EXTRA! EXTRA!
I’m back! I bailed! I’m not going! I am safe! I canceled everything – after it was pointed out to me I got the date of the event wrong. I alas accepted all the doors had slammed close, just before I was to enter, all but Door D. I am done playing with Mr. D – Darth Vader. I took a tour of Oakland – on my computer. I was in the Labyrinth, not knowing which way to turn. I did do a healing of Oakland. I will sleep in my own bed tonight. I’m making chicken wings for dinner. And, that is that! Two of my friends were very concerned about my safety. I will be going to an AA meeting in Springfield.
- * *
A half hour after I posted this blog on facebook I got a call from………?. What a great person. He offered to drive me out to see my parents, and take me on a tour of Oakland. He told he knows where all the murals are. He told me about the muralist Ramos who got murdered while painting a mural. Again, I am blown away. The future I wrote about thirty years ago, has come to be. My destiny is the help others make their dreams come true, and help the City of Oakland. It’s time to do my Twelfth Step.
The reason I left the place I was born, was, I was living near Telegraph Avenue and Shattuck. I knew the gang there when they were children. They considered me a member of their hood. After a rival gang blew up a car across the street, I expressed my dismay.
“You guys are really blowing it.”
“Don’t worry, we will protect you!”
That’s when I called up my kin and got on train.
Antonio Ramos never foresaw that he would be shot while painting a mural. This is the ending of my life that I often see – come true. Go to an Art Walk – and run for your life! Thanks to my Higher Power, who I will not title ‘The Artful Dodger, I am a grateful alcoholic – today!
http://abc7news.com/news/witness-describes-moments-before-oakland-artists-murder/1010587/
Joseph Campbell tells the story of the Hero’s Journey who comes home after being tested and wins a victory. The hero of my first unfinished book is a terrible alcoholic who checks into the Will Roger’s Hotel in Downtown Oakland, and by his bed, is some kind of machine that beckons to Wild Bill, as his friends called him.
“Talk to me Pilgrim. Tell me your story. $.25 cents a half hour.”
Berkley Bill Bolagard being a suspicious street wise drunk, does some quick calculations, and surmises the price is right, and this machine was put in his room (202) for his benefit by the Gideon Bible folks.
Wild Bill led me to own thirty years of sobriety, and my sister, one year. I could not write drunk, so I entered Serenity Lane in Eugene Oregon. It was while visiting my childhood friend, Nancy van Brasch, at the Springfield creamery own by Chuck Kesey, that Nancy suggested I author the History of the Hippies. Three months later I began to write about ‘The Last Hippie’. What was OUR FATE?
I just got off the phone with my sister in Alcoholics Anonymous. I asked her about meetings in Oakland. She told me about the Rockridge meeting on Howe St. I told her it sounds familiar. When I googled it, I was blown away. It is just over the hill from where I lived on Broadway. My daughter was conceived in the apartment building next to Mama’s Royal Café, and lived in the lobster colored building up the street – unbeknownst to me!
The meeting I will attend is in the ivy covered house. The three bars I drank in are just a block away. I am coming home as a hero with thirty years sobriety. My sister was thrilled! It was like we are family! She knows what an accomplishment I own. I told her about my gold-plated coin. She asked me to drop by and see her in the main office.
last night Chris and I had a fight. I told her my desire to go on a Journey is inspired by my Sober Birthday. She hung up on me, then called back to ask me about my SB. This was huge, because only Michael Harkins cared. He took me to an AA meeting to get my eight year coin. Christine was going to receive her first birthday coin at Rocky Point. She was my sister in AA.
My Higher Power has brought me home to the place I lost everything. I lost my daughter here. I fled Oakland – on train! I was utterly defeated and fearful for my life. Here I am getting off the Train in Eugene. If anyone wants to make peace with me, and wish me a happy sober birthday, come to this meeting at 3989 Howe St. at 1:00 P.M.
I will go visit Vic and Rosemary’s graves at the San Francisco National cemetary overlooking the Gold Gate Bridge. Vic Presco has not had a drink in 23 years, Rosemary, 26. When they got married they had no idea they would become alcoholics. For this reason it has been a very long time that I have seen them as my parents. It has been even harder for me to see me……..as their son! As I stand there on the grassy hill, that will all change.
