# 504 - 30th March, 2016

    Greetings one and all. Are you are sitting comfortably? Then I shall begin… Let’s start this week with the latest words of wisdom from our Three-Dot regular, The Old Buzzard, in his insightful series – ‘Signs that the Apocalypse is Approaching’… Buzzard reports, “Twitter celebrated its 10th Birthday last week and I read that Donald  Trump is one of it’s more popular users, with 7 million people regularly following his tweets. Perhaps those folks who do this out of admiration for his many disparaging and often hurtful remarks could reasonably be referred to as twits? Or something far worse?… His latest controversial tweet in the ongoing schoolboy-like interchanges with rival Ted Cruz saw Trump turn his vitriol towards Cruz’ wife, threatening, “Be careful Lyin’ Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife”… Classy guy, eh?… Cruz is hardly any better of course… I’m thinking they are in some ways this country’s modern-day Mussolini and Franco, Italy’s and Spain’s fascist dictators. (Hitler was surely a little more evil than them both). Although Donald and Ted’s fascistic tendencies are not in the same league as those two European leaders, the danger with Trump in particular is the same as that with Mussolini and basically every charismatic fascist leader: by targeting some of the basic human sensibilities of many among the electorate, they get people behind their cause, and they'll use that backing to surge in popularity that may eventually land them in office. There’s little or no substance, it’s very basic, but it so often works, and is a sign that the Apocalypse is approaching as much as anything is…”

    Onward… Public Service Announcements (P.S.A.’s)… Calendars and pens at the ready… #475 - On behalf of the A.V. Health Center, Board Chairperson Ric Bonner and Board Secretary Heidi Knott are inviting the public to a Strategic Planning Discussion, tomorrow, Thursday, March 31st - “The Board of the AV Health Center is now embarking on creating a strategic plan for the next 3 - 5 years. We invite the community to attend a preliminary discussion as we begin to develop new goals for the Health Center. Help us to understand how we can better serve you and our community. We have hired a professional facilitator to guide the plan's progress and assist us in drawing up a comprehensive roadmap by early summer. We invite all AVHC stakeholders - clients, patients and residents - to a meeting at the A.V. Grange. The doors will open at 6:30 p.m. and the meeting will begin at 7pm.  We hope you will take advantage of this opportunity to meet the board and AVHC staff and let us know how we can increase and improve services to the Valley. Come, bring your friends and participate in this public forum.  We would love to hear from you”… #476 - The Barn Sale is back! They return to their regular schedule - on the first weekend of each month. That’s this coming Saturday and Sunday, April 2/3 from 9am-3pm at The Big Barn next to the St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church Refectory on A.V. Way just north of Boonville … #477 - Live music at Lauren’s in Boonville this coming Saturday night, April 2, sees the band Reverb featuring Yorkville’s Kevin Owens, just out of hospital and recovering from knee surgery. But you don’t play guitar with your knees so while his energetic dance moves may be slightly impaired, he has no excuses for not putting on his usual excellent show, which starts at 9pm. Cover is $5-$10 sliding scale… #478 - The Vets from the Mendocino Animal Hospital have no more visits this month but they will be in the Valley twice in April. As always they will be at the Anderson Valley Farm Supply on Highway 128, north of Philo, on both April 14 and 28… #479 - The Mendocino Bookmobile returns to the Valley on Tuesday, April 6. They are here on alternate Tuesdays for 45 minutes at each of these places and times: Navarro Store 9am (for just 30 minutes before heading out to Comptche); the Floodgate 12.30pm; Philo 1.30pm; Boonville (Apple Hall) 2.30pm. Phone 463-4694 for further details… #480 - The A.V Museum is open every Saturday and Sunday, from 1pm-4pm. Situated in The Little Red Schoolhouse next to the Elementary School on A.V. Way, this is a perfect thing to do in the Valley when you have a couple of hours spare on a weekend afternoon. It is not without reason that it is generally regarded as ‘The Best Little Museum in the West’…   

