Sacramento Choral Society & Orchestra - Home for the Holidays - Sacramento Memorial Auditorium - Dec. 12, 2015

Went to see Sacramento Choral Society & Orchestra's "Home for the Holidays" at Sacramento Memorial Auditorium with Jackie, Donna, and Steve S.

Santa and Donald Kendrick

2015 NorCal Ragga Jam Session (Sacramento) with Laure Courtellemont - Dec. 11, 2015

She was here! I'm so thrilled! There were two Sacramento sessions, featuring two completely-different styles of Jamaican Dancehall, the first a gangsta style number, and the second a more-sensual number.

Laure Courtellemont (photo by LaToya Bufford).

The women watch while the men demonstrate the "Bloodclaute Song" dance choreography at the 2015 NorCal Ragga Jam Session (Sacramento) with Laure Courtellemont (center) on Dec. 11, 2015 (photo by LaToya Bufford).

The men demonstrate the "Bloodclaute Song" dance choreography at the 2015 NorCal Ragga Jam Session (Sacramento) with Laure Courtellemont (center) on Dec. 11, 2015 (photo by LaToya Bufford).

Laure explained her mission to spread Dancehall around the world. Here is a marvelous example of her recent work, with many of the superb dancers she's brought to her side in the short time she's been based in Los Angeles, including Crazyhype!:




And a solo by Laure herself!:

In Conversation with Vince Gilligan - UCD's Mondavi Center - December 10, 2015

Thursday night was very exciting. The Mondavi Center at UC Davis presented "In Conversation with Vince Gilligan" with Moderator Colin Milburn (Gary Snyder Chair in Science and the Humanities; Professor of Cinema and Digital Media and Professor of English, Science and Technology Studies, UC Davis):

Odd couple FBI agents investigating the paranormal. A mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher turned “bad.” A hard-working lawyer trying to find his niche. These iconic characters represent some of the very best writing in television and we have Vince Gilligan to thank. The multiple award-winning creator, writer and executive producer of both The X-Files and Breaking Bad (and its prequel Better Call Saul) has garnered two Emmys (for Breaking Bad) as well as a 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, among others. Of Gilligan’s characters, The New York Times has said “they inhabit a realm of moral ambiguities that’s overseen by a man with both a wicked sense of humor and a highly refined sense of right and wrong.”

Of the fans in the Breaking Bad and better Call Saul Facebook groups, I was aware of two others who went: Ron McCrae, who drove in from Reno and back, despite the storms clobbering the Sierra Nevada, and Lisa Van de Velde (and her boyfriend) from Sacramento. Plus myself, of course.

Ron and I met at Black Bear Diner and walked in to the Mondavi.

They followed a "Between Two Ferns" interview format, for 1.5 hours in Jackson Hall (1,800 seat capacity - about 80% full). Recording of any sort was not permitted. Vince left the building immediately afterwards, so my effort to present him with a book was foiled (although the host did suggest I contact his agent). For a die hard fan there was little that was truly new. He spent a lot of time talking about X Files and Breaking Bad (surprisingly little on BCS), and retelling stories most of us have already heard (how he got started in TV; meeting Bryan Cranston; deciding not to kill off Jesse; not knowing how they were going to use the machine gun shown at the start of Season 5 BrBa until much later; using BrBa as an unprecedented experiment in character evolution on TV since he expected the show to crater anyway). He stressed the importance of Cinematography and Music (but everyone knew that already). He looked a bit weary to me (understandable). Not very many questions were taken (Lisa Van de Velde and her boyfriend were very lucky). Gilligan said you learn a lot by failure, but the success of BrBa caught him by total surprise, and he hasn't learned a thing from that success. The biggest revelations to me was learning that Bill Burr now has a helicopter pilot's license and that one of the influences used in creating the amalgam character of Saul Goodman was simply seeing billboards of a personal injury attorney while being driven around ABQ on a siting locations bus and wondering whether, since Walt needed a consigliere, maybe somebody like that would work (Vince didn't identify the attorney because he didn't want to get sued - he said that in dead seriousness - but I'm thinking it's gotta be Ron Bell).

I liked those ferns onstage too. Those were two very good-looking ferns.

