/songwriter Jack Johnson.
The Battle of the Bands is open to youth ages 13-20 from Ojai and Ventura, and will take place August 4th and 5th at the Matilija Junior High School Auditorium from 10am – 5pm. Bands performing all varieties of music, from straight edge and punk to jazz and acoustic, are encouraged to enter. In addition to opening the Locally Grown 2 concert, the three winning bands will also be able to record their chosen song in a professional sound studio and receive free CD copies of the recording.
Entry forms and a sample recording must be submitted by July 6. Rules and other information can be found on the Food For Thought Ojai Web site.
Food For Thought is a grassroots, community-driven nonprofit organization, working in partnership with the Ojai Unified School District to bring nutrition education, locally grown foods, and agricultural literacy to the children of the Ojai Unified School District.
i was born in 1980, so i was too young to be afraid of the Cold War or to enjoy brightly colored clothes, crazy hair, and the modern music of the time. but being a kid in the 80’s was a rich experience in other ways: during my school years i got to come home every afternoon to a few hours’ worth of the Disney Afternoon, a now-classic potpourri of cartoons like Duck Tales, Gummi Bears, Tale Spin, Rescue Rangers, and Darkwing Duck. i also got to be a kid at the height of such iconic adventures as those of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Transformers, the ever-warring cars-turned-robots who have spawned every kind of merchandise you can imagine, including a full-length animated movie in 1987.
On July 4, 2007, the Transformers will come to the big screen in a BIG way, in a live-action, CGI-laden feature by Steven Spielberg. the little kid inside me has been waiting for a VERY long time for the day when cinematic technology would finally allow cars to turn into robots right before my eyes. that day, of course, is Independence Day, and i intend to make it so in a personally significant way.
as the visual effects epitome of the visions of my childhood, this film will signify for me an end to that era. i declare Independence from the instant-gratification dreams of my youth, and rededicate myself to living in a way that is qualified by and mindful of the needs of future generations. as a natural extension, i declare Interdependence with the next generation in my own child, who will join us in late July. i enjoin my life with yours, little one...my books, my toys, my stories, my music, my town, my friends, my love....all yours as well. i devote my self to your childhood, to make it rich, healthy, engaging, stimulating, propelling, educational, laughter-inducing, safe, colorful, connected, insightful, exploratory, and nonviolent. you will Transform me in glorious ways.
the Transformers movie will be violent. the either/or, black-or-white mentality of the violence culture is already clear in the advertising: two kinds of robots, one thinks it’s here to protect us, the other to destroy us. they both go about it in the same ways: by destroying each other and our stuff. the Autobots are at war with the Decepticons...expect plenty of classic “if it’s a fight they want...” logic, amplified by eye-popping visuals of destruction. expect the Autobots to talk a lot about freedom and self-determination and even democracy and peace, in between the parts where they obliterate Decepticons. all else being equal, it’s the same war story we’ve seen a thousand times...and it’s the same tired not-logic that dooms us to act it out over and over in real life.
and so on 7.4.7, when the last scene fades to black and takes my childhood with it, i also declare Independence from violence. i declare my right to determine for myself what constitutes entertainment, and i choose not to be entertained by death and destruction. i am Independent from the notion that i must accept what is handed to me as my only options, and that someone else gets to decide what’s fun and acceptable and appropriate. i declare my responsibility - as an engaged Citizen who has an interest in leaving the world better than i found it – to explore healthy and safe ways to entertain my self and my family...ways that are life-affirming, socially constructive, consciousness-promoting.
society will not make this easy, because society loves violence. it is socially damaging to restrict oneself from certain consumptions. it’s difficult and sometimes uncomfortable to eat out when you’re the only one in the group who has a moral issue with McDonald’s. it takes more energy to find a local organic cup of coffee when you can run into a Starbucks with your eyes closed. there’s no social scene (yet) associated with buying earth-friendly clothing, because there are no natural stores in the corporate malls. a night with the guys becomes more complex when you have to think of something to do other than drink beer and play shoot-em-up video games. and with the vast majority of mainstream “entertainment” featuring physical violence, dinner-and-a-movie will really just be dinner.
but if it was EASY, it wouldn’t be worth doing. if it was EASY, it wouldn’t change anything. if it was EASY, it wouldn’t make a statement.
will you free yourself? will you declare your Independence? will you be a Transformer?
Nice post on dropping out of Consumer America. I found the following to be an interesting quote.
[The Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices] analyzed the environmental footprints of everything from cheese to carpet to feminine products and then aggregated them into 50 categories of goods and services. In the end, they found that just 7 of the 50 categories were responsible for the lion's share of environmental degradation: cars and trucks; meat and poultry farming; crop production; home heating, hot water, and air conditioning; household appliances; home construction; and household water use and sewage treatment.
What does sustainability mean to you? Is sustainability the antithesis, the cure, the response to Consumer America?
It's official! Iris Williams and Kirk Lowry, Ojai artists and proprieters of Suite 1 Inn, have purchased Ojai Creates! from John Azevedo, an Ojai landmark himself. John has served the community for over six years with his infectious laugh and low prices. The store will continue with the same merchandise and pricing in a new location. Ojai Creates! will be closed for the month of July, so stock up now on printer cartridges, CDs and art supplies.
And watch to Post for notes from John and Iris!
For the Chumash families, says Julie Tumamait, there is very little known about their ancestries. There is much that is being rediscovered today, yet much much more still to be recovered. Chumash heritage is from a time, "When the animals were people," as Julie teaches, when the human-kind was a hundred times more sensitive ... when the 'Awha'y Valley was peaceful and quiet and we could hear our sisters and brothers, we could listen to the voices of Spirit ... when love was the connectivity of family, and our wholly acknowledged family was nature ... and harmonious respect was recognized as the only avenue to true knowing.
Julie takes pride in her traditional name of Tumamait. “My great grandfather, Juan de Jesus, took it as a last name,” she says. Many Chumash, like other California Indians, had Spanish surnames conferred on them by the padres at the missions. Some families even today are still finding out their ancestors had some Chumash blood,” says Tumamait-Stenslie. “In the early days there wasn’t a lot of acknowledgment of Chumash heritage. There was a stigma attached ...
Julie's sister, Regina, after exploring her Chumash history, adopted the surname Washtigoligol. “It’s my ceremony name,” she says. “I was not given a traditional name at birth, so I basically earned it by going through many different ceremonies.”
Regina Washtigoligol notes that the Chumash are considered a matrilineal, matriarchal society, “Our tribe is one of the only ones that recognized women. Many times there were women leaders, women chieftains.”
Chumash Anthropology
at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History
YouTube Video
of Chumash Elder Julie Tumamait at Ojai City Council Speaking on Supporting Locals in Honoring the Ancestors:
I have received a couple emails from local residents concerned about the impact of Inn Harmony, a new 5-room hotel located in the Victorian house next to the duck lady on Signal St. The OVN had an article last Friday on it, citing "a torrent of complaints".
Living in the Village Mixed Use zone can be a bit noisy and inconvenient for residents. A mere hundred feet away from Inn Harmony, for instance, is a car repair business on Oak. To me, the ideal solution is to have open communication between the businesses and the residents, in a way that fosters respect and solutions. Lavender Inn, for instance, is acutely aware of its impact on the surrounding neighborhood, and only books a fraction of the weddings it could book every year, so as to mitigate the Inn's auditory impact on the neighbors.
Following the jump is an email from one resident, with some info on a town meeting and how to voice your concerns if you are impacted by the business.
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I'm sure you are aware of Inn Harmony on 308 N. Signal St. wanting to become a hotel and/or hold special functions. How this issue plays out will shape the quality of life for many home-owners downtown and set precedents for other such structures in the Ojai Valley. There was an article about this issue in the Ojai Valley News, Friday edition that states some of the issues at hand but now there have been changes. If people want to speak out about the multiple issues this project will raise, I want them to know how to do so and they have a very small window in which to act.
There are a few facts of interest that citizens of Ojai need to be made aware of immediately. 1.) In the newspaper article it said that Inn Harmony had retracted its desire to hold outdoor special functions and is no longer seeking to build the 2-story guest structure in question. However, after the article was written, the owners of Inn Harmony declared their new intentions which are to still seek a permit for outdoor special functions for up to 176 guests and now wish to build an additional 1-story structure instead of 2-story. There is also a question about whether the proposed property should maintain hotel status or not and what impact that might have. 2.) There is a town meeting at 7:30 pm, at 401 South Ventura St., City of Ojai on Wednesday, June 20, 2007 where people will address these issues. 3.) People who want their concerns considered by the planning commission prior to the meeting must submit letters by Monday, June 18th at 5:00 pm -- otherwise they may voice their concerns at the meeting. The place where people can email their letters or concerns is to: kith@ci.ojai.ca.us addressed to Kanika Kith. They can also submit hand-written letters at the 401 Ventura St. address. Letters written about this proposed project have already impacted the decisions being made, so people are encouraged to take the time to write if they want to make the most impact.
There is a small amount of time in which citizens can act and readers of the Ojai Valley News might think there is no risk since the article stated some facts that are now changed. We need to figure out the best way to facilitate people being aware of all these issues and/or being able to act if they so choose.
Thank you in advance for your time and help. Please let me know how we might proceed.
Best,
Kate Crawford
dkatec@mindspring.com
Good day Ojai Valley, and welcome to ojainews.com!
Watch this space! The Editor’s Journal is where I’ll be preparing a regular snapshot of our Valley’s news and issues so you can quickly see what’s going on. I am very excited to serve as this project’s first Editor, and to serve you in so doing. I’d like in this very first Editor’s Journal to let you know a little bit about who I am, how I see my role and that of this site, and address some specific groups to whom I feel especially connected.
My name is evan austin, and I live in Ojai City with my wife and soon-to-be-born child. I am 27 years old, and recently graduated from Santa Barbara City College with a degree in Graphic Design. I have lived in this valley for 10 non-consecutive years, and I currently have family in Meiners Oaks and Oak View, as well as friends all over. I am very active politically and culturally in creating a world at peace, most notably in my roles as director of the Ojai Peace Coalition and board member of the Ventura-based group Citizens for Peaceful Resolutions. I also enjoy music of many kinds.
