Catching up this morning with a wonderful blog from rural San Miguel de Allende, this story grabbed me emotionally and triggered that level of sadness that only a story of dog suffering or passing seems to evoke.  I've lost several of my own, and we are a serial foster home for local rescue.

Chucha Comes Limping Home

One of my hesitations about relocation to Mexico is the alarm and dismay with which I regard the various callejeros (street dogs, or their more rural campo dog cousins) encountered in everyday life.  The challenges and deprivation they deal with is often evident from their appearance or behavior.

I recall earlier posts mentioning Chucha, and the affection I felt for her on reading them. This update is a sad closing chapter.  RIP old girl...  

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South of the Border Dystopia

I watched a Mexican film tonight, selected almost randomly, mostly for the Spanish practice. What I saw was perhaps the best science fiction film of this generation. I felt the same about it as I did when I saw TXH1138 (George Lucas' first feature film) around 1971. They are both brilliantly original dystopian visions incorporating various ominous features of contemporary life bitterly realized into cautionary tales, and with cathartic outcomes where the human spirit prevails (at least to some degree) over dark forces of inhumanity.

   

 Sleep Dealer
(Traficante De Sueños)

I felt there was not a false moment, and there were innumerable wonderful small elements, as in TXH1138, that left me filled with admiration for the film-making team and wonder at the authenticity of the story.  I know from a number of Mexico visits that the settings, situations, and characters there were in perfect fidelity for what they purported to represent.  Where there were stylized future evolutionary representations of culture, they were equally believable and appropriate.

There are very few films I can actually use the term spellbinding to describe, but for me this is one...

Clipped Wings

It's been about fifteen years since I was an active pilot.  Occasionally I consider whether there is still any opportunity for me to be actively engaged again in aviation.  As usual, it seems there are many facets to this possibility - in favor of and against.

Teaching days - working in a C-310.

The cost of any aviation activity is prohibitive without a high income or vast accumulated assets.  Since I have neither of these, that would leave getting paid for aviation work, or possibly having acquaintances who are able to operate in some fashion and might welcome me as a sidekick of some kind.

Working seems unlikely, as it has been so long since I was flying regularly, and there is great value in this business placed on recent high-volume activity.  In any event, I would require a great deal of remedial training and education to get me up to speed on current knowledge and skills.  There is also the issue of liability, especially in teaching.  I wouldn't be comfortable signing off folks as I used to for a variety of privileges.  Another concern would be my drift toward a generally more cautious temperament - it always seemed even in the past that I was excessively cautious, to the point where I wasn't prepared to get the maximum utility out of the system.

Familiar flight school classroom materials at the local field.

Recently, I went to a local pilots' association meeting to meet some aviators and hear some pilot talk.  They enticed me to become a dues-paying member, and suggested that I get an airport badge so I could roam about the field and check out open hangers where the activity might be found on some weekends.  If I can at least cough up some gas money, there are probably local flying activities I can participate in, even if it mostly passive.  For now, I don't anticipate getting a medical certificate or flight review that would enable me to formally exercise privileges of my certificate and ratings.

I still have a powerful interest in all things related to aviation, and given the right opportunity could find satisfaction in some involvement.  However, given the challenges I may just have to be content with reading about it in industry print and web material.  Maybe what I really want to do is just find occasional opportunities to be an airport bum - or 'ramp slut', as we used to refer to the practice back in California...

Flew the new Cessna trainer with a demo pilot in July.  

An aircraft model I used to fly, spotted in Salida.

Me and Hitch

"I'm full of fears and I do my best to avoid difficulties and any kind of complications. I like everything around me to be clear as crystal and completely calm."  -Alfred Hitchcock

And yet 'Hitch' was able to complete over fifty films - some of which routinely appear in critics' lists of the best films ever made.  This offers me some reassurance that I might still hope to accomplish some worthy things myself going forward.  I have already accomplished some significant things, like owning a photography business, becoming an Airline Transport Pilot rated flight instructor, and working as a self-tought network engineer.

But increasingly in recent years, I've been adopting an attitude like Hitchcock's - avoiding hassles and complication whenever possible.  Chaos and uncertainty are unwelcome, and clarity and calm are the standard for an acceptable day.  Since dealing with others for any purpose often seems to invite disorder and unwanted and unnecessary complexity to otherwise simple situations, this has resulted in increasing avoidance of social situations in general, some difficulties with relationships, and doubts about re-engaging with conventional work. 

I wonder if Hitchcock operated with this mindset from the beginning of his long career, or if this influenced him only later, after having already delivered his huge body of work.  I may try to find a date for that quote.

I'm currently reading a book by Harry Browne, called How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World: A Handbook for Personal Liberty.  While I'm only about a third of the way through, it seems to offer a lot of insight and encouragement for how to function in a world full of demands and expectations that are not necessarily aligned with what we need or want.  I'll follow up later with a review, after completing it...

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Clip Joint

Got inspired to post this by a haircut entry from a blog I follow by a pleasant and well-spoken fellow who has made a home with his partner outside San Miguel de Allende.

For the past few years, I've put off haircuts for as long as I can stand it, then start watching for coupons for one of the local franchise hair places - maybe for eight or nine dollars.  With tip I am out the door for about ten to twelve bucks.  One of the highlights of my trip to San Miguel de Allende in February was a stop at a barber shop/hair salon for a two buck (maybe $2.75 with tip) haircut.  The place was carefully selected on the basis of walking by it randomly.

I couldn't fathom what the observer in the doorway was thinking.

The girl working looked very uncertain about my arrival, but we quickly negotiated the kind of haircut I would get (clippers on the side, scissors on top, short in the front), and I was out of there in about ten minutes.  From the attention I received from other patrons, it seemed evident that not many gringos dropped in.  The haircut was fine - I'm not very fussy and as I approach age 60 the attractiveness of my haircut is the among least of my worries.

The girl in the chair behind me captures the moment on her cell phone cam.

It's not just that I am cheap, and delight in getting things more affordably (although I am and do) - it is the whole experience of dealing with people, the style of the business, the signage and infrastructure...  Lots of things are just more fun to experience in Mexico.

OK, is it Mari or Mary?

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Watched a brilliant, ballsy environmental film a couple of nights ago. It was in the Netflix queue for a long time (streaming), and I hesitated to watch it because it didn't really sound all that great.  It was much better than expected. Pulls no punches and there was some heavy hitting, but combined with a gentle touch where needed.  The Age of Stupid is an independent film released in 2009 - I think it was much more effective than An Inconvenient Truth.  The animations were especially fun and satisfying.




There is a 'Making of' hour-long feature on YouTube that illustrates the difficulty of making an independent film like this, and further emphasizes the urgency of the issues that inspired it.

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So the boys at CERN think they may have observed a Higgs boson particle in the course of their multi-billion dollar particle accelerator antics. An NPR program invited listeners to submit a haiku to commemorate the event. Here's mine:

Wasted resource, science
Ignore real world problems
Physicist has fun

At least they haven't produced a planet-devouring black hole - so far....

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