Muted blue, shades of gray, let 'em eat cake

The Foundation office in A100 received a truckload of new furniture yesterday.
Doesn't look like much. Note the color: muted blue, gray.
Mr. Morley directs the Foundation.
His predecessor, Al Tello, was a nice guy but a nitwit.
Some are saying that we should bring back Al. Please.

This, of course, is the vast wasteland called "A100, interior." It gets remodeled every year or so.
It used to have a deep red floor. For a few minutes, anyway. But red is Saddleback's color, evidently.
We're muted blue. The more muted the better.
Meanwhile, most campus restrooms look like sh*t. In A200 anyway.
Note the color theme: muted blue, 50 shades of gray.
The perfect accompaniment to impending entombment or abject Republicanism.
Yawn. Snooze. Droolage.

Our Olympic Coverage: Punk Rock Women Take the Gold

There's something about punk rock women.  Rebel Girl suggests that you play it loud.

Putin Will Teach You How to Love the Motherland
translation:

$50 billion and a rainbow ray
Rodnina and Kabayeva will pass you the torch
They'll teach you to submit and cry in the camps
Fireworks for the bosses. Hail, Duce!
​
Sochi is blocked, Olympus is under surveillance
Special forces, weapons, crowds of cops
FSB - argument, Interior Ministry - Argument
On [state-owned] Channel 1 - applause.

Putin will teach you to love the Motherland.

In Russia, the spring can come suddenly
Greetings to the Messiah in the form of a volley from
Aurora, the prosecutor is determined to be rude
He needs resistance, not pretty eyes

An bird cage for protest, vodka, nesting doll
Jail for the Bolotnaya [activists], drinks, caviar
The Constitution is in a noose, [environmental activist] Vitishko is in jail
Stability, food packets, fence, watch tower

Putin will teach you to love the Motherland

They will turn off Dozhd's broadcast
The gay parade has been sent to the outhouse
A two-point bathroom is the priority
The verdict for Russia is jail for six years
Putin will teach you to love the Motherland


Motherland
Motherland
Motherland

*

Federal Lawsuit Accuses For-Profit Schools of Fraud (New York Times)

     …Though they vary widely in quality, for-profit schools have drawn scrutiny in recent years for aggressive recruiting, high prices, low graduation rates and heavy borrowing by students who often have poor job prospects afterward. They have been a particular target of overhaul efforts by the Obama administration. Much of the attention has gone to a handful of large, visible national chains, like the University of Phoenix, DeVry University and Corinthian Colleges, that are publicly traded. But like Premier, which had 17,000 students in 2012, most are privately owned and receive far less scrutiny.
. . .
     Compared with traditional, nonprofit schools, both public and private, for-profit schools disproportionately enroll low-income and minority students who qualify for significant government aid, and the schools rely far more on that aid for revenue. Federal records show that in 2011-12, Premier collected $112 million in federal Pell grants and federal student loans. For-profit schools also spend heavily on advertising, their students are far more likely to borrow money to pay for tuition, and those who borrow rack up more debt and are more likely to default.
     Students at for-profit schools often do not realize that cheaper alternatives exist through public community colleges and trade schools. A study published this month found that the majority of people who had attended for-profit colleges and trade schools did not understand the distinction, learned of their schools through advertising and did not consider any other schools....

     A friend sent this pic; she says she saw this thing hanging quietly on a wall at an Irvine Baja Fresh Mexican Grill.
     Ah, politics. Looks like Assemblyman—and former SOCCCD trustee—Don "Spanky" Wagner arranged for BFMG in Irvine to receive this "certificate of recognition," from the State Assembly, "in honor of" BFMG's "providing excellent Mexican cuisine and cullinary services to the residents of Irvine and the 70th Assembly District."
     One wonders whether Don's car sports such a certificate "in honor of providing excellent transportation for Don Wagner."

More Calif. students seeking college financial aid (OC Reg)

     As tuition costs rose over the past six years, a record number of California college students applied for financial aid, according to federal data reported by a newspaper.
     The number of California residents filing the federal financial aid application jumped nearly 74 percent over the six-year period, The Sacramento Bee reported on Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1gzOELI ) based on data from the U.S. Department of Education. Some colleges saw even higher increases – such as an 81 percent rise among applicants at California State University, Sacramento….

Outside my kitchen window this morning: deer

I was sipping my morning coffee, with young Teddi behind me on the balcony, baking himself in the sun. I noticed movement outside, through the windows and screens: two deer, walking up the side of the hill toward my patio area. Just ten feet away. Took some snaps. The deer noticed movement, too. Wary, they wandered further up the hill and away, through the avacado trees, into the morning.