The two-word mantra and goal of ojainews.com is beautiful in its simplicity: TRANSPARENCY and ACCOUNTABILITY. It is my hope that as a visitor to this space you will consistently find the information and tools that you need to be empowered as what I consider the highest role in our democracy: Citizen. I believe that the workings of our government Of, By, and For the People are meant to be in plain view of us all, and if the will of the People is truly at the helm, then holding those who are elected to represent us as accountable agents is both our right and our responsibility.
TO THE OJAI CITY COUNCIL: “Watchdog” is not a completely useful analogy, because it inherently puts one entity at odds with another, and is all about catching someone doing something wrong. I see ojainews.com as a partner with the City (and other level) government in providing Citizen-powered democracy by promoting the kinds of openness that democratic institutions are meant to embrace anyway. Sure, your actions and decisions for better or worse are going to be recorded and accessible, but you knew that when you took the job. Please help us catch you doing something right.
TO AUTHORS AND READERS OF THE OJAI POST (where this Journal will be cross-posted): Prepare to see my name more often, as my own personal posting will not be compromised by my new posting-role as the ojainews.com Editor. For balance, I invite the other authors to post more often as well!
TO REVOLUTIONARIES: Ojainews.com is not an opinion site, nor it is an alternative campaign site. We will do our very best to objectively provide all the information we can about the issues which concern our valley, with our goal and purpose of Transparency and Accountability at the forefront.
TO JANE AND JOE CITIZEN: Welcome, and stay a while! This is your valley and your democracy...your right and responsibility to be an engaged and educated part of it begins here.
This form is available to report truck activity on roads that have been deemed unfit for truck traffic. These roads include those in certain residential zones (La Luna, Santa Ana, etc.), Route 33 in front of Nordhoff High School from 7:00am to 9:00am, etc. Please answer as many questions as possible and attach any pictures (or illustrative sketches) with descriptions. Please fill out one form per truck and type or print clearly.
VIOLATION OF TRUCK TRAVEL ROUTE REPORT
Provided by the Stop the Trucks Coalition of Ojai
Send completed forms to: Stop the Trucks, c/o Ojai Chamber of Commerce; PO Box 1134, Ojai, CA 93024
COMPLAINANT INFORMATION
Name: Phone Number:
Address:
Email:
INCIDENT INFORMATION
Date of incident: Approximate Time:
Location of violation:
Direction truck was travelling:
Description of violating truck:
Color of cab: Make:
License plate number: State:
Size: Attached Bin Single trailer Double trailer Other:_______
Did the truck appear to be speeding? Yes No Unable to tell
Incident Description (additional information about what you saw)
In an easy-to-read book review, I encountered the following three arguements for the disparity in achievement between children of different means, social classes if you will.
First, "Researchers Betty Hart and Todd Risley “found that, on average, professional parents spoke more than 2,000 words per hour to their children, working class parents spoke about 1,300, and welfare mothers spoke about 600. So by age 3, the children of professionals had vocabularies that were nearly 50 percent greater than those of working-class children and twice as large as those of welfare children.”
"Second, consider the cultural difference between professional and working-class jobs. Parents who are working professionals have authority and responsibility, so they are used to exploring alternatives and negotiating compromises. At home they talk their kids through solving problems and give reasons for their decisions or actions. Their children learn to negotiate what they want and feel entitled to do so.
“'But parents whose jobs entail following orders or doing routine tasks show less sense of efficacy. They are less likely to encourage their children to negotiate over clothing or food and more likely to instruct them by giving directions without extended discussion. Following orders, after all, is how they themselves behave at work.'”
"Lastly, affordable housing has become increasingly scarce, exacerbating the extent to which low-income people have to move. Changing residences often affects a family’s ability to function well and changing schools disrupts the continuity of a child’s education. "
And, the conclusion says what I was thinking:
"Schools may exacerbate the achievement gap, but they didn’t create it in the first place. As a nation, we are shockingly content to tolerate widespread poverty among our fellow citizens. We are the richest country in the world, but one in five children is brought up in a family living at the federal poverty line. The quintile above them is not much better off.
In short, we take lousy care of our kids, but find it convenient to blame the schools."
I was recently with family. One of my sister-in-law's friends had joined the Marines. I asked why. She told me, "Poverty made him join. He couldn't afford to go to college and they told him they'd pay." This young man lives in a poor neighborhood in a poor city in the "Heartland" of America. His other ("positive") options were probably working at a supermarket, K-Mart, or gas station. Most of the factories (with good benefits because of the Unions) have closed up and moved south. Is this the best way to care for our youth?
Before you respond, I encourage you to read the complete article.
Complete article: http://www.projo.com/opinion/columnists/content/se_educationwatch03_06-03-07_PT5QQFV.24c035f.html
I'll be at Earthplay today from 12 to 4pm interviewing host families for my international students who will be here in two weeks (yikes!) Please stop by or tell a friend or two to stop by and find out more. It's at the corner of Ojai Ave and Fox Street.
All parents reading this, regardless of your position on this topic, will recognize the second question asked to every expectant mother or father: "Is it a boy or a girl?" (the first question often is "When is it/are you due?") there are many opinions and schools of thought regarding the implications of this question, some more cynical than others, but there's an often hidden attachment that concerns me more: that the answer to the sex question is being used to determine what colors to buy.
who decided to assign colors to genders? and who decided what they should be? for me, restricting ourselves to and identifying ourselves by using certain colors based on what's between our legs is the same as having different drinking fountains for different skin colors.
For me, ALL COLORS ARE GENDER-NEUTRAL
Jessie and i have not used highly focused sound-waves to discover our baby's sex...it's simply not important to us whether it's a he or a she. this is a personal choice, and there's no embedded judgment of those who have. as a result, we've got a LOT of green and yellow outfits, toys, etc gifted to us. these are fine and beautiful, but now we're lacking in the pink and blue department.
what is it that stops us from enjoying certain colors based on gender? what does that discomfort taste like when we pick up a pink onesy when we know the child has a penis? is this labeling mechanism helpful to us socially? if it's not, is there an advantage to shattering it? what do we stand to gain?
from the office of Steve Bennett...
A Community Emergency Response Training (CERT) program is available to Ojai Valley residents. This 7-week course, sponsored by the Ventura County Fire Department, covers basic skills that are important to know in a disaster when emergency services are not available. CERT participants receive training, practice and learn how to work as a team in their neighborhoods. No prior experience or training is necessary, and there is no fee for the program.
Classes begin on Wednesday June 27, 2007 from 7:00 PM to 9:30 PM and will run weekly through August 15. (No class on Wednesday, July 4.) Classes will be held in the multi-purpose room at the Oak View Park and Resource Center, 555 Mahoney, Oak View.
To register for CERT, email steve.bennett@ventura.org with your name, address and phone number or call Steve Bennett's office at 805-654-2703.
Dear Governor Schwarzenegger,
How would it be if the Governor moved his family to Ojai, only to discover that the entire community is on the verge of suing the State of California & CALTRANS?
I am the Chairman of the Board of the Ventura County Economic Development Association (VCEDA) but perhaps more relevant to you now, as you and First Lady Maria Shriver go house-hunting; I am also a founder of the Ojai coalition to “Stop the Trucks.”
Members of this coalition to prevent Route 33 from being turned into an industrial truck route include: the City of Ojai; the Ojai Unified School District, the Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce; the Board of Realtors; as well as thousands of local residents. We are also supported across party lines by many of our local and regional representatives including Assemblywoman Audra Strickland and County Supervisor Steve Bennett.
At issue is the economic, environmental and safety of the entire Ojai basin from several existing and proposed gravel mines in the Cuyama Valley on the far side of the Los Padres Forest. These mines, if all approved, could potential flood Ojai with between 400 – 800 double hopper, 80,000 pound gravel trucks 24/7 – that’s one truck rolling through Ojai, spewing diesel fumes and particulate past our high school, elementary school, senior citizen housing parks, resorts and hospital every 3-5 minutes, seven days a week.
The choke point in all of this CALTRANS and their administration of Route 33, a road you’ve probably driven on your motorcycle. Built in 1933, this scenic byway over the mountains features several dozen hairpin turns and three tunnels, all of which are too narrow for a single gravel truck to pass through without moving into opposing traffic. Mile for mile Route 33 is already one of the most dangerous roads in all California with nearly one fatality a week just on the section that goes up and over the 6,000 foot high Los Padres Forest Mountains.
Six months ago we asked CALTRANS, District 7 (Doug Failing) through County Supervisor Bennett to do a geometric safety study of 33. Given that CALTRANS is probably the largest end-user of gravel in the western world, we were concerned about potential conflicts of interest. This fear was magnified when their chief engineer, announced before the study had begun that the road was safe, despite all evidence to the contrary.
Even as the “Stop the Trucks,” coalition wrestles with the planning departments in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties, CALTRANS continues to drag its feet on producing the study.
A ruling by CALTRANS that honestly reflects the actual facts of the road would ban heavy truck traffic from Route 33 through the Los Padres Forest, effectively ending Ojai’s gravel truck nightmare. If however CALTRANS fudges its findings and turns Ojai into an industrial truck route, the result will be endless legal battles as the very survival of our community is at stake.
We hope that you might take an interest in helping Ojai to resolve this issue by insuring that CALTRANS does the right thing.
From a press release submitted by Food for Thought Ojai:
No, it’s not about the sausage company.
The Real Dirt on Farmer John is a movie about Illinois farmer John Petersen and his decades-long struggle to wrest right livelihood from his family’s farm. Winner of over 30 festival awards, this film has it all – life, death, sex, terrorism, art, failure, success. Helped along by the fact that his mom started taking 16 mm movies of the family when John was a child, and by the fact that John is an artist as well as a bred-in-the-bones farmer, this movie reaches far beyond any normal expectations of a documentary about a mid-western farmer.
Presented by Food for Thought Ojai, the Ojai Film Society, and Slow Food Ojai/Ventura. The Real Dirt on Farmer John will show Saturday and Sunday, June 30-July 1, at 4:30 pm at the Ojai Playhouse in downtown Ojai. Tickets are $8 for adults, and $5 for seniors and students at the door.
Farmer John Petersen will be at BOTH screenings for Q & A.
Immediately following the SUNDAY screening, there will be a fixed price dinner reception for Farmer John ($25 per person for three course tasting menu featuring locally grown produce and poultry) at ironpan restaurant located 219 East Matilija Street in Ojai. Please call ironpan for reservations 805-646-3500 by Friday June 29.
