May 6, 2022

1972 postcard from Angeles Crest

1972 was reflected on the gloss of my record collection. I was an at risk youth dabbling in Cat Stevens, Carly Simon, Deep Purple and The Beatles. The swirl of my freshman year had come to an end and my sister’s friend George King was telling me about his new summer job.
George was kinda goofy, but we all liked him. He looked at me with his goofy eyes and goofy hair and preached to me about this job up in the Angeles Crest National Forest. He made the pitch that I should sign up and earn some money over the summer.
I was all for making money, so I signed up through my school counselor. It turns out this particular job was for at risk youth and I fit the bill, although I really didn’t feel “at risk” at the time. The job title was “crew member” for the YCC (Youth Conservation Corp).
The job originally was a depression era program called the CCC or Civilian Conservation Corp. Government jobs for men out of work and desperate. Revamped for the modern age now employing poor youth of the city.
When my freshman year ended the job began. My parents dropped me off at the Alpha Beta parking lot on the corner of Azusa Blvd and Valley. A van picked us up and drove us to the Azusa Canyon Ranger Station and from there a small school bus whisked us off to the wooden barracks high and deep in the coniferous forest high above Los Angeles. The sky was blue and the land was filled with rattlesnakes and ground squirrels.
We were a motley crew of young teenage boys. Our cohort consisted of a cross section of Chicanos, Brothers, Anglos, Filipinos and Chinese. A veritable United Nation of poor boys. All dutifully outfitted with green helmets dungarees, large leather gloves and combat boots.
We built Gabion Baskets along river banks to prevent erosion and flooding. We constructed Gladial Guzzlers on the sides of mountains to provide water for wildlife. We cleared trails and broke obstructions in streams to allow the free flow of water.
And we laughed and fought and got into trouble. We almost died a couple of times. But, the most important thing we did was make money. It was a great experience. Overall the forest was so beautiful, but what I really wanted was a new bicycle and that was really the bottom line. Thank you YCC!
It was 1972 and Eddie Kendricks was singing on 93 KHJ as we wielded our shovels and picks.

May 6, 2022

1972 postcard from Angeles Crest

1972 was reflected on the gloss of my record collection. I was an at risk youth dabbling in Cat Stevens, Carly Simon, Deep Purple and The Beatles. The swirl of my freshman year had come to an end and my sister’s friend George King was telling me about his new summer job.
George was kinda goofy, but we all liked him. He looked at me with his goofy eyes and goofy hair and preached to me about this job up in the Angeles Crest National Forest. He made the pitch that I should sign up and earn some money over the summer.
I was all for making money, so I signed up through my school counselor. It turns out this particular job was for at risk youth and I fit the bill, although I really didn’t feel “at risk” at the time. The job title was “crew member” for the YCC (Youth Conservation Corp).
The job originally was a depression era program called the CCC or Civilian Conservation Corp. Government jobs for men out of work and desperate. Revamped for the modern age now employing poor youth of the city.
When my freshman year ended the job began. My parents dropped me off at the Alpha Beta parking lot on the corner of Azusa Blvd and Valley. A van picked us up and drove us to the Azusa Canyon Ranger Station and from there a small school bus whisked us off to the wooden barracks high and deep in the coniferous forest high above Los Angeles. The sky was blue and the land was filled with rattlesnakes and ground squirrels.
We were a motley crew of young teenage boys. Our cohort consisted of a cross section of Chicanos, Brothers, Anglos, Filipinos and Chinese. A veritable United Nation of poor boys. All dutifully outfitted with green helmets dungarees, large leather gloves and combat boots.
We built Gabion Baskets along river banks to prevent erosion and flooding. We constructed Gladial Guzzlers on the sides of mountains to provide water for wildlife. We cleared trails and broke obstructions in streams to allow the free flow of water.
And we laughed and fought and got into trouble. We almost died a couple of times. But, the most important thing we did was make money. It was a great experience. Overall the forest was so beautiful, but what I really wanted was a new bicycle and that was really the bottom line. Thank you YCC!
It was 1972 and Eddie Kendricks was singing on 93 KHJ as we wielded our shovels and picks.

May 6, 2022

You are my Sunshine

I kept getting some old timers requesting I do a video of this song...I kinda enjoyed it...even with the capo brain fart

