Dolly Parton has a little sister
What about Dolly's 11 siblings?
Where are Dolly's remains buried?
Our pilgrimage to "Dollywood"
Showing posts with label california. Show all posts
Showing posts with label california. Show all posts
Friday, September 25, 2026
Wednesday, September 23, 2026
Mid-Autumn Fest, Hsi Lai, Los Angeles
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| Who possesses Buddha-nature? |
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| Like Guanyin, Moon Goddess Chang'e shines. |
The Mid-Autumn Festival, held in the month of September, is a community event that inspires mindfulness and reflection as friends and family gather together.
In keeping with Taiwanese and Chinese cultural tradition, treats such as rice ball desserts and yummy mooncakes are offered to the community.
Often, the youth make paper lanterns to adorn the festivities of the event or perform musical performances for the Buddhist community.
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| I am a lotus ready to bloom here and now. |
Under the West Coast's bright full moon for the Mid-Autumn Festival, we often reflect on our own bright intrinsic Buddha-nature -- an inherent purity and perfection of the heart/mind. Similar to how sometimes the light of the Moon is hidden behind clouds, our own difficulties and hardships can sometimes obscure our intrinsic (and fundamentally good) nature.
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| Buddhist nuns sit under moon with American visitors for tea in courtyard of massive LA temple |
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| Our Buddha-nature will shine through |
"Coming West" (Hsi Lai) Temple welcomes all to share in this reflection while spending time with family and friends and visiting this nunnery and monastic complex during this month. More: Hsi Lai Temple
- Hsi Lai Calendar of Events
- Coming West Temple Programs
- Hsi Lai Vegetarian Food and Toy Drive
- Magical Lantern Festival at Coming West
The Tathāgatagarbha Sūtras use the image of a Buddha (a fully awakened being) inside a lotus flower as a metaphor for the tathāgatagarbha: Sanskrit तथागतगर्भ, buddha-dhātu, sugata-garbha, buddha-garbha (a "womb for a buddha," us realizing our intrisnic Buddha-nature as human beings in this world that seems so far from budhhahood). The term Tathāgata-garbha can mean "the womb" or "embryo"... More
Like a lotus, I can blossom in mud. - Hsi Lai Temple (hsilai.org/en); CC Liu, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Wednesday, September 2, 2026
Punk rock: The story of the Germs
(Sound of History) The Germs: the most explosive punk band
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| The Germs: Bassist Lorna Doom; guitarist Pat Smear; drummer Don Bolles; singer Darby Crash |
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| Darby Crash, April 1980, L.A. |
THE SLAVE: It starts in your head/ And moves to your hands/ Your body starts shakin'/ 'Cause you're in demand/ You do the slave to the beat/ Of the neuro-sutra can-can/ You're lashed 'twixt the stars/ With your ice and motor cars/ You do the slave to the beat/ Of the neuro-sutra can-can/ Oh yea! Yea! Pull out the Zen/ I've got a Buddhist principle in my hand
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| The Sound of One Hand Clapping | Medium |
So long before there was a Nirvana, long before Darby's guitarist and best friend Pat Smear began playing for Nirvana, there was already interest in bringing about "the end of all suffering," which is the literal meaning of the Sanskrit term Nirvana. Female bassist Lorna Doom went off into oblivion or obscurity, but drummer Don Bolles went on to local greatness with Goth punk 45 Grave. Of course, Darby was a troubled teen in Hollywood, California, so he had bigger things to worry about than ending suffering. He had addictions to develop, dysfunctional coping mechanisms, and remembering to use the microphone near his mouth during live performances on his mind.
He was clearly a very talented wordsmith on his way to a fabulous career if everything hadn't come crashing down around him. Drugs and drunkenness. They'll be the ruin of most rockers who think they'll be different and go untouched by the predictable three-stage tragedy of use, abuse, and demise. Good thing Joan Jett recorded and produced them so well before it was too late.
Don Bolles went on to play fastest song in world till then: "Black Cross"
(well, there was the lightning fast "Red Tape" by Circle Jerks, too)
Truth about Rock 'n Roll industry: fake
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| I inspired Nirvana and played with and for Kurt |
Fecal Matter was a punk rock band from Aberdeen, Washington state. FM was formed in 1985 by Kurt Cobain, Nirvana's future frontman, along with Dale Crover of the Melvins and drummer Greg Hokanson. Melvins members Buzz Osborne (also known as "King Buzzo") and Mike Dillard appeared in a later version of the band during rehearsals the following year. The band was short-lived, disbanding in 1986. Songs from the group's sole recording session were issued as the Illiteracy Will Prevail demo tape.
