Jack travels to The Rainbow Bridge

My boy, my confidant, Oh...my so-many-things-i-could-be-to-measure-up-to-be-the-guy-you-think-i-am-person. You are the first pup in my life that I've lived with and loved from cradle to grave...my broken heart is ...broken, you are not here anymore. My kids were raised by you! You were...and still are...the perfect friend

The world is so much more plain without you in it, Jacko...I'm so sorry you got so sick...so quickly. I hope to the God of all mercies that you never endured any pain...you are a godsend, my dear old friend. 

I loved your big head in my lap as we drove around in the 'blues truck'...and then the big white truck...Vans were your favorite...all that room in the back seat...yeah...just to jump in and drive around and munch on pork skins and milk, eh, pal??! 

Every time I'd go to the burger joints, I'd always get one or two for Homie...the master-Hogg-u-lah!! "...Cheese, Pleeze..."I remember so much...I'll come visit, and we'll talk more, ok pal?? Now, go lay down...no, you may not get on that couch...yours is over here. (of course, that policy was good only until the human-snore-cycle commenced. Couches were fair game once the 'parents' were alseep!!)

Dateline...Dec 26 2012...i miss you more than ever. Wonga.

Intentional Bias in North Carolina

A North Carolina trial judge recently resentenced three death-row inmates to life without parole under the state’s Racial Justice Act, which allows inmates to have their sentences reduced if it can be shown they were tainted by racial bias. In the trials of two blacks and one Lumbee Indian, the judge found “powerful evidence”of such bias.

No!!...Not in the Crown Jewel of 'The New South' Republi-Crat state...nahhh

Go figure, huh? No matter how this society feels it's 'done all it can do" for the descendants of the African people that were brought here by a 'code' of ethics so reprehensible it boggles my mind. It is (real time racism) still very much alive and doing what it does. While an almost pathological hatred and disavowal of African Americans has existed for centuries, the cause/effects, now...to a much larger degree, and within a multi-racial environment, is now, strictly a class/economic division set in motion by The Market. Leadership figures are bought and sold/hired and fired like so much corporate raider 'turn-over' specialists set in motion by the takeover 'corporation"...a/k/a Congress/White House to squeeze profits out of rocks.

The quest for 'money/wealth/status/identity' has jeopardized the contemporary African American to an even worse degree that it has before say 1990, simply by the context of esoteric/contemporary references to wealth and class that whites use as indication of just whom they're dealing with...Hip Hop, for example, was an emerging 'voice' to an oppressed epole(s)...the idiom has been c-opted by $$$$. Just ask Russell Simmons what time it is'...The ramifications were nuts...LA hates NYC (thats' where "Rap" music originated...actually a couple of blocks from where I grew up!)..."Gangsta Rap"  emerged out of the vapid insolence of LA...Thug Life became a WAY of life...and the whole became a circus that the Racist American could use as even more fuel to feed his hate.

Until the US in whole/part...what have you, discusses openly, the horrors that were the lives of the enslaved, bought-and-sold-like-baling wire-Africans...as well as the period between 1867-1940's ...the Jim Crow era, with its extrajudicial justice called lynching, and it's targeting of mostly (90%) African-American folk with that degrading and horrific existence of hiding from the white man...and his lynching tree. Those truths are the issues that must be personally & collectively discussed and dealt with. They must be addressed in order for this country to heal. There are those folks who would love nothing better but to have all of us croak so they might have the world...as their private, elite 'oyster'...IMHO?? Fuck 'em.

GOD...AGAIN About Chris Hedges' 'Truthdig' article

The use of the term ‘supreme being’, at least in my limited lexicon of experience, means a great many things to a great many people. To some, anthropomorphism is a vehicle that must exist for some in order to facilitate or give a 'face' to at least a cursory understanding of forces greater than ourselves.