Vince Gilligan did talk about how much he enjoyed reading critical discussions of BrBa and its use of symbolism and color. Filmmakers just don't have the control that people sometimes assume and lots of accidents occur that later take on great meaning. Gilligan made a comparison to a Hitchcock movie where a car broke through a picket fence, leaving two pickets in the form of a cross, which a critic noted referred to Christian symbolism, and Hitchcock himself noted was purely an accident, that no one had planned it that way. Gilligan was thunderstruck when a critic noted that Gus Fring getting half his face blown off was foreshadowed by the Teddy Bear with half its face burnt off. He made everybody laugh by recollecting reading the critic's thought. "I wish I had thought of that in advance," he confessed, half a second before regretting he expressed that thought in front of another person, blowing his opportunity to maintain an omniscient pose.

Gilligan did say he did base half the face getting burnt off on a real event, though. Fulminate of mercury was the cause:

John Whiteside Parsons (born Marvel Whiteside Parsons; October 2, 1914 – June 17, 1952), better known as Jack Parsons, was an American rocket engineer and rocket propulsion researcher, chemist, inventor, businessman, expert witness, writer, socialite, and Thelemite occultist. Parsons was associated with the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), and was one of the principal founders of both the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the Aerojet Engineering Corporation. He invented the first rocket engine using a castable, composite rocket propellant, and pioneered the advancement of both liquid-fuel and solid-fuel rockets.

Born in Los Angeles, California, Parsons was raised by a wealthy family on Orange Grove Avenue in Pasadena. Inspired by science fiction literature, he developed an interest in rocketry in his childhood and in 1928 began amateur rocket experiments with school friend Ed Forman. He was forced to drop out of Pasadena Junior College and Stanford University due to financial difficulties during the Great Depression, but in 1934 he united with Forman and graduate student Frank Malina to form the Caltech-affiliated GALCIT Rocket Research Group, supported by Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory chairman Theodore von Kármán. In 1939 the Group gained funding from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to work on Jet-Assisted Take Off (JATO) for the U.S. military. In 1942 they founded Aerojet to develop and sell their JATO technology in response to American involvement in World War II; the Group became JPL in 1943.

After a brief involvement with Marxism in 1939, Parsons began practising magick and converted to Thelema, the English occultist Aleister Crowley's new religious movement. In 1941, alongside his first wife Helen Northrup, Parsons joined the Agape Lodge, the Californian branch of the Thelemite Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO). At Crowley's bidding, he replaced Wilfred Talbot Smith as its leader in 1942 and ran the Lodge from his mansion on Orange Grove Avenue. Inciting criminal investigations into allegedly illicit activities, Parsons was expelled from JPL and Aerojet in 1944 in part due to the Lodge's infamy, along with his quixotic working practices as a scientist. In 1945 Parsons separated from Helen after having an affair with her sister Sara; when Sara left him for his friend L. Ron Hubbard, he conducted the Babalon Working, a series of rituals designed to invoke the Thelemic goddess Babalon to Earth. He and Hubbard continued the procedure with Marjorie Cameron, whom Parsons married in 1946. After Hubbard and Sara defrauded him of his life savings, Parsons resigned from the OTO and went through various jobs while acting as a consultant for the Israeli rocket program. Amid the climate of McCarthyism, he was accused of espionage and left unable to work in rocketry. In 1952, Parsons died at the age of 37 in a home laboratory explosion that attracted national media attention; the police ruled it an accident, but many associates suspected suicide or assassination.

Yet people remember, particularly people like Vince Gilligan, who also tries to straddle that Religion/Science divide. Jack Parsons is memorialized in Breaking Bad.

Vince Gilligan also had nice things to say about Albuquerque and New Mexico. He noted that there are more sheep than people in New Mexico and that of the 50 states NM has the highest per capita number of Ph.D.'s, due to the presence of Los Alamos and Sandia Labs. He said these things in context of a discussion about the role of science in Breaking Bad, particularly as represented by Walter White.

Annual Sierra Holiday Gathering

Britons Trying to Make Sense of American Crime Drama

Donald Trump and the Bald Eagle

Leaf Fall

Was just sweeping leaves at 2 a.m.: admittedly strange, but there was a big leaf fall from the high winds and the ground was still dry, so the work was still easy. It just started sprinkling. The first significant storm of the winter is here!