Tuesday, August 25, 2026
General Sherman world's largest tree
- Methuselah a gnarled bristlecone pine from California between the Sierra Madre mountain range and Death Valley desert wasteland
- But a tree named Alerce Milenario (Gran Abuelo, "Great Grandfather") was recently discovered in Chile, South America, that may be centuries older, according to tree experts attempting to date it
- Coastal redwood Hyperion of California (over 370 feet) is the tallest tree in the world, discovered in 2006, next to other very tall trees.
- The largest (not tallest, not widest, but overall biggest, assuming someone has compared it to those massive Tree of Life trees in Africa, the baobab) is General Sherman, who lives in California's Sequoia National Park
- Today is National Park Service Founders Day — August 25, 2026 | National Today (as well as the Prophet Mohammed's birthday, PBUH, National Banana Split Day, and more.
- What is the U.S. National Park Service?
National Park Service Founders Day
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| Thank you for working in this peaceful paradise. |
Saturday, August 22, 2026
Summer ends: Just Like Heaven (8/22)
Just Like Heaven 2026 PLAYLIST
When does summer really begin? It's not an astronomical question, as the people into genes insist gender is as easy to assign as reading x's and y's. It is easy if we make it that easy, but it is not so easy when we do not all agree to that as the objective measure.
New for 2026: Updated clubhouse amenities, enhanced VIP experiences, plus new shade sails, cooling misters, expanded shaded seating, and additional water refill stations throughout the festival grounds, giving concertgoers even more ways to stay cool and recharge between musical sets. For even more convenience, spend the day in VIP for a lot more money. Spend the day dancing in the expansive VIP viewing areas and lounging in shaded spaces between acts, all while enjoying exclusive food and drink options and air-conditioned restrooms.
Buy Now Just Like Heaven | August 22, 2026
"Defund the police" was a deception to provoke public outrage. Congress funds new secret police forces and pays them much more now. If police officers want to scam the system, overseers look the other way. Let's make THE PURGE legal for a little while, and then we can use the predictable mayhem and disorder as a pretext to implement some Orwellian policies for "public safety" and a smiley face police state.
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| Stereotypical Southern California summer |
What is "social summer"?
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| Mandatory: All Americans must visit a beach. |
There's a kind of social summer, which runs between Memorial Day and Labor Day, just an approximation. The seasons do not always cooperate even in parts of the US where four distinct seasons make themselves obvious. There is "Indian summer," which is just a way of saying a long hot spell after official calendrical summer should have ended.
Another example of social summer is the one set by the local school district: When school ends, that's summer. Just ask Alice Cooper! When school begins again, that resumption is the end, even if the weather is still great and drives to the beach are worth the traffic.
"Summer" = School's out!
There did not used to be a "universal time" but rather many different times depending on the place. They were not simultaneous but more dependent on the sun circling (not revolving) overhead chased by the moon. Those were Tartarian (Tartary) times, and that's all been erased now. A universal measure imposes a definition that does not make sense for everybody on the ground.
Another social summer measure is determined by the concert calendar. The end comes to Pasadena, Los Angeles with the Just Like Heaven Festival this Saturday (Aug. 22, 2026).
New weekend, same party
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| (justlikeheavenfest.com) |
Overpaying cops for police state
Will there be enough cops to stop trouble?
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| You will respect my authority...or else. |
Saturday, August 8, 2026
Zazen back home: Berkeley Zen Center
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BASIC ZAZEN INSTRUCTION Founder Sojun Mel Weitsman Roshi (berkeleyzencenter.org)
What were we expecting for a Dharma talk? Something more like (San Francisco Zen Center) "Beginner's Mind" by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, archived Dharma talk, Nov. 11, 1965
WHAT HAPPENED?
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| Why'd I come from the West? |
A group of seven meditators gathered Saturday morning at 8:40 am on Russell St. between MLK Jr. and Adeline at BZC. Zen Joe welcomed us into the Zendo for instruction, which is also online (Zoom). We were oriented on how to hold our hands, where to walk, where not to talk then got instruction on how to sit and hold ourselves erect. We got a short sit, walked out, came right back in for a full session of zazen.
After that, following last week's lay entrustment ceremony, Sue (Ju'en Soetsu), 83, gave a Dharma talk, with precious little Dharma and lots of pablum, ordinary chitchat, very down homey and a whole lot of air.