May 6, 2022

You are my Sunshine

I have had a few old timers request I do a video of this...kinda like it

May 6, 2022

A trip down memory lane

Sometimes I cringe at my old memories. Some remembrances are like regurgitation. They leave a foul taste in the mouth. But some are turquoise blue with tinges of gold. Like a trance remembered with a twist of pleasantness likely forgotten.
I was stationed on Diego Garcia in the space between 1977 and 1978. About 19 years stupid and very slight of build. It was the longest flight I would ever undertake (and boy, were my arms tired).
I was into my second year of Naval Service Still feeling the loneliness and pale independence of young adulthood. Like my shipmate, went to the Exchange and made some purchases. It was best to start up hobbies to keep yourself occupied. Some US Diver Flippers and snorkel caught my eye and like that, I decided to become a diver.
Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory, is a coral atoll. It is a horseshoe-shaped, built-up coral reef along the rim of an undersea volcano. The water is populated with white shark, barracuda, Lionfish, parrotfish, moray eels, and other creatures we still have no name for.
All year long I spent the mornings in the lagoon. I was overwhelmed by its beauty and majesty. The first morning I strapped on my fins, clumsily edged into the water and dove in. The Sky blue water with florescent colored fish swimming oblivious to all humans was warm and clear. I was amazed and frightened by the wildness of the ocean. I floated in a turquoise sea my arms flapping like a bird. It was so dark below and blinding light above as the equatorial sun shone down upon the sea.
It is so easy to feel alone when you are diving. The ocean does not recognize the buddy system. But, floating there, I was surprised by a school of parrotfish. The size of small refrigerators, bright green with yellow stripes a red beak, and cold intense eyes. They swam right by me ignoring me like I was just a little boy on a bicycle. There were so many all swimming without touching me, all moving in unison.
When I think about my time on the island that is what I remember, how everything in nature is in unison all moving together like a machine. Such a nice memory.

May 6, 2022

A trip down memory lane

Sometimes I cringe at my old memories. Some remembrances are like regurgitation. They leave a foul taste in the mouth. But some are turquoise blue with tinges of gold. Like a trance remembered with a twist of pleasantness likely forgotten.
I was stationed on Diego Garcia in the space between 1977 and 1978. About 19 years stupid and very slight of build. It was the longest flight I would ever undertake (and boy, were my arms tired).
I was into my second year of Naval Service Still feeling the loneliness and pale independence of young adulthood. Like my shipmate, went to the Exchange and made some purchases. It was best to start up hobbies to keep yourself occupied. Some US Diver Flippers and snorkel caught my eye and like that, I decided to become a diver.
Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory, is a coral atoll. It is a horseshoe-shaped, built-up coral reef along the rim of an undersea volcano. The water is populated with white shark, barracuda, Lionfish, parrotfish, moray eels, and other creatures we still have no name for.
All year long I spent the mornings in the lagoon. I was overwhelmed by its beauty and majesty. The first morning I strapped on my fins, clumsily edged into the water and dove in. The Sky blue water with florescent colored fish swimming oblivious to all humans was warm and clear. I was amazed and frightened by the wildness of the ocean. I floated in a turquoise sea my arms flapping like a bird. It was so dark below and blinding light above as the equatorial sun shone down upon the sea.
It is so easy to feel alone when you are diving. The ocean does not recognize the buddy system. But, floating there, I was surprised by a school of parrotfish. The size of small refrigerators, bright green with yellow stripes a red beak, and cold intense eyes. They swam right by me ignoring me like I was just a little boy on a bicycle. There were so many all swimming without touching me, all moving in unison.
When I think about my time on the island that is what I remember, how everything in nature is in unison all moving together like a machine. Such a nice memory.

September 29, 2021

Here is my latest pencil sketch

November 29, 2018

Grizzly bear kills woman and baby in Yukon

[link:https://www.ktva.com/story/39556013/grizzly-bear-kills-woman-and-baby-in-yukon|

WHITEHORSE, Yukon (AP) - A grizzly bear has killed a woman and her 10-month-old baby in Canada.

The Yukon Coroner's Service says 37-year-old Valerie Theoret and infant Adele Roesholt died in the attack in the Yukon near the Northwest Territories border.

Coroner Heather Jones says Royal Canadian Mounted Police received a call Monday from trapper Gjermund Roesholt, who said he was returning from a walk when he was charged by a grizzly bear about 100 meters from a cabin he shared with his wife and infant daughter.

October 31, 2018

She went from an Anchorage hospital to jail. Four days later, she was found dead.

[link:https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/anchorage/2018/10/30/she-went-from-an-anchorage-hospital-to-jail-four-days-later-she-was-found-dead/|

Nancy Grace Analoak went to jail for the first time last week, and died four days later.

Analoak, a disabled woman who lived in group homes, was at the Alaska Native Medical Center Wednesday night when she was arrested for hitting a nurse, according to charging documents in the criminal case against her.

The 47-year-old was booked into jail that night.

On Sunday morning, less than four days later, she was found dead in her cell at Hiland Mountain Correctional Center in Eagle River, the Alaska Department of Corrections said.

(Nancy was my sister in law)

October 9, 2018

Whaling captain, crewman die in capsize off Utqiagvik

[link:http://www.ktva.com/story/39252313/whaling-captain-crew-member-die-in-capsize-off-utqiagvik|

Two men died Sunday during a whaling excursion near Alaska’s northernmost city Sunday, with few details immediately available on what happened.

According to the Arctic Sounder newspaper, a whaling captain and a crew member were killed during the capsize near Utqiagvik, formerly known as Barrow. They were in a boat which was on a tow line, and towing a whale to shore in turn, when their craft flipped in rough water.