Don Lotter
californiaboomer.com
California Boomer - non-YouTube access - these are the same as the YouTube videos but without sub-chapters, from my Google Drive. How to watch California Boomer: on a Smart TV. Previews: "Elsa" (2 min) "Migrations: closing a 350,000 year loop of human evolution" (6 min)
Epilogue / Prologue
This page has a summary of my life in the form of brief sub-chapter descriptions. Each has a link to that part of the YouTube video, milestones and major concepts bolded, red entries are major ones.
: "The Ancestors and My California Culture" Chapter 0. Below are sub-chapter descriptions and links to that part of the YouTube video.
00:00 My meditation and morning prayer, agnostic, thanking the ancestors00:23 The power of the human mind, the foundation of religious faith01:20 Boomers: the freest most prosperous generation in the history of humanity. For this I thank my ancestors.01:52 Grandma Gladys's photo album starts here02:31 My California culture: we welcome immigrants, a foundation of our powerful economy. A couple of anecdotes04:51 Pre-Christian religion & northern European ancestry05:12 My ancestry via DNA analysis: German & Finnish. Recent (2024) has upped my "Germanic Europe" ancestry to 53%05:44 The names in my ancestry tell of my heritage06:33 My 3rd great-grandfather - Tom Bradley - California early pioneer, explorer07:44 Went West in 1843 by covered wagon & horsebackAt Fort Hall wagons with women and children go with Joe Walker to Walker's Pass, southern SierraBradley to Oregon on horseback with Joseph Chiles party08:44 South to Sutter's Fort, then Tulare Valley to search for the Walker Party wagons & women & childrenChristmas dinner with Yokuts Indians near Tulare LakePeace pipe smoked. The Yokuts people12:54 Bradley in the Bear Flag Rebellion Rebecca Allen, my 3rd great-grandmother, comes with Donner Party, splits off early, avoiding disaster15:11 Rebecca Allen, 17, meets Bradley at Sutter's FortBradley worked for George Yount, in the Napa valleyTom & Rebecca married on Chiles Ranch, Christmas 184616:09 Bradley witnesses the Stars & Stripes replacing the Bear Flag, ending the short-lived California Republic17:41 Tom and Rebecca start a farm in Martinez, CA18:30 San Francisco's criminals sent off in "Sydney Coveys". The story of the "Sydney Ducks" of San Francisco, and an 1851 letter from Bradley.20:48 Tom & Rebecca start farm in San Joaquin Valley21:10 British book featuring Bradley23:12 Sophronia Bradley, my 2nd great-grandmother marries William Pike Eachus23:30 Lela Maude Eachus marries Ralph Trefts, a butcher in Newman, CA.Clippings of Grandma Eachus's social events in Newman24:19 4 of 6 grandparents went to Cal (UC Berkeley)Two were biological grandparents and two were cultural.
25:27 Grandpa Baker on the Manhattan Project. I review why I and many others have revised our views on the U.S. use of the atomic bombs to end the war.27:28 Grandpa, head of purchasing on Los Alamos ProjectI interview Uncle Bill about Grandpa on Manhattan Project30:56 Grandpa, conservative, joked about "Oppie", liberal34:00 My Finnish ancestry35:56 Katarina Ylitalo, my biological great-grandmotherEunice Trefts Baker, my cultural (adoptive) grandmother37:54 Dad's side: Vernon, Thompson, Doerner, Lotter38:04 Gladys Vernon Lotter: the pillar38:38 I confront slavery in my direct ancestry39:17 Trevor Noah on Germany's transparency about facing their past and how we can learn from them45:01 California culture can embrace transparency, including the US history of slavery, despite never having it45:14 I reject the enslavement culture of my ancestors45:45 But I don't reject that ancestral line: the Vernons, who were in the Revolutionary War at Valley Forge48:36 Grandma Thompson, Gladys Vernon's Vermont mother's signature album 1893-1920s, starts here52:00 California culture embraces the inclusiveness of Jesus without religion53:17 The genes for migration and the California ethos56:15 Buddhism and California culture. Dad was essentially Buddhist in his last 25 years.I reject the "Woke" dogma that borrowing from other cultures is something bad. Anecdote: the Woke Whole Earth Festival banned the popular drum circle: Why? Drums are a cultural appropriation from the Africans! Yellow-shirted patrols with radios (but not jack-booted) shut them down! But they didn't ban guitars, which came from Arabic culture. Bands played on all weekend. Hypocrisy.57:32 Grandma's photo album #2 starts here1:01:39 The inclusiveness of California culture1:01:58 Reparations & slavery's multigenerational effects1:04:45 Environmental protection is about enabling a good life for the future generations, the unborn, and is part of California's inclusiveness.1:06:53 The social migration away from religion, evident in 3 of my 4 grandparents and both of my parents.1:09:40 Video clip break: Coco the dog and Berry the cat1:10:44 The Vernons leave Texas for Oregon in 1971, the first year that the trains ran west via the Southwest
1:11:57 The culture of intolerance in eastern Oregon: clips from a Netflix documentary. Many Vernons are still there. My great-grandfather Elliott Vernon left that culture behind when he came to California and married Lena Thompson.1:16:57 California: Culture over genes1:19:55 Grandma Gladys Vernon Lotter1:22:27 A.P. Vernon my great-great-grandfather with the Confederate cavalry1:24:05 Confederate Army papers for A.P.1:24:54 A.P. marries late wife's sister Dolly Leathers1:26:40 My 3rd great grandfather Miles Vernon in War of 1812 w/ Andrew Jackson1:27:24 4th Gt grandfather Tom Vernon in the Revolutionary War and at Valley Forge1:28:05 At the battles of Monmouth and Stony Point1:28:40 Evidence of slave "ownership"1:29:16 Grandma Gladys's Vermont ancestry, Thompson1:29:41 Lena Thompson, Gladys's mother1:30:18 Vermont was staunchly anti-slavery and the Thompson sisters were abolitionistsVermont sent more men per capita to fight and die to end slavery; not for economic reasons, as some revisionists of U.S. history state. These men grew up with stories of the horrors of slavery and that the evil institution needed to die.1:31:03 Dad inherits that ethos. After his1946 anti-racism letter to the national fraternity, he quits Sigma Nu.1:31:14 Jonas Thompson and Rosalba Robinson, great grandparents of Vermont1:31:25 Five Thompson sisters - photos1:31:53 Familial irony - Elliott Vernon, from a Confederate family, and Lena Thompson, abolitionist, marry in Oakland.1:32:26 Grandma Gladys growing up1:33:30 I interview Uncle Herb, Dad's brother as we go through an early photo album from Grandma Gladys.1:33:46 Aunt Lucy and LGTBQ, unspoken back then1:35:18 The Lotter - Doerner German ancestry1:37:06 George Lotter emigrates to America1:37:26 The genes for migration, exploring, and risk-taking came from both of my parents1:40:11 Margaretha Doerner, my great-grandmother1:44:51 Dad was alienated for life by Margaretha's religious doctrinal pressure1:45:10 Uncle Herb's anecdotes on grandma Margaretha1:46:42 Dad and Mom's social justice work with the Christian community in Davis
"Growing Up in Sunset Court California" Chapter 1. Below are sub-chapter descriptions and links to that part of the YouTube video.
00:00 The sounds of growing up in Davis. Crop duster planes.01:04 Mom's miscarriages, I was a DES baby02:04 The Englehart Ranch and Betty Behr03:05 Dad flew F4F Wildcat & F6F Hellcat planes Navy aircraft carriers at end of WWII. 03:31 LA Times: "The Fumble" 1949 Rose Bowl. Pappy Waldorf. Cal vs. NorthwesternDad coached and taught at San Ramon High School. M&D lived near Danville (now Alamo).03:51 Mom and Dad move to DavisAerial photo Davis 1952. Sunset Court. Elmwood Drive. 04:11 Oeste Manor: one of the first tract house developments05:46 My first memories: Tuolumne, Yosemite08:50 My insomnia, The Rocking Chair, and The wall of Dad's back in bed.09:22 We move to Berkeley, Grove Street (Cesar Chavez St.) across from Berkeley High09:47 Our first friends & Washington School. "duck and cover" for nuclear attack 1958. Dodgeball- part of developing toughness and wariness. Photo w/ Susie Ryan, Patty, Dennis13:31 Back to Davis. 2nd grade West Davis Elementary Mrs. Storz. My nervous fidgeting puts me on crutches.Monticello Dam built, made Lake Berryessa.
14:17 Visiting the UCD animals with Mom. Radiated Beagle Colony, hog barns, atom smasher (cyclotron). Aerial photo UC Davis 1950s.15:35 An Air Force fighter jet lands at UCD airport. F-100 Super Sabre. News censored.17:43 UC Davis Football 1950s Aggies. Players' memories of Coach Lotter. Ted Forbes. Dick Carriere Willows High School. Rice farm. Jack Anderson, tomato king, baseball hit home runs to Russell Blvd. Bob Warren, son of Chief Justice Earl Warren.Hickey Gym, Roessler Hall, Lysle Leach Hall, Mrak Hall, Toomey Field, Max Kleiber Hall.24:11 Little League baseball and tennis25:22 Dave Matta's grand slam in the last inning wins it. Tennis: pic Aggie Villa dorms.27:37 Sunset Court parents: the Greatest Generation, WWII veterans. Tom Allen. Navy submarine Pacific WWII; book "Growing Up in Santa Clara Valley"; Larry Pleau B-24 pilot; May have flown Louie Zamperini from Japan POW camps; Dick Harris, Navy, book "Arboriculture"; Roland Hoermann WWII G.I.; Lorne Hardaker, Coast Guard; Stamp collecting; The Sunset Court women were the Yolo County Suicide Prevention, later for Sacramento.
Neighbors the Williams started Pine Tree Gardens, one of the first mental illness halfway houses, now NAMI-run. 36:12 Two world Iron Man champions Dave Scott & Chelsea Sodaro both from Elmwood Drive. Homes architected in Eichler style. In school: Ralph Moody's "Little Britches"; 36:48 Atom smasher, John Jungerman 37:31 West Davis Elementary class photos39:00 The fastest runners: Jeff F. & Carolyn J.39:56 Drug culture before drugs: signs of the '60s in us41:40 We built the first skateboards in town. Sierra mountains backpacking; 43:45 The Ranch, Lakeview, Oregon homesteaded in 1871 by A.P. & Dolly Vernon, my great-great-grandparents44:18 Mike & I ride steers in a rodeo in the Lake County Roundup & Fair; shot the Winchester .25-20 rifle from Grandpa Elliott Vernon.48:08 Sunset Court stories & Mom's dinners49:12 Hydrox vs. Oreo cookies, our TV shows.An optical illusion photo.Mom would let me stay up for "I Love Lucy". Disney's Wide World of Color on Harris's color TV Sunday nights. Wizard of Oz annually there. Saturday morning Little Rascals & Loony Tunes; Three Stooges.
