HAPPY EASTER

Happy Easter from the whole gang at Between Homes.





Have a terriic Sunday!

VENTURA COUNTY WILL SPEND $3.1M TO HELP THE HOMELESS

By Debbie Bulloch



Recently, two members of the Ventura County Board of Supervisors have begun discussions to put county funds into a program to ease the plight of homeless people in Ventura County.

(NOTE: County governments are organized local governments authorized in state constitutions and statutes and established to provide general government in an area generally defined as a first-tier geographic division of a state. There are 58 counties in the state of California. The Board of Supervisors is the governmental unit for the county. In Ventura County, there are five Supervisors, each Supervisor is elected from a different area of the county.)

Because of its mild weather, open fields and extensive coastline, Ventura County has attracted a number of homeless people. Naturally, the influx of a homeless population has created a great deal of controversy. While many people support government plans to help ease the problems that homeless individuals face, there is an equal number of people who strongly oppose any plans by the government to help the homeless.

In the past, Ventura County has undertaken several initiatives to help the homeless. Funding for the initiatives, however, has always been, and continues to be, a major source of debate. Two County Supervisors have taken the lead in finding funding for these programs.

As a long-time advocate on behalf of the homeless, I applaud the two Supervisors for taking steps towards ending the suffering of homeless people. It is a disgrace of epic proportions that one of the richest countries in the world should do so little to help its own people. It is equally a shame that Ventura County, one of the richest counties in California (and the entire nation) should stand idly by while the least amongst us suffers the indignities of living without a roof over their heads.

It should be noted, however, that government action is not the ONLY solution to the homeless crisis. We as individuals can, and should, take steps to help eradicate this problem. Governments, private businesses and individuals must all work together to make sure that no man, woman or child should have to sleep on our cities’ sidewalks while struggling to eke out a living.

To read the entire article, please click here: Ventura County Supervisors Propose Investing $3M to Help The Homeless

Finally, as it is usually the case, the article about county spending on the homeless triggered a number of responses from the newspaper’s readers. Many of the responses were in opposition to the spending plan. That is to be expected; many of the people who read the online version of the newspaper are part of a small, but vocal, crowd that opposes any type of government spending if they think it will raise their taxes.

One response and the reply to that response, however, bear noting. Here, for your reading pleasure, are some of those “enlightened” responses. I have omitted the names of the writers, but if you click the link above and read the full article, you will see their screen names.

##############################################

FIRST COMMENT:

No more taxes for homeless! Can we just agree to send them to Canada? I believe that Igloos are cheaper than a one bedroom home in Oxnard. I feel this is a more compassionate solution.

REPLY TO COMMENT:

In response to B….C….:

No more taxes for homeless! Can we just agree to send them to Canada? I believe that Igloos are cheaper than a one bedroom home in Oxnard. I feel this is a more compassionate solution.

****

Why pick on Canada?

Why don't we send them to Mexico, along with their citizens that are here illegally and taking advantage of our tax paid social programs?

Our state budget deficit will probably disappear after we send back one quarter of the illegal immigrants in the U.S., that have chosen California as the land of opportunity for free services, food and health care.

REPLY TO RESPONSE:

>>Why pick on Canada?<<

Why don't we send them to Mexico, along with their citizens that are here illegally and taking advantage of our tax paid social programs?

Well if they came here from Mexico, and you send them back to Mexico, they'll just return to the US. It will be like a yoyo, an eternal string where Mexicans will zip up, go back down, zip up, go back down. Didn't you see "Up In Smoke"?

I think they will stay put in Canada. I believe they would have a better chance, what with so many moose running around as a food source.

#############################################

These comments reflect: (1) a deep ignorance (Canadians do not live in igloos), (2) a racist mentality ( suggesting that Mexican immigration, legal or otherwise, is the cause of homelessness in the U.S.), and (3) still more ignorance (moose don’t roam around all over Canada, you just can’t shoot a moose out on the streets of a Canadian city and make moose burgers out of it).

My apologies to all Canadians who do not live in igloos.

WEDNESDAY MORNING MUSIC - BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS

By Debbie Bulloch



Blood, Sweat & Tears (also known as "BS&T") is an American music group, originally formed in 1967 in New York City. BS&T is best known for the fusing of rock, blues, pop music, horn arrangements and jazz improvisation into a hybrid that came to be known as "jazz-rock."

Unlike "jazz fusion" bands, which tend toward virtuosic displays of instrumental facility and some experimentation with electric instruments, the songs of Blood, Sweat & Tears merged the styling of rock, pop and R&B/soul music with big band, while also adding elements of 20th Century Classical and small combo jazz traditions.

Canadian singer and musician David Clayton-Thomas led the band during its most successful period. In January 2006, David’s song (recorded with BS&T) "Spinning Wheel," was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.

For your listening pleasure, here are some of BS&T’s best songs.

BS&T - I Can’t Quit Her



BS&T - I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know



BS&T - And When I Die



BS&T – Spinning Wheel



And here is my favorite BS&T song:

BS&T – You Made Me So Very Happy

CALIFORNIA TEENAGE GIRL SAILS SOLO AROUND THE WORLD

By Debbie Bulloch



Abby Sunderland is a 16 year-old girl from Thousand Oaks, California. On January 24, 2010, Abby embarked on a solo-sailing journey around the world. The trip, approximately 24,500 miles long (39,429 km), will take approximately 5 to 6 months to complete.

Having turned 16 on Oct. 19, Abby is chasing a record now held by British 17-year-old Mike Perham, who took the mark last August from Abby's brother Zac.

But Perham's mark could be beaten soon by Australia's 16-year-old Jessica Watson, born five months earlier than Abby and currently in the middle of a round-the-world solo voyage.