View the film’s trailer at http://www.farmerjohnmovie.com/Home.html.
For further information, please call Marty Fujita at 640-5044.
I'm still looking for host families for the 34 high school students from Ho Chi Minh City. On the one hand I'm very excited. I'm putting together a great program of activities and a really fun project for the students to work on and show off the language skills. It gives me great joy when I discover new ways to teach children. In this case, the children are between 14 and 17, so not the 4th and 5th graders I'm accustomed to teaching. I've been hesitant to post another search because of the last post that landed me in hot water.
If you recall, I put out a notice that I'd be out and about in town during the Farmer's Market and going "door to door," as I phrased it. Well, imagine my surprise when I became embroiled in a conversation with a woman in Oceanside who identified herself as a member of the committee for the safety of foreign exchange students. She was unhappy with my recruiting tactics and would be reporting me to the FBI. Luckily, a representative of the EF International Language School, the organization behind this trip, was on hand to allay this woman's worries. I will not have to fool with her again. So, I'm back to my post.
Long-story-short, I still need folks who will be generous enough to open their homes to this group of ESL students. They tour the east coast for one week before they arrive here in Ojai July 3. The next four weeks are jam-packed with activities. Their Ojai experience will be very eclectic. And there's plenty of the standard tourist fare on the agenda, as well. If anyone is interested and would like further details, please come to the conference room at EARTHPLAY, 501 E. Ojai Avenue, right at Fox St. I will be there from noon to 4pm, along with my area manager Shelly Nestved. For those of you who have already volunteered, profiles of the students will be available for us to match up with the perfect family. And if you can't make it or know of a family who would be interested in hosting, please give me a call at 798-0929.
thanks everyone!
Check out the big cover story on Kira Ryder and Lulu Bandha's in Ventana Monthly. A short excerpt:
"...beneath her relaxed, gregarious manner is a focused intensity, a commitment to engaging in her work to the fullest. When she squats before first-time visitors, grabs them by the wrist, looks into their eyes, and says, "This is your yoga practice," she means business. For Ryder, the goal of teaching yoga is to create an atmosphere where her students — "practitioners" as she calls them — can own their own practice, find their inner yoga teacher and learn to trust that guide."
See you all at Lulu's, 5:15pm today, for Yoga Basics?
This year's on-coming drought will challenge all of us living in the Ojai area; humans, animals, plants and fish especially. But some good can come out of even a drought.
Where I live with my family in Upper Ojai, usually what we hear when we step outside at this time of year the is the sound of Sisar Creek, on its long journey from the Topa Topas down to the sea.
This year we never did get the ten inches of rain it takes to get the creek flowing through our area.
We miss the water. But in its absence, I have heard a sound I never heard before.
I heard it first a few weeks ago, when after finishing the week's labors I went outside, exhausted, and simply sat in the sun for a time. I heard a little flutey warble in the trees, watery and quick, up and down the scale of a little wind instrument. I looked for the bird, but couldn't find it. This Sunday I happened to hear a bird pecking lightly but persistently at a high branch, and heard the little sound again, and this time found its maker.
Although from my angle I didn't see the pinkish breast described here, its wings were entirely black, which the USGS says distinguishes it from every other woodpecker in the U.S. And I heard it clearly, and you at home can too, thanks to the amazing site maintained by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
I think it's the Lewis's Woodpecker, named after Meriwether Lewis, of Lewis and Clark fame. This bird happens to be on Audubon's endangered Watchlist.
we find out, whether,
'tis 2012 or 2011 !!
spirit called us, worlds apart,
drum assembling, Episong of World-Heart
you are the youth, Eternity given
whom chose your Self, forgive-ness-ses' lesson
greening Valley, greening World
you and I, wings have ~now~ unfurled ...
who can identify this trail?
Hypothetically:
Your best friend has nurtured a long-time interest in the occult, and has recently started wearing black clothing and ominous symbols. She finally admits that she's begun the initiation process of joining a cult which practices human sacrifice.
Do you do anything to prevent her from joining? Where do your rights end and hers begin? If you do choose to stop her, to what lengths will you go to accomplish this? What needs - hers and yours - are at work here? What is the price of taking action vs. the price of doing nothing?
I am very pleased to welcome a new author to The Ojai Post, Kit Stolz. Kit is an accomplished author and thought leader in the global warming and environmental movements. As a fan of his blog A Change in the Wind, I am very much looking forward to his contributions to the Post.
I also want to share this press release from the Ojai Valley Green Coalition - please join us on the 21st for a fascinating presentation on the Ojai Valley's ecological footprint.
Is Our Planet Big Enough for the Ojai Valley?
Find out on Thursday, June 21 at 7 p.m. in the Boardroom of the Ojai Valley Unified School District, 414 East Ojai Avenue, when the Ojai Valley Green Coalition invites you to check out how our individual and collective lifestyles impact the ecological footprint of the Ojai Valley—and, ultimately, the planet. Learn how to make some simple adjustments to reduce that impact. Learn how to make other adjustments that may not be quite so simple.
Trudy Ingram, a locally based ecologist and environmental consultant with over 25 years of experience in natural resource protection and environmental permitting, will present “Go Green Ojai, Part II: A Model for Sustainable Solutions.” She will review how we in the Ojai Valley use—and misuse—nature’s resources.
“Everything we eat, wear, drive, buy and throw away comes from the earth,” Ingram says. “A community’s footprint is the land area needed to produce the resources and to absorb the wastes of that community.”
Following up on recommendations created at May 12’s event “Go Green Ojai, An Environmental Summit,” the Ojai Valley Green Coalition was looking for ways to establish goals for reducing carbon dioxide emissions and improving energy efficiency and sustainability in our Valley.
While acknowledging international, national and state environmental goals, OVGC had started with the premise that the Ojai Valley is a special place, with its own, unique set of environmental issues. But how to determine the special needs of The Ojai Valley? And how to measure how successfully Valley residents and businesses could make the adjustments necessary to develop the Ojai Valley into the “Model Green Community” of OVGC’s mission statement?
It turns out that five years ago Ingram partnered with Redefining Progress, a California research and policy nonprofit group, and GeoInsight International to calculate and map the ecological footprint of the Ojai Valley. Thus, OVGC found that we actually have one benchmark against which Ojai Valley residents and the various governmental bodies in our Valley can prioritize ways to reduce our planetary impact and measure the progress of those actions.
So, the OVGC is urging you, once again, to come to learn with them—free of charge—the actual ecological footprint of The Ojai Valley and help identify ways we can reduce that footprint.
Following Ingram’s presentation, the OVGC will demonstrate how each of us can create and calculate his or her own individual ecological footprint.
Let's take the lead of the Brits and create Ojai music & art festivals examples of environmentally conscious events as well.
Glastonbury Music Festival - June 22-24, 2007
This years Glastonbury festival-goers will be asked to make a difference to climate change by reducing their carbon footprint. As well as eating organic food, washing in carbon neutral showers, using eco-friendly toilets and being supplied with recycled toilet paper, revellers will be invited to join the I Count campaign. It details 16 steps to reduce their environmental impact, and aims to sign up 100,000 people in three days.
The full line-up of musicians to perform at the Glastonbury festival later this month has been announced.
The Who, The Killers and Arctic Monkeys will be headlining on the Pyramid Stage during the three-day event.Among the more than 200 acts listed are Rufus Wainwright, Lily Allen, Amy Winehouse, The Gossip, Paul Weller, Chemical Brothers and Shirley Bassey.The festival, which starts on 22 June, will be the largest yet, with an extended capacity of 177,500.
Once again one of my favorite online info. resources Tree Hugger gave me some perspective. When our "elite enclave" (see Suza's post) experiences the same sting as other parts of the world maybe our habits will change and there will be a conscious effort to downsize our vehicles, carpool, provide EV public transportation. Support the Ojai Valley Green Coalition.
From Tree Hugger:
We have to thank Wired for this graphic Atlas of Gas Prices around the world. Hmmm. Any wonder Americans are still driving gas-guzzlers? Gas prices in China are close to American prices, which doesn't seem to pose a problem for the drivers of 11.5 million cars in spite of income disparities. Sitting on a puddle of oil seems to keep prices low--look at the mid-east or Venezuela-- which makes Norway's commitment to taxing gas consumers into efficiency seem especially admirable.
The last couple months I have been using the "free WiFi" at Bart's Books here and there. Recently, every time I accessed the internet thru Bart's, the WiFi would turn off after a couple minutes. Finally, today, I decided to inquire why. I was told that "I only take up space." And: "I have never bought anything." As far as the space issue goes, guilty, but aren't we all? As far as buying books goes, I bought 3 books sometime in the last month. When I suggested that we look at their written records, they refused. I even offered to show my I.D. but their expressionless faces were answer enough. I have given Bart's Books hundreds of books for a fraction of their cost - especially since the time of the new ownership. I have never taken cash from the new ownership and kept it on credit. Last year, I made an extra effort to mail 50 books from the E coast - specifically for Bart's as a way to thank them for their contribution to the Ojai community. What is the real reason for my being 'censored' then?
I recall a conversation I had with a certain pony-tailed manager just prior to my being 'banned'. The conversation concerned Subway's entrance into the Ojai core. Our opinions differed. He vehemently wants the Subway in town. I am opposed to franchises in our town. He said he'd 'gladly welcome Barnes and Nobel to set up shop accross the street". I did not argue. He asked where I stood and when I said 'opposed' he walked away. Soon after our conversation, my access started being denied, my contribution to their vast supply of books is now irrelevant. The many books I have purchased: irrelevant. The short haired manager who spoke to me today lied to my face. Maybe my mini docs struck a nerve. Not one person there had the backbone to be up front with me.
THE GRAVEL TRUCK THREAT: QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
WHY IS THIS HAPPENING NOW? Until two years ago most gravel, the prime ingredient of both concrete and asphalt, came from quarries in Oxnard. Those closed and are being transformed into a residential area now known as Riverpark.
The Cuyama Valley on the on the far side of the Los Padres Mountains north of Ojai on Route 33, was identified as a new source. The Cuyama Valley watershed area straddles four separate counties: Ventura, Santa Barbara, Kern and San Luis Obispo.