51:52 Clod fights and Yolo Fine Sandy Loam the perfect clod fight ammo53:42 1964 I start 7th grade at Davis Junior High55:53 Books: I loved reading while other 7th graders were starting to do dances. In Cragmont Park Berkeley hills met a World War One vet, had been wounded. He saw I was reading The Doughboys, we talked. I read all the Hardy Boys books, Landmark Books, WWII books, Rawicz' The Long Walk.Reading as co-creating process.1:01:28 I reflect on memoirs of celebrities who had very difficult childhoods: McConaughey's "Green Lights", Will Smith's "Will", Springsteen's "Born to Run". My upbringing by gentle parents was the opposite. I'm not driven to be successful like so many others, with their demons. I'm thankful.1:01:43 The Cabin 1947 and onward.1:04:20 Influences: Dad's Aunt Grace, Modoc County, letting kids be themselves. Dr. Spock.1:06:10 Thus my life of creating things, of exploring, of travel, fascination with cultures, this memoir, and not needing success or fame. This, in a nutshell, is who I am
"To Africa and the Sunset of the British Empire" Chapter 2. Below are sub-chapter descriptions and links to that part of the YouTube video.
00:00 Social migrations: when there's no more geographical West to go01:24 Human migrations started from east Africa 300,000 years ago01:48 "Westering": Slowly settling to the west02:14 The genes for exploring and acceptance of change are selected for and are strong in California culture 03:35 No more West to go? Join the Peace Corps!04:12 Going to Africa opened new territory, social territory for Mom & Dad04:26 This led to their lifelong work in social justice05:09 M&D's commitment to social justice was culturally inherited from Jesus, non-religiously and unspoken: this is a major part of California culture05:25 The ethic of inclusiveness of Jesus 05:55 The evolutionary significance of reading07:15 Reading and the African cultures08:10 To Washington DC East coast winter08:52 The TWA "stewardesses" kept cigarettes on our trays, yay! Air travel was glamorous back then. 09:43 I explore the Smithsonian Institute every day10:17 Sargent Shriver decides on Malawi for us, not Nepal11:17 Sholl's Cafeteria & other DC places11:59 Bob Poole's kids still in Africa - Joyce Poole, elephant expert13:15 London pub at 2 AM: unmistakably Americans. Saw my first "moptop" hair
14:33 Blantyre and the old plantation house; I listen to Grant's Bushbaby, nights16:47 Our cook and the Yao tribe slave trade history18:11 Serendipitously getting to know the PCVs well19:03 British school, St. Andrews Prep - difficult for a 12 year-old American. Photo: Ndirande village in background.21:10 "PT" class from Scotsman Mr. Smith. Federal Saints Journal. Pics of Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi)22:55 My football experience comes on during rugby. I tackle Dave Gorman & surprise Scotsman tough guy Mr. Smith.24:19 We become boarders: the British school boarder culture25:30 The Prefects, Knobby Meadows. Getting caned. Never told Dad & Mom.28:29 Ann Reynolds and I sit with Cokes29:05 Pounds, shillings, pence, Guineas, Tickies. Letter from P.M. Kamuzu Banda chief of staff Cecilia Kadzamira.30:57 Coca Cola brings the first fridge to Karonga. Photo Nyau secret society men31:51 The sports "houses" Livingstone, Laws, Johnston32:35 Mike & I the only bike riders to school34:06 The few Americans at school were all missionary kids34:49 The Lois Cox painting37:29 The Sports Club, center of British colonial social life. Mrs. Mullen's class, even Peter Keelan quieted. 37:52 Dad wins national tennis singles title. The clay tennis courts were from "anthills". In Ch11 I talk about ancient termite mounds, a geographical anomaly largely undescribed in the literature.Dad gets the first African into the club.
I tell Maluwa's tragic story in Chapter 4.After winning junior tennis doubles with Sandro Agostini I was given rock shandy.41:17 US Rugby team41:28 Drivers Fred Sangala, Hudson Muthandi, Gordon. Pic of Kandodo store.42:51 Cartoons of the Lotters by PCV Phil Durand. The Peace Corps Volunteers taught us about the Vietnam War, as well as about Bob Dylan.44:21 Cape McClear, Lake Malawi. Salima. Because of schistosomiasis (bilharzia) we only went during the dry season.Lake Malawi: most species of any lake in the world. The cichlids are basis of tropical fish aquarium hobby.Lake flies (like gnats) rose out of the Lake in clouds like smoke. Caught, fried, and eaten.47:26 Safari through Tanzania to Kenya48:47 Some history: British go to war to shut down Swahili slave trade. Sir Harry Johnston's book "British Central Africa" details how the tribes, one by one, consented to be part of a British protectorate, Nyasaland.53:55 A now extinct experience: charged by a rhino55:23 Olduvai Gorge, where Mary and Louis Leaky discovered early hominid skeletons, is my symbolic closing of a human migration loop, 350,000 years, to California and back (at start of this video). 56:13 The breakdown and the safari camp. We camped in the game parks. The pro guide told us stories about movies "Born Free" and "Hatari" he had worked on.58:39 Arusha, where I later lived 2009-11. I found the Indian ice cream maker who had sold us milkshakes 50 years before.
British called the Indians Banyans. Bania were a merchant caste, shops all over.1:01:35 Mike gets a papaya compress for a wound1:02:49 Danny and the immutable nature of one's sexual orientation.1:05:52 Mike & I take the Ilala up the Lake1:07:46 Northerners: the North did not have big plantations, the people were not anti-British as were the southerners, where hut taxes forced them to work.1:12:12 The 2015 Ilala trip to Karonga 50 years later, in Chapter 11.I play samples of the music of southern Africa that we heard: Swinging Safari (Afrikaner), Spokes Mashiyane, Malawi choir, Congo guitars1:17:04 With the Ngludi Mission orphans, where Mom drove into the Bush in the 1953 Peugot. We went along when school was on break.1:19:30 The 1965 rebellion. Chipembere leads rebels to take over P.M. Banda's King's African Rifles at Fort Johnston on a Saturday night when he knew they would be drunk. They had to cross on the ferry (pictured). However, the ferry driver was on the other side, also drunk and they couldn't rouse him, and the coup failed.1:21:24 Paul Theroux, author, Malawi PCV '65, apparently drove Chipembere's mother out of the country and P.M. Banda had him deported. I comment on some of Theroux's books. In "Dark Star Safari" he talks about Soche College where he taught, and I commiserate on the quality decline of higher education, which I talk about in Chapter 11.I take Theroux's cynicism to task in Ch 11.
"Back to ‘67 California and the Summer of Love" Chapter 3. Below are sub-chapter descriptions and links to that part of the YouTube video.
00:00 I reflect on Mom's adventurousness, which I inherited. Mom gave us that all-important combination of love and freedom.02:21 Mike & I swig an opiate, unknowingly, and ride bikes around Kathmandu03:04 Tired of "temple-ing" Mike & I go to Bangkok03:16 My lifelong love of travel starts in Bangkok, which I explored on the buses.03:53 We meet giant big-time wrestler Sky High Lee in Bombay. I mention Mlanje Cedar (Malawi).05:45 Almost "dyed" at India Holi festival07:02 Delhi, back then called "New Delhi"07:23 Dad takes us to see the streets of Calcutta at 5AM08:31 Mike and I go to Bangkok. Movies were 5 cents, Westerns "Fo Few Dala Mo" were local favorites. At Floating Market we run into Willi Unsoeld, who climbed Mt. Everest, & family. He took us to eat bird's next soup. I remember daughter Nanda Devi, who later died on Nanda Devi peak.Our favorite eatery was Wimpy Burger.10:47 Sarawak to Singapore to Hong Kong. We boys were not aware of the Communist uprisings and suppression in all of these countries, nor the terrible mass killings in Indonesia nearby.Singapore back then was still developing. Dad finagled airlines to put us up in the fancy Singapura Hotel. After that we stayed in a rock bottom place that Mom relates in "To Africa With Spatula".We had tea at the Raffles Hotel.16:29 To Japan from Hong Kong. Somehow we missed the Communist-led riots in Hong Kong taking place at that time. In Nepal, near Tibet border, I bought for 10 cents a tiny Mao's Little Red Book. Mike & I found a place to race slot cars for 25 cents an hour. 17:13 Stayed in the Dai-Ichi Hotel, which had survived WWII. Later stayed in traditional inn. Japan was cheap back then. Mike & I found an eatery in Bunkyo-Ku with only a 6-seat counter. Spaghetti our favorite. Took bullet train to Osaka.18:30 From Yokahama to SF on SS President Wilson. I read "Never Cry Wolf"19:35 We dock in SF and I see my first hippie, a longshoreman.19:55 The summer of '67 - reverse culture shock (readjustment) was difficult.
Old friends, at 14, were already smoking pot and even starting to drop acid, neither of which I had heard of.20:28 The music of the summer of '67, the greatest ever? I play 15 seconds of 4 songs that imbued that summer.24:01 The Rec Pool every afternoon. I show pics of the kids, mostly girls.24:41 ...after watching "The Fugitive" reruns (clip). I made pizza from package for lunch everyday, before TV. Added cheese from enormous blocks of Tillamook cheddar that Mom bought.25:22 Kelly Pullum picked me up everyday in his Dad's '60 Chrysler New Yorker.25:41 Kristen, Marci, Tina, Julie, Lauri, Ross, Jean, Brent, Elaine.25:57 Memorial to Elaine Kasimatis 1952-2022. A lovely person, you can easily see.26:59 1967 TV shows: Gilligan's Island, Hogan's Heroes, Dean Martin Show, Jackie Gleason Show, Gunsmoke. Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In .27:59 Played tennis tournaments and usually promptly lost. Went with Brian Hahn, who won. Fun in Reno with tennis families. 28:23 Levitating Robin Hanson scares the heck out of us. Fun eating in Reno casinos.31:18 High school. Images of Calvin Tsao's artwork for the yearbook. Summer evenings played Kick the Can with Ryan's. Preb Motley took me skiing at Mammoth. Jean Claude Killy and Leo Laquard helicopter skied an incredible slope.33:32 Lindy Peters relates climbing the water tower and we talk growing up Unitarian, express gratitude.34:27 Aggie basketball in Hickey Gym34:51 Lindy & I sing the Aggie fight song35:11 Preview: my hobby of fragrances (colognes)35:30 Summer of '68. Tennis, Rec Pool. TV, pop hits. Dad was director of early Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) for minority students. Groundbreaking. I skied winters. Anecdote about first skis and Vietnam War.39:48 Summer of '69, at 16, I drive all over LA for a week in a Mustang with my first girlfriend. Only in the '60s.42:43 I work graveyard shift at a highway greasy spoon, Mandy's, washing dishes. There was a veteran waitress named Flo, I kid you not (I show a Facebook post verifying this).44:07 Staff fired after caught having knife throwing contest into the back door when the manager opened that door.
44:54 I become a fairly skilled fry-cook. Flo protected me from the various ne'er-do-wells who worked there - a junkie, drunks, a flasher. a just-out-of-The-Juve guy. The one-eyed Cherokee was harmless.I wished Flo hadn't protected me from the waitress who, back then, they called a "nympho".Graveyard fry cooks have to be versatile - both dinners and breakfasts are ordered.46:38 I comment (a note) on Mr. Calhoun, our '70 tennis coach. One time when Coach drove us to a match, a career experience of his came up. Gentle Bill, African-American, turned gray with silent rage. It was gone in a few seconds, but that was all I needed to get just the smallest feeling of what racism does. I have never forgotten it.Brave Francesca asks me to go to The Prom46:54 The "Anti-Establishment" mindset back then is ludicrous now.Paul H.'s acid trip.48:33 Trips with Dad's UCD tennis team. Bob Dunning, Mike Talmadge, John Anderson, Brett Stone, Buck Wong...49:10 1967 summer camp, my first kisses with Jane49:57 New Year's ski trip at Heavenly Valley50:11 The 1964 Oldsmobile Cutlass 88 "Tuna Boat", 110 mph on Hwy 101.52:54 I reflect on the dark side of the '60s culture, as overdone in the movie "Forrest Gump"55:04 I get busted, for "suspicion" of possession of marijuana. Fake saliva test.58:11 Mike gets busted a year later, M&D relaxed about it59:24 I buy my first car - a '60 Volkswagen Bug. Mom volunteered at Diogenes House, a youth drop-in center. They encouraged me to friend with the kids but didn't realize that they were not a good influence for a teen, e.g. busted for pot.1:00:00 Outward Bound journal starts1:01:20 I sell my Bug to pay for Outward Bound School, Oregon Three Sisters Wilderness. Tarps & string, no tents, rained a lot. 300 mile circuit, 28 days. Stan Badgett and Dave Carmen were guides.1:04:35 The Solo vs. brotherhood. On my solo, two special program boys (the Juve) came to my camp. I let them stay.1:05:31 I run the 26 mile trail marathon faster than expected and with ten boys ran past a turnoff before guides got there. We finished last.
