A TELEVISION DAY & A RANT

KELLY READS BY AN AFTERNOON CAMPFIRE

It probably wouldn't be as cold in the motorhome some mornings if I could only remember to close the windows at night. No big deal to remember to close the windows, right!! Well, maybe for some people:(( WORK BEGINS ON AN INUKSHUK STONE MAN

Noticed right off the bat this morning that my energy levels were back up to speed so I was able to do a little more puttering in the little flowerbed project I've been working on. Had extra help to-day because Ingrid & Tom dropped Corky off in the morning. Kelly built an Inukshuk with the rocks we picked up in Rucker Canyon a few days ago & I was also able to get some more trees watered. OOPS, THE ROCKS BEGIN TO TUMBLE

Kelly had noticed on the ranch house TV programming schedule a program beginning at 10:30 about the history of the American southwest. That was something of interest for me so I watched the show which ran an hour & a half. Great documentary hosted by Harry Carrey Jr. It was about the real west & not the Hollywood west, & I liked the program's approach on explaining the difference between the two. I heard a line that made a whole lot of sense to me & added a "right on" stamp to my way of thinking. "Hollywood movies are basically meant to entertain & not to educate!!" Personally, I prefer the education to the entertainment. If I want to be entertained I'll go see a Harry Potter movie or some clear cut fictionalized tale that is clearly marketed as that. Fiction is entertainment & fact is education. Hollywood, & that includes the usual line-up of night time garbage television shows is notorious for it's junking of the North American mind. I remember as a kid watching all the Cowboy & Indian movies for example. Cowboys were good guys & Indians were bad guys. That's what we grew up believing because that's what Hollywood told us. It has taken me a lot of years to finally understand that Hollywood's take on history has nothing to do with reality. And so it goes, & so it goes. So many things we have been told as truth in our young lives has turned out to be false & so much precious time & effort has been lost in trying to determine fact from fiction. If only we would have been told the truth in the first place. Sometimes I get down on myself for being too critical of things but I have an inquisitive mind that is always asking questions. It asks, why is that, how did that happen, & why did that happen?? Who, What, Where, When, & Why!! It's a logical mind that tries to tie up loose ends. Tries to make sense out of non-sensical things. It's not a mind that blindly accepts commonly held beliefs just because others have not stopped long enough in their thought processes over the ages to ask questions. It's so unfortunate that the lies & deceptions in our society have become so commonplace. Yes, they have always been there but I fear the pace is quickening at an alarming pace now. The tip of the black iceberg is beginning to roll over!!

KELLY'S INUKSHUK MAN IS FINISHED

Temperatures dropped this afternoon & we could feel some rain in the air. Slipped back into the house & popped in a DVD. "Festival Express" is a documentary made in 1970 about a (quote) "multi-band, multi-day, extravaganza that captured the spirit & imagination of a generation & a nation. For 5 days bands & performers, (Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead, Ian & Sylvia & The Great Speckled Bird, The Buddy Guy Blues Band, Mashmakhan, The Band, Delaney & Bonnie & Friends, Sh-na-na, The Flying Burrito Brothers) lived, slept, rehearsed, & did countless unmentionable things aboard a customized train that traveled from Toronto to Winnipeg to Calgary with each stop culminating in a mega-concert. The entire experience was filmed both offstage & on, but the extensive footage remained locked away for 35 years." Enjoyed the DVD & it's always interesting to see the different lifestyles & changes that have taken place in people's lives since then in. Also a good trip down memory lane. Where were you in 1970:)) I HAVE ENJOYED PUTTING THESE GARDENS TO-GETHER

Raining here in southeastern Arizona to-night as I sit in the motorhome typing the blog in the subdued light of a dim lamp. Kelly's in the house watching 60 Minutes. I've got my ever present soothing ambient music on (Sirius Satellite Radio channel 073-The Spa) & the pitter patter of a soft rain on the roof makes for a sultry Sunday night. And that just seems to make everything A-OK in Al's little world..............................

No photos for the web album to-night.

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/