The town and Valley of Ojai sits at the intersection of two State Roads, 33 and 150. These roads are controlled by the state, not the city or county. By definition, state roads are “designed and maintained to facilitate commerce,” by Caltrans, which is one of the world’s largest single end user of gravel.
Although it is simple and safe to travel from Cuyama east to the 5 Freeway and west to the 101 Freeway on Route 166, there was (and still is) no safe way of hauling 80,000 pounds worth rock directly south to Ventura County without going up and over the 6,000 foot mountains on Route 33.
Several years ago Caltrans set about reinforcing bridges on the 33 to support the weight of gravel haulers. What they couldn’t fix – and apparently seemed all too content to ignore - were the eighteen hairpin turns and three tunnels that are all too small for even a single gravel truck to navigate without moving into opposing traffic.
Route 33 is a scenic two lane highway through national forest lands that was built during the depression and finished in 1933 when the largest trucks were smaller than most modern SUV’s. Before the trucks started running, the number of total average daily car vehicle trips over the mountains was only around 250.
The rains of 2004-2005 (think La Conchita) that washed out both ends of Route 150 as well as the Arnaz Grade on 33 below Oak View and upper 33 near the headwaters of the Sespe, interrupted any chance of hauling gravel this way.
The quarries and asphalt plant at Riverpark closed around the same time 150 and 33 re-opened.
Although for the moment most truck traffic has been limited to 33 and the west side, that may change shortly. With development coming to Santa Paula’s Adams Canyon and a new asphalt plant being proposed there by Granite Construction Co., gravel haulage will come down from Cuyama and then through downtown Ojai, the East End and Upper Ojai along Highway 150 to reach Santa Paula. Caltrans has plans to strengthen the bridges on Ojai Avenue east of town. The agency has already designated Route 150 from Santa Paula, though Ojai as a “truck route.”
HOW MANY GRAVEL TRUCK TRIPS ARE THERE ON 150 AND 33 NOW? The official number is far smaller than numbers observed by local citizens. One estimate is several hundred—at some hours as many as one per minute.
The full impact has not yet been felt by residents of the Ojai Valley. If all pending permits are approved, somewhere between 600 - 800 gravel trucks a day, each weighing up to 80,000 lbs, could be coming through Ojai, seven days a week, 24 hours a day, That’s one truck every 3-5 minutes cruising down Route 33 or cutting through downtown Ojai on their way to Santa Paula.
The weight of a single gravel truck is the equivalent of 15 large SUV’s stack on top of each other.
WHEN DO THEY START RUNNING? As early as 2:30 AM. Some mines have restrictions on their hours, others do not. Despite 15 major trucking accidents reported over the past few years, the Ventura Planning Department inexplicably and without much public notice expanded the hours of the Ozena Mine from 7 hours a day to 20 hours.
WHAT ABOUT ROAD SAFETY? Caltrans contends that Route 150 from Ojai to Santa Paula and Route 33 through the Los Padres National Forest are safe despite overwhelming evidence otherwise. There are no runaway truck areas; shoulders are narrow or non-existent; and lanes aren’t wide enough for a single truck to stay in without crossing into opposing traffic.
In recent years there have been 15 reported major truck accidents.
Gravel trucks are too wide to pass through the narrow and low tunnels on 33 except in the middle of the road, which presents a major danger to any other vehicle coming in the opposite direction. Gravel from uncovered trucks is cracking vehicle windshield and the oversized trucks are forcing cars and cyclists off the road. Many have overturned or run other vehicles off the road as they attempt to navigate the numerous hairpin turns.
In the valley, 150 and 33 are our Main Street. It is the only concourse for the hospital, churches, shopping districts, schools, pedestrians, cyclists, horses, children, student drivers and local traffic. The County already mandates that no residence or business may do any additional construction that adds car trips to the already overloaded road.
Over 11,000 people commute to and from work on 150 and 33 everyday. Truck accidents and degradations to the road will disrupt, delay and possibly destroy for periods of time the ability of people to make a living.
In January of 2005, Ojai Valley residents, supplies, and tourists were unable to travel in or out of the area, compromising not only our safety, but our economy as well, when the Arnaz Grade collapsed.
Numerous schools lie in the direct path of trucks, putting students and families at Nordhoff, Mira Monte, the Ojai Valley School, Chaparral, Matilija and Villanova at risk of being struck. These areas are already dangerous – just months ago a student was killed in a head-on collision in front of Villanova and numerous others have been killed crossing the street in front of Nordhoff. More traffic, especially from trucks that can’t stop quickly, increases the risk of accidents and the negatively impacts the ability for students to participate in recreational activities outside. Furthermore, noise from the passage of trucks will make learning in the classroom more difficult. Individual trucks are loud, but since Ojai is a valley, noise from these trucks reverberates, multiplying the sound of each one.
WHAT ABOUT AIR QUALITY? Surrounded by mountains, with inversions in the air shed, the Ojai Valley has the worst air quality in Ventura County. The resultant pollution and dust from diesel-fueled trucks will significantly degrade the air quality of the Ojai Valley. Diesel exhaust is highly toxic and carcinogenic, especially to children. Lower air quality will disrupt the ability of children to play outside, as well as raise health concerns for all, especially the high number of senior citizens that reside here.
The Ojai Unified School District has voiced its strong opposition. Air quality is often very bad, but 800 truck trips a day may force students to remain indoors with the windows shut instead of partake in physical education, play at recess or eat lunch at outdoor tables.
Ojai has 25% more senior citizen than the average American community. Many live in mobile home parks located along the 150 and 33 corridors. Seniors, like children, are the most vulnerable to the negative affects of air pollution, particularly those with asthma. If the trucks keep coming, they will have to move, however, with the value of their home so degraded, it won’t be possible to get enough from the sale to purchase another home.
WHAT’S THE ECONOMIC IMPACT? Ojai has a recreation based tourist economy. Should the air quality decline and the noise pollution from trucks increase (among other aesthetic concerns), local businesses catering to tourists could collapse. Who would visit Ojai to get away from it all, if all they found was a valley filled with trucks? Would you bring your horse trailer on these roads? Would you buy property here? Retire here? Raise your children here? Imagine a night at the Ojai Music Festival, a day at the tennis tournament, or a round of golf played to the sounds and smells of an endless wall of gravel trucks.
Other economic concerns include the agricultural sector, which relies on clean air and water to produce specialty crops, such as Pixie tangerines and avocados. Real estate values will also be negatively impacted as sellers will have to disclose truck traffic to buyers. According to the Board of Realtors property values in the Ojai Valley have already been negatively impacted..
WHAT ABOUT NOISE? Gravel trucks use noisy jake brakes going down mountain roads. Although no one individual truck exceeds the seeming high standards for noise pollution, cumulatively they have triggered many complaints. Thousands of people reside within 100 feet of 150 and 33. Many already suffer from an inability to sleep with trucks barreling by all through the night.
WE NEED GRAVEL, IF NOT 33 , THEN HOW? Highway 166, an already-established route for heavy trucking, connects the Cuyama Valley to both the 101 Freeway to the west and the 5 Freeway to the east. Going around this way will cost gravel truck drivers no more than 45 extra minutes on the road each way.
WHO MAKES UP THE “STOP THE TRUCKS” COALITION? A diverse group including the Ojai Unified School District, the Chamber of Commerce, the Board of Realtors, Forestwatch, the City of Ojai, and many private citizens. We have also received support from our County Supervisor, Steve Bennett and our State Assemblywoman, Audra Strickland.
WHAT IS GOVERNMENT DOING TO MINIMIZE THE IMPACT? As previously noted both 150 and 33 are controlled by the State of California, (Caltrans) whose mandate is to facilitate commerce and travel. Ojai City officials have no authority to regulate trucking. Although mining and trucking permits are authorized by the Planning Departments in either Santa Barbara or Ventura County, they do no actual monitoring unless there are citizen complaints.
The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department (Ojai Police substation) and CHP have stated they do not have the manpower to monitor and control gravel trucks. They can only cite and ticket traffic violations, not permit violations.
Without oversight it appears gravel trucks are traveling through the Ojai Valley well beyond the limitations of their respective permits.
While trucks are not allowed to drive in residential zones, they are often sighted using streets such as La Luna to avoid detection during restricted hours. Many gravel trucks are operated by independent trucking companies and drivers. They are not employed by the mines. There is nothing to say that they won’t, and don’t already, write reports that they’re driving on SR 166 to Interstate 5, when in fact they have driven south on SR 33.
As currently structured, the only control is citizen complaints. Citizens are asked to report errant trucks, either on the road during black out periods, before or after hours, or on residential streets. Unfortunately it is virtually impossible for citizens to identify which truck is from which mine and who is violating what permit. By law, mitigations are supposed to be both reasonable and feasible. This is neither.
WHICH MINES ARE DISPATCHING TRUCKS? Presently most trucks traveling south from Cuyama are from the Ozena Mine in Ventura County. The Ozena Mine is owned and operated by the Virgilio Family, who also own and operate Boulevard Sales & Service, a gun dealer whose two stores in Compton and the Ojai Valley were raided and shut by Federal ATF agents for allegedly selling weapons to known felons. According to the ATF affidavit those weapons were linked to approximately two dozen murders.
In addition to permits authorized by the Ventura County planning department, Ozena allegedly also has contracts for trucking and gravel with Caltrans.
The Ozena Mine is applying to double their operations from 100 to 200 trips/day. In 2006, when Ozena’s original permit expired, Ventura County Planning Commission staff wanted to grant a new permit with a Negative Declaration (meaning there would be no impacts to the environment) instead of the normally required Environmental Impact Report (EIR). Ojai’s newly formed “Stop The Trucks” Coalition successfully demanded that Ozena complete an EIR. Ozena will continue it’s present operations until the EIR is completed and their permit goes before the VC Planning Commission.
Trucks from the following mines can also come this way without notice: TXI/Pacific Custom Materials (near Frazier Park on Lockwood Valley Road); Lima Gypsum Mine (in Ventura County, on Quatal Canyon Road); GPS (along Hwy 33 in Santa Barbara County); Mossler Rock Quarry (just north of Ojai on Hwy 33); and even possibly a couple in Kern County.
Some of these mines have permit conditions restricting the hours of truck traffic through Ojai, while others (such as GPS) do not have any restrictions on the numbers or times of trucks. It is virtually impossible to determine which trucks are coming from which mines.