1:07:31 I hitch the wrong highway back home. Instead the legendary Coast Highway 1 and it's Scene, I went to I-5! Ouch! Awful! Photo of '55 Plymouth Plaza. Graphics of Morningstar and Wheeler's Ranch Communes1:07:59 Later I hitch Coast Highway 1 to communes.1:10:52 The darker side of the 60's shows up again: guy "liberating" 6-packs of beer from Mom&Pop store.1:11:32 I learn to scavenge discarded food in campgrounds, a new concept.1:11:56 The graveyard shift at the Cargill grain elevator at the Port of Sacramento.1:13:36 I often shovel grain all night1:14:22 The manlift - probably now extinct1:15:08 Corn overflowed U.S. elevators: U.S. Secretary of Ag Earl Butz: "plant corn fencerow to fencerow" to beat Soviets.Dangerous work, crawling into elevators.Mountain of corn on parking lot, front-end loaders to transfer. I still wonder how much aflatoxin from Aspergillus in corn after rain. For cattle, mostly to Japan.1:18:30 Jimmy Hoffa & Frank & Richard Fitzsimmons, I was a Teamsters' recruit1:19:50 I take my first LSD trip at a Jimi Hendrix concert1:22:03 The 1970 UC Davis Whole Earth Festival, camping on Quad, swigging wine. Later The Domes (Baggins End).1:23:11 I go to American River College to play tennis. Roommate Brian Claypool.1:26:27 Drove my red VW bug to Vancouver Island, BC1:27:36 I liked Suzanne W. and I think she liked me. Inner-tubed Cowichan River.1:29:15 Bivouacking on Mt. Garibaldi. I spilled entire dinner onto sand & reflect on Canadian politeness, reprised in Ch 8 with clip from John Candy's "Canadian Bacon"1:31:02 I drive back to California via the unforgettable Highway 395, with Al Stoltz & Peter Papadopoulos.1:31:31 Songs from those long nights in the grain elevator. James Taylor's "Fire and Rain". In one of the chapters I reflect on the common loneliness, alienation and high suicide rate of late teenage-hood, especially for boys (although the song is about a girl who committed suicide).1:31:43 Our first exposure to transgender in a Kinks song, Lola. Important for me because of how California culture has been inclusive of LGTBQ people.
"Vagabonding Europe to the Middle East" Chapter 4. Below are sub-chapter descriptions and links to that part of the YouTube video.
00:00 I get my draft lottery number. Low numbers would be drafted and go to the Vietnam War. Mine was 178. Every month they would call for ten more to be drafted, e.g. 120-130. To this day I do not know what I would have done if drafted.01:28 I decide to go travel, starting in Europe03:13 The free speech soap box in Hyde Park was my one London sightsee (???) 04:10 Sexual predators in Amsterdam hostel. I reflect that even back then I was not homophobic, which was common.In this chapter I start showing letters to and from home and pages from my journals, which I continue throughout this memoir.04:56 I hitchhike to Hanover to see Maluwa. Survived a mad driver Dutchman.05:35 History: Allied bombing of Hanover & Dad's best friend Phil Arnot, B-17 pilot05:59 I naively order "speck" at restaurant06:46 Maluwa's tragic story & the later AIDS epidemic in east, central and South Africa. I show some science.07:22 Truck drivers along the Cape to Cairo road spread it to sex workers08:32 Africa: spread of HIV from women to men much higher than here. I show some of the science in graphics.09:14 Initial denial by governments. A map of HIV rates says it all. HIV/AIDS and COVID: I show an article from Fortune in which a scientist in RSA discusses evidence that the SARS-CoV-2 virus can survive and mutate "massively" in HIV-infected people.11:00 In my 1988 visit I saw scientists clearly dying but no one talked about it.12:31 Maluwa's story is the only one in this memoir in which I cried.13:14 Hitchhiked south to Munich. Went to beer halls with Kip from Lodi. 15:00 Innsbruck, rent a room from old couple. They stared at my book: "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich".
16:46 Lost on a mountain road on a winter night outside an Austrian village. A guy sees me and invites me home for hot soup.17:41 Swiss Alps: In Bever got a bed in an empty jugendherberge. I knock on doors and find construction work. When you're 19 years old you can do that.18:23 My workmate was proudly Romansh. I show culture & language19:18 Anecdote on tolerance of the mountain Swiss.20:24 To Zurich and doubled pay to 12 francs/hour for construction labor20:57 Bambus Shop, Zurich, where undocumented workers stayed. But first I stayed at the Zurich hostel.22:47 There were skilled thieves in the hostel23:37 I buy a split window VW bus, soon confiscated by police.24:09 Life lessons: thefts25:11 Hashish was the preferred drug25:55 Swiss woman Alice owned Bambus26:24 Igor Medved teaches me he's Slovenian before Yugoslav, a harbinger.28:07 The BSA 350 motorcycle. Schale coffee at Migros. The German of the Swiss, Schweizerdeutsch was much more difficult to learn than hochdeutsche. I didn't learn much.29:09 Roommates Richie, Loretta, Kenny, Marie. Got a job at a cafe across from the Cafe Bar Odeon, where Lenin, Einstein, Joyce used to write. Had to get up at 4am. Roommates played cassettes so late that, lacking sleep and tasked with juicing oranges, I drank so much of it that they fired me.Music: Neil Young (Harvest), Osibisa (Woyaya), Jethro Tull (Aqualung), Joe Cocker, Dave Mason, Rod Stewart31:42 Having pored over Michelin maps I start my journey south on the BSA, bound for Greece, then ferry to Israel to get a fishing boat down the Red Sea to Africa.BSA blows up, I abandon it to hitchhike.
32:45 Locarno: slept by a river, drank the water and got sick, Lilli takes care of me.34:24 Ride from Red Brigade woman in northern Italy where they were active.35:32 I drink my first espresso and trip out36:19 Roberta Pussini takes me to lunch with her family37:59 To Yugoslavia hitching with two Canadian sisters38:34 I didn't know what a bidet was, got ridiculed by the Canadians. I reflect in my journal on the "holier-than-thou" attitude of some Canadians back then, Maple Leaf on packs.A night each in Split, Dubrovnik, Skopje.41:50 Connected with a beautiful Greek woman but traveling onward was more important than romance42:52 To Israel in the year terrorism really expanded, 1972.44:21 Why do I remember (and sing for you) the Israeli TV news show fanfare?45:08 To a Palestinian hotel, Jerusalem46:00 The filming of "Jesus Christ Superstar"46:51 To Eilat, on the Red Sea.47:07 Michener and Jimmy Carter (my) required reading on Israel47:45 Set up by thieves, I lose passport & money48:20 I had met a guy, a USC football player and Christian pilgrim, Doyle, who helps me.49:08 I get work shoveling in the 115 F heat, where they put the newcomers.50:57 The stunning sabra52:17 The Six Day War vet who had reached The Wall with Moshe Dayan.Israeli's were tolerant of colleagues with PTSD, which had another name, 53:21 Back to Jerusalem to the Cairo Hotel54:09 Arabic music: I ignored it back then but now love it. I play Umm Kulthum.55:49 The Palestinian eatery in the Old City, where I learned to eat falafels and humus, was named "Uncle Moustache".News from home: Davisites block the railroad tracks in town to protest the Vietnam War.
56:14 Ze'ev: holocaust survivor I lived with on the Mount Olives
57:17 The "religious police" (Rabbis) come to Ze'ev's
58:45 Lots of Christian pilgrims in Jerusalem.
I show some graphics of tennis: the Dunlop Fort tennis racket, the American Twist serve that wrecked so many backs.
59:07 Cornered by the Jews for Jesus (Americans), the most rabid of all proselytizers.
However, I do not criticize or downplay the power that their faith gave them to kick their enslavement to heroin.
59:41 Opiate addiction needs to be seen as enslavement (these guys were former addicts). Seeing it this way, in my mind, justifies radical, sustained intervention.
1:02:03 Prison is not the right intervention
1:02:30 I visit the Wailing Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher
1:03:41 I was in Jerusalem when the massacre of Israeli athletes at the '72 Olympics in Munich happened
1:04:29 In an office: the tension between Israeli and Palestinian
1:05:30 The increase in terror attacks prompted searches of luggage at airports, so my passport was found, guys arrested.
I testified in court, they were convicted, and sent to jail - an Israeli and a Belgian.
1:07:09 I become more introspective, use the I Ching
1:07:53 Ze'ev gives me a suitcase with bullet holes from 1948 war.
"To the Gold Mines of South Africa" Chapter 5. Below are sub-chapter descriptions and links to that part of the YouTube video.
00:00 On tea. Kenya tea. Black vs. green tea01:02 Mao feng green tea, young spring leaf. I buy it on Ali Express (Ali Baba), straight from China tea country.02:24 The Hydro Hotel in Mombasa.A note about putting up my journal pages. My original intent in doing this memoir has been to allow people in the future to see what was going through this 20 year old's head - that is if they want to press pause and read the scans.02:44 A rare (for me) grifting of $1003:28 First of many journal pages + comment03:52 A German introduces me to Ry Cooder05:23 Nairobi's Thorn Tree Cafe traveler's message board, an Africa crossroads05:44 I arrange my ride to Malawi06:29 Nairobi, Tanga, Dar es Salaam. Morogoro, Iringa, Mbeya 07:13 To Malawi, sleeping outside in those days. 07:58 Revisit to Karonga, Malawi. On malaria: science and experience.Netflix's "What's Next: Bill Gates on...." Ep4 gives a 2024 update on malaria.In 1972, chloroquine was still effective to prevent malaria, the malaria plasmodium resistance came late '70s. 09:10 Malaria meds: the extremely difficult interim 1985-2005 - serious psychological side effects - depression, some suicides. 09:42 The artemisinin-based meds came around 2005. From Artemesia plant. See my piece on the importance of funding research on herbal medicines, in Odds, Ends, and Outtakes, Annex chapter..10:16 My anti-malaria strategies 2009-16, from long-term expats - no prophylaxis. I'd take the med when the unmistakable symptoms came: fever dreams, achiness, don't wait for testing & diagnosis. Malarone too expensive, $10 a day.12:03 The Sunday chloroquine ritual and my brothers, '65-'67, why I didn't get malaria.12:47 Patrick's friend returns from working in the South African gold mines. Old tradition of Malawians taking 2-year contracts to go.
