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“Just Chillin’ A little History... & More May, Be Merry!


Santa Rosa, CA. ~ A fine no- tion it is for clever shop owners who have opened record stores in a kind of merry fit of nostal- gia and, of course, profit! The “real” vinyl records are back in bins for all to paw through hap- pily and agree with a pleased customer on TV recently: “It feels good to touch and browse real records once again.


I’m


weary of hearing music every which way on small elec- tronic gadgetry.” How I can hear some young folks howling with dis- pleasure at such anti- quated thoughts. But young people are curi- ous about how “fanatic” record collectors were. Guess I need to search for our boxes in storage holding records and sound equipment. Perhaps there is a notion afloat that hardcover books are some- thing to cherish too? I am re- ally nostalgic for the excellent bookstores and independent owners of fabulous bookshops I have known, and valued, over the years in different parts of the world.


These days, I feel sentimen- tal about the New York City I grew up in. What a different city now. When very young, I never felt fascinated by his- tory or biography. Now I am passionate about both topics which help me enjoy and dis- cover a much enhanced view of the world. It’s akin to being up at the new NYC World Trade Center highest viewing floor for an astounding glimpse of the vast metropolis and world beyond. You do not have to be a fan of Kenneth Elton Kesey, yes,


Sometimes in


tragedy we find our life’s purpose - the eye sheds a tear to find its focus. Robert Brault


the Ken Kesey of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” to be reminded of his “Merry Prank- sters” cross-country escapades to enjoy the month of May’s merriment possibilities. A sarcastic critic dubbed Kes- ey, “the


it be that George Lucas will celebrate his 71st birthday on May 14th? The brilliant Lucas was born in Modesto, Califor- nia on May 14, 1944. His dad was a stationery store owner. Lucky George, who wanted to be a race car driver, was almost killed in his beloved, tinkered on Autobianchi Bianchina in 1962 when broadsided by a fellow racer. prompted


That his happy


switch to filming car races, with an 8mm camera at first, in- stead of driving in them.


Not only Cali- fornians, but by now, the world has read that Lucas, de - scribed


often as a writer, producer


man who


vented in - the Sixties.”


Kesey, an extremely talented writer,


if “rough-hewn,” as Leslie Fiedler called him, was a prolific novelist, short story writer, essayist and poet. Ke- sey wrote: “If people could just understand it is possible to be different without being a threat.” Ah, old memories of hippies flooding through Boul- der, Colorado when we lived there. Lots of “flower” kids. More on that another time. Our visionary publisher, Paul


Doyle, has asked us to share the news when we hear about gen- uinely generous folks. Now, there is “generous” and then there is George Lucas.


Can


“director, screen- and


entrepreneur,” was prevented from building and expanding his production studio plans in Marin, California on his own property ~ by lack of approval from the area’s planning board. Just days ago, an


announce-


ment hit the media, that instead of the thwarted plans, he will be spending about 200 million dollars on about 200 plus af- fordable housing homes, with playgrounds and parks, in a project entirely funded and de- signed by him on his own acre- age.


Considering his enormous talents plus persistence, this plan should work out, ensur- ing his reputation as one of the “greatest Americans of our time.” Inspired generosity! Christopher Morley, a great


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wwwpopsaffordablerototilling.com Our perfect companions never have fewer than four feet. ~Colette


UPBEAT TIMES • May 2015 • 5 Weird Facts & Fun Trivia - 2 By Ellie Schmidt • eschmidtty@sbcglobal.net


American novelist, journalist, essayist and poet (Born May 5, 1890), was a gifted child of an academic family who be- gan college studies at 16 and went to Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship. He wrote over a 100 works and is most noted for “Kitty Foyle,” a remarkably early novel of social inequities, later on made into an award winning film. A familiar quote from his writings is, “Read, every day, something no one else is reading.


Think, every


day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, some- thing no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to continually be part of unanimity.” Edmund Wilson (Born May 8, 1895) was considered a fore- most literary critic in his time. He was particularly rough on Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings.” Maybe authors should not weep prematurely about cranky critics’ comments.


... continued on page 14


Venus was the Roman goddess of love. Her Greek equivalent was Aphrodite.


‘Venus’ is the 1,232nd most popular name for a girl in the USA.


In 1988, the New York Health Department re- vealed that in the previ- ous year they had treated 8,064 people for dog bites, 1,587 people bit- ten by other people and one who was bitten by a penguin.


The pulse rate of a healthy elephant is only 25 beats a minute.





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