Zac was 17 when he completed a 13-month trip last July, heading west across the Pacific.

Unlike Zac and the others, Abby plans no stops on land, and she has a faster yacht designed for the giant swells and 60-knot winds she will face on a different route: starting south from California, past

The nonstop itinerary would give her an added distinction as the youngest person to sail around the world "unassisted," topping Australia's Jesse Martin, who did it at 18 in 1999.

To read more about Abby’s incredible journey click here:

Abby’s Blog

And here:

Thousand Oaks Teenage Sailor

Good luck and smooth sailing to Abby and to Jessica Watson – may the wind always be at your back.

SPRING IS HERE - THE RETURN OF THE PELICANS

By Debbie Bulloch






With the official start of Spring, life seems to be getting a bit sweeter in Southern California. Gone are the storm clouds that had been shrouding the Southland with a dark, cold and gloomy cover.



The last few days, Southern Californians have been basking in the warm rays of a glorious Sun. Warm days and clear skies are back - the promise of a fun Summer beckons tantalizingly ahead.

With the return of warm, sunny days, a small miracle has taken place in Southern California. If you recall, I have written several articles about the damage that the recent storms caused to the population of California’s brown pelican. Following the storms, sick or dying pelicans began to wash ashore. There were reports of very sick pelicans flying inland searching for food. Pelican rehabilitation centers were filled with sick birds in need of rescue.

Scientists were baffled by the sudden and pervasive pelican die off. While they looked for clues to explain the pelicans’ deaths, the birds continued to die in large numbers.

In the weeks following the storms, I saw the bodies of dead pelicans along the bike trails that I normally ride. The skies above the beach, which were usually filled with dozens of pelicans flying in formation like ancient Pterodactyls, were empty of the birds. In the lagoon at the mouth of the Ventura River, home for a large group of brown pelicans, there were only a few pelicans swimming with the other birds.





Then last Sunday I went for my usual bike ride on by the beach on Pacific Coast Highway. As I rounded a corned and faced the ocean, a wonderful sight greeted my eyes. Flying in circles above the water was a whole bunch of brown pelicans.

When I took a closer look, I saw the reason for the pelicans’ sudden appearance. Swimming near the water’s surface there must have been a school of fish. The pelicans flew in big circles over the school of fish, then dove into the water to pick up a fish and then returned to air to get back in line. Watching the pelicans fly over the school of fish was like watching people waiting at a sushi super buffet line.






After a cold, wet winter when the storms almost killed off the pelicans, it was good to see that Mother Nature still cares and protects its critters.

Thanks Mom!

HAPPY St. PATRICK'S DAY

By Debbie Bulloch



For everyone who is Irish - or wishes he or she was Irish...have a wonderful St. Patrick's Day.

ERIN GO BRAG! IRELAND FOREVER!













RIVERDANCE



IRISH TAP DANCE

SAD LOVE SONGS...

By Debbie Bulloch


Losing at love is never easy.

As B.J. Thomas sang in a song that was popular back in the ‘70s:

So please play for me a sad melody
So sad that it makes everybody cry-y-y-y
A real hurtin' song about a love that's gone wrong
'cause I don't want to cry all alone







Here are three songs about lost love.

BREAD – Everything I Own





WILLIE NELSON – You Were Always On My Mind





THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS – You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling





EDITOR’S NOTE: The two black and white photos were taken at the Sculpture Garden in the Norton Simon Museum. The Norton Simon Museum in located in Pasadena, California. The Simon collections include European paintings, sculpture, tapestry and remarkable sculpture from South Asia. Outside gardens house sculpture and a pond. The museum is located along the route of the Tournament of Roses Parade, where its distinctive, brown tile-exterior can be seen in the background on television.

The museum features a theater which shows films throughout the day. It hosts lectures, symposia, and dance and musical performances year-round.

The first photograph is of a sculpture by French – Catalan sculptor Aristide Maillol (December 8, 1861 – September 27, 1944). The subject of nearly all of Maillol's mature work is the female body, treated with a classical emphasis on stable forms. The figurative style of his large bronzes is perceived as an important precursor to the greater simplifications of Henry Moore and Alberto Giacometti, and his serene classicism set a standard for European (and American) figure sculpture until the end of World War II.

He died in Banyuls, France at the age of eighty-three, in an automobile accident. A large collection of Maillol's work is maintained at the Musée Maillol in Paris, which was established by Dina Vierny, Maillol's model and platonic companion during the last 10 years of his life.

The sculpture on this photograph is called Le Montagne, (The Mountain) and was sculpted by Maillol in 1937. Dina Vierny was the model for this work.

The second photograph is of a bronze sculpture by British sculptor Henry Moore (July 30 1898 – August 31 1986). Moore was an English sculptor and artist. He was best known for his abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art.

Moore was born in Castleford, the son of a self-taught Irish mining engineer. Henry became well-known through his larger-scale abstract cast bronze and carved marble sculptures, and was instrumental in introducing a particular form of modernism to the United Kingdom.

His forms are usually abstractions of the human figure, typically depicting mother-and-child or reclining figures. Moore's works are usually suggestive of the female body, apart from a phase in the 1950s when he sculpted family groups. His forms are generally pierced or contain hollow spaces. Many interpreters liken the undulating form of his reclining figures to the landscape and hills of his birthplace, Yorkshire. Maillol was a big influence in Moore’s work.

The Art Gallery of Ontario (Ontario, Canada) houses the largest public collection of Moore’s works in the world.

The third, and final photograph depicts a worker bee “working” a flower. It was taken on the gardens of the Gene Autry Museum, in Griffith park, Los Angeles, California.

All photographs © 2009 – 2010 by DB. All rights reserved.