I want to make sure all my friends in Southern California know about this … wish I could go. If you don’t know Buddy’s music, you can find several great free MP3s on his web site. RIP, my friend.

Do me a favor, please, and go read this story in Western Horseman about the Army’s plans to take 400,000 acres of land from ranchers in Southeast Colorado.  The story is the best I’ve seen so far of the issue.

This is an issue very important to my entire family.  My uncle would lose half of his range — a range that has been in the family since 1913.  Here’s a picture of my great-grandparents homestead.  That’s where my grandmother was raised. She just turned 90 this week.

Here’s my Del.icio.us bookmarks on Pinon Canyon.

After signing my name exactly 80 times this morning and handing over a hefty (for us) check, I was given the keys to our new house today.

It’s cool, of course. It was built in 1959, has 3,100 square feet, which includes a basement with a fireplace and wet bar (this will be my room, meaning all of my music stuff, as well as (eventually) a poker table) will go here). The lot is .61 acres with more than a dozen mature trees and not much else in landscaping, so it’s kind of a blank canvas. First order of business is planting some rose bushes so I can learn how to grow them in New York.

We’re very happy in Western New York. We have barely missed California. There’s lots to do and see here.

Compare and contrast: When we moved to Bakersfield, it was a month before the first neighbor introduced himself, and no other neighbor ever did. Within six hours after closing escrow, the three closest neighbors had all walked over to say, “hello.”

I’ll have a video of the house available later. If you have any interest in seeing it, send an e-mail to howard owens (oneword) (at) gmail (dot) com.

All my life in California, I met people who moved from other parts of the country and they would say, “I miss the four seasons.”

To me, what I heard them saying is, “I miss fall. I miss the change of colors. I miss the leaves.”

I never thought about spring.

In California, spring is just another time of the year. Not much happens. Sure, some flowers that only bloom in April and May add some color, and baseball starts, and you might get a little more sun without it being too hot, but in Southern California, spring isn’t too much from winter.

This weekend, spring came to Western New York.

It’s very different. Within 48 hours we saw a dramatic shift from winter and death to spring and life. There are more birds, more bugs, more hum and buzz. In the harbor behind our apartment, the fish or jumping and the ducks are bobbing.

It’s a real transformation.

My first winter in New York wasn’t bad. The cold and the snow hardly bothered me.
I think I’ll like it here. I better. I expect to be here for a while.

Speaking of staying, we’re just entering into escrow on a house. It’s another mid-century modern, built in 1959. It’s on more than half an acre and offers good gardening opportunities. It has two fire places, including one in the basement, which also has a wet bar.

Our cars finally arrived from California today (just in time for the big snow storm coming in tonight).

Bill took a picture of the Mustang. Click on the image for a high resolution version suitable for desktop wall paper.

This is my last post from Shattuck Avenue, and possibly my last post from Bakersfield (the land of a million white pick up trucks and endless oil derricks).

Over the past two months, I’ve been often cagey about my exact location. It just felt a little uncomfortable revealing that information when Billie was home alone in Bakersfield. Because of that, I wasn’t posting pictures of my travels on Buzznet. Last night, I made amends. There’s lots of pictures now.

Some 60 of the pictures are from the cross country drive Billie and I took in January. Here we are at the Grand Canyon. Here we are standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona. From new Winslow, where the meteorite fell several centuries ago, is a picture old newshounds should love. We also stopped in Clovis, New Mexico and I took a picture of Norman Petty’s studio, where Buddy Holly recorded his biggest hits.

During the two months, I also took a few weather-related pictures in and around Canandaigua, New York, so as this ice fisherman outside my apartment. Then there is my car covered in ice and snow.

I think I’ll like New York. My first winter there wasn’t bad. I actually enjoyed it (but ask me how I feel about it in four or five years). Canandaigua certainly is a lot prettier than Bakersfield.

Bakersfield was a nice little transition to a new job and a new adventure. I think I leave behind some things better than I found them. I like where I’m going both personally and professionally. Thank you to all my friends who have been supportive and helpful over the past year or so.

