Brother Got Chops!

Paradiddle me this, batman...how does El Jacquez acquire such leetness with the Gimp?!?

Your assignment this week...

Look up the cultural/historical/spiritual meanings of the numbers 12 and 3.

Jazz is my life!

Saw Tim Daisy last night! His fellow Vandermark 5 alum, Dave Rempis accompanied him and they blew everyone away with two sets of amazing music.
If you ever get a chance to see Daisy, drop everything....it's an experience!

cows with guns

For the last time, people, I am NOT a vegetarian! Nor have I ever claimed to be a vegetarian---not even when I have been!
I consume the muscle tissue of all manner of sea creatures,
my favorite being eel....sorry, Leviticus.

I also consume, in relatively massive quantities, the unfertilized, and occasionally the fertilized, ova of a variety of fowl.And if you think I could give up cheese or two of my closest friends,

you're nuts!
I do not consume beef, adult or infant fowl or the Pig. If you must have reasons to reconsile this seemingly insane lifestyle of "asceticism," you may pick any of the arguments from the vegetarians' bag o' tricks, but most of those would not be fully realized in any of my actions.
I think the most compelling reason is the desire to have as little impact on Mother Earth as possible whilst I am here. Yes, yes, I know, this goes against my nature as a white male, but I am hoping to transcend my genetically encoded, phallus-driven need to "subdue" my environment, thank you very much.
Hopefully, this is all you need on this topic, as I have better subjects in mind for my manifesto.

Yikes...am I going overboard?!?

I may have to cease and desist with the "guerilla photography" as these young ladies were none too pleased to have their pictures taken.
I occasionally think this type of photography does, indeed, push the boundries of privacy, but that's the reality I want to acquire.
So, do I quit this shit or do I just cover my license plates so that I don't get hunted down?
I don't know the answer to that one, but these two would have shot me if given the opportunity.
They certainly had some choice epithets for me to contemplate on my journey home.





This fellow wasn't too far behind my new "friends" but I don't think I heard his voice amongst the furious cacophony that I'd stirred up seconds earlier.

A way to go, Boo Boo

So Laura and I got up a little early this morning and did the AM Yoga workout with Rodney Yee calmly guiding us from the television.
Although I feel better (more aligned) than I have in weeks, I am acutely aware of how far I have fallen from the path of physical, mental and spiritual health. The work, time and discipline that it will require to reclaim the balance I have enjoyed in brief spurts throughout my years is an overwhelming prospect. I know that balance and flexibility are the true subtle paths to being a full human being, but I fear that I have allowed myself to become too rigid, too stagnant and too closed to allow the light of God back in.
It's like the old proverb from Zhuang Zi about the Oak and the Willow in the storm. The oak tree grows strong and proud and looms large, but its rigidity cannot stand against the strong winds of the storm; its limbs snap off, its trunk is twisted and sometimes it is ripped from the ground at its roots. The willow droops and hunches. Its trunk is often already twisted and one could even say it is lazy compared to the ambitious oak that is always striving for size and height. When the wind blows on the willow, it sways, flexes and twists in concert with the storm. Its strength is inherent in its flexibility; the core teachings of Taoism, Jesus and Yogic philosophy show us this as well. The only constant in life is change. As trite as that may sound now that it is cliche, it is true. Yoga and Tai Chi proponents understand this and make it part of their lives.

Our two dogs, Pablo (in black) and Grendel (the Holstein that's partially observed and reflected in my shades) require kenneling during our visits to the lake. For some reason, Pablo actually likes it.

stuntman wannabe

With the balance of a trained ninja, he stands upon the turbulent inner tube...













With the grace of an avalanche, he plummets into the concrete surface of the water.

I love the lake, especially when it punishes me for being bad....er, uh, nothing.....

Smile, you're being shot with a Coolpix 7900!!!!!!

I travel the same 16 mile route to and from work Monday through Friday, week after week. To alleviate some of the monotony, I practice my own brand of guerrilla photography. Often, these pics are blurry and sometimes they elicit less than positive reactions, but it's good times all 'round....for me at least.

funnin' wit da pics

My brother, Lyrics Born and I, rollin' in SoCal!!!

Yeah, right! Just foolin' with The Gimp .

My man LB looks chill though, yo!

al-Qaeda? Maybe not....

Wow! That's no way to start the morning!!! Apparently there is one, yes, just one website claiming responsibility for the London bombings lies with al-Qaeda. Let's not jump on that bandwagon without first remembering that there are literally hundreds of other dissident groups that have the will and the capability to pull this off. I am thinking specifically of an anarchist splinter group that has been planning direct actions against the G-8 summit for over a year now. Don't be surprised if the evidence of Islamic fundamentalist groups being involved turns out to be flimsy at best. Hell, I have a link bookmarked for a dissident group that specifies the disruption of the G-8 summit as its sole objective. Just don't be too quick to blame the "axis of evil" without all the facts.

And may God be with all those who have suffered as a result of these attacks.

Hairless Apes!

As most of you know by now, we are currently in the midst of the 80th anniversary of the Scopes Trial. Well, NPR had a little story about the event and its ramifications yesterday and I feel that it is imperative that I chime in on the subject myself.
In the NPR story, there were folks interviewed from both sides of the Evolution vs. Creationism debate...er, battle.
You may not be surprised to hear that I fall squarely on the side of empirical evidence; in this case, evolution is the obvious winner. I do not have enough evidence to definitively refute the evolution theory, but there is ample evidence to suggest that such a theory is sound.
Is there really no room for evolution in the Christian faith? Can you call yourself a Christian if you think you know the nature of God? Are you fool enough to think that one of God's days is even remotely similar to one of our days. We haven't even scratched the surface of knowledge of our own world. What makes you think that you can ever hope to understand God's?!?
I don't have time right now for a long theological discourse, so here are my problems with those who support the abolishment/amendment of any curriculum dealing with evolution in our schools:

Most irritating is the "choice" that is presented, namely Evolution Theory or Christian creationism. This is tantamount to the non-choice between Democrats and Republicans. This is not a choice, this is an ultimatum!!! What of the Buddhist creation story? What of the myriad creation stories on the continent of Africa?!? What of the creation stories still told to generations of indigenous North and South Americans?!? You remember them, don't you? Those folks that were here first, before your "Christian" asses landed here with your "Divine Providence" phallus and your syphillis?!? If you are a "moderate" in this thing and desire that the Christian creation story be taught alongside evolution, you'd better include the rest of the "theories." One of those interviewed on the NPR spot stated that it was easier to believe that we were created by God than evolved from "monkeys." Would that be because only 99.x% of our DNA is identical to that of chimpanzees?

If there is anyplace in the Bible that says that evolution is definitely NOT the way God does things, please let me know. I haven't found it.

Lastly, I don't see where God, in the person of Jesus the Christ, points to this as being one of the important things to worry about. The shape of my faith in God and how God wants me to live my life is based on the words of Jesus as recorded in the four gospels, not on the interpretation of some puritanical, fundamentalist, in-bred fool (sorry to drag you into this Mr. President) who lives a thoroughly unexamined life, blind to all of God's overt signs.

More on this later..........