Saturday 11th Aril 2015…Leslie V the mountain!!!!!

Today was to be the day of the big hike I got packed up with lots of food and fruit and 5 large containers of drinks and I was at the parking lot of the base of the mountain at 8.15am…this hike is classed as very difficult and the plan was to get to the X the base of Finger rock!!!

Right from the start it was up hill

Some beautiful scenery!!!

It was getting hot and the trail was all up and it was the little loose rocks that I knew would be hard to come down.

  I felt good and drank lots

I was at about 6000 feet and been hiking almost three hours and now I had to drop down into the canyon and then up again…this is what I had to go down

Finger rock is behind this big hill and I was close but I sat down and thought about all of it….I was tired, it was 90 degrees, I had seen no one on the trail and I still had a ways to go and I also knew that going down was not going to be a walk in the park and plus I did not have any hiking poles…so I ate lunch and decided it would be smart to turn around and go back and this is what I did!!!!

Coming down on the loose rocks was really hard on the knees and I did take one tumble about a 12 feet slide but no injuries….

I made it back and I was gone just over 7 hours I felt tired but good to have done what I did part of the Pearson stubborn side comes out because I did not accomplish what I wanted but the smart side of me took over so this time the mountain won!!!

I came home and took advantage of the hot tub oh those aching legs enjoyed this!!!!

I had planned to take Linda out for dinner but she wanted to rest so I went for a turkey dinner and will soon be ready for this comfy bed!!!

Interesting article!!

Would Che Guevara oppose warmer US-Cuba relations?

•  

The Cuban government is strengthening ties with the West, after decades of Cold War tension

Ahead of what would be an historic meeting between Cuba's President Castro and American President Obama at the Summit of the Americas in Panama, some critics ask whether warmer US-relations are a betrayal of the island's revolutionary past.

More than 50 years ago, Che Guevara became a global icon after he fought alongside Fidel and Raul Castro to overthrow a United States-backed government and put into practice their socialist ideals.

Now Raul Castro has made a deal with the US and the lifting of the long-standing economic embargo of Cuba is a realistic prospect.

Four expert witnesses offer their insights to the the BBC World Service's The Inquiry about what Che Guevara might make of these changes .

Lucia Alvarez de Toledo: Che felt 'total detestation' for US

Lucia Alvarez de Toledo is a biographer of Che Guevara.

Lucia de Toledo says Che Guevara had a "total detestation" for what he saw as US Imperialism

"Che is the soul of Cuba. He is the spirit of a nation, it's incredible, he's everywhere.

"He articulated what I thought. I was surrounded by all these horrible Americans, and we were like a colony, for God's sake.

"And then suddenly we produced this man who looks like us, talks like us and thinks for us, of course we love him.

"He had an absolute phobia against imperialism. The Americans owned all the banana trade. If you owned the banana company and your workers are working terribly long hours, they're not allowed to be unionised and their children are dying of malnutrition, how do you lay that at America's feet? Very easily.

"He felt total detestation [for America], because he saw how a continent that need not be poor was very poor.

"When the revolution triumphed, anybody who had been involved with the Americans quickly exited.

"There's a famous story of the Coca Cola plant: it shut down of course, and he said: 'Now you have to start it again, because you need the employment,' and they said 'Well, the formula's gone with them. He said: 'Well, try mixtures and things until you find the Coca Cola formula, and we can make Cuba Cola'. Every day somebody would bring him a sample, and he would always say 'cat's piss, go and try again'.

"[Today] Che would say that the Cuban revolution is so firmly entrenched that nobody can take that away from them, nobody can take their National Health Service, nobody can take their education. I feel very good about it because the revolution is solid.

"He would say: 'About time, they've woken up, they've realised the error of their ways.' Because it's the Americans who have realised that their behaviour didn't yield them anything, and they're now going to change."

Professor Louis Perez: US wants the Cuban people to be agents of change

Professor Louis Perez is director of Latin American studies at the University of North Carolina.

Professor Perez says the US wants to wean Cubans off dependence on their government

"There was this historically-determined and culturally-conditioned belief in the United States that Cuba's destiny belongs to them. It was a place that developed during prohibition as one where one could drink freely, gamble. Basically Cuba was a tropical island that was there to serve American pleasure.