Good wishes to Ron McRae, who will attempt to cross the Sierra Nevada tomorrow in the teeth of the howling blizzard in order to enjoy an evening of civilized discussion with Vince Gilligan at the Mondavi Center in Davis. Hoping he doesn't get waylaid at Donner Pass and forced to eat too many fellow travelers.

Another Hot Year In California

California was warming up anyway (global warming, urban heat island, etc.), but the last 2 years have been amazing, and scary. Much of the bump was the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) warming up the waters of the eastern North Pacific, and thus warming up California, by proximity. No sign yet it's reversing, either.

Make Italy Great

Eight Things About Donald Trump

Love the quote:

"There’s a reason why the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s executive director wants GOP candidates to “be like Trump” even as Graham bleats that Trump doesn’t represent the party. Lindsey Graham, are you shitting me? Trump doesn’t just represent your party. He’s the goddamn Platonic ideal of it. You can’t spend decades preparing the way for someone like Donald Trump and then pretend to be shocked, shocked when he roars down the field, flawlessly executing your playbook."

Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s Ad

The trouble with having cancelled cable is I miss out on stuff:

Son Burglarizes His Mom's House

All for her posole:

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Jonathan Ray wanted some of his mom’s posole last week.

So much so that, police say, he broke into her Northeast Albuquerque home, made a beeline for the fridge and ran away with a pot of homemade posole.

Jeremy Lion - Twelve Days of Christmas

This guy is GREAT!

Tea and Consent

Lose 75 Pounds in ONE DAY!

Toyah - I Believe in Father Christmas

Sharks Don't Like the Remus SharkCam

Photos from "The Debut"

Sunday, a week ago:

Ran Away

Tonight for Bella's walk, I decided to wear a black windbreaker, not only for warmth but because I would be dressed in black from head to toe. The windbreaker would make me look a little more formidable on the street.

When Bella and I reached 21st Street, when we usually turn south, my eye caught surreptitious movement. A man was sprinting north on the dark sidewalk - running away from us as fast as he could possibly run. Vastly surprised, I watched him run away until he reached Broadway, a block and a half away, and keep running at high speed, until he had vanished.

Out of curiosity, we changed direction and headed north too, to where I had first seen him, by the cemetery. There was a pile of trash there - old empty plastic cups and cardboard boxes - but nothing of apparent value. It was all a complete mystery.

Reminded of the familiar poster from the early Seventies.

What I Want For Christmas

I'm beginning to think of what I might want for Christmas.

So far, I'm thinking of two esoteric items. One is a copy of De Nederlandse Opera's 2007 production of John Adams and Peter Sellar's "Dr. Atomic." For being so distant, the Nederlandse folks did an astonishingly-good job of portraying the Manhattan Project and New Mexico. As far as I know, it's the only opera that refers to Santa Clara Pueblo and the Jemez and Sangre de Cristo Mountains, all with an unforgettable nightmarish edge.

Unfortunately the part I like best isn't on YouTube, but this is OK:




The other is a copy of "Clouds of Sils Maria" the 2014 movie that I think is the best film of the century so far. To a soul, the critics misjudged it - pitched so far above their heads they can't catch it. It may be the only movie that ever really captured the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche.

Here, Maria (Juliette Binoche) grills Valentine (Kristen Stewart) about the performance of a fresh but controversial actress (played by Chloe Grace Moretz) who is about to join their theatrical project. They begin edging into Nietzsche territory....

Why Is That Vehicle Idling?

One of the troubles with having a large homeless population is that people aren't rooted in one place and easily lose contact with one another. People blame authorities for disappearances and are particularly suspicious of vehicles idling for long periods to no apparent purpose.

In Sacramento, 'Joe the Plumber' says the homeless are being swept into mobile crematoria (semi-trailers called 'Smokies') that patrol inner city neighborhoods in the day and incinerate people in the outskirts of the city at night.

Similarly, in Albuquerque, people accuse ambulance drivers of organ harvesting. (h/t John)

Worried About Michael Flowers

Because we love him to pieces and are worried. He disappeared once for a time, but this time is longer - a month.