Below is the account of the remains of Paul Eagle Star being taken home from England by his people, by his loved ones.
Thirty years ago I put Wild Bill out on this ledge at the Will Rogers Hotel. Time to go home and pull him back in.
John Gregory Presco
https://rosamondpress.com/2015/01/05/a-vicarious-sobriety-with-mr-kesey/
In narratology and comparative mythology, the monomyth, or the hero’s journey, is the common template of a broad category of tales that involve a hero who goes on an adventure, and in a decisive crisis wins a victory, and then comes home changed or transformed.[1]
In WISHFUL DRINKING, Fisher details her complicated yet eclectic extended family tree in Hollywood Inbreeding 101, employing a blackboard and wooden pointer. Her father Eddie Fisher’s very public affair with Elizabeth Taylor ended what had been perceived and celebrated as a “storybook marriage,” and she and her brother Todd later watched both her mother’s and father’s “once white-hot bright star of celebrity slowly dim, cool and fade.” In 1973, at her mother’s urging, the 17-year-old Fisher enrolled at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London; two years later, her life changed forever when she donned a white dress as Princess Leia in George Lucas’ “Star Wars.”
. His antislavery speech so angered the crowd that they threatened to kill him if he didn’t step down. A man jumped up and stabbed him twice with a Bowie knife. Rively, the store’s owner, rushed Cody to get treatment, but he never fully recovered from his injuries.
Several members of the Wild West show died of accidents or disease during these tours in Europe:
- Surrounded by the Enemy (1865 – December 1887), of the Oglala Lakota band, died of a lung infection. His remains were buried at Brompton Cemetery in London.[43] Red Penny, the one-year-old son of Little Chief and Good Robe, had died four months earlier and was buried in the same cemetery.
- Paul Eagle Star (1864 – August 24, 1891), of the Brulé Lakota band, died in Sheffield, of tetanus and complications from injuries caused when his horse fell on him, breaking his leg. He was buried in Brompton Cemetery.[37] His remains were exhumed in March 1999 and transported to the Rosebud Indian Reservation, in South Dakota, by his grandchildren Moses and Lucy Eagle Star II. The remains were reburied in the Lakota cemetery in Rosebud two months later.
FLASHBACK: George Lucas Talks Origins of ‘Star Wars’ and Expanding ‘A New Hope’ Into a Trilogy
by Joe Bergren 7:15 AM PDT, May 04, 2017
Playing FLASHBACK: George Lucas Talks Origins of ‘Star Wars’ and Expanding ‘A New Hope’ Into a Trilogy
May the Fourth be with you!
Since Disney bought LucasFilm in 2012, excitement around May 4 has been tied to new additions to the Star Wars universe. (This is the third consecutive year that a new film in the franchise has been released.) But there is an even more festive reason to hug the nearest Wookie this “Star Wars Day,” aka “May the Fourth:” the fast approaching 40th anniversary of Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.
Last month, at the 2017 Star Wars Celebration, George Lucas dropped by the commemoration to discuss Episode IV, as well as pay tribute to the passing of our general, Carrie Fisher. In his reflection on the movie, Lucas summarized his original intention for the now-iconic film.
MORE: First Trailer for ‘Star Wars – The Last Jedi’ Is Here!
“The idea was simply to do the high-adventure film that I loved when I was a kid with meaningful psychological themes,” said Lucas as thousands of fans listened in the Orlando auditorium, with tens of thousands more streaming it online.
He added, “I’m not supposed to say this, and I wasn’t supposed to say it at the time, but it’s a film for 12-year-olds.”
Lucas has been talking about Star Wars for a long time. The last prequel, and the final film he was involved with, hit theaters 12 years ago. He devoted much of the ‘90s to maintaining the saga’s presence in pop culture, including the release of special edition versions of the original trilogy. He also began work on the prequels at that time, which were heavily anticipated by the fans after realizing “IV” meant they had been dropped into the middle of a much bigger story. Throughout this renaissance, Lucas often talked with ET’s Leonard Maltin about the genesis of A New Hope and how he had pulled off such an ambitious vision.
May The Fourth FLASHBACK: Young Natalie Portman On Her Role in ‘Star Wars: The Phantom Menace’
“I think, basically, I was interested in, you know, in mythology, and I was really looking for a way to sort of recreate the role mythology played and I was sort of poking around,” Lucas told ET.