One was reminded of seeing Thich Nhat Hanh in one of his last visits to the Pasadena Auditorium, possibly his very last, articulating next to no words, just giving darshan, uncomfortably, with 5,000 or so onlookers hanging on his every exhale, singing songs, feeling so very in the moment, smiling, settling...until Thay finally made the point that "a flower is composed out of all non-cloud elements," an instruction meant to show [the impersonal nature of] emptiness (shunyata, anatta) that all we take to be so special about flowers is actually water from clouds, nourishment from mud and atmospheric gases, solar radiation, and so on. All that disparate stuff gives us flowers, just as the Five Aggregates give us living beings, who rarely if ever realize they are ultimately only that. One had to think, unless one had been inducted in the Zen cloud of not expecting anything, "Is that all there is, Cristina?"
Instead here, when Sue made some uber-generic observation, one of the helpers signed at the magnificence of the simplicity of her utterance. When we set up no expectations, it's hard to be disappointed. When we do, watch out. Some men in the audience of 40 tried to ask some deeper questions, Sue brushed them off as if she had been studying how to be a difficult Zen interviewee. "Yes," she answered to a multiple-choice question about the meaning of life. "Will you ever answer my question," the audience member persisted, "Yes."
"Will you do it now?" - "Don't worry about it," was her retort to the gleeful squeals of others in the know. Linda Roshi, the committee-selected BZC abbess of the last two years, gently nodded as if in approval. "What are we here but body, breath, and brain [mind]?" she asked rhetorically then quoted Woody Allen of all people, "Showing up is 80%."
More heads nodded, and all we could think was, "This is a 'Dharma' talk?" Someone was viewing it on Zoom, so maybe it's recorded for anyone to review. We asked Zen Joe afterward, "Was that a normal Dharma talk?" He shrugged his shoulders and answered, "Yeah, pretty typical."
What's shikantaza ("just sitting")?
(Zen Fields) What is Shikantaza 1 (6 minutes)
Maybe all she said was a big "Zen" lesson?
"Some say that to speak of the meaning of the coming from the West is already wrong."
"People these days all make unconcern an understanding. Some say, 'There is no delusion or enlightenment: it's not necessary to go on seeking. Even before the Buddha appeared in the world, before Bodhidharma ever came to this country, it could not have been otherwise. What's the use of the Buddha appearing in the world? What did the Patriarch still come from the West for?"
All such views -- what relevance do they have? You must have greatly penetrated and greatly awakened: then as before, mountains are mountains, rivers are rivers, in fact all the myriad things are perfectly manifest. Then for the first time you can be an unconcerned person." - Roshi Reddit
We think that if we were to ask Sue what she meant, she would rightly say to us, "Don't worry about it."
Zazen (sitting meditation) instruction
In-person Zazen instruction and beginner orientation
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| Why did Bodhidharma come? |
BZC shares how we meditate and also some details about how to move around in the zendo (meditation hall) and join services (bowing and chanting).
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| Zen Master Bodhidharma | Quizlet |
Online instruction is no longer offered live. Please check out the link to Sojun Roshi’s instruction. Or explore the Teachers Page to make an appointment for a one-on-one zazen instruction.
More about zazen instruction
A 45-minute video meditation instruction from BZC's late Founder Sojun Weitsman Roshi:
Sojun’s Roshi’s Sept. 2020 Zazen Instruction
- Abbot Hozan Alan Senauke 2020 essay: My Zazen
- Sojun Roshi: Dead or Alive? | Berkeley Zen Center
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| Hakuryu Sojun Roshi (Mel Weitsman) |
Wednesday, August 5, 2026
Olivia's Daisy Chain Fields Fest (8/29)
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| Olivia's Daisy Chain Fields Festival |
Drop Dead? Bigger than Nazi Barbie Taylor Swift-Kelce? Olivia, what's a daisy chain? Miss Rodrigo, is sex what you meant? What is this, the rebirth of the Lilith Fair? Sarah McLachlan, Stevie Nicks (Fleetwood Mac), Shirley Manson's Garbage, Chappell Roan (Chapel Rowing?), punkers Bikini Kill, The Breeders, Die Spitz, and a little band we like to call Katseye until they get too famous to take our calls once they're on the road opening for Black Pink and BTS. Doechii, Eli, Quiet Light, Santigold, Rachel Chinouriri. What, no Linda Lindas? Oh, and a special appearance by up-and-coming world superstar and Taylor Swift nemesis Olive Rodricklow (aka our favorite female popstar Olivia Rodrigo).
Making of a popstar (by design)
What is it and why?
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| I'm bigger than that b*tch Taylor now! |
Background
Pop superstar Rodrigo appeared in Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery (2025), a documentary about the women-led music festival Lilith Fair, which she cited as an inspiration to her music career.
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| I'm Number 1, b*tch! You'll see. |
In an interview with Shaad D'Souza for Pitchfork e-magazine, Rodrigo said that the festival was inspired by Lilith Fair.