The Lima Gypsum Mine is presently allowed 240 trips/day. The GPS Mine has no numerical limitations and is applying for an unlimited number of trips over the next 30 years.
The Troesh Family’s proposed Diamond Rock Mine has applied to Santa Barbara County for a 30 year permit to operate a gravel mine in the Cuyama Valley. They are asking for up to 138 trips/day with no limitation on days or hours of the day, including Saturday and Sunday. Cuyama Valley residents are also united against the Diamond Rock (DR) project because of its threat to the water table so necessary for their vineyards, ranches and farms, and it’s negative and detrimental impact on the air and quality of life. On the other side of the issue Santa Barbara County needs the gravel for the concrete to develop housing, shopping centers, schools, hospitals, roads, etc in Santa Maria.
Other as yet unnamed mines are waiting to see if these other proposals are approved before submitting new permit requests..
ACCORDING TO THE PRESS, HASN’T THE COALITION ALREADY WON ITS FIGHT? Not at all. One mine, Ozena, is now being required to submit an environmental impact report to Ventura County. This will cause a delay of several months, but nothing more. We are facing battles in Santa Barbara County over the proposed Diamond Rock Mine and in Ventura County over the renewal permit for the Ozena Mine. Ultimately the real battle will be against Caltrans and the need to bar all heavy trucking from Route 33 over the mountains. All of this costs money.
HOW MUCH IS THE “STOP THE TRUCKS” COALITION SEEKING TO RAISE AND WHY? The Ojai Valley must raise funds to pay the environmental consultants and lawyers to carry the fight and effectively stop the numerous gravel mine permits presently in the pipeline before they are granted. The coalition is comprised entirely of volunteers and presently has no paid staff.
Following the Santa Maria hearing, the “Stop the Trucks” Coalition doubled its fundraising goal to $200,000. If everyone in the Ojai Valley contributed as little as ten dollars each we would reach our goal instantly.
HOW CAN I HELP OR DONATE FUNDS? The Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce is helping the coalition collect funds. Please see our “Pledge Form” at www.ojaipost.com/stopthetrucks.shtml
HOW CAN I BE CONTACTED OR ADD MY EMAIL TO YOUR MAILING LIST? Currently the coalition does not have a central office or website as we are trying to minimize overhead costs. Those are in development. In the mean time you can write to smythe@ojai.net and we will try to direct your query to the right person.
These answers are as accurate as we can provide as of 6/9/07, and are subject to revision.
I am very pleased to announce evan austin as the first Editor of OjaiNews.com. evan's thoughtfulness, diplomacy and community leadership are admirable qualities that will serve him, and the readers of OjaiNews.com, well indeed.
At OjaiNews.com, we are focusing on two main things to start - first, bringing together in one site all of the Ojai news and event sources that our town has to offer, from the Post and OjaiEvents.com to OVN's blog, Radio Ojai and more. Additionally, we are promoting transparency and accountability at the government level by providing and archiving all sorts of public records, citizen resources and much more to come including video.
evan is going to be posting an Editor's Journal over there and here at the Post. The Journal is his baby, with the general idea that it will provide a good snapshot of what is going on in Ojai on a near-daily basis. It will be cross-posted here in its entirety - we aren't forcing anyone over to the other site to read it.
We do have some advertising opportunities at OjaiNews.com. Contact me if you are interested. It's business as usual at the Ojai Post - we'll be covering the issues, having fun, indulging the fairly frequent rant - with no ads of any sort. Thanks for reading and participating!
I have no desire to spend $499 for access to Sacramento Bee's political website, but this tasty tidbit appears as a story summary in Google News results...
Say hi to Ojai: Arnold and Maria go house-hunting Sacramento Bee, CA - 7 hours ago The state's first couple recently checked out property in the elite enclave of Ojai, a small town in Ventura County north of Los Angeles. ...
On Saturday June 30th, the Lake Casitas Rockfest comes to town. Headlined by Dread Zeppelin (who my band opened for at least three times waaayyy back in the day), the festival features a host of other bands including locals Dr. Surf and Lisa Snider's favs Myridian. More info on promoter Howard Freiberg's site...
This week in particular, I have seen the intense round-the-clock dedication being made by citizens and officials alike on the gravel truck issue. I would like to personally thank everyone who is working diligently on this, and has donated to the cause. In particular, the Stop The Trucks coalition, led by Howard Smith, and Supervisor Steve Benett and his office have put a tremendous amount of time into protecting the Ojai Valley.
Read on for the latest...
Water Threats: the OVN posted a story on their blog regarding a new angle in the fight against the trucks:
"...members of the of Ventura County coalition brought up yet another serious environmental impact that was not properly addressed in the report: the extraction of groundwater. The Santa Barbara County mine projects would extract 55.24 acre-feet per year from the ground water basin during an average production year of 500,000 tons of gravel and 77.11 acre-feet per year, according to the EIR. Though Santa Barbara County has a policy of extracting no more than 31-acre feet per year, the mine project’s expected extraction significantly exceeds that threshold."
Asphalt Plants: Howard Smith sent out an open email:
There is a new asphalt plant opening in Santa Paula that will need gravel...The immediate threat to Ojai is this: If any of the mines in the Cuyama Valley contract with this new plant, there are no known prohibitions on those trucks coming down 33, turning left at the "Y"; driving through downtown, the East End and Upper Ojai on their way to Santa Paula.
As proposed now almost six hundred gravel trucks a day could be coming through the Ojai Valley, seven days a week, 24 hours a day, That’s one truck every 3-5 minutes cruising down Route 33 or cutting through downtown Ojai on their way to Santa Paula.In addition to all of the other problems we've been discussing for months of air quality, safety, traffic and economic impact, imagine a night at the Ojai Music Festival, a day at the tennis tournament, or a round of golf played to the sounds and smells of an endless wall of gravel trucks.
Your neighbors in the "Stop the Trucks" coalition have brought on board great legal help. We need your financial support if we are to save Ojai.
Wired profiles Ojai-based David Allen Company, heaping praise on its large and growing user community. Nice read for an early Friday evening.
I recently returned from a 10-day motorcycle ride out to Colorado with my dad and best friend. What a great treat to ride through six States, mostly on two-lane highways, seeing many small towns. Over 90% of the meals we ate and places we stayed on our trip were at local businesses (i.e., non-chain, non-franchise). You may be surprised to know that in many of these small towns, the one common denominator was a Subway Restaurant. Go figure! Ojai definitely has something special and I was happy to return home even though most of the trip was spectacularly beautiful.
Back here in Ojai, our citizen driven Initiative continues to collect signatures and the Ojai City Council will be voting Tuesday on their "Urgency Ordinance" that is due to expire (you may recall, this ordinance was a 45-day moratorium on formula businesses in the City of Ojai). The council can extend their ordinance for up to another 10 months. I support the extension of the Urgency Ordinance.
The citizen driven petition has signatures from over 10% of the registered voters in Ojai and we can submit the petition to the City at any time. However, we will continue to collect signatures in an effort to get over 15% of the registered voters, especially if the Urgency Ordinance is not extended by the City Council.
Why is this so important? This initiative relates directly to Ojai’s history of slow growth. What we are witnessing across the country is massive growth driven by cookie-cutter track home developments and chain-store filled strip malls. If we allow the formula business to enter our environment, it will slowly change the Ojai Valley landscape.
This is also directly related to the global environmental crisis. A recent Adbusters magazine blog post perfectly illustrates the current crisis in their post Denny's & The Farmers Diner: Agribusiness Gives Way to Local Food. Adbusters looks at the food source of Denny’s and of The Farmers Diner in Barre, Vermont. You can read all the details on their site (linked above), but here are some highlights:
Denny’s
Meat: From the commercial feedlots of the southwest USA.
Dairy Products: From the "confined dairy operations" of Central Valley, California, where cows are expected to pump out 100 pounds of milk a day.
Vegetables: From agri-business suppliers in the California Sunbelt.
French Fries: From the potato processing plants of the northwest USA.
The Farmers Diner
Vegetables: From Cedar Circle Farm, East Thetford, Vermont.
Dairy Products: From Rock Bottom Farm, Strafford, Vermont.
French Fries: From the farms of Peasely, Chappel, Guildhall and Williamstown, Vermont.
Meat: From Montana Yankee Ranch, Starksboro, Vermont.
Seems to me that local business are the logical choice for Ojai and for the environment. What do you think?
Call for Nominations
Spirit of Small Business - 2007
Deadline: June 25th!
On July 27th, the Pacific Coast Business Times will publish their Fifth annual Spirit of Small Business special section. This special section will include articles about the Pacific Coast Business Times small-business award winners, a variety of small-business “how-to” articles, and an extensive small-business resource guide.
The Business Times and the Los Angeles District Office of the U.S. Small Business Administration conceived the Spirit of Small Business to recognize the accomplishments of small businesses. Winners are chosen based on demonstration of sustainable enterprise (especially overcoming hardship or other obstacles), industry leadership and community participation. Companies should have less than 100 employees. Winners will be honored at an awards luncheon featuring Fess Parker as keynote speaker. The luncheon will be held at Fess Parker’s DoubleTree Resort in Santa Barbara on August 16.
Categories are:
· North Santa Barbara County Company of the Year
· South Santa Barbara County Company of the Year
· West Ventura County Company of the Year
· East Ventura County Company of the Year
· Minority-owned Business of the Year
· Woman-owned Business of the Year
· Veteran-owned Business of the Year
· Emerging Business (Owner under 21 years old)
Nomination deadline: June 25th
Please contact Managing Editor Ray Estrada with the name of the company nominated, contact information and a letter of nomination.
Email: newsroom@pacbiztimes.com
Phone: (805) 560-6950 ext.226
Fax: (805) 560-8399
June 1 was the 40th anniversary of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967).
When I first heard Sgt.Pepper's by the Beatles it was one of those albums that jump started my inspiration and interest in music. The orchestral arrangements, sound scapes and phenomenal melodies (not to mention the cool outfits of the Fab four) kept me transfixed. I must have listened to it at least 2-3 times a day for months. Few things in life have this kind of impact on us. This was one for me.
What event or... captivated and inspired you as a child?