"The revolution's claim to moral legitimacy and political power was precisely its ability to make good on the claim of national sovereignty and self determination.

"In a period of 24 months, the new leadership of Cuba turned the purpose of the Cuban government into the service of Cuban interests: Cuba for Cubans.

"The overthrow of the Cuban government was the overriding purpose of US policy between 1960 and December 2014. That is, to produce economic hardship, to make life as difficult as possible for the Cuban people, in the hope that they would rise up in despair, overthrow the government and thereby provide the United States with the outcome it desired.

"The new approach seeks to empower the Cuban people, to wean them off dependence on the Cuban government so that they can serve as an internal agent for political change.

"Cuba would be overrun with American capital, American tourists and American-manufactured goods. Now what remains to be seen is the relationship the Cuban people have with that new social-economic environment.

"To get a sense of Che's response, take a look at the letter that Fidel Castro wrote [published in Cuba's state newspaper in January] in which he grudgingly supports the transition. He recognises something of an inevitable need for reconciliation with the US, but continues to be very, very wary."

Professor Carmelo Mesa-Lago: Che Guevara simply a 'myth of the past'

Carmelo Mesa-Lago is professor of economics at the University of Pittsburgh.

Professor Mesa-Lago argues the Cuban people want the freedoms promised by these reforms

"It was said that 98% of Cubans were in favour of the revolution. But eventually, gradually, many became disenchanted, and either left, or stayed and tried to oppose the regime, without success.

"When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990, Cuba went into a very severe economic crisis, the worst since the Great Depression. Fidel didn't have another alternative, so had to introduce reforms: he legalised the circulation of the dollar and significantly expanded foreign tourism.

"They allowed self-employment, and an agricultural free market. All this had positive effects on the economy. Fidel never liked the market-oriented reforms, he simply didn't have another alternative.

"Cuba is privatising. They announced in 2010 that they had to dismiss 1.8m workers in the state sector. That's about 36% of the labour force.

"Now it is possible to buy or sell a house, and Cubans can have a second house in the countryside, or at the beach. The state maintains ownership of the land, but gives ten-year contracts to farmers and they can invest in the land. That Che would object to.

"Raul realised a long time ago that the system couldn't continue, but Fidel was in charge, and he couldn't go against Fidel. When he took over, gradually he began to implement the reforms.

"Che Guevara was an idealist, and he may say that Raul is betraying the revolution.

"[But] in Cuba no one is thinking about what Che Guevara may think. People simply don't want dreams. They have been supporting this system for 54 years. And they want to buy things, travel, buy a house.

"You can see portraits of Che Guevara everywhere across Latin America. Of course there is a big portrait of Che Guevara about ten stories high in the Plaza de La Revolucion, where Fidel used to address the people. But it's like a joke. This is simply a myth of the past."

Rafael Hernandez: Reforms 'in the spirit of Che'

Rafael Hernandez is chief editor of Temas, a state-funded political magazine in Havana.

"Che Guevara's views are misunderstood. We wanted not to impose the Soviet socialist model but to create a new different kind of socialist system and in that socialist system there was a legitimate presence of the private sector.

"Only in 1968 did the Cuban Revolution nationalise their remaining small business in Cuba. In other words, the Cuban Revolution lived with the private sector for nine years.

 

 

"The Cuban Revolution in 1968 had a drive towards a more radical ideological movement. In those years the question of moving towards a Communist society became part of the Cuban agenda in terms of 'we have to build socialism and communism at the same time.' That idea became predominant and made Cuba eliminate the 60,000 private businesses that remained there.

"Raul Castro is promoting a more decentralised system, and I think this is in the spirit of what Che Guevara wanted: to have a public sector that could be more efficient.

"[In a meeting with the US in 1961] Che Guevara was basically saying we won't make any changes in our system, but we are ready to discuss everything else. In the middle of the Cold War, the message Che Guevara was delivering to the Kennedy administration was 'we want peace, we want dialogue and we want to negotiate.'

"If socialism can only survive within a glass urn that then it is impossible to sustain. This morning, I was attending a panel with a crowd of youngsters and there were people there quoting Che Guevara, using him to talk about our problems. That means that his thinking is alive."

Yashi Kochi!!!

Friday 10th Aril 2015…this and that!!!