    As a bonus P.S.A. here is the menu for the Community lunches over the next week in the Senior Center at the Veterans’ Building in Boonville. The Center asks for a $6 donation from seniors and charges $7 for Non-seniors… Tomorrow, Thursday, March 31, the lunch, served by Marti Titus and her crew at Noon, will be Beef Stroganoff with Pecan Bars for dessert for dessert… Then, next Tuesday, April 5, the lunch will feature, as it always does on the first Tuesday of every month, the very popular Meat Loaf, Mashed potatoes and gravy, with Birthday Cupcakes for dessert. All meals include vegetables, salad bar, and fruit, plus milk, coffee, tea, and lemonade. What a deal - it maybe the best $7 you’ll spend all week! Tai Chi is now available every Tuesday from 10-11am, while on Thursdays at the same time it is the water color painting class, leading into yoga at 11am… Hopefully you will be able to attend some of these events and certainly the lunches and dinners, and remember – ALL ages are welcome! Hope to see you there… 

    Moving quickly on to a few of the topics and Valley events under discussion this week at The Three-Dot Lounge – yes it’s “Moans, Groans, Good Thoughts, and Rampant (yet surprisingly reliable) Rumors” from my favorite gathering place in the Valley, a somewhat secret location that sees people get together and share their thoughts about life in Anderson Valley and often far beyond…
… More Trump… Many regulars at The Three-Dot were bemused this week when Donald Trump announced his team of potential foreign policy advisors. What an odd bunch. The men (and they're all men) who have Mr Trump's ear on foreign policy matters are a motley collection that includes an energy industry executive, a ex-adviser to Ben Carson only seven years removed from college, a retired general, an academic with ties to Lebanese Christian militants, and a former defense department official who later worked for a military contractor. The list of five men includes no heavyweights from any of the main schools of foreign policy thought… According to Ben Chang, a National Security Council veteran of both the Bush and Obama administrations, the list amounts to nothing more than a confusing “hodgepodge". Chang went on, “You can tell a person by the friends they keep, and you can tell a potential President's foreign policy by the advisers he or she gathers. I’m not sure what to make of it. It doesn't seem to be a cohesive group, by geography or issue. What is lacking is some semblance of a comprehensive worldview”… I have to presume, given the evidence so far, that we shall see many more such instances of Trump’s obvious lack of presidential prowess in the upcoming months…
… As the school closes for a week, it’s always a pleasure to see some of our local schoolteachers enjoying an end-of-quarter drink or two at The Buckhorn as they were last Friday afternoon. Some odd-ball and narrow-minded folks may think this inappropriate but they would be wrong. I would much prefer it if my children were taught by a socially-comfortable person who can enjoy a beer or a glass of wine with co-workers to celebrate Spring Break, like a ‘normal’ person, rather than by someone who disapproves of such behavior or who frowns upon those that do…
… Talking of folks who ‘do the right thing’, I attended the Easter Breakfast at the Fairgrounds last Sunday presented, as always, by the continually generous A.V. Lions. This year the event benefited the Senior Center whose hard-working Board were on hand to serve the delicious ham, pancakes, and eggs prepared by the Lions’ cooks. Seeing two of my favorite and most effective Valley Boards and groups of volunteers woking in harmony to feed me and many others was a joy to behold. It was a lovely event, but with the Easter egg hunt too exciting to cope with, I departed before the mayhem could commence, by which time my heart, soul, and stomach had all been filled - yer gotta like that…

        I’m outta here - I have to see a man about a sheep… Besides, that’s enough for now, so “please take me drunk, I’m home,” and until we talk again – ‘Keep the Faith’; be careful out there; if you break a leg don’t come running to me; stay out of the ditches; think good thoughts; be wary of strangers with more dogs than teeth; show love to your pets, they will be faithful and true to you to the last beat of their hearts; please remember to keep your windows cracked whenever you have them in your vehicle; and may your god go with you… Oh, and of course, one final request, “Let us prey”… Sometimes poking, often stroking, but almost always humbly yours, Turkey Vulture - saddened but ultimately comforted in the knowledge that the old hare has safely moved to his new burrow in the sky…
p.s. You can contact me with words of support/abuse either through the Letters Page or by e-mail at
p.p.s. Hi, George – hope you and Sheila are well… Is that ‘lafter’ I hear, Carroll?… Hi, Bobwhite Quail - keep up the knitting!