MISSING: Michael Jimmerson was last seen November 11, 2015 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. if you have any information regarding the whereabouts of Michael Jimmerson please contact the Albuquerque Police Department at (505)242-2677.

[UPDATED: Dec. 8, 2015: Michael has resurfaced! (I knew he would - it was just a matter of time.)]

Fractal Wrongness

Brian:

"For gun supporters everywhere. From their willful misinterpretation of the 2nd Amendment to their denial of statistical realities to their utter absence of common sense."

Edgy

People used to investigate first:

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The reported gunshots that triggered a lockdown at Kirtland Air Force Base Wednesday afternoon turned out to be someone popping bubble wrap, said Eric Elliott, the director of public affairs for the base.

“One individual had some heavy-duty bubble wrap from a package and was stepping on it to pop it,” he said. “Someone else heard the popping and —due to (the mass shooting) happening in San Bernardino — called 911.”

DMTC's "Into The Woods"

Fin.

The War On Christmas

E.: MMMMMAAAAARRRRCCCC! Do Baptists believe in Christmas?

M.: Hmmm? Yeah, I think so. How come?

E.: I send a Christmas card every year to my friends in Alabama, but they never send one back.

M.: They're elderly, right?

E.: Yes, now they are. They didn't used to be.

M.: I bet they just forgot.

Watching Pedestrians

Maybe because I'm feeling sick, I'm particularly struck watching pedestrians on the street. Such an unusual assortment today! About a quarter appear homeless.

A fellow eyes a squashed cigarette butt on the sidewalk, and picks it up, presumably for reuse. Another fellow leaves his cart on the sidewalk and crosses the street with a cup onto private property, in order to pour water from a tap, which he drinks and casts the excess away. Someone else asks money from an uninterested pedestrian, gets turned down, then aimlessly pokes in a garbage can before sitting at a bus stop. A frail-looking elderly woman parks her cart for a minute in order to eat from a Styrofoam container.

And then there's a woman balancing precariously on a bicycle while stopped waiting to cross the street. A courteous driver stops to allow her passage, but there's a second lane to worry about, so she shouts: "What are you doing? Fuckin' go!" A man speaking a foreign language into a cell phone. A slow-mo bicyclist.

The Diva's Song From "The Fifth Element"

Anything 'Fifth Element' I love!:

'Extinct' Squash

Cool!:

In 2008, on a dig in the First Nation’s Menominee Reservation in Wisconsin, archaeologists made a small but stunning discovery: a tiny clay pot.

Though it might not have seemed very impressive at first glimpse, this little piece of pottery was determined to be about 800 years old.

And inside that pot? ... [I]t’s actually brought an extinct species of squash that was presumed to be lost forever.

Laure Courtellemont Will Be Here Next Friday!

Such control! (Especially at 0:40 and 1:25). Coming to Sacramento on Dec. 11th!

Anonymous Anonymous

From The New Yorker.

Live TV From San Bernardino

Live TV from San Bernardino is pretty exciting right now. Active manhunt in a residential area.

Regarding Today's Gun Madness

Regarding active shooters with AK-47's and body armor, let's review Ben Carson, once again:

“Not only would I probably not cooperate with him, I would not just stand there and let him shoot me. I would say, Hey, guys, everybody attack him, he may shoot me, but he can’t get us all. [Laughs.]”

So, is there a problem, or are county workers and the developmentally-disabled just slow?

Eccentric Behavior

I was explaining to my co-workers about the eccentric behavior I've seen on the street lately. One man shouted and waved at a bus stopped at the traffic light, not in order to flag the bus down, but so the bus driver could watch him shadow box. On Thanksgiving, I watched an elderly man with headphones and a faded red-white-and-blue pom pom park his bicycle at the intersection of E. Roseville Parkway and Douglas Blvd. in Roseville in order to dance at the corner.

My co-workers thought this amusing. They wondered, however: Why was I using the construct 'a man'? Why not just own up to my conduct?

Dark Side of the Moon

The moon passed between Nasa's Deep Space Climate Observatory and the Earth, allowing the satellite to capture this rare image of the moon's far side in full sunlight. We normally don't see this side of the moon. As the moon is tidally locked to the earth and doesn't rotate, we only ever see the one face from the earth. Awesome shot!