I enjoyed a morning similar to yesterday and then went and did some shopping before going to visit with Guy….he is such a lovely man with such sad health issues but like Rita never complains and always asking after the other person…Linda arrived and we managed to get Guy outside to eat his lunch he enjoyed that but it made him tired and he went to rest and Linda and I came back to her condo and we both took advantage of the gorgeous pool and surroundings.

Early evening Linda and I went for dinner and I learned something which really upset me…….on the menu they had chicken fried steak and I love that so as I was reading the menu it described the dish as beef…I said to Linda how can they call chicken fried steak that and it is beef…she almost fell out of her booth laughing she said you never knew it was not chicken and of course I said no…..it was so funny I called the waitress over and complained to her and she just laughed at me…so I asked her why and she said when she goes home she will Google it…so I then said to her do you give free pie on customer’s birthday’s and she said yes is it your birthday and I said no but I will take the pie…as you can tell I had taken one of my silly pills before I left for the restaurant…it was good banter and I finished up eating fish of course after asking the waitress if the fish was actually fish!!!!!!!…….who said I need to get a life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So tonight just relaxed and did some route planning and getting ready for tomorrow..I am taking the day off and going hiking to what is described as the toughest hike in Tucson..we will see…….

 

 

 

 

Masters 2015: Flickers of the old Tiger Woods, but is it enough?

 

They all fade away in the end, even the greatest of all.

It is the cruellest lesson in sport, and it is inescapable. Had Tiger Woods been on the first tee early on Thursday morning he would have seen it: Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player, 34 majors between them, dinking drives down the fairway in benevolent old age, that once indestructible talent reduced to faint echoes and distant memory.

Woods, seven years on from the last of his own 14 major wins, has come to Augusta like an ageing prize-fighter desperate to convince that he has one more title shot left in him.

The hype is still there, the style still instantly recognisable. But the physical gifts have dwindled, even as the brain still says: I can do this, I can get it back.

Former number one Woods is now ranked 111th in the world

Such is the aura that Woods created in his glorious time at the top - and he was a player like none other, playing a way no other man could - that it still exerts some of its old grip.

No matter that Thursday was his first round of competitive golf in more than two months, that he is outside the world's top 100 for first time since his debut PGA Tour win in Las Vegas 19 years ago, that since the start of last year he has finished in the top 50 of a tournament just once.

When he proclaimed on Tuesday that he was back, that he had found the miraculous answer to his long-term travails, much of that logic went out of the window. Everyone wants to believe. Everyone wants to be convinced.

It is reminiscent of Muhammad Ali in his own late 30s, persuading the disciples and dreamers he was still the indomitable force of old even as the sorry defeats kept piling up.

Muhammad Ali lost three of his final five professional fights to finish with five career defeats

In some ways the two men have much in common - the most famous sportsmen of their generations, creators of impossible storylines - and in some way so little. While Woods used to like playing soldiers, obsessing over Navy SEALS videos and computer games and even injuring his knee while indulging in mock military exercises, Ali would give up his world titles in protest at a real war and real political injustice.

Ali was unable, for so long, to accept that his rare talents had dwindled away. Woods has seemed to lose the distinction between performing well on the range at home and doing the same in the toughest arena of all.

Better chips have come out of a microwaved cardboard box than the stuff Woods produced around the greens at the aptly named Waste Management Open earlier this year. He was recognisable all right, but only as a club hacker who hadn't bothered practising.

On a scorching Augusta afternoon that was no longer the problem. His short game was excellent. His touch around the greens was sure. It was what led to those shots that was his downfall.

Woods's major victories

Masters (4)

1997, 2001, 2002, 2005

PGA Championship (4)

1999, 2000, 2006, 2007

US Open (3)

2000, 2002, 2008

Open Championship (3)

2000, 2005, 2006

The grandstands here can appear a safe-house for the world's least loved colours. Angry Mustard, Washed-Out Pea, Bloodshot Pink, Apologetic Mauve.

Those polo shirts were a model of restraint compared to Tiger off the tee - first drive right, second drive right, dropped club on the sixth as his ball swished into the pine needles once again, self-admonishment on the ninth following two below-par shots.

Why has he chosen to come back here, stepping straight into the glare of a tournament that attracts the public like none other?

In many ways it makes sense - coming back to where it all began, coming back to the place where he has won more majors than anywhere else.