The Dalai Lama as a multi-culturally respected world leader in the realm of ‘inner contemplation’ states that whatever your ‘religion’, ‘faith’, following’ may be…within your personal comfort zone should, at the helm, have love and compassion as its (their) compass. One need not ex-communicate oneself with their own path toward enlightenment (read: love), and pursue Buddhism, for example…but work within the context of what LOVE and compassion really are.

The teachings of Jesus Christ (whether one subscribes to the ‘Christian’ ways of thought or not) are at their core, very similar to that of every pursuit of ‘faith’ or spiritual journey across humankind. Love is at the core of it all…Joseph Campbell reminds us about metaphors…now that we, as a relatively evolved species, can understand abstract and complex thought, when he states that “God is a Metaphor for the Mystery that transcends all human forms of language and classification…” “God is a thought, God is an idea, but, its reference is to something that transcends all thinking.”

To also quote Campbell in his interview(s) with Bill Moyers, ” The great horror today, is what you see in Beirut”...(and…and…and…)...“where you have the three great Western Religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and because the three of them have different names for the same biblical god, they can’t get on together. They’re stuck with their metaphor, and don’t realize its reference.” THAT, I believe in and of itself is the foolish, man-made, line in the sand.

We try and corporialize and compartmentalize that which is transcendant…again, to simply to get our pea-brained selves some ‘thing/one’ to whom, to relate to...as in a 'someone/thing' simply because of who ‘we…are’. There is, again, in my opinion...and experience, no "Supreme Being" or 'entity, per se…but, there is the enlightened 'state of being'. However…the concept of God, in Campbell’s thesis…is beyond most of humankind’s ability to understand..."...even within the states of ‘being or non-being', which in and of themselves are classifications…it’s as simple as that.”

The manifestation of ALL of the teachings of every religion/faith/spirit-quest…is love, plain and simple.

Love is the ONLY thing that lasts, and cannot be diluted by dogma.

Hedges knows this and has seen it happen over and over…and he also understands, that that capacity is innate within us…all.

Jack

Jack ...my 'homie'...my pillow...my listener...my eater of all things hot dog...my peacemaker...my hope is to be the man you think I am, my big black soulbrother. I defer to your wisdom...and grace. I defer; to your inclusion, to your wonder, to your patience, to...you old man.  I'm so glad we're together pal.
        

God

Joseph Campbell, in the work/semi-autobiography "The Hero's Journey" explained something to me that finally rang true...He stated this simple but supremely enlightening statement: "God is a metaphor for The Mystery that absolutely transcends all human categories of thought, even the categories of being and not-being (those are also categories)...It's as simple as that".

In other words...there's no vaidity to the "My God's bigger and better than Your God" maxim.

God...is, and, I'm thrilled because I've known this for a long time, sez me.

Summerime 2010

Friday Night 6-4-'10...12 .5 hours on the road with my two youngest sons...They not once uttered the dreaded "are we there yet, pappy"...The GPS kept it all real! I can't believe what great travelling companions my tow-heads have turned into...and FUNNY!!
No Fast Food...(daddy made nice wraps with BBQ, Cous Cous and deli stuff...and ate most of them, himself.) just 'pit-stops' to relieve the boredom of the asphalt, and the pressure on our bladders! Why is it that when kids have 10 bucks in their pockets, they just have to go to some spot and blow it on say, a pocket full of (mumbles)...or Skittles ???

I-75 is a trip in and of itself...Too many insane Pulpwood Drivers for my taste. I just know they've got a Mason Jar of some bev to take the edge off the bennies...and that shit gets reckless. I have precious cargo to deliver, you ass-hats! Came down through Athens, GA...Macon...and on to the Panhandle of FL...where the tone got more somber. 250,000 gallons of crude being spilled into the Gulf...Daily. The locals are terrified. This is an unprecedented catastrophy...and the Revolution Starts...NOW!!
We hit the room at around 8-9pm...dropped our stuff, and proceeded to grab a slice at Gigi's House 'o Pizza on Treasure Island...Land of the Ex-Pats, Keouac the Prophet, and The Out Of Sight Shop. Just the best!! back to our room in one of the last 'real' motels on the western Gulf Coast of Fla. Nothing fancy...good rates, clean sheets...and the pool's right outside our door!