Here's great article about the making of :
http://www.riprense.com/sgtpepper.htm
It begins: Many critics, I think, have forgotten that “Pepper” was a kind of pinnacle of genre, a new sort of music that had never exactly existed before. You no more dismiss its importance and achievement than you dismiss Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony because it’s 19th century orchestral music. Continuing that analogy, you don’t evaluate the Ninth Symphony as a collection of movements that have no particular relationship to one another, and you do not evaluate “Sgt. Pepper” as a bunch of songs that happened to appear together on a vinyl disc. This album is a piece. Though not conceived as a whole, it was executed as one---the product of a single gigantic and intense series of recording sessions. It also bears remembering that there were no hits from “Pepper,” no singles. The whole damn thing was a hit, and the biggest of its time, if not all time. In the summer of 1967, in many cities, you could not walk the length of a block without leaving earshot of this record. Humanity’s collective jaw was agape, its ears full of iridescent, irresistable sounds of a kind it had never heard before.
Jock Doubleday was suspended as an author in October 2008. Despite his claims of censorship, none of his posts have been removed.
As the new millennium slips into the future like a stealth bomber, seeds planted by the hippie generation are growing.
The quotes below are from Annie Gottlieb's book, Do You Believe in Magic? The Second Coming of the Sixties Generation.
It's interesting to note the parallels between the hippies and the 9/11 truthers.
We know how their crisis ended. How will ours?
Jock Doubleday
Director
Natural Woman, Natural Man, Inc.
director@spontaneouscreation.org
http://www.SpontaneousCreation.org
"If there is one theme that runs like a red thread through the fabric of our generation, it is an obsession with truth: finding the truth, telling the truth, not lying to oneself or others, honesty, authenticity, integrity." (Annie Gottlieb, Do You Believe in Magic? The Second Coming of the Sixties Generation (1987) pp. 27-28)
"We were young. We had, as yet, no great stake in the System whose apparent heirs we were. And we felt vaguely oppressed by it in many ways: the social and academic competition in high school, the anonymity of the great universities, the sense of hypocrisy and of sensual and spiritual poverty that had already sent some of us on a search with an unknown goal." (Annie Gottlieb, Do You Believe in Magic? The Second Coming of the Sixties Generation (1987) p. 32)
"Only action could cleanse you." (Annie Gottlieb, Do You Believe in Magic? The Second Coming of the Sixties Generation (1987) p. 32)
"President Kennedy had created the Peace Corps as another outlet for our idealism. "The whole idea of that was that you can make a difference," says a woman born in 1945. "I was sixteen years old and I believed it. I really believed that I was going to be able to change the world." With an image of youthful activism at the helm, America was successfully socializing its white young.
"We could not then have conceived of the Peace Corps as an arm of Yankee imperialism, any more than we could have dreamed that one or both of the Kennedy brothers were screwing Marilyn Monroe. We believed. "It was a feeling of being at the apogee of history," Marc Barasch remembers. "A godlike state, the Greco-Roman ideal flowering in some weird way. We had no sense of entropy. We were going to live forever." And so was our handsome young president, with his hero's backache, his two cute kids, his hair blowing in the breeze." (Annie Gottlieb, Do You Believe in Magic? The Second Coming of the Sixties Generation (1987) p. 34)
"November 22, 1963
"That day, and the days that followed, television became our tribal bard, weaving an unforgettable visual ballad out of live coverage, news photos, the frames of Abraham Zapruder's home movie. The smiling, waving motorcade. JFK's elbows flying up as his hands clutch at his throat. Jackie crawling over the trunk of the car, reaching out for help in her blood-spattered pink suit and pillbox hat. Lyndon Johnson's stunned swearing-in. And then the drum taps, the riderless horse, "Hail to the Chief" played as a dirge. (I had never heard the song before, and I will forever hear it as a dirge.)
"These were the images that finally fused us into one, even as they shattered our childhood innocence. We had watched events en masse before, but now for the first time we became conscious of our unity--and our vulnerability. After that day, as the world came apart, we began to come together, reaching out for the physical comfort and power of our numbers. In November 1963, we watched history together. By August 1968, we were making it together in the streets, while the whole world watched us." (Annie Gottlieb, Do You Believe in Magic? The Second Coming of the Sixties Generation (1987) p. 34)
""The first intimation I had that something peculiar was going to happen was in the fall of '63, my senior year at Cornell," says New York artist Stan Kaplan (1944). "The Beatles' music had just become popular. Maybe a half dozen guys started to come to Cornell with 'long' hair, the early Beatle length. The girls like these guys very much. I remember going to parties and listening to this new music. I would get drunk and listen and think: The world is going to end. This is the end of the world. Which was a presage of what, metaphorically, really was going to happen. A world was ending."" (Annie Gottlieb, Do You Believe in Magic? The Second Coming of the Sixties Generation (1987) p. 39)
"Something is happening. Something peculiar. What the fuck is this? The end of the world. And the beginning of something new. This was the current of feeling that ran and swelled under the distressing events of the Sixties. It was a sense that something primitive was forcing its way up from beneath, something destructive and creative that would not stop short of total transformation. In part it was the accumulated rage of blacks, racing through American streets in the form of fire. But it was more. It was the relentless removal of controls until, finally, all that the old America had repressed would erupt into the open--violence and chaos, femaleness and instinct, the irrational, the ecstatic, the sexual, the mystical. And the focal point of the eruption, the epicenter, would be us, the young. In the mid-Sixties, we felt the preliminary tremors; our stereos were our seismographs." (Annie Gottlieb, Do You Believe in Magic? The Second Coming of the Sixties Generation (1987) p. 39-40)
"[Marc Barasch:] 'The Summer of Love. . . . I was . . . just one of thousands who made 1967 the year that the cultural revolution reached critical mass. The Haight had been acid-soaked for three years, and Leary and Ginsberg had been proselytizing for LSD on campuses, but it was only after the Human Be-In in Golden Gate Park in January 1967 that the zeal of the media and the pilgrimages of would-be hippies spread the psychedelic movement and its sacrament throughout the land. A study conducted by Richard H. Blum in the school year 1966-67 showed that 21 percent of the students on one representative campus had smoked marijuana; 6 percent had tried LSD. In 1967-68, the year the second wave began to enter college, the figures had more than doubled: 57 percent had smoked pot, 17 percent had dropped acid.
In 1967-68 political activism also took a quantum leap. In March 1966, twenty-two thousand people had marched down Fifth Avenue in New York City to protest the war in Vietnam. One year later, on April 15, 1967, ten times as many--over a quarter of a million--massed in Central Park to march to the United Nations. Draft-card burnings and turn-ins and campus demonstrations against recruiters from Dow troubled the spring of 1967. That summer, Newark and Detroit went up in flames.' . . ." (Annie Gottlieb, Do You Believe in Magic? The Second Coming of the Sixties Generation (1987) pp. 45-46)
"[Bob Waldman:] "Radicalism was in the air--radical behavior, radical possibilities. It was very intellectual and very political. And very violent.
"I remember one moment as almost an axis point in my life. We were occupying some building, up all night. There had been three or four years of speeches and marches and sit-ins, but nothing had really been done. What's next? Nobody knew. And then five or six crazies walked out and said, 'We're going to take over the president's office.' And a few of us followed.
"There was a cop there . . . and we shoved this great big black cop aside. And broke the glass on that door. And for me, the sound of that glass breaking was the sound of history breaking. It was the sound of everything being let loose.'"
(Annie Gottlieb, Do You Believe in Magic? The Second Coming of the Sixties Generation (1987) p. 46)
"Even Martin Luther King, in an April 1967 speech, had assailed "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today--my own government." (Annie Gottlieb, Do You Believe in Magic? The Second Coming of the Sixties Generation (1987) p. 64)
"We hit the road barefoot, in hiking boots, in rubber sandals or Earth Shoes; with flutes and guitars strapped to our packs; in long purple velvet dresses and blue jeans with frayed-out knees. . . .
"While we made our share of true pilgrimages--seeking some swami, shaman, or sacred place--the quintessential Sixties journey was a search without a goal, what poet Roa Lynn (1937) has called an "open odyssey." America has always been synonymous with motion, but we moved as if moving itself was living, while Americans before us moved in search of a living. "The prairie schooners, the underground railway, the Okie exodus to California, the black migration to the urban North--all had been quests for a better life, measured in liberty, land, and opportunity. We were the heirs of that "better life": a world at last made safe, sanitary, stable, respectable, comfortable, gleaming with "conveniences." It was all that our ancestors had sweated for. And all we wanted was out. We burst out as if a deeper ancestral momentum couldn't be dammed up, as if we knew that the task of discovering "the New World" was only half finished, and would not be done until it embraced the whole earth.
"That urge for wholeness would drive us to discover and embrace everything our own culture had put down or ruled out. The children of security, we hankered for risk. Children of the "nice," the reasonable and rational, we wanted vision, passion, pain. Children of technology, we longed to get our hands in the dirt. Children of Lysol, Listerine, and Wonder Bread, we were starved for texture, taste, and smell. It was all "out there," outside these sterile space colonies, the suburbs; on the road, on the land, among people who had nothing much but life itself. They weren't far away." (Annie Gottlieb, Do You Believe in Magic? The Second Coming of the Sixties Generation (1987) pp. 83-84)
"From 1967 to 1973, the number of passports issued annually to students nearly doubled, from 292,000 to 559,000; in the summer of 1971, over 800,000 young Americans traveled to Europe. For many, the events of 1968 were final grounds for separation from America, the state and the state of mind. . . .
Whether the reasons were political or personal, most Sixties departures were precipitated by a sudden, overwhelming urge to get out. Like butterflies that must leave the chrysalis or die, we had to struggle free of the tight forms of the old society--school, marriage, family, job--and put protective distance between ourselves and those still-commanding guilts. "Out there" you could breathe, search, grow. "I got up in the middle of an economics class," recalls Duke Bakewell, "and I walked out and got on a plane and went to the Outer Hebrides. And I never looked back." (Annie Gottlieb, Do You Believe in Magic? The Second Coming of the Sixties Generation (1987) pp. 87-88)
"We weren't fleeing a home, we were seeking one. We were homesick for the earth, and for a way of life rooted in the earth. Hitchhiking across America, especially the vast spaces of the West, revealed that we didn't really belong on this continent yet, any more than we did in Morocco or Nepal. All the people we'd visited, even Europeans--even Mississippi blacks and their northern urban grandchildren--had roots in a place and a rich culture. They belonged. Only we seemed disembodied, ghosts in the machine that was relentlessly "developing" the earth." (Annie Gottlieb, Do You Believe in Magic? The Second Coming of the Sixties Generation (1987) p. 101)
"'We've got to get ourselves back to the Garden,' Joni Mitchell sang. It was one of the most passionate and important dreams of our generation, even if most early forays ended, like Woodstock, in the mud. . . ." (Annie Gottlieb, Do You Believe in Magic? The Second Coming of the Sixties Generation (1987) p. 104)
"It never occurred to us, in the great days of the Movement, that the real meaning of the word "radical" might be: someone with roots." (Annie Gottlieb, Do You Believe in Magic? The Second Coming of the Sixties Generation (1987) p. 123)
"Apocalypse Now!