The Pedant's Revolt

Albuquerque Really Loves Holly Holm

Holly Holm Month. Wow! And a parade! Albuquerque loves warrior women! Call in Katniss Everdeen, set up The Pit as an arena, call Lynette to referee, and have our own Hunger Games:

Following the fight, Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry said the city would plan a celebration to honor the 34-year-old Holm.

Albuquerque city councilors then declared November “Holly Holm Month.”

On Monday, plans were announced for the parade and celebration to honor Holm.

Malign Hesitation

Malign hesitation is a good term. The authorities in Colorado Springs simply don't know how to spin the obvious in ways that don't make the city look bad. News abhors a vacuum, so people like Ted Cruz make up cover stories:

Caution in the light of factual uncertainty is almost always a laudable stance for journalists and public officials. But from the beginning of yesterday's attack on the Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs there's been an odd reluctance to state what appears to be obvious: that the attacker, now identified as 57-year-old Robert Lewis Dear, was motivated by extremist anti-abortion politics.

Sneaky Dog

Tonight on our walk, Bella and I went west along X Street, adjacent to the W-X Freeway segment of Highway 50. I had forgotten about the large number of homeless people who camp out under the W-X freeway, and some of them were active.

Crossing 21st Street, about 1:20 a.m., I could see two homeless men and a dog on a parallel path to ours, on Y Street, just north of Broadway, so I decided not to turn south on 21st, but choose maybe 20th or 19th instead, but before we could turn, I could hear the two panicked voices of the men, running and shouting angrily. Their dog had seen Bella in the distance, so jumped ahead, and was moving swiftly north on 20th to blindside her with an attack. The homeless guys were overreacting; I was underreacting. They got their dog under control and apologized profusely. I chuckled at the drama and we went our separate ways.

"Resilience" On Stage This Weekend!

Jacob writes:

Hey Marc, I wanted to Invite you to my show, "Resilience." Its this weekend and I would love your support. It's going to be a beautiful night of contemporary dance. Plus, all proceeds benefit the UC Davis Cancer Center.

Jacob's show promises to be wonderful (especially in light of his recent triumph at the McCallum Theatre's Choreography Festival)!

Colder Than Barrow

Weird winter, so far. It's cold enough here, but not wet enough:

According to the National Weather Service, it was actually colder in Alturas, Calif., the seat of Modoc County in the far northeastern corner California, than it was in Barrow, Alaska, which lies above the Arctic Circle and is the northernmost city in the United States. Alturas registered minus-3 degrees, while Barrow recorded 3 degrees above zero. It was even colder in Alturas on Saturday -- minus-5, breaking a record set in 1931 -- and that was warmer than one spot in California, in the Lassen National Forest east of Redding, which checked in at minus-11.

Micro-Entrepreneurship Fundraiser

Chandra sends news of her annual fundraiser benefitting youth in Los Angeles:

Hey Marc! Good morning I am not sure how much you know about my non-profit but I help young adults start their own businesses. It is like an incubator program but much more structured with real results! I have been working for free since January and we are barely making it through until our next fundraiser, which is in February. ANYWAY, we have a Giving Tuesday fundraiser going on (link at the bottom) right now and our humble goal is 1k. If you are unable to donate anything perhaps you can share it and tag a few who you think might be interested in helping? We truly are raising up youth who never knew they could be business owners. smile emoticon I appreciate any support you can give ! BRBA forever! lol

Oh, it's just for today!

The CITY is anxiously preparing for the start of our unique, results-driven micro-entrepreneurship program to begin in Spring 2016 and need a little help getting us through the winter with our costs that never go away! On May 31st our young entrepreneurs completed the business enterprise program and presented their newly legally formed and operational businesses to a panel of local executives and entrepreneurs. 80% of our students didn't have a name, a logo nor ANY business training before The CITY. As they presented to the panel it became clear the 46 weeks of structured programming paid off.... each had formed their own business. One was even ready to open his own store front location less than 30 days after program completion. We invite you to be a part of the true life-changing experience for the next entrepreneurial class with your donation teaching not only self sustainability and business skills, but life long confidence to take control of their futures and to be contributors to the building of the inner city.