15:00 Down The Lake on the Ilala15:39 The rest-house made from ship parts, now an inn.16:19 Stayed with Maluwa our good friend17:35 To Blantyre, my adolescence there17:46 I remember Peter Keelan 1952-1972, St. Andrews schoolmate18:13 I carried my tennis racket in my travels, played with Sandro Agostini.18:46 I O.D. on the powerful Malawi weed19:21 Incident that put me in prison22:41 Expat cellmates in Chichiri prison. A copper smuggler and bank "book-fiddler". Conditions clean, we were kindly treated.Photo: Mt. Mlanje, one of the largest granite inselbergs in the world.23:53 Released because the President remembered Dad and Lotters.24:34 Police commander was British. Unlike neighboring countries, Banda hadn't kicked all the British out. He kept the technocrats, which saved the economy.25:35 How we traveled when there were no guidebooks26:13 Going to international outcast Rhodesia to visit Judd's and Danny.27:36 White regime allows me one night.28:37 Train from Blantyre to Beira Mozambique, still a Portuguese colony.29:11 John Chin's story of his grandparents in Beira Mozambique. Commentary: current Chinese presence in Africa, also see Chapter 11, full story.31:02 Christmas 1972 near Beira with a Portuguese family. The cod eyeball story.32:36 I connect with Carlos Bordalo's dad33:28 Camping, I meet "Cape Coloureds" (the apartheid term) on vacation on Lourenço Marques beach33:51 I hitch to Durban then Johannesburg, found Carlos. I show 2021 FB messages from Carlos, as he remembered a lot that I had forgotten. Anecdote about how a Chinese guy faced apartheid. With PTSD Carlos flees the violence of Cape Town to Ireland.
35:44 History: I reflect on the European colonization of South Africa vs. that of the Americas (by my ancestors).36:06 European colonizers to America faced 10% of pre-colonization populations of Native Americans due to European diseases.36:26 The white colonists of South Africa faced 100-150% of pre-contact populations of Africans37:06 Immune systems of Africans were adapted due to millennia of contacts with traders from Asia and Middle East.37:26 This is not a justification of apartheid, I am simply distinguishing similarities and differences.38:20 Disease decimated the Native Americans. Books: "1493" and "1491".38:24 Native American immune systems were completely naive due to lack of contact.39:18 The Voortrekkers and the Zulus40:14 Trading ships from Asia had come for millennia 41:26 Both whites and Bantu people overran the lands of non-Bantu people. I reflect more on this in Chapter 12.41:54 The San (Bushmen) 42:35 Shaka killed off and drove other Bantu tribes north, in the Mfecane. The Malawi Ngoni tribe was one.44:21 I connect with Carlos at a men's hostel in Johannesburg45:37 I would walk to Hillbrough, a liberal, commercial section of Johburg. Trevor Noah talks about it in "Born a Crime", as his mother had lived there with her white lover, Trevor's father.46:48 I look for work in Pretoria, the headquarters of gold mining companies47:33 I get work in the gold mines with Goldfields Inc. I show graphics of gold geology, technology48:53 The Libanon mine on The (Witwatersrand) Reef.49:49 I go to work in the mines as a sampler, a "white" job. I show photos I took, against the rules.
54:38 Mine conditions: 100% humidity, 90 degrees F (hot). Sweat doesn't cool you. Drilling. Blasting. Piet, a Bushman. I describe The Descent in elevator cage.55:58 I liked Texan cigarettes, from Rhodesian tobacco, three per day.57:16 Alienation from the Afrikaner mine staff. Not allowed to talk to the Malawians in their quarters. I quit.58:45 Hitch NW, picked up by Max Muller.58:57 To the Muller farm in north of South Africa, near Rustenburg.1:00:05 The story of a long lost musical gem "Sugar Man" by Sixto Rodriquez. I recognized it when in 2010 Craig Twitt played a mix (Chapter 11, Arusha, TZ). The South Africans had discovered him in the early '70s. Americans passed him over1:02:34 To Cape Town and a ship to Australia1:04:38 The samples I show of my journal entries and letters are personal but I want to leave a sampling of my experience. Far out at sea, I experience an albatross. 1:07:46 I arrive in Perth, meet some friendly nurses who help me adjust.1:08:31 The boarding house.1:08:55 A really bad job from the newspaper classifieds. Naivete.1:10:16 Mean workmates pushed me. I was losing it. Went to Susan Muir, one of the nurses. She took me to a minister, Rev. Cavan Brown. He took me to sprawling, nice and green Greylands psychiatric complex.1:10:52 To the loony bin I went, diagnosis: mental exhaustion. I relate experiences of my three weeks there.1:17:18 I go home after 2 years of travel1:18:22 I once again reflect on proselytization, this time a cult, in addition to born-again Christians. I had become resistant and stayed Unitarian.I reflect on the cult. A documentary "Going Clear..." on Netflix is a must-see.1:20:14 Arriving home: a Mom story
"College and Latin America" Chapter 6. Below are sub-chapter descriptions and links to that part of the YouTube video.
00:00 I start as a freshman at the University of California Davis00:18 The Sierra, my first love - photos01:36 I start work on the swing shift for UCD facilities department02:10 Job: Visiting every building on campus, pulling light bulbs due to the OPEC-originated energy crunch03:00 Workmates: Manny, Rod, John, and angry Carlos05:01 School in morning, then lunch, a tumbler of wine, nap, then off to swing shift 'til midnight.05:54 We got into every campus building except the legendary UCD wine cellar06:50 Hammarskjold House dorm08:03 I organized talks on Africa, as there was enormous interest back then.08:48 I asked Lako Tongun, one of the lost boys who had walked out of Sudan, to present with me to a full lecture hall.09:31 Lako: "There is no more tribalism" I bowed to his political correctness, but knew otherwise. Tribalism is still tearing apart parts of Africa.10:43 I put my tribe as "Californian" in a Tanzania hotel that asked for "Tribe" in its register, 201410:58 I start a course in the Experimental College "The Basics of Low Budget Travel". Interest in travel was widespread11:18 I learn Transcendental Meditation12:09 Don's 1-minute graphic: Meditation for Americans.14:08 1974-75: year-round studies Fall, Winter, Spring, both summer sessions14:19 The Svea 123 backpack stove14:35 Soccer life15:07 Gambling to go to see Pele play15:37 Beer can collectors Jim & Scott16:20 Anecdote: Davis soccer legend Carlos Daubt, Brazilian former pro.17:50 Carlos leads Davis Soccer Club to state cup final
19:01 The pioneers of women's soccer20:12 A great tradition of American universities: incentives to explore20:45 P.E. courses for credit, good for student health, now eliminated by UCD21:21 The original legendary UCD wine course by Amerine and Singleton22:03 Students' fear of science: how I flipped that in my teaching 2020-202222:55 Mike, the cowboys, and the staff women at Vogelsang Yosemite high camp23:51 Soccer life and friendships24:07 Social soccer with Kip, Beth, Susie, Carrie et.al. 24:45 The Cottage: $35 per month rooms next to campus.Door notes from then. Yes, I kept them.More backpacking pics. Herter's stuff.27:10 The early sustainable agriculture movement at big ag UCD28:02 The vindication of organic farming pioneers: a story29:44 Photos of those pioneer organic farmers 50 years later31:50 The Barsotti-Barnes boys inherit the farm, grow and conquer the weekly produce basket home delivery sector33:43 The "big ag" profs could be arrogant about organic agriculture: an example34:58 My strategy for getting straight A's.35:29 I initiate my own "junior year abroad"35:55 I begin my lifelong love affair with Mexico36:32 Anecdote: A guardian angel in the night streets of Tijuana 38:06 I push on despite deep loneliness in Mexicali. This was a watershed.Letter: cousin Mark Lotter, 19, killed in motorcycle accident. Photos of Mark.39:10 The now extinct train to Mexico City. Graphics: Mexican trains, lines, history.
40:47 At the 100 stops, tamales, safe to eat from steaming pot, were my food41:19 To Cuernavaca. Cuauhnahuac school to learn Spanish..42:15 Angeles and pulque, the ancient Aztec drink. Pics: How pulque is made.45:51 To Cali, Colombia47:15 Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical CIAT48:22 With Bob Hudgens to Restrepo later FARC territory49:44 The Caleñas50:03 Gallinaziando calle La Sexta with Miguel Altieri50:32 Anecdote: I make a name for myself at CIAT - on a mountain54:09 The tragic story of Todd and my own experience of early adolescence.55:00 Prince Harry's book "Spare" prompted me to reflect on the often lifelong effects of disruptions during early adolescence.57:37 I reflect on returning from overseas to American teen culture, as Todd did.58:25 Cultures: Elsa's story of entering middle school in Italy, girls welcomed her1:00:02 A cross-cultural misunderstanding1:00:54 I realize it 35 years later, yes, 35!1:01:52 Incident #2: the workers take me to a brothel to make sure I'm not a maricon (gay). 1:02:16 The Colombian slang word that I never understood: berr____a.1:04:19 Back to Davis1:04:47 I narrate as I ride my bike to the Putah Creek levee, photos.1:05:28 UCD: studying, little partying1:05:48 Video of Great Pyrenees dogs with goats on my ride1:06:19 Swainson's hawks over alfalfa, the best wildlife crop.1:08:18 The Guatemalan Agricultural Project (GAP)1:11:11 Photos of the Catus, my Mayan family, start here
1:15:12 The train from Mexicali with four GAP members, all gals1:16:01 Loosie Goosie Rosie was all over the train visiting boys all day and night1:16:22 Almost left behind in Guadalajara, false info from steward, wanted our stuff1:19:51 El Huevón1:20:40 We meet our Mayan families, I plan on 3 days but fell in love with them.1:22:27 Tomás, the civil war, loss of belief in God, his mother, and alcohol1:24:31 Rosie's romantic adventures in Guatemala City get the CIA involved1:26:38 I get shaken down by the police1:28:05 The temascal Mayan sauna.We learn the background of the civil war: book "The Open Veins of Latin America"1:29:56 I recognize nightshade being cleaned for us to eat. They assure me, it's traditional and good. It is quilete, a little known indigenous vegetable, also in Africa; neglected by science, it was my favorite in both places1:31:10 I recognize it in Tanzania markets1:32:03 Journal: Colombian Vicki and slow migration north.Example of why Mayans fought the Guatemalan civil war: Mayan girl kills a commissioner, who had raped her.1:34:00 Callouses on my knees from clay floors of church and dozens of kneelings1:34:27 Mormons and evangelicals: Guatemala foremost in percent: political1:36:40 Catholic liberation theology & death squads1:37:57 A friend Father Ron Burke, on top of list, escapes the death squads1:40:15 Massacre by the Guatemalan army of Comalapa family I knew: Dad's work for justice for Mayans, motivated by U.S. involvement1:40:59 Mayan refugees in Davis who fled the massacres
"Cornell and Four Continents" Chapter 7. Below are sub-chapter descriptions and links to that part of the YouTube video.
