Category Archives: News and Serious Stuff

Goodbye, Brian Wilson: Rest in Peace

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Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, another musical, magical visionary — gone too soon.

Photo by Wiki

As much as we (I mean ME) believe that Leon Russell was a musical genius, he once said the same of Brian Wilson. He certainly would know as he was his keyboardist on many Beach Boys songs. Leon also praised Wilson’s courage to take risks and find new avenues as an artist. He compared Wilson to Beethoven and other composers, highlighting Wilson’s exceptional musical talent. 

From Leon about Brian: “Brian, on the other hand, was a musical genius. I’ve played with him on records where there’d be 20 musicians in the room sitting around in a huge circle. He’d start at one end and sing the first musician their part, and then go to the second one and sing their part, all the way around the circle, and by the time he got around to the first one they had forgotten their part and he’d do it all again. That’s the way he taught those parts. Amazing.” https://bestclassicbands.com/leon-russell-interview-11-13-16/#google_vignette

Here are some of my favorite Beach Boys songs with contributions by Leon Russell:

Russell Bridges (Leon) on organ

Here is the rare version of “Endless Sleep”, Brian Wilson produced it at Gold Star Studios on February 18, 1964, using his usual Wrecking Crew members for the backing tracks. Included on piano was Leon Russell, who played on at least twenty Beach Boys songs and as many other songs that Brian produced for others, like The Honeys, Paul Peterson, Sharon Marie, Gary Usher and Glen Campbell.

California Girls studio, with Leon (of course)

This is a relatively long and rambling full session of Help Me Rhonda with the Beach Boys (Leon on piano) and their dad, Murray Wilson. Apparently he wasn’t a great dad and the reason Brian was deaf in one ear is because Murray hit him on the side of the head with a piece of wood when he was a boy. It’s even more remarkable that Brian could create such amazing music without stereo hearing.

Strawberry Full Moon 2025

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This Strawberry Moon isn’t just any ordinary full moon – it’s going to be the lowest moon in the sky in 18.6 years and won’t hang this low again until 2043! It’s called a major lunar standstill, and should be visible just after moonrise.

The name comes from Native American tribes marking strawberry harvest season. I just learned this, too: June was a prime month for marriage and honey harvesting, and the June full moon was sometimes called the “Mead Moon” or “Honeymoon”, and that’s where the term originally emanated from.

June 11, 2025 at 7:44 GMT is peak illumination, but in many areas, best viewing might have been last night. I didn’t get any photos at all because the sky didn’t cooperate; too much marine layer and the moon couldn’t break through. I’ll try again tonight.

It’s a time for emotional healing and gratitude, encouraging connection with cosmic energies, releasing negativity, and manifesting desires. This full moon also marks a time for reflection and self-discovery. It occurs in Sagittarius, a sign known for its adventurous spirit, optimism, and pursuit of truth and freedom. 

Don’t miss this rare celestial spectacle and don’t forget to charge your crystals!

Strawberries!

Photo by Enchanted Seashells

NO KINGS! Attend June 14 National Day of Action

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I’m so proud of the San Diego community that stood strong to protect and defend the ICE kidnapping that happened on May 30 at a local restaurant, Buona Forchetta.

A video of the ICE raid showed heavily armed and masked agents (modern day Gestapo) dressed in full tactical gear surrounding the restaurant. A large crowd of community members pushed back at the ICE agents, surrounding their vehicles and yelling. The ICE agents deployed flash bang smoke grenades which broke up the crowd.

A local politician questioned why ICE agents were carrying machine guns and “aggressively shoving people against the walls,” handcuffing all the employees. He said the warrant for the raid, which was signed by a federal judge, instructed ICE agents to arrest everyone and detain all the employees.

“I don’t know how a federal judge signs off on that,” he said. “What about the rights of those citizens?” He said the warrant didn’t indicate reference to any of the workers having committed violent crimes.

Another politician said that the TWENTY armed agents who burst into the restaurant traumatized the staff and the owner.