"The Debut" Performance - 11/29/15 - Starlite Lounge

Great way to kill it guy's!!!!!Pepper Von

Posted by Andres Barreto on Sunday, November 29, 2015

The Fascist Temptation

Interesting:

“Trump is a fascist. And that’s not a term I use loosely or often. But he’s earned it,” Max Boot, a military historian and foreign policy advisor to Republican presidential hopeful Marco Rubio, posted on Twitter.

“Forced federal registration of US citizens, based on religious identity, is fascism. Period,” added John Noonan, a national security advisor to former Florida governor Jeb Bush.

I'm impressed that Max Boot can clearly see that Trump is a fascist. Boot was one of the chief neocons of the 90's, and a huge enthusiast for G.W. Bush. I can't imagine why he supports Rubio now, except that, in the land of the blind, a one-eyed man (like Boot) is King.

Here are some eloquent thoughts by Sacramentan Jerry Kennedy:

Remember that scene at the end of Dear White People? The one where they're trying to figure out who sent out the invitation to the frat's blackface party and Sam is the likely suspect but she denies it and spins it back on the dean and says something along the lines of "The real problem isn't who sent the invitation out...the real problem is all the people who got the invitation and showed up to the party anyway." I kinda feel that way about Republicans trying to blame Donald Trump for what's happening in their party. Trump isn't the embarrassment here; the embarrassment is that when Trump showed up, the casual racism and radicalism that's been spreading like a silent cancer in your party showed up at his rallies, loud and proud, and you can't pretend it's not there anymore. You created this monster and now, like the original Victor Frankenstein, you get to sit back, powerless, and watch your creation destroy everything you claim to love and hold dear. I hope you're enjoying the show as much as I am.

Umberto Eco's checklist:

"The Cult of Tradition", combining cultural syncretism with a rejection of modernism.

"The Cult of Action for Action's Sake", which dictates that action is of value in itself, and should be taken without intellectual reflection. This, says Eco, is connected with anti-intellectualism and irrationalism, and often manifests in attacks on modern culture and science.

"Disagreement Is Treason" - fascism devalues intellectual discourse and critical reasoning as barriers to action.

"Fear of Difference", which fascism seeks to exploit and exacerbate, often in the form of racism or an appeal against foreigners and immigrants.

"Appeal to a Frustrated Middle Class", fearing economic pressure from the demands and aspirations of lower social groups.

"Obsession with a Plot" and the hyping-up of an enemy threat; This often involves an appeal to xenophobia (such as the German elite's 'fear'of the 1930s Jewish populace's businesses and well-doings, see also anti-Semitism) with an identification of their being an internal security threat: He also cites Pat Robertson's book The New World Order as a prominent example of a plot obsession.

"Pacifism is Trafficking with the Enemy" because "Life is Permanent Warfare" - there must always be an enemy to fight; Both fascist Germany under Hitler and Italy under Mussolini worked first to organize and clean up their respective countries and then build the war machines that they later intended to and did use, despite Germany being under restrictions of the Versailles treaty to NOT build a military force. This principle leads to a fundamental contradiction within fascism: the incompatibility of ultimate triumph with perpetual war.

"Contempt for the Weak" - although a fascist society is elitist, everybody in the society is educated to become a hero; for example: the 1930s Germans, especially Hitler labeled Jews inferior humans thus weak as well as the physically disabled, the mentally retarded and mentally ill as weak—thus these "weak" or unwanteds were eliminated (executed) or "exterminated" (the Jews, or even Germans with disabilities).

"Selective Populism" - the People have a common will, which is not delegated but directed by a dictator; This casts doubt upon a democratic institution, because the leader and government "no longer represent the Voice of the People".

"Newspeak" - fascism employs and promotes an impoverished vocabulary in order to limit critical reasoning.

"Non-truths & Lying/Spread of Propaganda" - Umberto Eco wrote from a modern-day standpoint about Fascism; He did not study the Fascism of Spain, Italy or Germany where this style of governing evolved in the 1930s prior to World War II: Those involved were Francisco Franco, Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler, and more can be learned about fascism by reading on these people.

