Keeping dogs off the couch

Nothing works..

POINT SUR

POINT SUR

Second Birthday

Есть на Волге Утес (Musical Tribute)

"The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 1942 – 2 February 1943) was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) in the south-western Soviet Union.

Marked by constant close quarters combat and direct assaults on civilians by air raids, it was the single largest and bloodiest battle in the history of warfare. It was a turning point in the World War II–the German forces never regained the initiative in the East and withdrew a vast military force from the West to replace their losses".

From here

The St. Moritz Hotel

There was a  brief time when I lived with my father and twin brother in a room at the St. Moritz Hotel on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood.

On our daily ride to and from Stevenson Elementary School in Burbank, we'd sing the theme to the popular TV show "Maverick".

 I remember how each morning we would descend via Barham Boulevard into the San Fernando Valley, which was blanketed by an opaque brownish fog (dubbed smog) that was tinged pink by the sunrise.  I knew there was a real problem with rapid urbanization even at that young age. I also found that it only took a few minutes immersion before I accepted it as the new normal.  If my nomadic childhood taught me anything, it was to accept change in circumstance if you don't have a choice.

This photo is from the 40's.  It gives a good idea of the terrain we traversed on our way from Hollywood, in the foreground, to the San Fernando Valley in the distance via the Cahuenga Pass and the Hollywood freeway.

At that time my parents were divorced.  My mother was living in Burbank, and working for Ralph Edwards, who was producing several popular television shows at NBC 's studio at Sunset and Vine.  My mom introduced me to Bob Barker, the M.C. for Edwards' program "Truth or Consequences" in the parking lot.

Ralph Edwards' offices were on Hollywood Blvd., and I got to watch the Hollywood Christmas parade from his second-floor windows.  All the celebrities in the parade were waving at me, or so it seemed.

30 years later, my sons marched in that parade as members of Santa Cruz High School's "Big Red Band".

Another Hollywood memory was watching the Capitol Records building being built.

My mom with Bob Barker, on the set of "Truth or Consequences".  She was the show's secretary (for Ralph Edwards).

A Wayfarer

A WAYFARER

Joseph Campell

It behoveth him who is a wayfarer in the path of God and a wanderer in His way to detach himself from all who are in the heavens and on the earth. He must renounce all save God, that perchance the portals of mercy may be unlocked before his face and the breezes of providence may waft over him. And when he hath inscribed upon his soul that which We have vouchsafed unto him of the quintessence of inner meaning and explanation, he will fathom all the secrets of these allusions, and God shall bestow upon his heart a divine tranquillity and cause him to be of them that are at peace with themselves.  --Baha'u'llah

Pigeon Point

PIGEON POINT
 

From ADAM'S CURSE

                           

From 'Adam's Curse'

By William Butler Yeats

We sat together at one summer’s end,

That beautiful mild woman, your close friend, 

And you and I, and talked of poetry.

I said, ‘A line will take us hours maybe;

Yet if it does not seem a moment’s thought, 

Our stitching and unstitching has been naught. 

Better go down upon your marrow-bones 

And scrub a kitchen pavement, or break stones 

Like an old pauper, in all kinds of weather; 

For to articulate sweet sounds together

Is to work harder than all these, and yet 

Be thought an idler by the noisy set

Of bankers, schoolmasters, and clergymen 

The martyrs call the world.’ 

Photo from here.

Townsend's Warbler

I saw a Townsend's Warbler in my backyard this morning.  It was about the size of a Chickadee, with a similar, friendly manner.

 From here.

Please make me small

Mickey Rooney was one of our finest actors.

This condensed  Twilight Zone episode profiles his range.  

Bahá'i Youth, and others...

STELLER'S JAYS

Steller's Jays have finally discovered the raw peanut vending machine (me at my kitchen window).  There are two regulars who now want their share, along with a pair of Scrub Jays and a gang of squirrels.

Photo from here.

Varied Thrush

VARIED THRUSH


A Varied Thrush has been visiting my backyard recently.  He's right in there with the Juncos and Sparrows, scratching around below the feeder.

pic from web

Cell; Akka, Israel

CELL, AKKA, ISRAEL

Кто избавляет от трудностей, помимо Бога?

Кто избавляет от трудностей, помимо Бога? 

Скажи: Славен будь Бог! Он есть Бог! 

Все слуги Его и все следуют Его велению.  --Баб

Is there any Remover of difficulties save God?  

Say: Praised be God!  He is God!  

All are His servants, and all abide by His bidding! --The Báb

ISTIKLAL AVENUE

A watercolor by Turkish artist Musa Balan caught my eye.

Yellow Legos

She came in through the bathroom window

SHE CAME IN THROUGH THE BATHROOM WINDOW

Business Cat

BUSINESS CAT

Stevenson House, Monterey

STEVENSON HOUSE

Robert Louis Stevenson lived in a rooming house called the French Hotel in Monterey in 1879, and gathered inspiration for his novel Treasure Island on his walks about the Monterey Peninsula.

I'm sure he saw Asilomar through the Monterey Pines.

And he surely saw Colton Hall, where California's first constitutional convention was held in 1849.

You'd think for that money the photo would at least be in color

"The world's most expensive photo depicts Arizona's Antelope Canyon, near Page on the Navajo Reservation.Landscape Photographer Peter Lik sold his print, titled "Phantom," for $6.5 million to a private collector in November.The black-and-white photo depicts an underground cavern inside Arizona's Antelope Canyon, a slot canyon formed as rainwater eroded the stone into narrow passageways."   From Here