His triumph at Augusta in 1997 broke records and established a new hegemony. Even since the last of his four titles in 2005, through periods when his form has slipped and false-started, he has finished Masters tournaments second, tied second, tied third, three times tied fourth and once tied sixth.

Nicklaus won his 18th and final major at Augusta and remains the oldest winner of the Green Jacket

At 39 he should not be too old. Nicklaus was 46 when he pulled off that romantic charge through the back nine in 1986, six years after his previous major win, Ben Crenshaw 43 when he won the second of his Masters titles in 1995, 11 years after previous major win. Gary Player, Sam Snead and Mark O'Meara all won here in their 40s.

The galleries, dressed in the brand his endorsement pushed to new levels of popularity, show no sign of caring about the car crashes in his personal life, figurative and literal.

It is the perfect course. Yet he has an imperfect game.

Moments after being given a standing ovation by the crowds lining the 11th fairway and 12th tee, he stuck his iron into Rae's Creek.

There was a groan, and not even one of horror. Disappointment, but not surprise.

To finish one over par was no disintegration. World number one Rory McIlroy, no longer his heir apparent but now comfortable on the throne, was only two shots better off.

But when you have changed the game, forced even the living museum that is Augusta to be rebuilt, a supporting role in the chorus line can never be enough.

And there, out in front by three shots, a full nine ahead of Woods, was a 21-year-old, Jordan Spieth, doing to Woods and his generation exactly what Tiger once did to the champions of his past.

Even those who never fell for his buccaneering charms it can be melancholy to watch.

There are flickers of the old genius. His iron shot from deep in the trees to the left of the seventh fairway, hit with a skip and jump and total disregard for precedent and aerodynamics to the heart of the green, could have been imagined by few and pulled off by fewer.

Woods has not won a major since the 2008 US Open

But flickers are all they were, the conjuring only required because control had already been lost. It was the punt of a gambler, of a man who cannot trust the prosaic.

A man who once lived in a world of physical certainty and total self-belief now has to battle the bewilderment of his own body not doing what he wants.

Woods was always obsessed with advancing his swing. Now, on his fourth guru and fourth remodel, he is lost in old muscle memory and new drills, the old certainties gone, the new ones always tantalisingly out of reach.

Where has this compulsive fine-tuning got him? Drifting like a ghost at the scene of his greatest triumphs, chasing something no longer there.

Each morning, by the white wooden gates to Augusta, a brimstone preacher warns the queuing spectators of the certain hell they face ahead. A well-hit three-iron away, in benign golfing heaven, the ancient saints in Palmer, Nicklaus and Player are venerated all the same.

Woods is not yet ready to go the same way. He will keep raging against the dying of the light, maybe well enough to win one final day in the sun.

But it will come in the end, just as it always has, just as it always will.

Yashi Kochi!!!

Thursday 9th Aril 2015….a day with Linda!!!

Had a good sleep and the Denise leaves for work at 7am and she told me to make myself at home and use anything in the fridge so I had a wonderful breakfast and sat outside enjoying the morning…here are a few shots of my room and the house, very lovely!!!

I then went and met Linda at the apartment complex she just moved out of and finished taking the last of the furniture and belongings out loaded them into Little Bluey and Linda’s big van and drove them over to her new place and unloaded all the stuff there…it took about three hours but I enjoy doing stuff like this especially for my friends…..

Linda’s new casita is just simply beautiful and here are the grounds and check out the views…

I could tell that Linda was a little tired so I told her to rest and I went here for a couple of hours

Then Linda’s daughter Teri came over with her six year old daughter Muri…I have not seen them for 2 years and little Muri remembered me and came running to me..while the Mums caught up Muri and I went and played in the children’s playground….it was good to see them again…..

We did not visit Guy today but will see him tomorrow…Linda treated me to dinner again I had ribs…..yummy!!!!!

Now relaxing with tea and a good day!!!

 

This below was sent to me by my hiking buddy Pierre!!!

now you know !!

Researchers for the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority found over 200 dead crows near greater Boston recently, and there was concern that they might have died from Avian Flu.
A  Bird Pathologist examined the remains of all the crows, and, to everyone's relief, confirmed the problem was definitely NOT Avian Flu.  The cause of death appeared to be vehicular impacts.