Can you believe this is actually happening? And THIS, too…

The orange POS has planned a military parade in Washington, D.C. for his birthday on June 14. This display of might is intended to intimidate opponents and solidify his image as a strongman on our dime—we won’t stand by while that happens.

Instead of allowing this military farce to overwhelm the day, we will make action everywhere else the story of America that day: people coming together in communities across the country to reject strongman politics and corruption.

It’s significant that the new Pope also chose this day to appear in Chicago as hopefully millions of people gather and celebrate the election of its native son — and first North American pontiff — Pope Leo XIV.

Have you seen the news that the orange POS sent the National Guard to Los Angeles EVEN THOUGH our Governor did NOT request their presence?

Did you hear that the orange POS has made it ILLEGAL to wear masks in public UNLESS you’re a member of his ICE gestapo?

Do you understand what is going on? This is not a drill; democracy is in trouble. According to the nonprofit, Third Act, our role is to bring the power and wisdom of elders to this movement, to ensure our voices are heard loud and clear to protect our democracy and our rights.

I think I’ll join my friends and neighbors locally on June 14. Rise up! RESIST!

What’s Memorial Day All About?

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Americans began to recognize Memorial Day in 1868, and the country established it as a federal holiday in 1971. Memorial Day used to be called Decoration Day and I remember we’d always buy red paper poppies to wear. This day honors the sacrifice and loss of those who served and died in the military, while Veterans Day honors all who have served in the U.S. military.

World of Love Hearts

While everyone is honoring the fallen heroes on this Memorial Day, how about the Vietnam veterans who have FALLEN through the cracks?

Did you know there are thousands (maybe more) of Vietnam veterans who were injured during active duty — it’s called a “service-connected injury” — but have no idea they’re even eligible for disability benefits?

Did you know that for those same veterans who have learned they’re eligible, that the entire process to obtain their rightful benefits is such a messed up, convoluted, horribly humiliating process that many of them give up or die before they’re compensated? These are veterans who are in their late seventies or eighties and shouldn’t have to spend their final years fighting for what they deserve.

If you check out some of the veteran disability websites or Reddit, you’ll learn that the overwhelming number of disability applicants are denied and try again and again to establish their legitimate claims — some have waited more than SEVEN YEARS to be approved by a nebulous “board“.

This “board” that makes these decisions are cloaked in mystery. No one at the VA (Veteran’s Administration) will disclose who they are. There is zero transparency.

Some say “Have you contacted your congressperson?” and that’s another rabbit hole of dead-ends. Even though someone I know is represented by one that claims to DO EVERYTHING to help Vietnam veterans, when you ask for specific help, they claim not to be able to do a thing and offer a list of worthless phone numbers for assistance. That’s just another way for government to not do their job–even though that’s the platform they campaigned on.

It’s incredibly disheartening.

As we honor fallen veterans, don’t forget the ones who are still here, suffering; often homeless, and definitely underserved. They’ve fallen through the cracks.

Who’s going to help them?

POGs Revival!

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Lately it seems that I see POGs popping up everywhere on social media.

Do you remember them?

For a brief, crazy intense moment in the ’90s, POGs and slammers were everywhere. If you grew up during that era, you might remember collecting the colorful cardboard discs, the thrill of slamming your favorite POG stack, and swapping the ones you didn’t want with friends on the playground.

During that frenzied time, I was involved in a business that not only produced POGs (milkcaps) as business promotional giveaways but created a line of them called The Safe Neighborhood Club, complete with an inserted educational booklet. Some of these designs were included in books about POGs.

Photo by Enchanted Seashells

For a time, POGS were even outlawed in a few school districts, that’s how popular they were.

The story of POGs began in Hawaii, where children used caps from Haleakala Dairy’s POG juice (passionfruit-orange-guava) to play a simple flipping game.

Alan Rypinski bought the POG trademark in 1993 and transformed it into a global brand. With the World POG Federation at the helm, POGs exploded into toy aisles and schoolyards, becoming an integral part of ’90s culture. POGman, the game’s cartoon mascot, became as recognizable as the discs themselves. He made millions during the craze but was out of the game when the bubble burst.