To my Bakersfield buddies — if we didn’t get a chance to say goodbye, I’m sure I’ll be back. I still have family here.

Check out this picture taken by Bill Blevins.  This isn’t your typical, idylic lighthouse photo.

When Along Came Jones becomes a world famous blog, just remember who christened it.

Oh, and get what JJ says about the overused word, “bako,”

For me the word Bako conjures up images of being stuck in a tar pit and dying in the sun while birds tear at my flesh, I dunno that’s just me, so bakojones was out of the question. Don’t get me wrong I like the word Bako I have it as part of an email address and one of my dear friends from back in the day was the first person I ever heard use the word Bako in reference to Bakersfield like calling San Francisco “Frisco” or some such.

Yeah, but not call it “Frisco” the the face of anybody from Frisco, or you’re likely to lose your face. Friscoians hate the word for some reason. Maybe it’s time to retire “bako” in a similar fashion. Whadda say, Jones?

When I first announced my new job, a friend who grew up near Rochester immediately raved about Nick’s and the “Garbage Plate.”  I still haven’t tried it, but at least I’ve seen the video.

A group of locals have gathered together to create a new alternative newspaper called Random Times. Good title, at least.

But is it necessary?

If your goal is to get published, or to publish view points you don’t see represented in the mainstream media, then the time and expense of a new print publication hardly seem worth it. Ironically, the local MSM, primarily via The Bakersfield Californian, offers numerous outlets for writers. Sure, none of these publishing vehicles pay, but some of them can lead to a byline in print and before a larger audience than a small, start-up tabloid is going to reach.

TBC offers Your Words on B.com, Bakotopia, the Voices and Mas. While I can’t officially speak to the editorial policies of these publications, or make any promises, I’m pretty damn confident that alternative view points, if well presented and aren’t profane, can find an airing in these outlets.

And if your goal is to present alternative view points, would you rather preach to the choir of coffee shop and indie record store patrons or reach a more mainstream audience where you might actually be ale to have some influence. Only MSM can give you reach into suburban households.

If your goal is to make money, forget it. The last people to get rich off alt-dead-tree publications were 1960s college kids. They’ve made their millions and retired. Print is dying. Online is where it’s at. In fact, if you want to hit the local MSM where it hurts, disrupt them online. Print means nothing.

I’m the last person in the world who wants to encourage further use of TBC products, but I’m just trying to apply some common sense here. I just don’t see the benefit of starting a new alternative print product. If I’m wrong, great for the guys doing it. I know it’s a lot of work to put out a newspaper, so while I disagree with the approach, I say good luck to the Random Times crew.

BTW: What I can see of it from Nick’s post (check the YouTube video at the bottom), it looks well done. I need to find me a copy. I am curious about it.

[dels]print, newspaper, alternative press, media[/dels]

My brothers and their families are all in town this week. Yesterday, Thanksgiving, was our mother’s 80th birthday. As my oldest brother, Don, observed: “Nobody would have believed you if you had said twenty years ago we would all be in Bakersfield for today.”

But I guess life works out the way it’s supposed to be.

In honor of my mother, and for the enjoyment of my family, I gathered some family snapshots and created the slideshow below. Three or four friends might find it interesting. Other readers will probably careless. I like the way it turned out though, and it’s my blog, and I enjoy this media stuff. This was created in iMovie.
[googlevideo]6793878635944306460[/googlevideo]

The video above is only Part I. I left Part II off because I’m going to remake it. I’ll probably post that, too, once its done.

[dels]family, video, birthday, thanksgiving[/dels]

One of the great landmarks of Ventura County, the Wagon Wheel, is being bulldozed by progress.  Billie and I always wanted to stay there, but the last few years, it didn’t look like a safe place to be. The Star has a little video (reg. req.) with a local historian.

[googlevideo]4104012635085137463[/googlevideo]

Here is the revised video of our house for sale. We shortened it up and took out the narration, along the lines of advice from Jason Gillies. Not that we are feeling too optimistic about selling it any time soon.

We’d love to leave this butt-ugly town and put behind us all that it represents, but we’re stuck. We could get real creative on financing for a qualified buyer, but nobody is stepping forward to say, “help me buy the home I never thought I could afford.”