However, during the detailed analysis it was noted that varying colors of paints appeared on the bird's beaks and claws.

By analyzing these paint residues it was determined that 98% of the crows had been killed by impact with trucks, while only 2%were killed by an impact with a car.

MTA then hired an Ornithological Behaviorist to determine if there was a cause for the disproportionate percentages of truck kills versus car kills.
He very quickly concluded the cause:   When crows eat road kill, they always have a look-out crow in a nearby tree to warn of impending danger.

They discovered that while all the lookout crows could shout "Cah", not a single one could shout "Truck."

 

and this by Vicky!!

Subject:  Friendship Week

I've learned ....

That the best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person.

I've learned ....

That when you're in love, it shows.

I've learned ....

That just one person saying to me, 'You've made my day!' Makes my day.

I've learned ....

That having a child fall asleep in your arms is one of the most peaceful feelings in the world.

I've learned ....

That being kind is more important than being right.

I've learned ....

That you should never say no to a gift from a child.

I've learned ....

That I can always pray for someone when I don't have the strength to help him in some other way.

I've learned ....

That no matter how serious your life requires you to be, everyone needs a friend to act goofy with.

I've learned ....

That sometimes all a person needs is a hand to hold and a heart to understand.

I've learned ....

That simple walks with my father around the block on summer nights when I was a child did wonders for me as an adult.

I've learned ....

That life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes.

I've learned ....

That we should be glad God doesn't give us everything we ask for.

I've learned ....

That money doesn't buy class.

I've learned ....

That it's those small daily happenings that make life so spectacular.

I've learned ...

That under everyone's hard shell is someone who wants to be appreciated and loved.

I've learned ....

That to ignore the facts does not change the facts.

I've learned ....

That when you plan to get even with someone, you are only letting that person continue to hurt you.

I've learned ....

That love, not time, heals all wounds.

I've learned ....

That the easiest way for me to grow as a person is to surround myself with people smarter than I am.

I've learned ....

That everyone you meet deserves to be greeted with a smile.

I've learned ....

That no one is perfect until you fall in love with them.

I've learned ...

That life is tough, but I'm tougher.

I've learned ....

That opportunities are never lost; someone will take the ones you miss.

I've learned ....

That when you harbour bitterness, happiness will dock elsewhere.

I've learned ....

That I wish I could have told my Mum and Dad that I love them one more time before they passed away.

I've learned ....

That one should keep his words both soft and tender, because tomorrow he may have to eat them.

I've learned ....

That a smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks.

I've learned ....

That when your newly born grandchild holds your little finger in his little fist, that you're hooked for life.

I've learned ....

That everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing it.

I've learned ....

That the less time I have to work with, the more things I get done.

Yashi Kochi!!!!

Wednesday 8th Aril 2015….on the road again!!!!

I left La Quinta this morning at 7am and took a different route back to Tucson it was a drive of 600 km but easy driving mainly on Interstates it was hot but I had lots of cool drinks my music and my thoughts…not much to see on the way…

Not ready to make this turn yet

Soon arrived here

In Tucson I went straight to Linda’s apartment which is beautiful and the grounds so great photos tomorrow and unloaded the stuff I had brought for her and we sat around and chatted I have not seen her since the end of July and then we went out to dinner thanks for the treat and of course the late Easter Sunday turkey dinner tonight tasted fabulous!!!

We then went to see and visit with Guy his health issues have been a problem for a while now but I thought he looked good and it was great to see him again……I stayed for a while and then went to my home stay which is only about 10 minutes from Linda’s place……the house I am staying is lovely and the host Denise is delightful…I have my own bedroom and bathroom and share the rest of the house and I look forward to the hot tub tomorrow night…so all settled in for 5 days going to help and visit with Linda and Guy and want to get at least one good hike in……

Blessings to all Yashi Kochi!!!

Tuesday 7th Aril 2015…..she is a star in my eyes!!!

Had my breakfast outside on the patio and it was  a beautiful warm sunny day already…..Ashley’s game was at 11am and I was there ready to watch

 

Got to love a kid who warms up with a soccer ball!!!!