00:00 Green Tortoise to NY: first hippie busline00:21 Graphics: Grandparents in Berkeley Hills and Alameda, holiday dinners01:19 After seeing this old bus, some people just bailed, went to Greyhound03:19 Of 3 rules, #1 was "No pot smoking while the bus is STOPPED"03:55 Dawn in L.A.: A suicide and the empty dream of "The Hollywood Scene"06:09 To a commune in New Mexico with an enormous hot spring pool, plus dinner08:26 Through Texas to another commune in Kentucky08:57 New York City to Ithaca and Cornell University10:22 I meet fellow new grad student Jim Fadel, we house hunt11:44 Ithaca, midwinter, I learn what an ice storm is, with anecdote15:48 Letter from Mom: theater manager Scott; Mike traveling for State; Rick, drummer; Mom courageously finishing UC degree.17:07 Ride to Davis for summer: learning experience about certain people18:39 Summer job around Woodland in seed company tomato fields. 19:52 Fall in upstate NY. Rock climbing with Jim McClung.20:43 Don's food: my homegrown sprout bread 21:18 Maté 21:34 Adjusting to East Coast society's class distinctions22:38 Chastised on my inattention to religious distinctions - Story: how my California / Unitarian upbringing just didn't distinguish Jew vs. non-Jew. 23:45 The Camel Breeders Club24:50 The apple pie contest, my cardamom Northern Spy apple pie26:09 And the winner is.....(Ouch! Cringe!)26:45 A blizzard and New England Christmas hospitality: a story28:58 Blissfully alone in airport, I am featured on TV news about blizzard29:54 Guy sees me on TV and drives sedan through deep snow to get me for Christmas with his family.
32:45 I rent Ithaca room in the old 1930s tradition34:53 The Cornell dining halls and dinners by famous chefs37:09 I move to Santa Cruz to "Slack"I show my Santa Cruz roots, great-grandfather settled there37:59 I abandon society's norms: Image and time management discardedThe ugly car as challenge to society38:20 Pruning in Winters orchards. The Cabernet of apricots: Blenheim Royal39:07 Cal DMV Director Herman Sillas: "That's not a car, it's a smashed beer can"39:40 In addition to image, I let go of time41:33 My first snort of cocaine42:54 Catalpa Street, Santa Cruz: Bucky, Gary, Flo, Ron, Irene, Smiley the "pusher". Mike near at Staff of Life bakery43:37 Although broke, I turn down offer to work remote marijuana grow sites45:14 I turn down another lucrative business opportunity. It just wasn't me.46:47 I gravitate to my calling: teaching college48:07 I teach "Small Farm Systems" at UC Santa Cruz49:58 Zero tillage: my research 30 years later - at odds with organics50:14 Isao Fujimoto's work on social aspects of agriculture52:02 UCSC: outspoken students and narrative evaluations instead of grades52:36 Letter grades are unidimensional. Narrative evaluations multidimensional.53:21 I develop my professional ethics that have stayed with me to this day.53:59 I connect with UCD Kenya project54:40 I decide to hike the Muir Trail pending project funding arrival55:39 The food: Marmite, Finn Crisp, peanut butter, + Mom's cupboard rejects57:00 Building the Muir Trail: FDR's WPA & CCC programs of 1930s57:52 Google Earth views start here. Close call with rattlesnake.1:00:14 Forester Pass 13,000+ feet, and a truly remarkable person hiking the Trail
1:02:52 Surprise at top of the pass1:04:16 Ice axe carried for ten days to use on 150 feet of trail1:05:08 Encountering the Canada to Mexico Pacific Crest Trail hikers.1:06:14 I had met the original PCT'er in 1970, Eric Ryback, in OR Outward Bound1:07:12 Pennyroyal: favorite Sierra herb1:07:45 Eating roasted rattlesnake1:08:32 The phantom Snickers bar1:09:20 Hanging food from the bears1:11:59 Hot springs on the Muir Trail1:12:55 Learning about hypothermia1:14:10 Marmot Inc. and Eric Reynolds1:14:55 Eric in the New York Times for Rwanda work1:15:36 I start on Kenya ag project1:17:20 I move out to the bush1:17:27 Mom and Dad letters1:18:43 Masai guys take me to find a lion1:19:05 Lions are terrified of Masai - an anecdote1:19:33 Erwin Kinsey, his boys and wife1:19:45 Kinsey boys - guides and safari company1:20:48 Nairobi pickpocket anecdote 1:22:19 Money belt and anti-pickpocket strategies1:22:59 The copied 4-pocket Ex Officio shirt1:23:36 Lamu Island and Islam1:24:24 Surprise #1: Lamu peacefulness and no drunks1:25:27 Surprise #2: you'll just have to listen1:27:17 Mt. Kenya climb, graphics1:28:20 Back in Davis, the Blue Mango restaurant, a legend1:28:53 A Blue Mango waitress girlfriend1:29:10 We move to Santa Cruz in a big El Niño winter: '82-'83.1:29:47 I reflect on the hidden lives of two women in my life1:30:31 Graphics: letters from Mom & Dad1:31:57 One woman's story, unimaginably bizarre
1:34:11 My yearning to travel conflicts with romance, I decide to finish out that need 1:34:31 To SE Asia, to close another loop, started in Bangkok in 19671:35:10 Boomers and the expansion of consciousness that started in the '60s1:35:51 The influence of Carl Jung1:37:31 Altered states of consciousness1:38:14 Music and the expansion of consciousness1:38:58 A global music treasure trove1:39:32 International music programs are about a quarter of HOS roster1:40:48 Bali, where so many scholars of culture did their work eg. Margaret Meade1:41:54 Gamelan music1:43:34 The other influence on me: Bali rice and water channeling culture1:44:49 The durian fruit: I loved it1:46:26 I finish my tribute to Hearts of Space with Steven Hill clip, HOS founder 1:47:33 To the origins of batik art, Java1:48:12 I had discovered batik art in Kenya where exiled (by Idi Amin) Ugandan artists worked wonders with it.I contrast Ugandan and Javanese batik styles.1:51:01 To Singapore, then Malaysia1:51:32 To the Senoi people and their culture of dreaming1:54:03 This visit to the dream people was a pilgrimage, to different worldview.1:54:31 To the world's oldest rainforest1:54:42 To Thailand, with an intestinal parasite 1:57:01 To Bangkok to close the loop1:58:05 I get a Dear John letter - irony: the purpose of my travel was to "empty out" the need to do my lifelong solitary wandering, to finish out that part of my life so that I could fully enter a committed relationship.1:59:13 Back to California to try to rescue my relationship. Didn't happen."The Blues Brothers" on the all night bus
"Becoming a Scientist and Losing My Shirt" Chapter 8. Below are links to sub-chapters.
00:00 Back from Asia, I wanted to study agroforestry. I start a Ph.D. at Cal (University of California Berkeley)00:54 Agroforestry's Holy Grail tree: my candidate01:16 I start summer field program in forestry near Quincy, CA at old Cal camp02:41 Fall semester living at I-House (International House)03:15 Joey & Perry, pranksters of I-House. International students learn the American tradition of pranksterism05:10 My back goes out, I spend 6 weeks in the old campus hospital, in traction.06:17 The laminectomy back surgery06:44 The Alta Bates nurses and young guy patients07:27 Spinal tap doesn't work - I get heavy duty anesthesia08:22 Morphine: my first and only injected opioid09:22 My back gets worse - I drop out of Cal & go to Davis. Finally diagnosed with hookworm, from Bali, Asia trip12:31 Recovery: weight room, pool, eat, sleep - the daily cycle12:50 Sierra backpack trip beyond the Muir Trail13:32 The phantom trail on a USGS map16:23 My songbook. I sang at night and on the trail. PDF of songbook.16:39 A friend died after an accident hiking off trail17:50 I restart at UC Davis in the Graduate Group in Ecology (GGE)18:01 UC Davis: top-ranked university in both agriculture and ecology18:54 Student interest generates addition of Agroecology to Ecology program20:13 The 1982 research site that set me off into agroforestry
22:14 The central concept of agroforestry22:39 Hoagland Annex desk in biometeorology program23:45 Agroforestry's Holy Grail tree whose trait has potential for genetic engineering. I am not anti-GE, only the first generation of it. I show my papers.26:41 California agroforestry potential: my proposal for rangelands and trees.29:57 Preview: agroforestry & coffee in Mexico31:04 Agroecology: UCD vs. UCSC: it's a slam dunk for UCD31:43 Sustainable Agriculture at UCD: the problem32:18 The first generation of genetic engineering of food: the huge blind spot of so many scientists. 33:01 The younger generation of scientists will reexamine and vindicate33:49 My papers detail the huge flaws in Gen 1 of genetic engineering of food34:29 Preview: How the US can compete with China in Africa: by our universities connecting to Africa online. My prototype.34:40 Half of science research funding must be federal/public specific for non-proprietary solutions to public needs35:27 Students from Communist China in my lab; I reflect on independent thinking.I go to Washington DC to try to get funds37:35 I'm weak from poorly prescribed medications, it's winter.39:00 Anecdote: Lost at night on a DC bus line42:47 I become a backpacking guide for a UCD Outdoor Adventures44:34 Death Valley trips: stories45:47 Kenji & the 3oz packet of beef stew47:16 Interruption: Berry my cat wrestling with Coco my dog
48:00 Kenji plays baseball on his watch: Shinji la lanai !49:16 Unidentified klepto-phyle in group51:01 The freak mid-September blizzard53:45 A schizophrenic after having left his medication home55:26 I get the annual Broken Ski Award57:09 The hot springs of Sierra eastside58:51 Group night in a hotel room in Las Vegas: when a wet dream is a nightmare1:04:25 Manzanar Internment Camp for Japanese-Americans during WWII: I educate on US history on way to desert1:06:27 Grandma Gladys Lotter and the Alameda Japanese-Americans1942-451:09:26 Grandma travels to Arizona to bond Mary Yee (Matsuko Koga) out1:10:15 I develop a "History of Western Consciousness" course.1:11:56 "Quantum consciousness" and The New Physics1:12:31 A metaphor-tale of the dualism of modern consciousness: Jung vs. Einstein1:15:43 Resonance and the analogical1:16:21 Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel two hands scene as a visual of the metaphor1:18:37 Slatter's Court, where I lived. The original tiny houses, from the 1930s.1:20:12 The power of ancient women: also explored in the course1:20:30 Fire crew. This section of the memoir received (Ch 8) about 20 times more views on YouTube than any other chapters of California Boomer (Oct 2024).1:21:09 My introduction to fire crew boss Chuck Sheely, former smoke jumper1:22:01 My introduction to Sunil.Anecdote: Rookie Sunil, barefoot, attacks a harmless spot fire in fire camp, nearby engine crews greatly entertained.1:26:15 Now a judge, what does Sunil do with his ever-edgy humor in court?
1:27:40 The "Morning Poll", started by... who else?1:30:32 The Morning Poll spreads to other fire crews around the West, Hotshots too.1:31:47 Finally a good fire crew movie: I show a clip1:33:18 The fire crew "kids" and their amazing ability to recite lyrics & movies1:33:29 My fireline kit, itemized1:34:37 Being entertained while in long chow lines of fire camp1:35:22 The woman who broke up a crew1:38:55 The difference between Davis & Chico crews1:40:19 Entry's from Ben's fire trip journal1:40:37 Davis Fire Crew reputation: a class act1:41:23 I can't resist my favorite subject: human evolution.I eat a freshly burned rattlesnake1:42:52 Breathing wood smoke: a million years of it gives some tolerance...hydrate!1:43:09 I become "Mr. Hydrate"1:45:12 The smoke of Red Fir bark: the mesquite of the Sierra1:46:31 The hotshot crews.1:47:55 Cutting line all night: the phantom closed loop1:49:15 Nadine's Black Hand policy1:49:51 How fires survive and ignite a week after crews gone, restarting wildfire1:50:43 My stretches & yoga, often at 3:45 AM, including headstand. In the dark, sleepy crewmate John Leyva shocked by boots in his face.This was how I adapted three years after back surgery and 36 years old.1:52:24 I would wrap my Casio watch inside headband of knit cap to hear alarm.1:53:27 The Shots dig to the center of the Earth. Ironmen.