Meanwhile, we’ve discovered Canandaigua, New York. Billie and I have decided whenever we can finally move, this is where we’ll move to. The housing prices are cheaper and the taxes are lower than the Rochester/Fairport area. Here’s a picture of the lake I took during my last visit.

[tags]bakersfield, canadaigua, real estate, house for sale[/tags]

The fall is Billie’s favorite time of year. She loves Halloween and Thanksgiving.

In Spring Valley and Ventura, we never had many trick-or-treaters. It had me thinking, Halloween was dead as a children’s adventure night. Every year, I would witness Billie’s disappointment when we had much left over candy and few little goblins and ghosts.

This year was our first year in our Bakersfield house (and almost certainly our last).

Billie got all costumed up as a court jester for tonight, not knowing what to expect. She had bought two big bags of candy, and I chided her for her extravagance.

The first tricksters showed up at 6:15. By 7, I was jumping in my car to rush off to the store and buy two more bags (large bags) of candy. By 8, we were out of candy and turning off the porch light.

In our 13 years of marriage, it is the first year Billie ever got to enjoy an seemingly endless stream of candy seekers. She had a blast.

The picture is of the jack-o-lantern she made. Here’s her blog post on Halloween.

[tags]halloween, pumpkin, bakersfield[/tags]

This morning, I was up early for some odd reason. At 6 a.m., I’m sitting in my living room with my laptop and I look up and see Fiona sitting on the hi-fi, gazing up at the light in the ceiling. “Damn, I wish I had my camera, I thought.” As she sat motionless, I thought, “Maybe I can creep into the other room and get my camera without alarming her?” (she gets jumpy sometimes). I did, and she didn’t move. I made it back to my chair without her moving. I was able to snap off six pictures before she jumped down. This is the best of them.

Unfortunately, I didn’t notice the poor positioning of the clock behind her. It should be either fully visible or fully hidden, I think. I’m not sure I could have done much about it, but I might have tried had I been more mindful. I was more concerned about exposure and focus.

Also, check out my long, long rose stems.

[tags]cats, kittens, roses, photography[/tags]

If you’re in Bako tomorrow (Sunday) and want to see our house, come on by between 1 and 4 p.m.

Do you think you can’t afford our house? You should talk with us. If you can qualify for a loan (and I know a whiz of a mortgage guy), you can buy our house — no money down, no closing costs.

Check it out.

Friday evening I returned from two weeks on the East Coast. My swing took me through New York City (on 9/11, no less), Rochester/Fairport, Fredericksburg and Boston/Quincy. Of course, I took pictures.

In NYC, I stayed at the New Yorker and saw the Empire State Building.

In Fairport, I spent my Saturday driving around and saw an old barn, a train, a church and I found a cigar shop. I also drove to Batavia for a gathering of master gardeners, where I learned that growing roses in upstate NY is hard. There are some great buildings in Batavia such as this one and this one.

Then I spent one day in Fredericksburg, Va. There I saw a building with a canon ball in it.

The last stop was Boston, where I made my first visit to Fenway.

Belardes gets some digital love from TBC.

The garage sale yesterday went just fine. We made a little money and sold about half of what we set out. The rest is now in local charity bins. The highlight of the day was a visit from John Jones, memorialized in a photo here.

During the first couple of hours, I queried many shoppers about how they found out about the garage sale. Our newspaper ad brought in one person. Internet posting brought in no people (unless you count John, who came later in the day) and our yard signs were the big winner.

After the garage sale, I went to the Wasco Rose Festival. Pictures here.

Hey, Bakersfield buddies, stop by 1200 Shattuck Ave. tomorrow morning about 9 a.m. and buy my crap.

We’ve got my wife’s vintage clothing, CDs, books, two boxes of guitar magazines, various household items.

Think of it this way: We unloaded the real crap in Ventura more than a year ago in two different garage sales and two trips to donation centers. Then we had a garage sale once we moved hear and got rid of even better crap. Now only the best crap is left. That’s right, we’re now selling only quality crap. Come buy it.