At the Bauer Compound, the deer seem to be around somewhere about half the time. It's a deer haven, and even my dad, an animal lover like the rest of us, accepts that fact, despite these creatures' habit of eating the fruit and vegetables, which erodes and complicates that love. Normally, he is in the thrall of some anthropomorphic war with competitors in the harvest of same. I think my mom's love of the deer has modified his primal dog-eat-dog perspective about the competition. He is rendered semi-civilized by love. (I'm in the habit of telling him: family Gopher staked a claim here long before family Bauer ever did. But it does no good. He hates those little guys. To him, my sentiments are just College Boy nonsense. But they are not.)

When I come across the deer on our road, I just stop and let 'em by. They seem to understand this. Often, they're in no hurry to flee. Occasionally, they just stare at me, freezing time and action, residing in the eternal present, like God.

Those are some big ears, man. And they really use 'em.

Always loved this song. From 1968.

Exene's riches, Gabbi's dishes

In Santa Ana

Exene in her heyday

     Got a call this morning from the Reb. She and Limber Lou were on their way to Exene Cervenka’s estate sale in Santa Ana. So was our colleague, Virginia.
     (In recent years, Exene, frontwoman for the great LA punk band X, has lived in Orange. The Reb, an Xophile since her teenage years, has run into her at thrift stores.)
     Did I wanna join ‘em? Maybe go to lunch afterwards?
     Why, sure. Got my sh*t together and drove off. Dropped by Annie’s to see if she wanted to come along. “Sure,” she said. “Be ready in five minutes.”

The Gabbster

     Fifteen minutes later, we were off, drivin' Gary's sledmobile.
     I decided to approach the sale location from Tustin, near Rutabegorz on Main. As it turns out, the location was some uninviting industrial space along that very road, now called E. Chestnut, but a few miles past the 55 into Santa Ana.
     Spotted a haunted house along the way. Took the above pic. Annie and I are fond of such structures. Annie saw a ghost, no doubt. Me, not so much.
     As Annie and I drove, I asked her to dial back her personality by two notches for this occasion. I didn't want her to scare young Virginia, who's unfamiliar with Bauerness and all its blunt and zany wackitude.
     "Why?" she asked.
     "Just do it, OK?" (I.e., "don't ask")

Limber Lou, actor

The Blasters

     We found the place and entered the building, where we found Lisa and Lou with Virginia, sifting through all Exene's stuff: dresses, records, knives (owned by her pal Phil Alvin of the Blasters), and the usual (and unusual) detritus. Evidently, earlier, Exene had dropped by, but she got weirded out by something and booked. Lisa and Virginia didn't seem to know why.
     [UPDATE: I noticed that the Reb posted this accounting of Exene's stuff: "Exene's dresses, Phil Alvin's pocket knives, old punks and costume jewelry. A Tom Sawyer salt and pepper shaker set from Hannibal, MO: Tom and his half whitewashed fence. Old sheet music. Old albums. A 45 of "Down in the Boondocks" sung by Bill Joe Royal, produced and written by Joe South. Cowboy boots. Size 7 1/5 shoes. Tiered skirts with tiny waists, trimmed with rick-rack, some run through with gold thread. Vintage embroidered dish towels. Aprons. Green Depression era glass. Guitars. Comic books. Posters. Scarves. Gloves. Hats. Vintage metal candy molds: ducks, bunnies and eggs. Archie Comics. Books: Frida Kahlo written in German, early photos by Alfred Stieglitz; Kay Boyle's poetry, Susan Faludi, Joesph Cornell. Near the counter two LPs: Soupy Sales and Pete Seeger's "Hootenanny Tonight!" featuring among others Earl Robinson and Sonny Terry."]
     We all bought stuff, I guess. (I bought an old Soupy Sales album and a 45 of Billy Joe Royal's "Down in the Boondocks," recorded with the great Joe South in 1964.) Then we headed to Orange for lunch.
     —Gabbi's Mexican in downtown Orange. Very cool indeed.

Lisa and Virginia

     Virginia's a poet, so she's trouble, man. She has words.
     The food was great, as usual. Gabbi's never disappoints.

     Limber Lou, wearing a "Ramones" shirt, told us about his latest role as an actor. Evidently, he plays a kid, age 9, who has tantrums. Cool. Three nights a week.

Virginia and Annie, on her best behavior

     A good time was had by all.



X - Johnny Hit And Run Paulene


I remember listening to this on the tinny AM radio of my folks' '60 Ford. Loved it.