By 1997, the POG market had imploded. Oversaturation, school bans, and changing fads pushed the once-beloved game into obscurity. The discs that once sparked heated debates and trades among kids now sat forgotten.

Now, nearly three decades later, whispers of a POG revival are surfacing. Can a nostalgia-driven resurgence bring this playground staple back into the mainstream?

Why Revive POGs Now?

I can’t explain it, but POGs definitely ARE making a comeback, not just as a nostalgic collectible but also with a digital component and a focus on both physical and digital gaming. 

The World Pog Federation launched new physical sets and online games to engage a new generation of players. They are also exploring partnerships and collaborations to expand the POG brand. 

I’ll have to dig around in the garage ‘cos I know I still have a massive collection stored in binders and I can’t wait to show them to the Angels. Maybe they could start it up again at their school; wouldn’t that be awesome?

Further reading:
–Here’s a link to a cool article written just last month about the POG revival:
https://www.belloflostsouls.net/2025/04/dig-up-that-slammer-this-week-were-talking-pogs.html
–Another post from Hawaii: https://www.lanaitoday.com/news/another-chance-to-scoop

Welcome May!

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Happy May Day, hopefully you are, you won’t have to send out a Mayday call!

The “MaydayMaydayMayday” distress call originated in the 1920s as a way to communicate a serious emergency.. Frederick Stanley Mockford, a senior radio officer at Croydon Airport in England, proposed using “mayday” because it sounded like the French phrase “m’aider” (help me). 

Since the United States is mired in an emergency of chaos and destruction, a mayday call might actually be totally appropriate. HELP US!!!

But May Day is special for other reasons:

May 1 is also International Workers’ Day, a day for workers to celebrate and advocate for their rights. Today is all about demonstrations and activism, particularly related to labor issues and social justice. There are planned events all over the country, and one this afternoon near our beach, too.

In Celtic, May Day or Beltane means “lucky fire.” Beltane is a pagan ritual celebrating the height of spring. Today, people celebrate May Day by making flower crowns and baskets, planting flowers for the spring, decorating their homes in bright colors to embrace the change, nature walks, picnics, and enjoying the outdoors. Bonfires have been a part of Beltane rituals for generations, to dance around fire and rejoice in the wonders of the season. 

I don’t have a maypole to dance around and I prefer to commune with nature and probably will NOT start a bonfire because we haven’t had any rain in a while, so it’s not a great idea.

Happy Beltane!

Art credit to respective creators.

My Stupid Little Town

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Our water district sent out notices about a horrendous and onerous rate increase planned over the next two years.

For example, if you now pay around $71 a month, the rate will shoot up to approximately $119 a month by 2027. That is absolutely unconscionable and a definite hardship for a lot of us.

The law requires a certain period of time for protests and objections but only for due diligence, NOT because they’ll take our opinions into consideration.

Some people wrote letters and a few of us also showed up to speak at the hearing to affirm or deny the rate increase. I realize that this was a futile exercise more based in legality rather than actually caring about the community because our council doesn’t really care at all about the people who live here; they are fully invested in overdevelopment and support all the rate increases from water to trash.

I’m really sorry more people didn’t come to the stupid council meeting yesterday to voice concerns about the egregious water rate increases but I understand — nothing we say or do ever seems to change the outcome of anything that’s done to stop the ruin of this once adorable coastal city.

The reality is that those people on council do not represent the community they are SUPPOSED to represent.

One guy who spoke said he was a civil engineer and actually supported the increase; maybe he was looking for a job? Kiss ass or a plant, I’m not sure.

The city consistently approves more and more low income housing projects but doesn’t think about those same low income residents on pensions, disability, Social Security, and other types of fixed incomes who are (or will become) deeply impacted by our chaotic economy and cuts to services will actually be able to pay for necessities.

Who can afford an increase of $30+ a month? Council is out of touch with real people. They live in a bubble and not only don’t understand-they simply don’t care.