I finish my Ph.D. on organically managed vineyards, talk about wine, develop environmental impact software, float down 1000 km of the Fraser River, and trim the BC Cannabis crop.
I finish my Ph.D. on organically managed vineyards, talk about wine, develop environmental impact software, float down 1000 km of the Fraser River, and trim the BC Cannabis crop.
00:00 I continued teaching History of Consciousness course00:22 My conception of EarthAware software, for personal environmental impact assessment, comes from that course. Most people were not conscious of how they relate to the environment because their impact was mostly hidden in the market system.00:30 Reviews in SF Chronicle, Philadelphia Inquirer01:04 Airline carbon: as if each passenger driving a sedan. Lack of awareness of this02:59 Early Cloud: CompuServe 1980s03:27 The pre-Internet bulletin boards04:29 Graphics: how EarthAware worked05:17 Downloadable from this web page (see left), originally done in Windows 3.105:51 1992 Mac version downloadable06:21 Original written in DOS Basic06:45 Video of my lab, 199107:43 Putting EarthAware out there, then focusing on new Ph.D. work: vineyards 08:00 EarthAware's personal CO2 budget 199209:28 EarthAware mostly ignored after initial Press, but recognized by the French10:35 The Lotter family all return to Malawi in 1989, 25 years later 10:49 Surprising: Malawian leaders very positive about '60s US Peace Corps11:23 Videos from the trip, all of us there: Mom, Dad, me, Mike, Scott, Rick, Jennie & Sarah Bravinder (like cousins)14:11 Kunga cake from Lake midges14:21 Larry: Davis salvager, collector. I've eaten his cold-salvaged food for decades16:56 Working at the video store18:23 Anecdotes: Jeff Hefner and The Godfather; the skinflint owner's wife gave us cash; the professor
20:10 The qualifying exam21:02 Hot springs trips to Sierra east side24:37 Harbin Hot Springs 26:12 I reflect on salsa dance, my then pastime: the Latinos don't do the hot spring nudity thing as do Californians, but they dance very close, bodies touching27:55 Harbin burns up in wildfires due to never before Fall season north winds28:05 The science behind California's unseasonal Fall winds and wildfires: typhoons *off of Korea* Our north wind has always blown only Jan to June, land too wet to burn, Fall land is tinder dry.30:00 Elsa32:38 The 1976 Paris tasting and California wine33:14 The final Ph.D. effort: organic vineyards and the grape phylloxera33:42 The AXR#1 grapevine rootstock: formerly phylloxera resistant, a new phylloxera biotype infested it in California35:03 History: Horticulturists had brought North American Vitis vines back to France which had native phylloxera on them. By mid-1800s European vineyards were devastated by phylloxera. Solution: graft all of the wine varietals to American grapevine species, which were phylloxera resistant. This still done.Later, the French try to charge us for their varietal vines. It didn't work.39:43 Chileans: own-rooted grapevines.I review my proposed research here.40:35 Why vines decline from phylloxera: pathogenic fungi invade wounds43:26 Why organic vineyards with phylloxera do better: soil microbiome.46:02 Another watershed wine tasting: Biodynamic vs. conventional wines
47:00 Biodynamics: from Rudolf Steiner47:39 The Biodynamic preparations49:01 Soil microbiome: basis of organics50:00 Wine quality and vine systemic resistance to disease: the connection51:07 Anecdote: When good 'ole boy managers have to go Biodynamic: LOL55:20 Biodynamic certification by Demeter55:41 War, explosives, nitrogen, and the origins of organic farming56:48 Fixation of nitrogen by legumes58:17 Synthetic nitrogen fertilizers invented - from WWI armaments industry59:23 Organics pioneers see a problem: nitrate fertilizers don't have carbon1:00:23 Carbon inputs to soil: the foundation of organic agriculture. "Modern" agriculture and synthetic nitrogen fertilizers had left carbon behind.1:00:34 Poisons of WWI chemical warfare become agricultural insecticides1:01:23 Preview: my journalistic travels1:02:22 Organic certification1:02:42 USDA tries for GMOs in organics and then drowns in protest mail, gives up.1:03:43 Early organic farmers vindicated: a story1:04:41 Ag professors ridicule organics1:04:55 Organics as "voodoo agriculture"1:05:16 25 years later: systemic resistance shown in organic crops1:06:43 Distinction: Organic wine vs wine from organically grown grapes re: sulfites1:08:12 Vancouver!1:08:43 The Grouse Grind ritual hike1:10:49 I write using new web research resources: full text articles from journals1:11:43 I dabble in website development1:12:47 I met a woman who I think was an early Wikipedia founder, at small meeting1:13:55 Writing at the cafes of Vancouver1:14:39 Elsa: An EarthAware "Eco Titan"1:15:38 I go to the BC forests to learn timber industry environmental aspects
1:16:10 BC timber industry's surprisingly destructive practices1:16:24 How rivers are ruined: upstream deforestation yields degraded watersheds, riverbed scouring, and floods1:16:46 I camp with protesters1:17:21 The Spirit of Salmon Fraser River rafting expedition.1:17:58 Fraser River Google Earth views1:19:11 6 species of salmon migrate up the Fraser1:19:40 Met with First Nations groups about ecology of salmon1:20:08 The sociopath gets booted1:20:43 "Canadian Bacon" movie trailer, John Candy pokes fun at the Canadians1:21:46 Grand Forks & BC pot industry1:22:43 The Dean family1:26:12 The signs of movies filmed in BC1:26:53 Work trimming pot buds1:28:55 The pot Ph.D. makes finger hash1:30:02 Grower loses it all at the border: $150,000 cash found and confiscated1:32:59 My first northern lights1:33:35 Back to Vancouver1:34:17 Highrise living environmental benefits1:35:58 Anecdote on PA "Dutchies": Energy inefficiency in order for control1:37:10 Graphic: Op-Ed on the benefits of highrise living: I lament the failure of my hometown, Davis, to take the State lead decades ago on densifying the city core area by allowing highrise condos downtown. We'd be #1 in sustainability1:37:24 The creative life: my first love. I couldn't have done that if I'd had kids. Kids would have been my creations. I salute all the great, devoted parents who are creating the lives of the future, while I create some culture and history for them to perhaps access someday.
"PA, Travel Journalism, Teaching, Pulled Back to Africa" Chapter 10. Below: Links to sub-chapters. Click on the time to go to that part of the video.
"PA, Travel Journalism, Teaching, Pulled Back to Africa" Chapter 10. Below: Links to sub-chapters. Click on the time to go to that part of the video.
00:04 Trees & well-being: Our genetic roots living in trees resonate with us.01:07 Off to Pennsylvania01:21 The Rodale Institute01:29 My Plymouth K-car & packing stuff01:59 J.I. Rodale a pioneer of organics02:11 The cultural gap between me, 6th generation Californian, and the PA Dutchies. Irony: nearly same genes02:37 PA Dutchies and Berks County03:43 I move to Reading and find later it is said to be a crime and murder capital04:36 The Reading Prong, radon gas, uranium in rock. This gets me to move out05:20 PA: countless crossroad towns from 300 years of egalitarian agrarian life06:19 Anecdote: my California culture and Javier: He goes to PA, I to Mexico07:25 Myth-busting digression: California Latino birthrates same as other ethnicities08:13 Mennonites in Berks County. Horse & buggies, Anecdote: metal wheel tractors09:20 Lizzie sells "stuff" from full barns10:02 PA's history of tens of thousands of small rural farms made for great estate sales, vintage stuff often going for a song10:56 The outline of dead steel mills of Bethlehem and Allentown, a stark memory11:37 Backpacking mid-winter: my California escape routine doesn't fit13:08 Photos: Soil water measurement in Rodale Farming Systems Trial14:36 The Appalachian Trail - nearby15:07 Rodale Farming Systems Trial16:07 Organic zero tillage - Rodale research. See Ch12 my work on ZT Africa17:41 Steve Grof's no-tillage Cedar Meadow farm withstands hurricane floods19:02 The sacking of my boss as a result of his wine-fueled talking at my dinner party19:45 Dinner parties, my pastime: 6-8 people at table, big lasagna, low light, wine, no paper anything, often went 5 hrs20:44 Pics of old Kempton Hotel bar and Archie21:44 My plan for Rodale Latin America program ended with sacking of my boss22:50 Radio: the way to reach every farmer in Latin America - my plan23:14 Rodale hires me as traveling journalist for their New Farm magazine23:27 The trans-Canada trip in Saab
23:49 Montreal & Quebec organic farm24:41 Camping my way west25:11 Defeated by the Canadian mosquitoes, ditched camping26:18 Hemp in Manitoba, Ukrainians27:17 Saskatchewan huge grain farms27:57 Back to Vancouver to write articles28:07 Digression: Canadian cultural borrowing from the US. Canadians let us duke it out for decades on issues then when we're done, they often borrow and implement them.28:33 California pioneered anti-smoking laws, fighting tobacco lobby for decades. When done, Canada took it and ran.29:23 Cigarette pack labels show cancer victims. Canada beats us hands down.29:56 Digression#2: Tobacco industry strategies copied by fossil fuel companies30:12 Graphics: Climate deception dossiers of the petroleum industry.Scientific paper shows clear bias of private sector funded research.30:49 Public funding of research gutted, replaced by private sector funding which focuses on patents. Non-proprietary solutions, often the best, not researched. Result in press: "There's no scientific evidence to support the efficacy" of this or that herb or method.31:26 Sowing false doubt: the bedrock strategy of industry re: climate science31:53 Taking a lesson from the Dutch32:27 I visit farms down Western states32:46 Washington: apples, cherries33:14 The Palouse and loess soils33:50 Eastern Oregon organic mega-farms34:26 Into California, Frey organic wines35:00 To Mexico in the Dolphin camper35:14 How I got the Dolphin, for $80036:02 Video tour of Dolphin gets 20,000 YouTube views 37:25 Photos of trans-Baja drive37:54 Sleeping under the stars in Dolphin39:26 Early Internet: Wi-Fi from homes available in streets40:14 The roadside shrines of Baja41:34 The Baja wine country, good wines!42:10 Jacobs Farm, organics, Los Cabos42:39 The ferry to mainland, Mazatlan42:58 Tequila, mescal, agave spirits43:27 California grown agave spirits45:07 Up to central Mexico
45:28 The patio brunches on Sundays45:53 Pulque: giant agave sap fermented46:16 I get typhoid47:03 The tragedy of Roberto Garcia, his daughter, and Mexico City48:35 Mexico City's terrifying police49:35 The Diego Rivera murals50:43 The audacity of Cortez52:24 From Teotihuacan south to Oaxaca52:57 GMO contamination of indigenous maize at its center of origin53:54 Science community bias on GMOs55:09 I lament re-election of "W" Bush, who gave us a destabilized Iraq and dominance by Iran of Iraq, sending proxies, arming Hamas for Oct 7 attack on Israel, as well as Hezbollah in Lebanon. No one talks about this, as major war grows, 202455:21 Zapotec weaving, cochineal dyes55:40 I keep photo of me protesting in Feb '03 in NYC to not invade Iraq.56:45 Forest coffee in Oaxaca56:59 The VW Beetle in Mexico57:52 Terroir and forest-grown coffee58:04 Oaxaca to Chiapas to Guatemala58:21 To Xela then Panajachel59:07 Catholic priest's coffee operation in Santiago Atitlan, on Lake Atitlan.59:27 Coffee finca and production59:42 Steps in production of quality coffee exacting, difficult for farmer co-operatives.1:01:12 Guatemalan civil war history & Will & Jane Lotter's work with Families of the Disappeared1:02:59 Forensic teams excavate bodies1:03:36 I visit my Mayan family 25 years later1:03:58 La violencia: Comalapa '821:04:42 The evangelicals make inroads 1:05:22 A little recognized Mayan food1:05:42 Amaranth seed - nutritious, part of ancient Mayan diet, now neglected1:07:03 Costa Rica1:07:18 To Golfito in a DC-31:07:38 Palm trees1:08:14 Fruit diversity of Costa Rica1:08:36 Effective Microorganisms Bokashi1:09:03 Soccer exposes anti-Americanism1:10:02 Haiti: highways turned dirt tracks1:11:46 Cuba: then famous for organics1:12:00 Cigar-making
1:13:17 Havana's powerful neighborhood committees, part of Communist systemRiding the "machinas", 1950s US carsSalsa dancing afternoons1:16:32 My work at Imperial Valley College, El Centro, CA. This is important to me and for CA higher education leaders1:19:42 Ag Club I ran fights poor nutrition1:20:25 Ag Club wins Club of the Year1:22:32 Backpacking in Anza Borrego1:24:28 Debbie gets a Ph.D. at UCRAn astonishingly unqualified committee dismisses me. It was politically driven. Below, I show efforts that they ignored:1:28:03 USDA Fellows program 20061:29:20 My Pest Control Advisor (PCA) initiative, for Spanish speakers.1:29:50 A PCA program at Shasta College 15 years after I initiated the same thing.1:30:41 My 2007 YouTube video on strategies for PCA license gets18K hits1:32:50 My cross-border initiative.1:34:04 USDA fellowship in Wash. DC1:34:31 Grant proposals to the USDA I put the following in to keep my teaching all in one video:1:35:40 A new design for teaching, 2022, that grew out of COVID pandemic1:38:34 My case for equitability and engagement: the two goals of CA ed.1:38:58 The two-text-entry-quizzes-per- lecture method I developed, is a variant of Active Learning. I show how I prepare & grade both quizzes in 15-minutes for a class of 50+. These, well-liked, replaced the much hated, stress-inducing exams. Text answer quizzes are a quantum leap better education than multiple choice.1:40:29 Countering "A stunning level of disconnection" (Chronicle of Higher Ed.)1:41:11 Read these student commentsNow back to 2009:1:41:57 After two years of interviews ('08-'09) all over California, I head to Africa. Three factors created a perfect storm to drive me to migrate: 1) The Recession, colleges defunded; 2) the verified bias (1:32) of CC faculty against PhD's; and 3) the legitimate priority to bring gender parity to college faculty.
