Roberta
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Post by Roberta on Oct 4, 2011 11:32:38 GMT -8
Our house/pet sitter has commited to bringing the sign bag up to the corner for at least 2 out of the 3 upcoming Fridays while I am gone. Many of you already know Jen Crosby, Michael's daughter, as she has been a sometime regular during her high school years. Her friend Laura often joined her at the corner and may again. On the middle Friday (14th) Jen may have a conflict. On the previous Friday she will check in with attendees, and hand off the bag to someone for the next week if needed. Or Laura may bring it. I am confident it will work out. Jen does not have a car so probably will be walking up to the corner from our house, as I often do. Please don't hesitate to offer a ride home, and I've told Jen not to be shy about asking either. When I return it will be time to think about Halloween ( www.shopmontrose.com/spooktacular.html ), followed soon after by Empty Bowls ( www.cvemptybowls.org/food.html ) and then, peaceniks, clear your calendar for the evening of Saturday, December 3rd, to bring the delightful and gorgeous Peace Train to the Montrose Christmas Parade ( www.montrosechristmasparade.com/ ). I'm smiling just thinking about it all! |
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Oct 6, 2011 23:34:49 GMT -8
 From the War Is Over Mending Circle thread, just before Roberta left the country: If replacing an essential missing item can be termed "mending", Mike did it big time this past Friday and gave us back the U.S. flag for the first time since spring 2008.
His cleverly-engineered PVC pole, built in pieces and assembled there at the corner worked like a charm. I was his installation assistant and his system was so foolproof that even I could do it. Louisa did the honors to help take it all down at 7pm.
All without any mar or mark on"their" flag pole, which we persist in believing actually belongs to all. The flag is small because Mike hasn't found a full-size version without metal grommets yet -- every part of his engineering marvel is designed for zero impact on the pole. He couldn't make a contraption that would stretch all the way up, but fewer people would see it on top anyway. Soldiers are still dying every week in Afghanistan and Iraq, so half mast seems appropriate. Here's the story from the Los Angeles Times in May 2008 about shopping park's removal of the American flag during the Montrose Peace Vigil: montrosepeacevigil.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=talk&thread=5&page=1#8Ironically, we will be under the flag for the next three Fridays, but Roberta will be nowhere near one. Oct. 7 marks the tenth anniversary of the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan. Hope to see you on the corner. |
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Roberta
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Post by Roberta on Oct 7, 2011 9:38:16 GMT -8
Oct. 7 marks the tenth anniversary of the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan. Hope to see you on the corner. Great to see this fantastic picture from back home! I will be thinking of you, especially on Fridays. There is a noticable shortage of flag-waving here. Will keep you posted on any peacenik sightings, however didn't UK already bring their troops home from both Iraq and Afghanistan? |
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Oct 7, 2011 23:00:45 GMT -8
Roberta will be proud of the turnout for this vigil -- 15 participants -- which was our average weekly attendance in September, a pretty good month. Friday night on Channels 4 and 5, I saw footage of the Code Pink march downtown by an estimated (but easily counted) 150 protesters. It's weird Montrose Peace Vigil attracted one tenth of that, and that we had 120 on the fifth anniversary of Iraq.
Perhaps the 10th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan brought us a few more people than usual. Also, there's the excitement over the continuing Occupy Wall Street demonstration at City Hall. Julie was back on the corner talking about camping there one night. It's such a gas, she's going again tomorrow.
A wonderful retired couple joined the vigil for awhile, and three teenage boys more briefly. Mike hoisted the auxiliary flagpole with Julie's assistance while accepting Bruce's kudos. And Pastor Paige was back again, always a magnet for congregants who see her, cross the street and stop to talk.
Jen dropped off the signs by 5:30 as Jim unfurled his flag. Since she can't make it next Friday, Jim took responsibility for the sign bag and the paper flowers.
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Roberta
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Post by Roberta on Oct 8, 2011 8:36:12 GMT -8
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Roberta
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Posts: 1,030
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Post by Roberta on Oct 14, 2011 9:21:58 GMT -8
I will be there in spirit again this week and I just ordered a couple of "We are the 99 percent" yard signs online, for home and for the corner. The signs will have percent symbols, unlike this iPad. Today we walked 6 or so miles through scenery which Wordsworth had words to do justice to, but not I, then took a little boat on Windemere back to our current home base in Ambleside. Now off to a pub for dinner. Life is rough.  |
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Oct 14, 2011 23:00:29 GMT -8
We are so tickled to hear from Roberta while she's on vacation! My favorite IP address locater is fairly accurate -- it puts me in Pacoima, not far from Tujunga -- so I've been keeping track of the places through which her Internet connections are being routed, starting with the big city up to her remote location roughly between Manchester and Glasgow: - Oct. 7 - London
- Oct. 8 - Newtownabbey (near Belfast)
- Oct. 13 and 14 - Doncaster (near Leeds)
Anni took a photo of eight of us on the corner for this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil, including Cynthia and Nick, waving to Roberta. She'll post it this weekend. Total attendance was nine, since we had no spontaneous participants. The temperature cooled after a two day heatwave, when it was nearly 100 degrees throughout the Los Angeles Basin. And Mike raised the American flag for the third week in a row. Now, the sign bag report: Jim brought it at 5:30, naturally. Jen was not there. Jeanne took it home because Jim might not arrive on time next Friday, but he'll be able to cover the following week when Roberta returns. |
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Roberta
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Post by Roberta on Oct 15, 2011 0:34:37 GMT -8
And I love reading the vigil reports. I'm sorry Jeanne got stuck holding the bag. If any problem at all getting to the corner next week, drop them off in the interim at my house by the door. Jen was sure that the middle week was her only conflict so discovering them there she'll know to bring them up next Friday at 5:30.
Theoretically we won't have wifi for the rest of the trip, due to an even more remote and primitive village our next stop and then extremely cheap accommodations in London. If I do get online u will be the first to know though.
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anni
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Post by anni on Oct 15, 2011 15:15:53 GMT -8
Theoretically we won't have wifi for the rest of the trip, due to an even more remote and primitive village our next stop and then extremely cheap accommodations in London. If I do get online u will be the first to know though. Oh dear, you might not see this before you're back across the 'pond' but, we want you to know we miss you AND hope you are having a spectacular time!   |
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Post by Jeanne on Oct 16, 2011 21:58:12 GMT -8
And I love reading the vigil reports. I'm sorry Jeanne got stuck holding the bag. The bag stops here. No problem. There were some thought provoking comments Friday night. When just Jim and I were there, a man came up to us and said emphatically, "It's a shame that there are only two of you here!" Without the slightest hint of awareness on his part that he could be a third. And related to that, a woman came across the street from coffee bean to thank us. She teaches Psychology at GCC and sees that as her part in transforming the world from crazy to sane. If I could have signed the first guy up for her class... |
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