Her opponent

 

The girl Ashley was playing obviously ranked  number one is very good and she was……Ashley got down early and never recovered and lost the first set 6 – 2….she seemed to be a little bit off her game and the second set did not go well and she found herself down 5 – 0 before she started to change her game plan a little and got the next 4 games to make it 5 –4 but could not get that next game and lost 6 – 4…she battled right to the end and I am so proud of her and I have so enjoyed watching her and I do need to say that because she is only 15 years of age she could come back to this big tournament for the next three years and just remember you heard it here first she will win it!!!!!

There was a break in the afternoon before her doubles game at 4.30pm and again this was not the best tennis I  have seen her play and they lost 2 sets to one……..

I said goodbye to Ashley and she was so sweet thanking me again for being there for her and I told her every time she plays this tournament I shall be there…said goodbye to her Mum and Dad and came back to the condo and what is the only thing better than a good long soak in the tub…….

yes  a good soak here!!!!!

I have really enjoyed my stay here thanks to Caron and John for letting me stay in the condo, thanks to Stella for coming and having some time together and to Pauline and Corning for their friendship and to Ashley for just being Ashley!!!!!

Tomorrow I leave for Tucson I have an apartment through airbnb website and I am about about 10 minutes away from where Linda is staying and I shall see her tomorrow afternoon unload the stuff I have for her and spend 5 days with her helping her with her new condo and visiting with Guy…….

 

This is one of my favorite songs!!!

What do American Pie's lyrics mean?

By James Morgan BBC News, Washington DC

A long, long time ago... Don McLean says his original lyrics reveal "everything there is to know"

 

As the original manuscript for Don McLean's 1971 classic is sold at auction, fans may finally discover what his "Song of the Century" is really about. So what are the popular theories?

When people ask Don McLean what does American Pie really mean, he likes to reply: "It means I never have to work again."

His eight-minute-long "rock and roll American dream" became an anthem for an entire generation - who memorised every line.

Their children in turn grew up singing it - fascinated by the mysterious lyrics with their cryptic references to 50s innocence, the turbulent 60s, and 70s disillusion.

Who broke the church bells? Who was the jester who sang for the king and queen? And what really was revealed "the day the music died"?

American Pie is the longest song ever to top the Billboard Hot 100, at eight minutes and 36 seconds

There are fan websites entirely dedicated to solving these mysteries, where literary detectives pore over the clues, line by line.

The song's 69-year-old architect has always remained tight-lipped.

But now at long last, the inspirations behind his Song of the Century are to be revealed after McLean put his original manuscript up for auction.

These 16 pages of handwritten notes, which have lain hidden away in a box in his home for 43 years, were sold for $1.2m (£800,000) at Christie's in New York, to an anonymous bidder.

 

Media caption Could these scribbles solve the riddle of American Pie? Colin Paterson reports

But for McLean aficionados there is a greater prize.

The drafts, unedited, reveal the creative process behind American Pie "from beginning to end", according to Tom Lecky of Christie's.

"You see great moments of inspiration, you see him attempting things that then didn't work out. The direction that he was going in that he then didn't want to follow.

"Those words that we all know so well weren't fixed in the beginning."

McLean's original notes, unedited, are 16 pages long and give clues to his thought process

As the singer himself said recently: "The writing and the lyrics will divulge everything there is to divulge."

For McLean scholars with pet theories, there could be bad news on the doorstep. This could be the day that they die.

But before we sing bye bye, and in honour of the American Pie fans everywhere, the BBC News Magazine takes a nostalgic trip back through the song's six enigmatic verses, and the popular theories that have grown up around them.

"So bye-bye, Miss American Pie..."

Buddy Holly's death was a "personal tragedy" for the 12-year-old McLean

Contrary to popular rumour, "American Pie" was not the name of the plane that rock and roll legend Buddy Holly died in, says Jim Fann, author of Understanding American Pie.

Miss American Pie is "as American as apple pie, so the saying goes," he argues.

"She could also be a synthesis of this symbol and the beauty queen Miss America."

Either way, her name evokes a simpler, optimistic age and McLean bids her farewell.

"The day the music died" refers - of course - to Holly's untimely death on 3 February 1959, which McLean mourns as the end of the entire 50s era.

But if you think this is "what American Pie is about", you would greatly disappoint McLean, who is on record that his song has so much more to say in the verses that follow next.

"Do you believe in rock and roll? Can music save your mortal soul?"

Into verse two and the swinging 60s have arrived. "Faith in the music now replaces faith in God," Fann observes.