          Logan and Clay with Carter ("Blues-Boy")


I missed Donna, already. She decided not to make the trip due to her brother Joe's battle with life and the end of it. She didn't want to be the one to say..."damn, let's go, we gotta get to Tenn., ASAP"...plus the poor girl's Rotator Cuff surgery (1 month, now) is giving her hell.
Regarding Joe...I feel like I gotta jump in with as much vigor and resources as I can muster, and help him do what he WANTS to do, rather than what the "System" has available...and that sure as hell ain't lying in some half-assed nursing home waiting to drift off into Stardust. While the staff might know the particulars...they sure as hell don't know, or want to know...The Man. And he's thinking about Hunter Thompson...and I'm thinking about building the Cannon. So, we're taking matters into our own hands, and moving Joe back to his comfort zone...Home.
But, I digress...

Update....7-21-2010

Joe is home, and is under the care of Hospice. He is losing his battle with his body...but he's winning the battle to 'Live Life Like You're Dying'. So many dynamics in family life. Mike Rutherford (Mike and The Mechanics/Genesis) coined it beautifully in his tune "In The Living Years". Closure, words not left unsaid, emotions running high...and the clock keeps ticking. Donna spent over a week with her big brother...se pic below...and got to know a great many things about what Is and what Isn't. Kids come out of the fogs that have kept them apart for years...and repent, share love, sorrow...and hope that the bridges can be repaired.
Esoteric?? maybe. Triumphant Epiphany?? damn right!

TIM

I know this kid named Tim (I use the term 'kid' loosely, as I'm much older than he)...He's 24 and lives in a pretty bleak component of the American Dream. Tim's life has been one of poverty replete with all the stigmas and suffering that comes with it.

From the start of my relationship with Tim, I saw a sparkle in his eye, and a willingness to get beyond the apparent, and head toward the possible. Tim and I have had many talks about 'life'...about what is and what ain't...about his dreams, his aspirations and the frustrations of inaccessibilty to those well thought out plans for the future. We talk about his family...about his mom, his grandmother(s), his aunts, cousins, nephews, (all of whom live in the same community just outside the 'Beltway To The Land of Promise') his sisters, and his 'Pops'.

We talk, too, about all the politicians, the TV, film, print media-journalists, and radio personalities who have all, at one time or another, come down to Blackmon Road, Tim's home community, to "talk about poverty". They/we talk about "helping people help themselves, all that...stuff that people "talk" about when the issues of poverty arise (particularly around election time). Tim and I have shot hoops...he's a hell of a basketall player...we shot 'em with John Edwards, with Danny Glover, with all manner of photo-ready moments...ensuring that the 'personality' that was shooting was in the 'moment'...(Please take a second, and visit http://www.aplaceforhope.net/ to learn more about the Blackmon Road Community in Rock Hill, SC).

Tim has a job that he rides his bike to, rain or shine, day and/or night...5-6 times a week The ride is about 5 miles. The job is ok, pays about $7.50 an hour, for about 6 hours worth of work. (If one does the math, one can readily see that not only is this not a great deal of income...Tim is recognized as a Part-Time Employee, so it also provides his employer a way out of needing to offer "Benefits"...like, say, health insurance). Remembering that Tim is helping support his mom (who, as it turns out, is in desperate need of medication to control her bi-polar disorder and her clinically diagnosed severe depression...to the tune of "way too much to afford"...and has not been able to receive any assistance due to her assumed 'lucid' status). 

The System is kaput...and we need to stand up for our brothers and sisters who are in desperate need of a way out of the abject poverty that they are subject to...this is not their 'lot in life' and a 'chosen lifestyle' as some local racist leaders and blog/comment posters would have us believe. Quite the contrary...what this is...is a shameful, 'out-of-sight-out-of-mind' way of thinking...and it needs to end NOW.