The water district’s millennial spokeshead was angling for a pat on her back as she uptalked this NOT very humble brag…”We eliminated two full time positions to save money.” like that in and of itself should justify their economically burdensome rate increase?

How much is she paid? Team Leaders at this water district are paid an average of $175,000 per year. Others are paid between $47 and $60 per hour. Group Managers earn $270,000 per year. I think we all can figure out where costs could be slashed to pay for our water increase.

I knew it was a waste of time but I showed up anyway and here’s what I said:

“You all need to learn to read the room. How are you continuously so incredibly disconnected from REGULAR people? It makes no economic nor reasonable sense in this seriously screwed up political landscape to raise rates of any sort, especially now.

Look at it another way—you constantly approve building all these low income housing projects, right?

And there are lots of seniors and retired people in Carlsbad, and other low income families on Section 8– so how do you expect this demographic who rely on some sort of fixed income to pay for these egregious increases when their FIXED income doesn’t match the increased cost? 

Haven’t you thought this through, this macro picture? Do you all live in a bubble?

If the stock market continues to implode, if Social Security and disability is reduced or completely cut, if pensions and public assistance are wiped out, WHO IS going to be able to afford the increased water rates? 

It makes no sense. THIS IS NOT THE TIME. I strongly and LOUDLY object and protest the tone deaf water rate increase.

This rate increase is beyond ridiculous, especially in these uncertain economic times.

It’s an egregious misuse of power to increase financial hardship for those of us who don’t know if we’ll even have a job or are on tenuous fixed incomes. You need to radically correct this type of financial exploitation. It’s an economic burden we do not need to carry.

The truth is that you do not need any rate increase; what you need to do is LOWER your water rates.”

And then I looked at the entire council’s facial valences that communicated zero emotion, negative OR positive as they stared at me with flat affects, and ended my three minutes with, “Crickets again, I see. What a disappointment you all are.”

Featured photo by Enchanted Seashells

Happy Earth Day! 🌎

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I attended the very first Earth Day celebration in 1970 at Balboa Park in San Diego with a crowd of about 70,000 people. The weather was beautiful, about 68 degrees, and I must have skipped school that Wednesday.

I can’t remember who I went with or how I got there but I do recall walking from booth to booth looking for free stuff and having an unpleasant encounter with a San Diego cop, probably about being truant.

There is a vague recollection that I swore at him and he got all puffed up and intimidating, threatened to call my dad until I told him to go ahead, my dad was a lawyer…and then he walked away. Miss you, Daddy, and thank you!

Gaia, known as the mother goddess, was the personification of Earth. She’s described as a caring and nurturing mother figure to all of her children, plants, and other living creatures on this planet.

We’re all children of Gaia, Earth Mother, no matter where we live.

Here’s a photo of boats from my little slice of earth at Agua Hedionda Lagoon, along with a lone paddleboarder.

Photo by Enchanted Seashells

I walked along a trail high above the water and this view seemed like it could be anywhere in the world, but it’s right here in SoCal.

If we take care of Mother Earth, she’ll take care of us.

With this new administration of chaos and darkness, they seem determined to destroy as much of our environmental protections as they’re doing to democracy and the constitution, so it’s not such a happy day, after all.

Repeating History | Where We Are

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This is exactly where we are. It’s happening all over again, but this time, HERE, in the United States. Who will have the necessary courage to stop this nightmare?

January 13, 1943
“Terrible things are happening outside. Poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. Families are torn apart. Men, women, and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared.”
Diary of Anne Frank – Anne Frank

From media sources:

+ Did you all see the video of the ICE agent breaking a car window near the border? He wasn’t an ICE agent. He’s the founder of Veterans on Patrol, a FAR-RIGHT MILITIA patrolling the border for migrants. They’re basically deputizing militias to act as federal agents. This is dangerously out of control.

+ A U.S. born citizen was arrested in Florida for entering the state as an “unauthorized alien.” His mother and a community advocate showed his birth certificate during a hearing in Leon County. The judge said she had no authority to release him. Update: He has now been released.