The religious imagery that emerges in the second verse becomes a powerful and recurring symbol of loss throughout the song.

From "the sacred store" to the broken church bells, from this point forward, "whatever is couched in religious terms can be seen as referring back... to the happier innocence and faith of the 1950s," says Fann.

The fickle girl who McLean saw "dancing in the gym" no longer cares for his "pink carnation and pickup truck", leaving him "out of luck".

Bob Dylan was McLean's "rolling stone" who ended up gathering moss

"When the jester sang for the King and Queen, In a coat he borrowed from James Dean"

Enter Bob Dylan, the court jester who becomes the revolutionary leader of the 60s generation, knocking Elvis, the king of the 50s, off his pedestal: "While the King was looking down, the jester stole his thorny crown."

The jacket Dylan "borrowed from James Dean" can be seen on the iconic cover sleeve of his 1963 album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.

But by the end of the decade, we see that Dylan's "rolling stone" is gathering moss, in fat quantities.

"The old cliche is turned on its head, reflecting how the wholesale rejection of conventional values had become commonplace by 1970," as Fann interprets.

But if you think the case is closed on the true meanings in this third verse, think again - "no verdict" has been returned.

One alternative theory casts McLean's "King and Queen" as Pete Seeger and Joan Baez, the folk giants of the early '60's whose crown Dylan ultimately stole.

Another has the monarchs as President John F Kennedy and the First Lady Jackie Kennedy, with Lee Harvey Oswald as the "jester who stole his thorny crown".

Whichever way you peer at it, "the world [McLean] once knew is changing," concludes Fann.

Was JFK the "king whose thorny crown was stolen"? The Beatles surpassed Dylan as the icons of the 60s generation

"Now the half-time air was sweet perfume, While sergeants played a marching tune"

As the 60s reach their turbulent climax in verse four, and nuclear tensions rising, the Beatles have become the "sergeants" leading the march of counter-culture, leaving Dylan behind as "the jester on the sidelines in a cast" after his near-fatal motorbike crash.

But just at the peak of the sweetly marijuana-perfumed Summer of Love in 1967, the tension boils over into civil unrest. "We all got up to dance, but we never got the chance," sang McLean.

He looks on as the "players try to take the field; But the marching band refused to yield".

There are almost as many theories for this line as the single has sold copies (more than three million in its first year). One has the marching band as the police blocking civil rights protesters, another as the Beatles preaching non-violence with their 1967 hit "All You Need Is Love".

"Do you recall what was revealed the day the music died?"

The Chicago police riot of 1968 saw violent clashes with demonstrators

This could be the song's most ambiguous line of all.

Some suggest it refers to a John Lennon and Yoko Ono album cover. Another popular theory is the Miss America contest of 1968 where feminist protesters had supposedly "burned their bras".

But the most likely reference, Fann believes, is the 1968 riot at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where police brutally cracked down on demonstrators.

What was revealed? "The dark underside of one of our most cherished institutions," he argues.

But perhaps "what was revealed" has nothing really to do with any of these events, and is really a harbinger for the tragedy that follows in the fifth verse...

"And there we were all in one place, A generation Lost in Space"

A giant gathering of people, all high on drugs. It has to be Woodstock, right? Not so, say Pie connoisseurs.

The lyrics more closely match the tragic concert at Altamont Speedway in December 1969, where "Jack Flash sat on a candlestick".

An estimated 300,000 revellers came to Altamont to see the Rolling Stones and Jefferson Airplane

"No angel born in hell could break that Satan's spell"

The Stones' frontman Mick Jagger really did appear on stage that night dressed in a flowing red cape, singing lyrics inciting fire and rebellion.

Meanwhile at the stage perimeter members of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang - hired as security - engaged in bloody clashes with the rioting audience.

Jagger was later accused of failing to halt the performance, infuriating McLean's narrator: "I saw Satan laughing with delight; The day the music died".

Mick Jagger looks on as the Hells Angels deal with a crowd member. The show continued

Just as Woodstock was heralded as the landmark of the counterculture movement, "Altamont was the event that signalled its demise. Reality steps in," says Fann.

The tragedy served to finally "burst the bubble of youth culture's illusions about itself," wrote Todd Gitlin, an eyewitness, in his book The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage.