"Tanzania 2009-16 and Reflections on Africa and the Africans" Chapter 11. Below: Links to sub-chapters. Click on the time to go to that part of the video.
00:00 I start with music: Tanzania's own Bongo Flava01:12 Finished in Davis: tour of my trailer home02:29 I adopt Daisy after deportation of her undocumented owners who'd been here nearly 20 years.03:19 Norteño gang low-riders recruit the 16-year old04:38 California's ethic of inclusiveness is an un-written, non-religious cultural inheritance from Jesus.I go to Africa with 1-month Farmer to Farmer program05:32 The last straw: College of the Redwoods selects a high school ag teacher over me to run agriculture program05:48 I connect to a volunteer position in Tanzania06:15 The multiple track narrative of California Boomer07:02 On people’s efforts to help Africa: a reflection07:50 "You're damned if you do and damned if you don't"08:58 I give a good shellacking to author Paul Theroux, who was a Peace Corps volunteer in Malawi we all knew and whose writing about Africa and efforts to help people there (which my parents were doing) has become so cynical that I lasted two minutes in his latest moneymaker. I play a clip of those first two minutes.10:59 AIDS orphan program by ex-Peace Corps volunteers Malawi Children's Village. Will & Jane Lotter & ex-PCVs12:24 I reflect on the open-hearted African culture14:44 Gary the big game hunter brings bush meat home15:32 Gary's hideaway in the Lushoto Mountains 15:42 On African development and Wokeness17:57 Roger Stephenson's Tractor for Africa, Arusha18:29 How the U.S. can compete with China in Africa: connecting our universities, the world's best.24:54 My prototype for this: At the university in Tanzania I streamed an online course from MIT, then gave my own exams. I explain why this is important.I propose a U.S. State Department program to construct a small building at each major African university that would be a U.S. university, staffed by 1-2 U.S. faculty with U.S. grad student assistants, all in charge of streaming courses and, most importantly, giving their own exams.Africans are hungry for U.S. higher education. This program would complement China's presence in Africa, nearly all infrastructure-related. University graduates will be the leaders of Africa in both government and economy. Graphical anecdotes as I describe my proposal: - Virtual reality potential for primary education in Africa- World Cup soccer on TZ TV: Dutch tourists go nuts- NYT on the genetic variation of the Africans- Missionary faculty colleagues, Church Mission Society in Dickens + anecdote about this Unitarian & Bible quiz game- Photos of rural school classrooms, no teachers, 50+ kids sitting on floor: this is what most of my students came from32:43 African genetic variation is highest of all world’s ethnicities and yields traits not found outside of Africa
This variation has potential for emergence of unique traits e.g. a "mode of mind" or immune system variant for the world. Critical goal: help young Africans rise via merit; 34:59 Ubuntu culture: an anecdote & Nelson Mandela36:52 Teaching Worldviews, reflections: taking students far outside of their traditional world, both Christian & Muslim: quantum consciousness, Latin Liberation Theology.Reflection: the Muslim practice of five prayers per day is a powerful custom for mental and physical well-being. My belief on this is because I have gravitated to five meditations per day,15 minutes each. Graphics: - DNA shows Persian traders settled coast 1,000 y.a. - The Baobab: famine food, bark for fiber, the "wisest" tree41:06 Blatant property theft from widows in Tanzania42:24 Islam in Africa: pulling back from a strict interpretation of the Koran and other reflections on Islam.The call to prayer; anecdote on how to deal w/ Al Shabaab45:12 The Hash House Harriers of Arusha45:22 Sand dam project of Mennonites: graphics47:32 Biogas production in Tanzania: traditional Chinese brick & mortar model vs. balloon type used in KenyaMy Hasher name: "Professor Methane"49:39 Biochar and soil fertility, how I sourced biochar50:27 Charcoal for cooking & devastation of Africa's forests 53:03 Eric Reynolds' Rwanda social enterprise Inyenyeri: smokeless cooking with waste biomass, saving forests + eliminating smoke-caused morbidity53:20 My project: Ag waste to cooking fuel: pelletization54:07 I visit Eric in Rwanda, on border with Congo55:17 Neem trees in Dodoma: the potential56:58 Microgasification stove camp in Oregon57:45 Proposal for commercial demonstration grain farm58:14 Displaced white Zimbabwean farmers - an untapped resource for Africa, neglected by Tanzania but not Zambia1:02:28 6 years riding daladala vans, never a problem1:03:37 Getting robbed in Arusha, protected by a stranger + a movie clip in Arusha, "Hatari" with John Wayne1:04:34 My theft prevention clothing & strategies1:06:38 A couple of anecdotes on thieveryGraphics: - On the persistence of "Heart of Darkness" myth.- The monastery in the mountains, my escape. - Backpacking, my first bamboo wine- Mountain house on Morogoro mountain1:10:31 Gogo music I: the choirs1:13:21 Gogo music II: A Gogo Billie HolidayGraphics: Indigenous vegetable research; compost tea; attempts to conserve last forest piece on Dodoma hill1:15:07 Gogo music III: Kefa plays the thumb pianoGraphics: the Africa pygmy hedgehog
1:17:06 My food security research: challenging and breaking from my own professional community. Introduction by Professor DumbledoreAfter 30 years of work in organic agriculture, I make the case for using (and use) glyphosate herbicide and synthetic nitrogen fertilizers in African agriculture, which is facing catastrophic soil loss and degradation of food production capacity. Herbicide enables soil-protecting zero tillage & fertilizers feed Africa's staple food: maizeUpdate: Use of glyphosate in zero-till research in California 2024 confirms my TZ workAnecdote: Why native African grain crops have diminished and have mostly been replaced by maize.Why traditional methods cannot be used to grow staple food crops: populations have increased by 5-10 times, there's no land to rotate to for fallowing and slash.
Statement: ALL flooding of settlements in the past 2,500 years is result of watershed de-vegetation & deforestation.
Nitrogen: Synthetic N fertilizers are necessary to feed maize, the most voracious of all crops for N. The average farmer can generate only 5% of maize N needs organically.1:35:47 How termites have modified the geography1:35:59 TZ universities are lacking international faculty1:38:46 Lake Tanganyika trip & the 110-year old Liemba1:39:37 Train to Kigoma1:43:58 Ujiji and some history of the slave trade1:45:23 The fish of the Rift Lakes1:46:32 Eating in the food shacks, how to do it safely1:47:03 The "Orijino Komedi" TV show: my favorite1:48:55 The freshwater sardine: dagaa1:50:56 The Nile Perch1:52:31 The famed Rift Lake cichlids1:54:06 MV Liemba: world’s oldest working passenger ship1:57:18 Anecdotes: the highways of Tanzania1:58:46 Babies swaddled on mom's back, sleeping1:59:28 Does baby always on mom's back have a lifetime effect?2:01:16 Visit to David's Hoho family 2:01:40 The "Holy Grail Tree" of agroforestry2:02:51 The TAZARA railway, built by Mao's China2:04:19 Tanzanians buy expensive bottled water...2:04:51 Yet, solar disinfection of clear water works fine2:05:42 My trip down Lake Nyasa Malawi, 50 year anniversary & how I traveled with paraplegia: LOL2:07:39 The hydration regimen, traditional Nala salt2:08:36 Stingless bee honey & health2:14:23 TZ Pres. Magufuli, anti-vaxxer, dies from COVID2:15:53 Donated mosquito nets used as fishing nets2:19:28 The East African microbiome & gut/brain axis2:20:40 The long African handshake and greeting2:22:52 Early adolescence: a critical window to the world and an anecdote about African boys holding hands
Statement: ALL flooding of settlements in the past 2,500 years is result of watershed de-vegetation & deforestation.
Nitrogen: Synthetic N fertilizers are necessary to feed maize, the most voracious of all crops for N. The average farmer can generate only 5% of maize N needs organically.1:35:47 How termites have modified the geography1:35:59 TZ universities are lacking international faculty1:38:46 Lake Tanganyika trip & the 110-year old Liemba1:39:37 Train to Kigoma1:43:58 Ujiji and some history of the slave trade1:45:23 The fish of the Rift Lakes1:46:32 Eating in the food shacks, how to do it safely1:47:03 The "Orijino Komedi" TV show: my favorite1:48:55 The freshwater sardine: dagaa1:50:56 The Nile Perch1:52:31 The famed Rift Lake cichlids1:54:06 MV Liemba: world’s oldest working passenger ship1:57:18 Anecdotes: the highways of Tanzania1:58:46 Babies swaddled on mom's back, sleeping1:59:28 Does baby always on mom's back have a lifetime effect?2:01:16 Visit to David's Hoho family 2:01:40 The "Holy Grail Tree" of agroforestry2:02:51 The TAZARA railway, built by Mao's China2:04:19 Tanzanians buy expensive bottled water...2:04:51 Yet, solar disinfection of clear water works fine2:05:42 My trip down Lake Nyasa Malawi, 50 year anniversary & how I traveled with paraplegia: LOL2:07:39 The hydration regimen, traditional Nala salt2:08:36 Stingless bee honey & health2:14:23 TZ Pres. Magufuli, anti-vaxxer, dies from COVID2:15:53 Donated mosquito nets used as fishing nets2:19:28 The East African microbiome & gut/brain axis2:20:40 The long African handshake and greeting2:22:52 Early adolescence: a critical window to the world and an anecdote about African boys holding hands
California Boomer: It is what it is, I am what I am. Chapter 12. Below: Links to sub-chapters. Click on the time to go to that part of the video.