She went on to share, "I just feel like we need something really positive to do and see, and young girls need awesome role models who are supporting other women and who are engaging in something that's really joyful and musical and community-oriented."
Will Oli Rod become a Blur?
Tickets
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| Spend it for Olivia, girls. She needs it for girls. |
The festival's sponsors are Depop, Etsy, Taco Bell, and Verizon. Rodrigo co-designed a merch collection for the festival [to milk more money out of the event] with ten female entrepreneurs; the collection is available for online purchase exclusively through Etsy and will also be available on festival grounds. [So bring money]. More
Monday, July 27, 2026
Surf's up! Triple threat: wavy, hot, humid
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| Fat Happy Zen monk Budai can surf |
Southland facing a triple threat of heat, humidity, and high surf
Temperatures topping 100 inland raise fire risk
Rong-Gong Lin II (July 21, 2026, Los Angeles); Eds., Wisdom Quarterly
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| Super Girl Surf Fest 2026 |
"We're looking at an at least several days -- if not longer -- heat event, which can really be concerning," said meteorologist Robbie Munroe of the National Weather Service's Oxnard office. Hollywood may catch fire on the Sunset Strip from all the tourists dripping sunblock.
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| Prepare: World Surf League 2026 |
Officials warned of elevated fire danger across large swaths of SoCal starting Tuesday, with a high risk of fast-moving and "plume dominated" fires driven by heat and instability. Such blazes have large vertical growth and can spread rapidly even when not driven by the wind. More: latimes.com
- This SoCal heat wave could be hottest of the year: 5 things to know | union-bulletin.com
- Super Girl Surf Festival, women's competition, LA, 2026
- If only California could combine surfing with soccer
Woo Way: The Tao of Surfing
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| It all started with my coach...then 10,000 hours later I was riding the face of Poseidon |
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| With no "self," there are only conditions. |
Why do waves go so well with Buddhist practice? There's something about "sex, sand, and suffering" -- which one meets with while reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy safely on the beach. But it has much more to do with wu wei, wushu, and applying Taoist principles to Zen practice.
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| Ancient surfboard from 1600s found in Hawaii |
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| In surfing as in life, prepare for the gnarly. |
People do sometimes try to express it in words, but it all becomes a jumble of oohs and ahhs like surf slang or Himalayan shoestring spiritual seekers on ayahuasca down in the jungles of the Amazon with shamans Michael Harner.
As a graduate student in the 1950s, Michael Harner undertook field research on the culture of the Jívaro (Shuar) Natives of the Amazon in Ecuador [5] as he began to pursue a career as an ethnologist. His UC Berkeley doctoral dissertation (1963) became the basis for his book, The Jívaro: People of the Sacred Waterfalls [6]. In 1960-1961 he reported that he became a participant-observer by experimenting with the powerful plant medicine ayahuasca with the Conibo of the Peruvian Amazon [5]. He wrote about in the articles "The Sound of Rushing Water" (1968)[7] and "The Role of Hallucinogenic Plants in European Witchcraft" (1973)[8]. Dr. Harner, Ph.D. returned to the Native Jívaro in 1964, 1969, and 1973, at which time he learned the use of the psychoactive entheogen maikua (Datura brugmansia, jimsonweed) [5]. MoreNatives knew plant medicines
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| Dr. Michael Harner: shamans know their plants |
What is surfing?
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| I'dunno, Bro, looks pretty gnarly. Let's just tan. |
- Where to Surf in Los Angeles | Discover Los Angeles
Surf Spots - California Beaches: The Wedge? That's Newport Beach. LA's Palos Verdes Peninsula isn’t known for its surfing outside of local circles, and there is a sad reason for that. It’s called “localism.” The area has a severe case of the disease. Located between Los Angeles and Long Beach, and possessing some excellent breaks, one would think this place would be much better known. Locals know all about surf spots like Palos Verdes Cove (near the crumbling peninsula called Palos Verdes Estates), Lunada Bay, Haggertys at Malaga Cove, among others.Woman applies a lot of sex wax before surfing - Best Surfing in California (South Counties) | Billabong
- Best surfing spots in California: 12 waves to surf | Red Bull
- Southern California surf spots: Which one is best? | Los Angeles Times
- California’s Best Surfing Waves | Visit California
- Discover the Top 10 Surfing Beaches in Southern California | Pacific Surf
- Online Newspaper & Magazine Publications Catalog | PressReader
What's going on in the SoCal water?
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| Giant LA all drains into Santa Monica Bay |
- Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Jennifer B., Seth Auberon, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
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