Calhouns Can(n)ons

And Now, Your Sunday Poem

This one by Mary Oliver, Pulitzer Prisz winner for Poetry, from her book "American Primitive."

MOLES

Under the leaves, under
the first loose
levels of earth
they're there -- quick
as beetles, blind
as bats, shy
as hares, but seen
less than these --
traveling
among the pale girders
of appleroot,
rockshelf, nests
of insects and black
pastures of bulbs
peppery and packed full
of the sweetest food:
spring flowers.
Field after field
you can see the traceries
of their long
lonely walks, then
the rains blur
even this frail
hint of them --
so excitable,
so plush,
so willing to continue
generation after generation
accomplishing nothing
but their brief physical lives
as they live and die,
pushing and shoveling
with their stubborn muzzles against
the whole earth,
finding it
delicious.



Pass me that Violin

Last night's performance of Cafe Musique at the L.O. Methodist Church was standing room only, and absolutely wonderful. I suspect they may have sold out their new CD as well, the debut of which was the reason for the concert.

This group of extraordinary muscians (Brynn Albanese, Piper Heisig, Duane Inglish and Craig Nuttycombe) have pulled off a really interesting thing. They have taken music that, through misuse, abuse, too much use, has turned into a joke and/or awful cliche -- think accordian & violin playing "Hernado's Hideway," or even "Lady of Spain." (Full disclosure here: I played the accordian as a kid, loved it, though how my parents survived years of "La Golandrino" is beyond me.) But there they are with these awful, abused "gypsy/tango" pieces that we immediately associate with Lawrence Welk and/or bad Grade B movies about spies, doomed lovers, and a Nazi or two in a smokey cafe, yet by taking the music seriously, they've reclaimed its heart and passionate (uncliched) romantic soul so that they make you hear it as if for the first time.

Quite amazing. So if you have a chance to catch any of their performances, don't miss them. Much fun, lovely, tuneful work by extraordinarily skilled musicians, especially Brynn-- that woman can fiddle and it's her violin's heart-voice that re-births these songs anew, along with Duane's gorgeous accordian work.

Red Barn goes Bluegrass

On the first Saturday of the month, the Red Barn hosts a changing variety of wonderful musicians, but this Sat, there'll be be an extra Red Barn performance, Feb 16 at the Red Barn on LOVR at Palisades. Tom and Patrick Sauber, with Mark Graham will be on hand to raise the bluegrass roof. Folks arrive at 6 for a potluck supper and pre-show jam session, and show begins at 7. (Note here: Patrick Sauber will be playing the accordian, for those folks who are allergic to it, i.e. "Play the accordian, go to jail. It's the law!")

Also remember, you can buy Gift Certificates to Red Barn performances complete with the year's schedule, at the door ($10 suggested donations). So if you have any birthdays coming up, anniversaries, whatever, keep that in mind. For music lovers on your list, they make a perfect gift: They can pick which performances they want to see.


Shaky Puzzle

Today's Tribune Editorial on the recent verdict in the earthquake case when the Acorn Building in Paso Robles collaped and killed two woman who ran outside the building to the sidewalk where the building's wall fell on them (horrible irony, had they stayed inside the "unsafe" building, they likely would have lived?). The jury awarded damages to the families, and the Tribune notes that "The verdict clearly signaled that owners are ultimately responsible for the safety of their commercial buildings -- regardless of whether local law gives them five, 10 or 20 years to comlplete seismic strengthening."

Here's the puzzle: Aren't property owners (on property used by the public) always liable for whatever happens on their property, from someone slipping and falling to buildings collapsing. I know of no building that is completely earthquake safe, not even retro-fitted buildings. In an earthquake something can always go wrong, so even if a newly retrofitted building doesn't actually fall down, someone can still get injured and/or killed from flying shelves, falling light fixtures, pipes bursting, something. Hence getting liability insurance and earthquake insurance and other such protections.

Where this story got odd for me is the puzzle over whether the owners of the Acorn building were being hammered specifically (beyond the "normal" liability issues) because they hadn't yet completed the retrofit, even though the local law had given them until a certain date to complete the seismic retrofits. If that was the case, then something seems goofy to me with this lawsuit.

I could understand a jury awarding additional financial penalties for contributary negligence if they had evidence that the owner not only had done nothing but had passed the normal time limit to get anything done -- i.e. Planning departments can give anyone a target time for which projects have a chance of getting done; pass that and even an act of God won't get the job done in time. So, was there evidence the Acorn's owners had done nothing past that "break-point," which would clearly show "dragging their feet," which can translate into "negligence." If not, if they were "working on it" and the law gave them until such and such date, and they had enough time to complete the job even with a worst case scenario, then that raises a puzzle that was noted in the Tribune "WebTalk" sidebar: "If the verdict of the jury stands, the only logical thing to do is to start tomorrow to condemn buildings and rebuild or turn them into vacant lots. This would be the only 100 percent safe thing to do."

Which raises the issue of just what deadlines set by law actually mean? When does negligence or "feet dragging" come into play? Were the retrofit laws written with both a drop-dead deadline and legally required "marker" dates, i.e. X % done by 2008, Y% done by 20010 and so forth.

Well, if the case is appealed, maybe a judge can sort out some of those issues. And maybe our local lawmakers may need to take another look at the retrofit law and see if it needs to be clarified or tweaked to help both public and property owners? In a shaky state, no building is "safe." Maybe that's why God invented insurance companies and lawyers and sign makers.

And why anyone entering any building in this state should wear a hard hat and say a prayer at all times.