I'll Be Watching YouTube Videos In My Dotage

I was rewatching the lush 2008 Kylie Minogue "X" Tour video and marveling what a good song the less-often-played "Ruffle My Feathers" is, and feeling sad that she didn't sing it when I saw the tour. Yet here is a fan-made video from that very show indicating that she did sing it, and I just forgot. YouTube is a handy tool. I imagine I will sail into doddering senescence watching YouTube videos, because that's where my memory will actually be located:

Karma

Thanksgiving Zumba

Gathering for Thanksgiving Zumba, with Felicia, Camila, Francine and Barreto Brothers Zumba, because that's how the Pilgrims were greeted to sunny New England.

Macy's Theatre of Lights Show In Old Sacramento

At the What Cheer House, across from Evangeline's in Old Sacramento, there was a rehearsal Monday night (11/23) for the telling of a Christmas story on behalf of Macy's Theatre of Lights. I could tell it was a rehearsal because even Santa wore a black windbreaker labeled 'Crew'. A smattering of people applauded as lights flashed and 'snow' fell. Looking forward to the full production soon. Opens Wednesday evening!

Macy's Theatre of Lights underway Friday night (11/27). Big Crowd!

Getting Ready For The Sunday Hip Hop Show

Tuesday night rehearsal (11/24).

Rehearsal Saturday (11/28) with some of the dancers for "The Debut" hip hop dance party. In order to match the gray part of our group's gray, black, and purple color scheme, I'm wearing the 'Breaking Bad' "Yeah, Bitch: Magnets!" T-Shirt by the Heisenhoneys, Chandra ChannyCozy and Maeve Milstead in Los Angeles.

We are going to have a great show! Thanks Krystle! (And thanks COACH for the photos.)

(Little idiosyncratic connection: The Season 5 'Breaking Bad' police evidence room magnets scene memorialized by the T-Shirt was filmed 2.5 miles from where I grew up in Corrales, NM. The chain of causation leading from childhood to hip hop is long, but vibrant, and I hope inevitable.)

Scoping out the space for "The Debut" performance at the Starlite Lounge (noon, 11/29):

Entering The Starlite (5:40 p.m., 11/29)

Science Is All About Finding Hidden Links

The Strange Ways of Stardom

Jamaica's pop culture is one strange place. This guy looks like a crazy homeless man, but he's a major star:

Fortune Cookie

I don't understand my fortune cookie. It says:

"It is not necessary to understand. All that is necessary it to enjoy."

Tea Kettle Tree

It was 1:30 a.m. and I was walking Bella through my dark Curtis Park neighborhood, when I heard a tea kettle whistle coming from a tree. "Well, this is a novelty," I thought. "My neighborhood gets stranger by the day."

I traced the noise to the roots at the base of the tree, so I got down on all fours in the shadows and started digging through the leaf litter to find the source. I explained to Bella, "I'm not crazy. I'm not talking to a spirit in the tree, like Cinderella does with her Mother, or talking to the tree, like Frodo does with the Ents. I'm just trying to find the entrance to Peter Pan's underground Neverland lair, because he left the tea kettle on the stove." Meanwhile, Bella was buzzing about like "my master is so crazy."

Eventually, I uncovered a plastic water pipe, and even though there was no obvious air or water leak, I'm sure it was the culprit of the noise.

Very Much Liked "Mockingjay - Part 2"!

I was puzzled by the reviews of the final installment of "The Hunger Games": namely, "Mockingjay - Part 2", so last night I went to go see it for myself.

Movie reviews stressed that Jennifer Lawrence isn't in many scenes (actually she's in most scenes), that the movie is too claustrophobic (but at least no one stays in one place), that it's too grimly predictable (most wars are) - too many other unsatisfying things. I don't know what movie they saw. It faces the same issues other movie series do of tying up loose ends, but I thought they did well with their choices. Julianne Moore as Alma Coin and Donald Sutherland as President Snow were brilliant. Donald Sutherland's last laugh is precious! Why isn't he running for President of the United States?

Of the four movies, I think I prefer Part 3, namely "Mockingjay - Part 1". Reviewers didn't like that one either, because they said it didn't have enough action, but at least it was thoughtful. And Lorde curated the sound track, and her choices were brilliant.

I was aghast at a film clip shown before the main feature. Apparently a children's charity is teaming with "The Hunger Games" to raise money. It's so wrong. Don't they grasp the movie's theme? (Or maybe they understand it even better than I do.)