Hasta la Victoria Siempre!!!

James Christian

My Scorpio baby boy. November 4 1976...I remember when you hit the scene...pooped in the nurse's hand!!

I was in the Army stationed @ Ft Bragg NC...serving with a rough and ready group...2Bn / 505th Inf. (Airborne). 'Twas during my tenure as a soldier that I met my heart...a 17 year old woman-child named "The Daughter of the Commander of Pope Air Force Base, (but you can call me Patricia)". Through both Pat's wanting to identify with the Anti-Military, anti-war mindset (her dad was a highly respected and decorated combat pilot and forward operations commander; Col Mason was the wing commander in Cam Ranh Bay, Viet Nam during '67-69, so his attitude toward the anti-war thing was...palpable)...and my hanging out with those very types of 'cats-in-the-corps', brought Pat and me together for a brief, but beautiful time in both our lives. We explored a great many things...

James Christian Aggeles was born after a long and tough labor...I was 23 and clueless. Pat was 18 and a high school senior who loved poetry, God, her family and me...and this child ... our love offering to the world. If there was ever a child born in the light of love, Chris is he...

The boy grew into a brilliantly gifted man of compassion, grace, infinite patience, and drive. His love is the pursuit of knowledge and the paths toward wisdom. Chris has chosen many creative avenues with which to achieve his constant state of momentum...never giving in to stasis or mediocrity. Chris is a consumate musician's musician, constantly training his body and his mind with muscle memory exercises behind his drumset and his collection of hand percussion and 'found' instruments; he's an ecologically astute inhabitant of the earth...who, through his own volition and education-put-into-practice lifestyle, could probably live quite comfortably "off the grid" for the rest of his life; He's sometimes a stanger in a strange land, just sometimes...Chris' perception of how we are as it relates to how we could be ( we = people )...in our journey "...Across The Universe" and through  "...the known and unknown lands of space..." is one of constant hope and an ethereal love for his fellow man. An almost foreign sense of being in todays hyper-kinetic world.

I'm proud to have this man in my life...as my son, as my associate, as my good and loving friend.

Then, play on, son...

18 months old...and man did he ever learn to play!! 

Some images from 'Round Here

I got a Digital 35 mm SLR for being good!!

Here's some stuff I've come up with...

Oh, LOVE that Photoshop thingy !!

NPR's Coming To Our House!!

Donna just got a call from the Chapel Hill, NC (WUNC) area NPR newsroom...seems as though they want to do a story on her and the tireless work she does with A Place for Hope, (her community outreach and resource center in Rock Hill, SC.)

They'll be here on Sat. 11-28-09...coming to the house for an interview.

Yes, it's a politically motivated feature, as our pal Marvin Rogers, the most unassuming, well spoken AND published young Afro-American (pardon my 60's usage...) Republican is the real front story. Marvin is a man who is actively changing the complexion of 'status-quo' politics in this part of the "New" South. There are a great many hurdles to jump...and he does so with grace, honesty and aplomb.

Marvin has proved himself to be a man of his word, as he actually maintains a very vocal and visual presence in the Blackmon Road Community...the community that is served by A Place for Hope. Take a sec and check out http://www.aplaceforhope.net/ and see what the situation is. Lots of info, pictures, testimonials, and success stories. Marvin ran in the local SC House of Reps race this past year...only to be swallowed up by a candidate that was just part of the afore mantioned 'staus quo' poiltics...a Democrat named John King.

Mr King...a wealthy, recognized member of the Black business community enthusiastically proselytized about his great 'visions' for his constituency...and the future of those less fortunate during his mega-funded campaign. To wit...the residents of the Blackmon Road Community.

In a word, Bullshit, Mr King. Haven't seen your sorry behind in the community EVER...save for a few photo ops.

Going to be interesting to see how all this shakes out.

TAgg