How the works of Joseph Campbell shaped the saga’s story structure has been well-documented over the years. Lucas’ love of Republic serials famously influenced A New Hope and Raiders of the Lost Ark. With the shoulders of these giants to stand on, he further narrowed in on his vision by seeking out voids that had been left behind in as a new generation of filmmakers took over cinema.
“The Western was sort of the last real mythological genre. And I couldn’t make a Western. Westerns were out of style at that point, and I wasn’t that interested in Westerns anyway. And I said, ‘What is going to take over, because nothing has replaced it.’ Nothing replaced the Western,” Lucas said.
“And I said, ‘Maybe it’ll be space. And I like space. Space is fun, so we’ll create a kind of fantasy space world where I can tell some time-worn stories.’”
Science fiction wasn’t a popular or profitable genre at the time. Special effects makeup artist Rob Bottin told ET that before working on creatures for the cantina scene in A New Hope, he had worked on a movie called The Incredible Melting Man. This film would later become fodder for Mystery Science Theater 3000 — a solid indicator of the state of the genre. Lucas was a risk from the start. The pitch for a space adventure with mythological themes was heavily rejected by the studios until Twentieth Century Fox president Alan Ladd Jr. took the project.
“Science fiction was not very well thought of when I did Star Wars. It was very hard to get a science fiction film off the ground. Special effects films were almost nonexistent,” said Lucas, whose most popular work at that point was a low-budget coming-of-age comedy, albeit a very successful one.
MORE: Hayden Christensen Gets Standing Ovation at First ‘Star Wars Celebration in 15 Years
“Because they were considered complicated and people didn’t understand them, to do a complicated science fiction film that involves special effects was unheard of at that point.”
While the genre mashups of the script were groundbreaking, A New Hope also ushered in the next advancements in special effects. The limited budget meant applying practical effects techniques, many of which had origins dating back to the silent film era. It also provided opportunities to showcase developments in technology that had been expensive in the past. This included a motion control camera system created by visual effects supervisor John Dykstra, once too expensive, now cost-efficient and practical for productions such as A New Hope.
Lucas knew that special effects didn’t have the capacity to shoulder the burden of making a good movie. Like many people after first seeing 2001: A Space Odyssey, he noticed the expanded role they had played in the movie’s success. He now saw their potential as simply another storytelling device, on par with compelling characters and an exciting plot.
As he finished up initial drafts of the story, one problem became obvious: It was too big. Like J.R.R.Tolkien before him, he was forced to split his tale into sections. Each act in the script was big enough to sustain its own film, not including a massive backstory (our future prequels). In the beginning, we were in the middle.
https://rosamondpress.com/2017/05/03/my-saved-oakland-history/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Union_Square
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Campbell
Campbell often referred to the work of modern writers James Joyce and Thomas Mann in his lectures and writings, as well as to the art of Pablo Picasso. He was introduced to their work during his stay as a graduate student in Paris. Campbell eventually corresponded with Mann.[24]
The works of Arthur Schopenhauer and Friedrich Nietzsche had a profound effect on Campbell’s thinking; he quoted their writing frequently.
The “follow your bliss” philosophy attributed to Campbell following the original broadcast of The Power of Myth (see below) derives from the Hindu Upanishads; however, Campbell was possibly also influenced by the 1922 Sinclair Lewis novel Babbitt. In The Power of Myth, Campbell quotes from the novel
Campbell’s concept of monomyth (one myth) refers to the theory that sees all mythic narratives as variations of a single great story. The theory is based on the observation that a common pattern exists beneath the narrative elements of most great myths, regardless of their origin or time of creation.
As a strong believer in the psychic unity of mankind and its poetic expression through mythology, Campbell made use of the concept to express the idea that the whole of the human race can be seen as engaged in the effort of making the world “transparent to transcendence” by showing that underneath the world of phenomena lies an eternal source which is constantly pouring its energies into this world of time, suffering, and ultimately death.
The Hero’s Journey” redirects here. For other uses, see The Hero’s Journey (disambiguation).