00:00 Graphics: Sierra camping summer 2022Audio: My fragrance hobby01:29 Invited to Prof. Noble's sensory analysis wine lab UCD, I sniffed perfumer's essential oils, was hooked.02:03 1998: There was this thing called Ebay: guys were selling gifted designer colognes cheap.02:38 My cologne collection, most from old days of the Ebay treasure trove. I like the older ones best, '70s-'80s.02:49 Ignore the fashion industry domination of fragrances: fragrance artists, just as cinematographers, need financing03:13 Perfumes are artistic compositions, like music03:48 Fragrances are mostly natural essential oils04:08 So you say "Too many cheap smells, so I don't do fragrances". Well, it's the same with music: but you don't eschew all music do you? Despite hearing trashy music in public places every day, you buy music by lifelong dedicated artists, right? I do the same with fragrances.05:25 It's a type of aromatherapy: choosing as to mood05:37 I refuse to be elitist, a few great ones are sold in drug stores. Anecdote about Old Spice.05:48 Baja camping '20-'21 graphics06:32 The Noses: olfactory super-sensitivity of some people06:59 I list some of my favorites07:42 My signature cologne this year07:52 Training the olfactory sense with a sample kit of essential oils08:19 Make my own cologne? Would you do that for music? NO!08:37 Classics: originals are always best, ignore spinoffs09:14 The invasion of the Oceanic note 09:40 Don't ignore moderately priced fragrances09:51 The vaquita porpoise story in the Sea of Cortez10:13 My two favorite women's perfumes11:06 Ideas on how to start a fragrance hobby11:41 A good way to get the classics for free12:19 Tip: put ones you don't like on back shelf, try them each year12:40 Back from Africa in 2017 to be with Mom & Dad at end of their lives13:14 I get married13:35 Dad lived well and died well
14:44 I buy a mobile home in Davis15:05 The Sanctuary forest in my backyard15:19 Forests, foliage light and well-being15:56 The Western Screech Owl16:21 My paraplegia: Barca-Lounged by a rare disorder17:13 Balance, walking and the 100's of brain to feet signals per second, both ways, blocked in one part of my spinal cord. The effort to push signals leads to exhaustion.18:07 At least I don't have pain: an anecdote18:44 My strategies to cope w/ 75% loss of lower body18:56 I tried stem cell therapyI've had to fine tune everything I do in order to stay on my feet an hour a day, thus the following detail:20:12 #1: Meditation: the foundation for my well-being20:21 The Internet: it's a lot like a road/highway system: there are bad places and good places. Don't overregulate.20:49 My vocal prayer: I give thanks for the power of the human mind (and of my mind)21:20 Ten seconds of Ted Lasso: Believe in Belief21:52 Don's 1 minute primer on meditation for Americans22:32 On "tough" days (read: depression) I double my meditations22:43 Depression: Meditation can be as effective as medication.22:53 Getting off of Prozac: how I tapered down and off it23:33 Nostril breathing: evidence that it has an effect23:56 The hypnagogic state of mind and meditation24:18 Hypnagogia and The God Zone25:30 The God Zone: borrowed from Kim Stanley Robinson's book "The High Sierra: A Love Story".26:00 Closed eye images: Mother Earth calls27:18 I don't force myself to keep meditating, but I do force a few minutes first. That's often when I need it most27:40 #2: Diet: keeping my strength to stay on my feet - dedicated to my niece Emma Lotter29:54 Don's Gruel - ancient grains+. You can LOL.30:17 Two standout supplements: #1 is Vitamin K complex30:47 Neurological science of vitamin K: it's role in the nervous system "somewhat neglected...": scientific journal31:21 Falim mastic gum: good for teeth, gums, jaw31:31 Phytosterols: my other standout supplement31:49 My blood panel: no flags
32:28 The intestinal microbiome: cultivating it32:44 Preservatives disrupt the intestinal flora: evidence33:11 Foodie tool #:1 large, very cold fridge + chest freezer33:39 Foodie advice #2:: make huge batches of dinners then freeze in sandwich bags; 10 min microwave defrost34:24 #3: Exercise: Two caveats: 1) Push yourself the amount that is good for you. 2) ID parts of the body to work34:44 Mike demonstrates some of his exercises35:36 Walking barefoot, and book: "Born to Run"36:05 Tarahumara Indian runners in the book36:28 Graphical commentary: A TV miniseries from Mexico and sentiment on Anglo takeover of the West (more below)37:11 Canceling a workout is important to do once in a while and is actually part of pushing yourself37:30 Levee bike ride graphics start here - Coco happy. I can bike 3-4 hours because standing balance not involved38:43 Tomato harvest and Maremma sheep dogs39:18 The Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area: Davis's and my godsend: It can't be built upon, needed for river overflow40:26 Swainson's Hawks and other raptors and alfalfa. Here, I add two more coping strategies: #4) letting go of less important stuff that in the past was important; #5) engagement: a project, writing a memoir (or doing one on YouTube), volunteering, daily or semi-weekly grandchildren
The above miniseries got me thinking about the following:42:45 Commentary: Anglo colonization of the West was part of a long historical pattern all over the world. Conquest & colonization was done by many ethnicities44:54 However, I separate this colonization, which I rationalize, from our history of enslaving Black people, which I do not rationalize. This is in Chapter 0.45:22 While 1/16th of my ancestors were enslavers, another16th were Vermont abolitionists: such is ancestry45:45 Trevor Noah clips: we can learn from Germans how they've dealt with their past, educating their youth46:39 I end California Boomer as I started: with my California culture. We lead the nation in addressing historical injustices and "inclusion" of the ostracized47:22 Jesus's ethic of inclusiveness is embraced by California culture non-religiously, unacknowledged48:29 A final anecdote & "It's a wrap" for California Boomer
The above miniseries got me thinking about the following:42:45 Commentary: Anglo colonization of the West was part of a long historical pattern all over the world. Conquest & colonization was done by many ethnicities44:54 However, I separate this colonization, which I rationalize, from our history of enslaving Black people, which I do not rationalize. This is in Chapter 0.45:22 While 1/16th of my ancestors were enslavers, another16th were Vermont abolitionists: such is ancestry45:45 Trevor Noah clips: we can learn from Germans how they've dealt with their past, educating their youth46:39 I end California Boomer as I started: with my California culture. We lead the nation in addressing historical injustices and "inclusion" of the ostracized47:22 Jesus's ethic of inclusiveness is embraced by California culture non-religiously, unacknowledged48:29 A final anecdote & "It's a wrap" for California Boomer
Appendix 1 video: Odds, Ends and Outtakes A dozen or two short pieces, three of which are below. Links to the different pieces are below.
The incredible story of the making of the mRNA vaccine in 18 months: my candidate as the pinnacle of American culture and ethos. Every important aspect of American culture seems to be in this story: immigrant (and broke) post-doctoral scientists, years of failure on a vaccine for HIV, transcendence of class and race divisions, how the vaccine works, how science works, hustle (more on that via my Dad).
I contrast this accomplishment with the work of Noam Chomsky "Requiem for the American Dream", and his exposure of the inequality and injustice in America. I call it the Alpha and the Omega: two disparate aspects of one thing.
The courageous Kurdish women who fought ISIS to a standstill in northern Syria. They are a model for what the Afghani women can do against the Taliban.
The anti-vax movement is responsible for at least 100,000 American deaths of people who bought into the anti-vax propaganda during the time that the vaccine was available to all Americans and the lethal, lung-infecting Delta variant was infecting and killing people.
00:00 The New Afterlife: Ecology01:15 The Alpha and The Omega of America:The amazing mRNA vaccine story :The Alpha of our culture02:01 The Omega: Chomsky's Requiem for the American Dream04:25 230,000 preventable COVID deaths of unvaccinated Americans: a study shows06:09 Our responsibility to Ukraine07:02 A hidden gem of a movie07:31 The best book on Native Americans09:16 A book every Muslim girl should read09:56 Murray Bookchin and the Kurdish movement
12:34 Millennials, we got a problem...13:29 Getting your Yaha's out: an exercise from Jerry Rubin13:41 Freight trains!15:30 I gripe at Android voice-to-text: someone should be sacked there17:49 Slim Pickens rides the atom bomb. From Dr. Strangelove18:49 On "Hustle": a great American trait23:37 Research on herbal medicines needs federal funding25:07 The sleep onset twilight zone "sweet spot" and creativity25:30 The greatest time to be alive: Katt Williams25:46 Coco my dog picks things up for me26:03 Death ain't such a big deal... a clip
Appendix 2 video: The Making of a YouTube Video Memoir: California Boomer
00:00 Intro: Camtasia for video production, Audiate for voice editing00:10 PowerPoint for graphics editing, Google Photos for 10.000+ pics 01:00 I use the phone voice recorder to create.WAV files01:23 Save the .WAV files to my Google Drive01:33 Then download them to a Windows File Manager folder01:50 I can then drag the WAV file into Camtasia or import to Audiate02:03 Using Audiate to edit audio narrative 02:40 Audiate deletes "ums" "uhs" and shortens silences03:03 I can delete words and sentences03:27 I insert recorded speech into mid-narrative in Audiate03:39 The Audiate file then integrates the audio file into Camtasia04:03 Uploading the video to YouTube from Camtasia
04:22 In Camtasia: How to create hyperlinked sub-chapters for YouTube (those blue numbers to the left)04:40 How to create markers in Camtasia - these become hyperlinked sub-chapters05:09 Each marker has to be at least 10 seconds apart on Camtasia timeline05:23 Exporting finished video from Camtasia to YouTube 05:46 Export process: renders, uploads, and gets checked by YouTube06:09 After some time refresh the browser to see if YouTube check is done06:32 After check, the video goes live on YouTube06:47 You can copy the sub-chapters from the Comments section, or edit them06:59 Camtasia markers limited to 40 text characters, YouTube to about 10007:14 In YouTube Studio lengthen sub-chapter descriptions
07:50 Upload a thumbnail graphic to YouTube08:04 Fill in info on the video for YouTube08:15 Set the Comment Moderation filter09:15 Here I show the sub-chapter links on my web page Each sub-chapter link goes to that part of the Youtube video and plays it09:41 My web page builder - Google Sites10:52 Bulk feed scanner is criticalGoogle Photos for my 10,000+ pics11:38 PowerPoint: my graphics editor12:10 Windows Snipping Tool: Indispensable13:06 Snip the graphic from PowerPoint, save as JPG, and drag to Camtasia13:29 Arrange it on the Camtasia timeline and put note
Pest Control Advisor exam flashcards MS Word file (I have many requests for this from my 2009 YouTube video)