+ This happened in Boston. Trump’s ICE Gestapo took away a little girl in a Winnie the Pooh shirt who was on her way to school.

+ A 19 year-old living in New York — Family has an asylum case pending with no criminal record or tattoos, ICE grabbed him and two other boys right at the entrance to his building. One said: ‘No, he’s not the one,’ like they were looking for someone else. But the other said: ‘Take him anyway,’” he recalled. He is in CECOT (El Salvador)

Even more disgusting and tone deaf to the destruction of democracy and while all of this is going on around us, was the spectacle of half a dozen entitled women taking a very expensive ten minute joyride to cosplay being an astronaut.

The Blue Origin “flight” took the women more than sixty-two miles above Earth, crossing the internationally recognized boundary of space and giving them a few moments of weightlessness. It’s an insult to every real astronaut who spent years training for space exploration. I. CAN’T. EVEN.

Earthquakes and Wind Chimes, OH MY!

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I had another post planned for today but then this happened!

I was in a store looking at a wall of wind chimes (I love them so much). They were on sale which always gives me an added thrill.

Suddenly, ALL THE WIND CHIMES STARTED SWAYING BACK AND FORTH!

I had a split second realization that we were going to have an earthquake, and at that precise moment, there was a very loud bang, like the ceiling and the lights were going to crash down around us — definite sky is falling vibes.

The entire store was rocking and rolling. People started to rush out the front doors as we’ve been taught. I thought about it for a couple seconds and decided not to follow the crowd because I had a few things in my cart for the Angels and didn’t want to have a wasted shopping trip. In the face of potential danger, my shopping obsession prevailed lol.

Phone alarms were going off like crazy with initial reports of a 6.2 earthquake which is pretty big. Later on it was downgraded to a 5.2, but it felt more powerful than that. It was reported as having a Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) of VI, which is classified as “strong”. There were several aftershocks all afternoon; not as scary.

A woman near me was shaking, visibly upset. I asked her if she needed a hug, she said yes, so I gave her one, hoping it would calm her down a bit. I agree it was definitely upsetting.

Should I stay or go? I decided the planets and the universe had given me an unmistakable SIGN that I needed to buy that chime I had been looking at, so I did.

The last BIG earthquake here was the 2010 Baja California quake that occurred on April 4 (Easter Sunday) with a magnitude of 7.2 and a maximum Mercalli Intensity of VII (very strong). Including today and our 4.2 earthquake in 2023, these all took place in April. I think that might be a significant fact, but I’m not sure exactly what it means…

I’ll never forget that Sunday in 2010. My darling kitty, Bandit, was keeping me company while I painted the downstairs living room. I had created a color that replicated the inside of a conch shell, sort of light pink/tan; exactly what I wanted. I was on a ladder when Bandit jumped on the sofa next to where I was and stared up at me. I looked at her and said, “What’s up, my love?” At that moment, the entire house felt and sounded like a train ran through it. The ladder was shaking and I had a hard time coming down. It was quite disorienting. Bandit gave me the dirtiest look like I had personally upset her tranquil morning. I ran upstairs and out onto the deck in time to watch my neighbor’s pool water slosh back and forth and pour over the sides. That earthquake went on for quite a while. All the neighbors ended up going out in the street to make sure we were all OK, and except for a few askew picture frames, none of my (way too many) seashells and other little things I collect fell off the shelves. I finished painting the room but Bandit spent the day hiding under the bed. She had enough excitement for one day.

This quake felt similarly powerful to me, but didn’t last quite as long. At least I can count on my new earthquake warning system, right?

I bet my old geology professor will appear on all the TV stations as he usually does to talk about tectonic plates and shifts and faults and all that stuff. I’m still angry at him for giving me a “D” in Geology. Considering how much I love rocks, that shouldn’t have happened, but to be honest, it was a great year for skiing and Mammoth was calling to me, so I guess I missed a few too many classes…