And in the final verse of McLean's parable, when he "goes down to the sacred store, where I'd heard the music years before" he finds that sadly:

"The man there said the music wouldn't play"

And these words are not just symbolic. "Literally, the music stores that had once provided listening booths for their customers were by this time no longer offering this service," writes Fann.

But even more so, "the cynicism of this generation had annihilated the innocent world the narrator had grown up in."

That kind of music simply wouldn't play any more.

Forty-three years later, it would be nice to think that - whatever the revelations to come from McLean's original scribbled notes - they will not burst the bubble for the millions of fans who still dream of Chevys, whisky and rye.

 

Yashi Kochi!!!

Monday 6th Aril 2015…no tennis but a great hike in the desert!!!

I said good bye to Stella last night as she left at 4 am to go back to Santa Barbara as she had some very important business to take care of and unfortunately cannot come back.

This morning I was really lazy and just sat around having breakfast doing computer work oh I did do some laundry and went to the grocery store and then at 1 o clock got packed up and went out for a hike I had read about…it was really hot but I had lots of food and drinks and I found the trail head

 

and you know I always love to see arrows on the trail and I was taking the cove to lake trail the brown arrow.

The scenery was lovey

and the trail well marked!!

 

It was a fairly easy trail with a few climbs but also a lot of it was through sand and that is always hard to walk on or through!!!

After I climbed some rocks the trail opened out onto this golf course I can only imagine how much money it costs to lay grass sod here and to keep it watered even though California is in a huge water crisis!!!!

I had seen no one  and no animals and I was really quite isolated and  then there was this lovely sculpture

There was no sign to say what it was or the purpose!!!!

Around the next bend I came to my destination Lake Cahuilla!!!

This is the scene I was looking at whilst having lunch!!!

It was very peaceful…I had to go back the same way and in total I was gone 4 hours the sign said it was almost 6 miles but I think it was almost 8 anyway it was a great hike and I enjoyed the solitude and the views.

Came back to the condo and went straight into the pool and hot tub and then it was dinner and then I settled down in the reclining arm chair and watched the Canucks better the Kings in an important hockey game.

Next was a long soak in the tub and I am drinking tea whilst I write this.

Now the bad news…Ashley did so well to get into the main tournament that started today but because she played two games yesterday and one not finishing till gone 8pm they gave her a day off and she plays her first game at 11 am tomorrow the sad part is she is drawn against the number one ranked girl in the country!!!!!

This will be such a  hard game for her and I know she will fight with everything she has…..so wish her good luck tomorrow…..I shall stay at the facility and watch her play in a double games at 4.30pm

 

I would like to welcome a new reader to my blog a lady by the name of Anne who lives in England…..Anne was searching the web as she wants to travel to México and came across my blog and started to read it and after a while she realized that she knew me…….what a small world Anne was my first girl friend 52 years ago in Sheffield…we exchanged a long e mail today catching up…small world and welcome Anne!!!!!

 

 

Thanks to Gail for this light and funny piece!!!

Enjoy the ride. There is no return ticket.

George Carlin on aging!
(Absolutely Brilliant)

IF YOU DON'T READ THIS TO THE VERY END, YOU HAVE LOST A DAY IN YOUR LIFE. AND WHEN YOU HAVE FINISHED, DO AS I AM DOING AND SEND IT ON.
George Carlin's Views on Aging
Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions.
'How old are you?' ' I'm four and a half!' You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key.
You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.
'How old are you?' 'I'm gonna be 16!' You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life! You become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony. YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!
But then you turn 30.  Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're Just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?
You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you'rePUSHING40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50, and your dreams are gone....
But! wait!! !  You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would!
So you BECOME 21, TURN 30,PUSH 40, REACH 50, and make it to 60.
You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that, it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!
You get into your 80's, and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; 'IWas JUST 92.'

Then a strange thing happens.. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. 'I'm 100 and a half!'

May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Throw out nonessential numbers.This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay them.
2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.
3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever, even ham radio. Never let the brain idle. 'An idle mind is the devil's workshop.' And the devil's family name is Alzheimer's.
4. Enjoy the simple things.
5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.
6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves Be ALIVE while you are alive.
7. Surround yourself with what you love , whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.
8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.
9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country, but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.
AND, ALWAYS REMEMBER:
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Yashi Kochi!!!