In narratology and comparative mythology, the monomyth, or the hero’s journey, is the common template of a broad category of tales that involve a hero who goes on an adventure, and in a decisive crisis wins a victory, and then comes home changed or transformed.[1]
The concept was introduced in The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949) by Joseph Campbell, who described the basic narrative pattern as follows:
A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.[2]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Bill
In 1853, Isaac Cody sold his land in rural Scott County, Iowa, for $2000, and the family moved to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas Territory.[1] In the years before the Civil War, Kansas was overtaken by political and physical conflict over the slavery question. Isaac Cody was against slavery. He was invited to speak at Rively’s store, a local trading post where pro-slavery men often held meetings. His antislavery speech so angered the crowd that they threatened to kill him if he didn’t step down. A man jumped up and stabbed him twice with a Bowie knife. Rively, the store’s owner, rushed Cody to get treatment, but he never fully recovered from his injuries.
In Kansas, the family was frequently persecuted by pro-slavery supporters. Cody’s father spent time away from home for his safety. His enemies learned of a planned visit to his family and plotted to kill him on the way. Bill, despite his youth and being ill at the time, rode 30 miles (48 km) to warn his father. Isaac Cody went to Cleveland, Ohio, to organize a group of thirty families to bring back to Kansas, in order to add to the antislavery population. During his return trip he caught a respiratory infection which, compounded by the lingering effects of his stabbing and complications from kidney disease, led to his death in April 1857.[4][5]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Bill_Ranch
Buffalo Bill’s Wild West returned to Europe in May 1889 as part of the Exposition Universelle in Paris, an event that commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Storming of the Bastille and featured the debut of the Eiffel Tower.[34] The tour moved to the South of France and Barcelona, Spain, then on to Italy. While in Rome, a Wild West delegation was received by Pope Leo XIII.[35] Buffalo Bill was disappointed that the condition of the Colosseum did not allow it to be a venue; however, at Verona, the Wild West did perform in the ancient Roman amphitheater.[36] The tour finished with stops in Austria-Hungary and Germany.
Several members of the Wild West show died of accidents or disease during these tours in Europe:
- Surrounded by the Enemy (1865 – December 1887), of the Oglala Lakota band, died of a lung infection. His remains were buried at Brompton Cemetery in London.[43] Red Penny, the one-year-old son of Little Chief and Good Robe, had died four months earlier and was buried in the same cemetery.
- Paul Eagle Star (1864 – August 24, 1891), of the Brulé Lakota band, died in Sheffield, of tetanus and complications from injuries caused when his horse fell on him, breaking his leg. He was buried in Brompton Cemetery.[37] His remains were exhumed in March 1999 and transported to the Rosebud Indian Reservation, in South Dakota, by his grandchildren Moses and Lucy Eagle Star II. The remains were reburied in the Lakota cemetery in Rosebud two months later.
- Long Wolf (1833 – June 11, 1892), of the Oglala Lakota band, died of pneumonia and was buried in Brompton Cemetery. His remains were exhumed and transported to South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in September 1997 by his descendants, including his great-grandson, John Black Feather.[44] The remains were reburied at Saint Ann’s Cemetery, in Denby.
-
White Star Ghost Dog (1890 – August 17, 1892), of the Oglala Lakota band, died after a horse-riding accident and was buried in Brompton Cemetery. Her remains were exhumed and transported to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, in South Dakota, in September 1997, with those of Long Wolf, and were reburied at Saint Ann’s Cemetery, in Denby.
As a frontier scout, Cody respected Native Americans and supported their civil rights. He employed many Native Americans, as he thought his show offered them good pay with a chance to improve their lives. He described them as “the former foe, present friend, the American” and once said that “every Indian outbreak that I have ever known has resulted from broken promises and broken treaties by the government.”[18]
Cody supported the rights of women.[18] He said, “What we want to do is give women even more liberty than they have. Let them do any kind of work they see fit, and if they do it as well as men, give them the same pay.”[65]
In his shows, the Indians were usually depicted attacking stagecoaches and wagon trains and were driven off by cowboys and soldiers. Many family members traveled with the men, and Cody encouraged the wives and children of his Native American performers to set up camp—as they would in their homelands—as part of the show. He wanted the paying public to see the human side of the “fierce warriors” and see that they had families like any others and had their own distinct cultures.[18]
Cody was known as a conservationist who spoke out against hide-hunting and advocated the establishment of a hunting season.[18]
Rosamond Press 
Reblogged this on Rosamond Press and commented:
No family member was supportive of my sobriety, especially my daughter. I have wasted my time.