"From 1968 to 1971, that impulse--to social justice, personal risk, and blinding transformation--was in full flood. "I wanted apocalypse, Utopia," underground veteran Jane Alpert (1947) recently told an interviewer. So did we all, and we wanted it now. That apocalyptic impatience was the most striking characteristic of the Sixties. Sociologists traced it to the tantrums of spoiled children, or a TV-bred taste for instant gratification. Beleaguered college administrators blamed it on "outside agitators." But it was too strange and strong to be explained away so easily. It was the impatience of prophecy. We had SEEN, and the vision we'd had--of the terrible destructiveness of the present world order--made it unbearable that the status quo continue to exist for another minute.
"'Revolution' was, at first, a metaphor. We longed to see a world transformed. Being young and American, with little sense of history, we knew nothing about the processes by which that might take place. All we had was that acute sense of emergency. 'Revolution' came closest to expressing the totality and urgency of the needed change." (Annie Gottlieb, Do You Believe in Magic? The Second Coming of the Sixties Generation (1987) pp. 125-126)
"[Wynston Jones:] Several friends of mine were totally apolitical, completely innocent bystanders, and the Tac Squad like a grim reaper just mowed them down. Beat them senseless. . . . . They became quite political after that. . . . There was a day we all called Bloody Tuesday. I saw unconscious bodies being hauled off with white sheets over them so that the press couldn't take pictures of how bloody they were, but the blood was staining through the white sheets and the press got the pictures anyway." Not only the Tac Squad, but the Oakland and Berkeley police, the California Highway Patrol, the National Guard, and the Alameda County Sheriff's deputies converged on the People's Park demonstration. "They shot people over in Berkeley." (Annie Gottlieb, Do You Believe in Magic? The Second Coming of the Sixties Generation (1987) pp. 133-134)
""I went through a whole summer when I didn't speak," says visionary architect Donna Goodman. "It was 1972, right after finishing Smith. I'd been in jail Graduation Day, for a protest against an air force base for sending planes to Cambodia. I wanted to do something constructive and positive. I didn't want to go on living as a kind of outlaw and protester. But I had no idea what to do with my life now that the Sixties were over." You could say that we all went underground in the Seventies--and it was hard to tell burial from planting." (Annie Gottlieb, Do You Believe in Magic? The Second Coming of the Sixties Generation (1987) p. 139)
"In 1971 there was a big demonstration in Washington on Mayday," says Marc Sarkady. "There were about fifteen thousand people there, and almost everybody was arrested and put into this big stadium." (Annie Gottlieb, Do You Believe in Magic? The Second Coming of the Sixties Generation (1987) p. 139)
"The sense of defeat that settled over Sixties veterans after Reagan's reelection was almost melodramatic. There was a general mood of "It's over. We've lost." Old radicals and hippies withdrew into an "ark mentality," waiting for apocalypse or fascism to fulfill their direst prophecies. Moderates felt justified in withdrawing into self-interest."
(Annie Gottlieb, Do You Believe in Magic? The Second Coming of the Sixties Generation (1987) p. 149)
Marc Sarkady thinks we may be metamorphosing into "the We Generation." (Annie Gottlieb, Do You Believe in Magic? The Second Coming of the Sixties Generation (1987) p. 160)
"For all its mind-enhancing properties, marijuana isn't an empowering drug. It taught us to "go with the flow" and enjoy the process--fuck the result. At best, it could be described as passive-subversive. LSD was another story." (Annie Gottlieb, Do You Believe in Magic? The Second Coming of the Sixties Generation (1987) p. 173)
"If the late Sixties were a time of vision and hope, the Eighties so far have been a time of addiction, which is despair. Writing in the August 1985 Vogue, Jane O'Reilly put her finger on the connection between cocaine and conspicuous consumption. "'I want, I want, I want' is the mantra of the 'eighties," she wrote. "Spending frenzy is part of the short-circuited sensibility of the cocaine age. . . . Even earning money is addictive. . . . The one sure thing is that none of these fixes satisfies our undefined longings. Whatever it is we want, we cannot name it, and we cannot buy it." (Annie Gottlieb, Do You Believe in Magic? The Second Coming of the Sixties Generation (1987) pp. 189-190)
"It was real religious or mystical experience we were after, undiminished by Sunday-school platitudes, deeper than the ethical Judaeo-Christian platform of shalts and shalt nots. Ironically, what we sought was far more like what Jesus offered his disciples than what most Christian ministers dispensed in his name. Transfiguration. Re-ligio (reconnection to the cosmos). Life everlasting. There is an apocryphal story that during his lost twelve years, Jesus went as far east as India to escape the limits of his own tradition. And so did we." (Annie Gottlieb, Do You Believe in Magic? The Second Coming of the Sixties Generation (1987) p. 196)
"There is a world-hating, life-negating strain in the Hindu-Buddhist tradition--the doctrine that life is "illusion" and "suffering"--just as there is in the Judaeo-Christian tradition. The West has taken this as an injunction to dominate the world, the East to withdraw from it, but today the endpoint of both is the same: the abandonment and destruction of the planet. Psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, author of Hiroshima and advocate of "the embodied self," has noted that in "nuclearism," "bodies and persons are absent." He could almost have been describing the far reaches of meditation mania. It's from this quality of abstraction that so many of us have retreated. We know we need a religion of life. . . . Our "religion" is life-positive, eclectic . . . decentralized, anti-authoritarian, compassionate, individualistic, communitarian, and passionately attached to this earth." (Annie Gottlieb, Do You Believe in Magic? The Second Coming of the Sixties Generation (1987) p. 206)
"To make our earthly priorities clear, we don't call the quality we all have in common "spirit" or "soul" or "consciousness." We call it "life." That has the added advantage of broadening it beyond the human. Meditators and acid trippers felt, as St. Francis did, kinship with animals and trees and the ocean, as well as other people. Meditation, the discovery of universal subjectivity, transformed both social justice and ecology from ideologies into empathies--and fused them into one. The basis of our "religion" is the oneness of human beings with each other and with all life." (Annie Gottlieb, Do You Believe in Magic? The Second Coming of the Sixties Generation (1987) p. 211)
"Almost half a millennium ago, Martin Luther made a revolution against the Catholic Church, insisting that the individual soul could contact Christ without "help" from a hierarchy of middlemen (who got rich in the process). An even more sweeping revolution is now going on against all forms of centralized spiritual authority. Most of our generation seems to believe that, while large blasts of "divine revelation" have come through scriptures and masters, little glimpses of revelation and guidance are available to everyone every day. The "authority" that gives us these glimpses is called intuition.
"In one form or another, intuition is the antidote to fascism in a chaotic, changing world where the real Satanic temptation may be the comfort of absolute authority." (Annie Gottlieb, Do You Believe in Magic? The Second Coming of the Sixties Generation (1987) p. 215)
"WOMAN AND NATURE
"The theological center of our "religion," and the real revolution, is the restoration to equality or supremacy of the female principle: the divine creativity of the earth. In politics, the feminist movement and the environmental movement have been separate. In spirituality, they are increasingly understood to be inseparable.
"For many of us who didn't much care for "God," nature was the refuge of religious feeling from childhood on. Feelings first experienced as a child in the woods were rekindled in the Sixties when, somewhere in our brains, LSD met Silent Spring and ecological consciousness was born. Ecology, earth passion, is our real "religion," shared even by those who don't think it's a spiritual concern. But many of us knew before 1970 that visiting the vast Southwest--"the spiritual center of our continent," according to Hopi traditional leaders--was a pilgrimage to our Mecca." And astronaut Edgar Mitchell told us that seeing the earth from space was a religious revelation.
"It now seems like a short step to seeing that blue mandala as the living goddess suggested by scientist James Lovelock's "Gaia Hypothesis." But that step probably wouldn't have been made without the work of feminist "thealogians" like Mary Daly (Gyn/Ecology) and Susan Griffin (Woman and Nature), who saw the intimate connections among the oppression of women, the exploitation of nature, and the rule of a transcendent father God." (Annie Gottlieb, Do You Believe in Magic? The Second Coming of the Sixties Generation (1987) p. 222)
"Our generational "religion" of ecology finds its purest expression in the "deep ecology" movement and its purist political activism in the non-violent confrontations of Greenpeace, the animal-rights movement, and Earth First! But just as environmental concerns are now a congressional priority, ecology has also burrowed its way into traditional religion, especially Christianity. In Catholicism it is called "Creation-Centered Spirituality" and led by author Matthew Fox, who has been inspired by the life-affirming vision of such medieval women mystics as Julian of Norwich. In evangelical Protestantism, it is called "the Christian stewardship movement."
"It's a redefining of the Book of Genesis, and it's very profound," says Jeremy Rifkin, a Jew whose 1980 book The Emerging Order was chosen as one of the ten best books on the evangelical movement. "They're saying that God's big instruction, his mandate, his covenant about dominion--we got it wrong! Dominion did not mean subdue nature, it means stewardship. God created this whole thing and called it good, so any time we despoil it . . . we are in rebellion to our covenant. Our job is to take care of it."" (Annie Gottlieb, Do You Believe in Magic? The Second Coming of the Sixties Generation (1987) p. 224)
"This 'religion' has its politics, too--a tough, tribal resistance and friendly anarchism. "Basically, we come from a long history of people who fought the Romans," says Otter. "We never thought of Rome as our government, whether it's in Washington, D.C., whether they call him Caesar or President. This is not our government. Our government is the tribal council, and it always has been and always will be. As far as we're concerned, if you can't get everybody right there in the same place to talk about what you've got to talk about, forget it." (Annie Gottlieb, Do You Believe in Magic? The Second Coming of the Sixties Generation (1987) p. 227)
In the song "Everything Zen" by the 90's grunge band Bush, vocalist Gavin Rossdale repeats the line "There's no sex in violence". The entertainment industry, however, seems to disagree.