"Mockingjay - Part 2" doesn't have a brilliant sound track like "Mockingjay - Part 1", but there are songs elsewhere in the Universe that carry similar messages. Like this one:

Clam Jumper

Amused by conversation with Homeless Guy (H) while standing in line at the pharmacy:

H: Man, I got roughed up Halloween night! I was in the gutter over there across from Clam Jumper...

M: Clam Jumper?

H.: Clam Jumper, over by the light rail station near I Street. I was shouting to the ladies walking by on the sidewalk across the street, just trying to give good advice, like "Don't have sex until you're 21!" when these guys step out of a car, and one says to me "Looks like you need a fade."

M.: What did they do?

H.: They stomped all over my head! At first I tried to resist, but then I just gave up and let them hit me. My nose hasn't been working right since. A doctor looked at it and said "Yup, it's broken!" Now I can't blow my nose properly because it's too sensitive and the boogers are piling up inside and I have to reach up in there all the time (illustrating).

M.: That's terrible!

H.: You know, I'm a drunk and a meth-head - that meth really makes you go KKRRRAAAZZEEEE! - and one thing I want to know is, why don't they bring back Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" campaign?

M.: I dunno. Maybe it doesn't work?

H.: But they should try! How do they know if they don't try? Nancy Reagan would sign off on that in an instant!

Laure Courtellemont Will Be In Sacramento December 11th!

Coming next month to Sacramento! So excited!

"The Debut"

I'm dancing in this event! Hip hop! Looking forward to it!

"The Debut" is just a week away and tickets are selling fast. Make sure you don't miss this event!

Tickets are just $10.

Faith in El Niño

The 16-day GFS forecasts are pretty optimistic about rain in northern California in December (but those forecasts are always optimistic). In the meantime, November will be a drier month than average in Sacramento.

Depressed by the lack of rain - we need it so bad - but Bill Patzert at JPL has deeper faith in El Niño:

The pool of warm water in the Pacific Ocean west of Peru is huge and very deep. “There’s been a tremendous distribution of heat, and that is definitely not going away” any time soon, said Bill Patzert, climatologist with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge. “I’m quite optimistic that the entire state is going to get hosed.

"This El Niño is so dramatically large. It’s so intense. It’s hard to imagine that it won’t deliver," Patzert said.

Suicide Bomb Trainer in Iraq Accidentally Blows Up His Class

Poetic justice:

In what represented a cautionary tale for terrorist teachers, and a cause of dark humor for ordinary Iraqis, a commander at a secluded terrorist training camp north of Baghdad unwittingly used a belt packed with explosives while conducting a demonstration early Monday for a group of militants, killing himself and 21 other members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, army and police officials said.

Vitter Loses

Pleased that the Republicans lost the Louisiana Governor's race.

Lots of special circumstances there, but I am glad David Vitter's desperate last-minute effort to use Syrian refugee panic to his advantage failed so spectacularly. It sends a signal to other politicians that there's no profit in whipping fear on this topic.

Crow Funerals

Like Western Scrub Jays:

There's an unusual but known behavior among crows, that they gather around the bodies of their dead. A crow dead on the street or in a field will be surrounded by a few to a dozen or more crows, all seeming to contemplate their fallen comrade. The notion of crow funerals has been documented but not necessarily understood, so University of Washington biologists Kaeli Swift and John Marzluff decided to create experiments to find out what exactly is happening.

R.S.V.P.

So like, right now for example. The Syrians need to come to America. But some people are all, "What about the strain on our resources?" Well it's like when I had this garden party for my father's birthday, right? I put R.S.V.P. 'cause it was a sit-down dinner. But some people came that like did not R.S.V.P. I was like totally buggin'. I had to haul ass to the kitchen, redistribute the food, and squish in extra place settings. But by the end of the day it was, like, the more the merrier. And so if the states could just get to the kitchen, rearrange some things, we could certainly party with the Syrians. And in conclusion may I please remind you it does not say R.S.V.P. on the Statue of Liberty. Thank you very much. *curtsy*

Busted!

My sister and I making a raid on the Nestle's Quick (about 1962).

Happy Thanksgiving

Dancehall Tips

Trying to pick up Dancehall tips. I can work on the looseness, but it would be helpful to drop about 25 kilos first.