# 119 - July 16th, 2008

Greetings one and all and hopefully you’re feeling a little more comfortable than last week. The extreme heat wave has passed for now; the fires are gradually being extinguished – “until the last ember is out” according to the tireless and brave firefighters of both our local crews and those from many points beyond; and the smoke seems to be slowly dissipating, although it seems to be a case of two steps forward and one step back as the weather and wind patterns dictate this…
Quote of the week - appropriately…”What dreadful hot weather we’ve had! It keeps me in a constant state of inelegance” – Author Jane Austen…I know how she felt! …
Despite feeling like that, I still rather stupidly waited until last Thursday, when the heat wave was virtually over with, before heading to the Coast for a cool-down. It was slightly foggy and there was even a chill in the air and I was glad to have a sweatshirt on...As I flew into the town of Mendocino, I spotted one of my cousins, Teddy Vicious the Turkey Vulture, sitting at the top of a power-line pole overlooking the bay. He had his vast wings spread wide as he basked in the dull morning sun that was barely breaking through the thin layer of fog. He looked quite threatening as he observed everything and everyone in his domain – he is a nasty looking piece of work, I must say. You may have seen this ‘wing-spreading’ phenomenon before and I should point out that we Vultures are not showing off our balancing skills or how “big” we are when we do this. He was basking in the sun because a little sunbathing, with wings spread out wide, is what we Vultures do to increase our body temperatures following a cool night or early morning – which it certainly was…And that, folks, before you even realized it, is your snippet of ‘Jive Turkey’ for this week…I just thought you should know…
I bumped into Steve Sparks and Jamal Essayeh in town last week. These are the two Co-Directors of the Anderson Valley Film Festival and they had just finished the first of many meetings they will no doubt have over the upcoming months in preparation for the 3rd Annual A.V.F.F. They informed me that this next year the Festival will take place at The Grange in The Valley on January 22nd – 25th (Thursday – Sunday), 2009, and hoped that once again perhaps 20% of the films on view will have some connection to The Valley, in one way or another. With this in mind, they asked me to mention in my column that anyone who might know of such films, either the filmmakers themselves or their family/friends, should contact Steve at avff@earthlink.net or call 707-357-1726 to talk about submitting these films for the Festival line-up…I asked about my favorite film form last year – the locally made “Pig Hunt”. Well, they do hope to show it, possibly as it’s U.S. premiere, and yer gotta like that!
Talking of culture in The Valley, last weekend saw the Boonville ‘Art Walk’, wherein local artists display their creative works in a variety of downtown venues. However, as I’ve said many times, “I know art but I don’t know what I like”. So what’s the point of me going you may wonder? Precisely…However, I do know beer, bar-b-que, and music so I zoomed down to the Navarro Store where the sounds of Sweet Spot could be heard under the giant redwoods - I’m very glad I did. The band, led by Dave Gould and featuring the slick guitar sounds of Yorkville’s Kevin Owens amongst other experienced and talented musicians, played an assortment of rock classics and more recent hits whilst in the background, to complement the music, Pablo worked his magic on the grill, and the staff inside the Store catered to the liquid refreshment needs of the assembled masses. Storeowner Dave Evans continues to do a remarkable job down in The Deep End and he has created a wonderful space to listen to and enjoy music. There was a lively crowd of about seventy people from all walks of Valley life that had gathered to see this latest in a series of Saturday afternoon/evening musical extravaganzas, which will include the Johnnie Winter show coming in September…
As the beer flowed, the dancing “frenzy” in front of the stage increased, and I was particularly taken by the sight of the portly Navarro Tommy dancing in his inimitable hand flapping style accompanied by six sprightly, casually but smartly dressed “soccer Mums” from Marin, who were in the Valley visiting with Cappy Reed at her part-time home on Gschwend Road. – Tommy and the Tiburon Girls have a future in this business, I thought… This, together with a Deep End couple who never left the dance floor all night as they alternated a whirling dervish style of dance with some lusty moves reminiscent of two heavily perspiring actors in a soft porn film, made for wonderful entertainment. Add in the excellent music and food and I had clearly made the best decision on how to spend my particular Saturday…Besides, I’m sure the world of art can do without my confused opinions, for a while longer anyway…
As I was leaving the event I bumped into Eva Holcomb who was there with husband Bill and friends. She spoke of the days when Navarro/Wendling had enjoyed dance nights such as this all year round, when it was the main town in The Valley as a result of it being the hub of the logging industry. As the child, Eva Pardini, she had lived there before the Second World War, from the age of 4 to 12, and remembers well her grandparents’ hotel - The Pardini - being the “place where everyone went on a Saturday night”, her grandmother making her special ravioli from the old country for anyone to enjoy. This was just one of four hotels in “Iteville” or “Dago Town” (as it was so nicknamed for obvious reasons), not to mention the numerous restaurants, the dance hall, a movie house, the jail, and a busy brothel! Can we look forward to return to those good old days, I wonder? You can probably guess what my vote would be…
Well, as you ponder that enticing thought, I’ll take my leave…Be careful out there, try to stay out of the ditches, remember to keep the windows cracked if you have pets in your vehicle, think good thoughts, and may your god go with you…Oh, and of course, one final request, “Let us prey”…Humbly yours, Turkey Vulture…p.s. We’ll have a Valley Quiz, possibly a Whine and a Wine of the Week, and an assortment from the other usual ‘favorites’ next week – bet you can’t wait! (?)…
You can contact me with words of support/abuse by e-mail at
turkeyvulture1 @ earthlink.net