My wife, unborn child, and i experienced "Pirates of the Caribbean III" this afternoon, and i'm growing increasingly uncomfortable with what's being fed to us as "entertainment"...what's supposed to excite us. much more on this topic later (though soon), but for now here are my bottom 5 worst moments at the theater today:
5. the film opened with a rather dark and grisly scene of row after row of grungy pirates being hanged as a shiny-coated official reads off the list of rights being "temporarily" suspended...rights such as assembly and habeas corpus. while the political parallels to today are poignant (though blunt), this rates as a low moment because the rest of the film is shallow enough to make up for this opening five minutes of depth.
4. the nine pirate lords must meet in a Brethren Court to make a global decision...very patriarchal in name, although there are two women in the group. a woman is "elected" as Pirate KING by a popular vote (she receives two votes: her own and one other, with every other pirate lord voting for him or herself). i suppose this is an attempt at progressive inclusion and could be interpreted as such, but even she continues to use the patriarchal language BRETHREN and KING.
3. the female Pirate KING calls the world's pirates to WAR -- of fucking course. and several overt visual jokes between the competing captains Barbosa and Sparrow about their respective penis sizes.
2. betrayal, revenge, betrayal, lies, revenge, treachery, deception, betrayal, and revenge...justified through brief forays into relief through humor. see? it's FUNNY to fuck your friends!
1. at the climax (in which two ships are spiraling in a giant ocean whirlpool during a maelstrom AS they shoot cannons at one another AS people are having private swordfights on the mast) pirates Will and Elizabeth, who've been betraying each other over and over and negotiating a subtle love triangle, decide DURING A SWORDFIGHT that they must be married at that moment, and ask the ALSO SWORDFIGHTING Captain Barbosa to marry them on the spot. he jumps up onto the top deck and begins a sermon AS HE KILLS PEOPLE, with the couple on the deck below trying to complete their vows and kiss in the midst of dance-like MURDER ROUTINES. finally, in extreme slow motion, they kiss passionately as splinters of wood, bits of rope, whole cannons, and BODIES are exploding and flying through the air all around them. sorry Gavin...it turns out there IS sex in violence, and it's got a very quasi-patriotic musical score.
oh, and i paid thirteen damn dollars for the whole thing.
In what ways is 'Awha'y, Goddess Moon, experiencing this emotional/spiritual shift? What stages of enlightening are you and I passing through now, leaving behind, coming into? Who are our teachers, and what 'songs' or 'paths' are we hearing, discovering?
All spirits of all time gathering, singing ...
Experience Sacred Mayan Ceremony
Rosa Maria Cabrera, Elizabeth Araujo, Don Alejandro Oxlaj
http://www.13moon.com/time-is-art.htm
http://www.spiritofnature.org/4prophecies.htm
http://www.adishakti.org/mayan_end_times_prophecy_12-21-2012.htm
Discuss this Shift of the Ages, 2012, the Beginning of A New Global Calendar of Celebration, of Our United World Family
Saturday, 30 June 1997, 1:30 to 5:30 pm, Ojai Retreat Center, 160 Besant Rd, 805-646-2536, $25, Scholarships available.
Thanks to Regina Red Hawk of Eco Native News for the support of this project.
According to a recent Time Magazine, the greatest challenge we face is not predicting “Mega-Disasters” – we’re good at that – it’s our inability to grasp the extent we need to prepare.
In Southern California we’ve had our own “Four Seasons:” Earthquakes, Fires, Floods, and Riot... Add in the “Day” Fire, Terrorism, SARS, Avian Flu, Dirty Bombs and Nuclear Accidents to that list, and even the most cynical skeptic might agree that this year’s hand's on workshop “Dodging Katrina, Part 2: on June 20th at the Residence Inn by Marriott in Oxnard, just might be the most important program Triad & VCEDA have ever produced.
Co-hosted by VCEDA; Ventura County Public Health Department; The Gas Company; Rotary Club of Camarillo; Rotary Club of Ojai West; & the Rotary Club of Ojai.
Businesses must aid in disaster
By Bill Buratto
Friday, June 1, 2007
It's all about recovery. The sooner a region's economy gets moving, the sooner people's lives get back to normal.
It's easy to avoid thinking about preparing for disasters, but today's reality is that businesses in Ventura County need to be prepared. It's also easy to think that local government and other first responders will keep us safe.
I have the privilege of serving on the Sheriff's Emergency Management System Task Force. This group is composed of senior-level personnel from the Sheriff's Department, Fire Department, county of Ventura, cities, Naval Base Ventura County and the Red Cross. Ventura County is fortunate to have these professionals who are dedicated to our public safety in preparing for disasters. But, they cannot do it alone. Preparedness is everyone's responsibility.
Triad, Ventura County Economic Development Association's new initiative that focuses on disaster preparedness, is hosting an all-day conference June 20 at the Residence Inn by Marriott in Oxnard. (see attached registration form for "Dodging Katrina, Part 2"
This conference will continue the education and dialogue began last October at the VCEDA Business Outlook Conference. It will feature Irwin Redlener, executive director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at the Mailman School of Business, Columbia University, and author of "Americans at Risk," as the luncheon keynote speaker. There will be a panel discussion on the role of business in disasters as well as a series of workshops to give business people the information they need to better prepare for disasters.
I encourage all Ventura County businesses to assess their level of preparedness and what they can contribute in times of disaster.
In preparing for disasters, we need to focus on two aspects: preparing to respond and preparing to recover. The business community has a role in both, but it is recovery where the business community has the greatest impact and the most at stake.
In my view, businesses have three areas of responsibility in preparing for disasters.
The first is the responsibility for business continuity. Every business should have plans, policies and procedures to ensure that business operations resume quickly after a disaster.
The second is responsibility to employees. Businesses must educate employees to prepare and respond to disasters. Employees should be encouraged to have their families prepared as well. After a disaster, it is natural for people to focus on family safety. The better-prepared employees are at home, the quicker they'll be able to begin working again.
Finally, responsibility to the community. The private sector needs to be engaged with local officials in planning and preparing for disasters. The private sector controls 80 percent of the region's resources. Every business should ask the question: "What do I have that can help in response and recovery?" It might be recreational vehicles that could be made available, or storage space for vaccines and other medical supplies, or lumber, fencing and other materials, or communications equipment. It is important to have these and other resources identified and arranged for in order to ensure a more rapid response and recovery.
We all have a responsibility to keep Ventura County safe.
Bill Buratto, of Thousand Oaks, is president and chief executive officer of the Ventura County Economic Development Association.
© 2007 Ventura County Star
----------------------------------------
VCEDA
1601 Carmen Drive, Suite 215 Camarillo, CA 93010
805-388-3457 phone 805-388-9972 fax
www.vceda.org
Dodging Katrina: Part 2
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
7:30 a.m Registration – 3:00 p.m. Reception
Residence Inn by Marriott, Oxnard
Keynote: Dr. Irwin Redlener, Executive Director, National Center
for Disaster Preparedness and author of “Americans at Risk”
Panel: The Role of Business in Disaster Preparedness
Workshops: Pandemic Flu, Business Continuity, Understanding
Command and Control and The Role of the Military
Price: $135 for Triad and VCEDA members, $175 for non members
Register: Call 805-388-3457 or info@vceda.org
Sponsors: Ventura County Public Health Department, The Gas Company
Partners: Rotary Club of Camarillo, Rotary Club of Ojai West, Rotary Club of Ojai
Name
Company
Address
City, State, Zip
Phone Fax Email
$135.00 – I’m a VCEDA or Triad member $175.00 – I’m not a member
Card Number Exp Date _______
Name on Card
I was delighted to start - and to finish! - the Ojai Valley Century bike ride today.
101.7 (yeah, I chose to ride to/from the start at Libby!) miles of sheer joy. You know, 6 hours on a bike gives me time to settle in to the thinking, development, and even experimentation process. In the past, I've written about such thought experiments as riding up Dennison Grade thinking about phone numbers only to realize that I'd ridden MINUTES slower than ever before...
Today, I found myself "mentally developing" answers to this question:
What gets in the way of people performing at their best?
Then, while at a stoplight somewhere in Oxnard ("But wait," you say, "I thought this was the OJAI century ride!" Hey, where do you think they came up with the 100 miles!?!?) I realized I'd come up with something I knew intuitively but had never said aloud.
("Ok, wait Jason, you TALK to yourself on the bike?" Hey, you ride over 100 miles and see what silly things YOU do in about the 4th hour!)
Anyone can have a thought. Some of those people have a feeling to match that thought. An a few of those people are motivated to act on the feeling they had as a result of having that thought.
Then I started wondering, could I ACT without the feeling? I mean, could I go right from thought to action? So, I stayed with it for a while. And, at that stoplight I mentioned above, I decided to try. Think - don't feel - and act. So, when the light turned green, I started riding with a group of two other guys.
We were moving along pretty quickly, riding at around 2:45/mile (a mile in about 2 minutes, 45 seconds) and it was tough. There was a bit of a headwind, so I inched up and rode right on the guy's wheel in front of me.
And, the road went on. And, in my mind: Think/Act, Think/Act. Then it started.
My legs started burning, and my breathing was getting heavier. I looked at my heart rate: I was pushing 160. (At 70 miles in to the ride, with the hill from Santa Paula to the summit, and the ride back into Ojai still approaching, I didn't know if I could keep it up.)
So, I started to fall back. I figured I'd drop the mileage to about 3:30/mile or so...I "thought" I could keep that. Then, all of a sudden, a car blasted by us, the driver leaning on their horn with all their weight as a blur of metal whooshed by. I felt it...the little twinge of frustration (ok, a bit stronger than that!) and all of a sudden, I was back on the wheel of the guy in front of me, riding with full gusto. I stayed there for miles, all the way until we reached the aid station in Santa Paula.
So, I'm going to explore this a bit more this week...the Thought, that leads to a Feeling, that pushes me to Action.
Oh, and here I am just above Lake Casitas...it was an amazing day!
hat tip: Dale Hanson, Ojai Valley Green Coalition
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