Some of my work in art show

There is a student/teacher gallery showing at the Grand Theatre for the Performing Arts in Tracy, CA. They announced that one of my pieces was in the show. Not my best, but hey... I think I am an artist.

Dead at 92

"He invited us to believe in him, and he never let us down. This country has lost an icon and a dear friend, and he will be truly missed," Obama said.

Walter Cronkite was no Rush Limbaugh.

Forty Years

I find it amazing that it has been 40 years since the first men walked on the moon. In my personal lifetime we have gone from propeller driven planes to jets to rockets... Technology accelerates at geometric speed. I wonder what it will be like when I am 106... hmmmm.

Is former Vice President Cheney...

Is former Vice President Cheney a criminal? Is he guilty of war crimes? Do a search on this blog and see what I have suggested all along.

Just helping a lady

News reports are that President Obama and the French President were not checking this young woman out.

O, yeah. I bet she is proud one way or the other.

Tracy Wildlife

We went out to Tracy Wildllife and wanted to teach my four-year-old grandson to fish. He caught two while the rest of us learned something.

Just a thought

Happy Independence Day

Tracy Press: July 1, 2009

We were at a bed and breakfast in Crail, a small fishing village on the east coast of Scotland not far from St. Andrews.
It was July, 2002. In the breakfast room, in addition to us, were a couple Scots, a Brit or two and a pair of Japanese tourists.
A college girl from San Diego came down for the morning meal. On her way to the table she came by, bent down and whispered to us, “Happy Independence Day.”
It was code.
July Fourth does not make me maudlin. I do not tear up seeing the American flag. The day can, however, make us reflect on the benefits of our nationality.
Independence Day is not hotdogs, picnics and fireworks. Those are fine, but far from home I realized that I am an American, and proud of it.
I have been created by the nation in which I live and owe a great deal to it.
Not everyone on earth knows the freedoms in which I have been raised. I did not win those freedoms, but inherited them.
We are free to criticize as well as support our government. We can make choices, comments, and commitments like no other citizens in this world. We can argue about anything. In the end, we are Americans.
We get together every April 15th to bankroll this project called democracy. Chipping in we school our children, protect our elderly, and fund all sorts of services.
Separately we refuse to give our government so much that they can dictate what doctor we shall see or what television shows we will watch.
We hold some truths to be self-evident: a free church, free press and freedom of speech are a great check against tyranny. They are also not a guarantee that we will always be right or stay away from huge mistakes.
You must have the freedom to be wrong in order to allow for the possibilities of being right.
Being in Crail was not like being with the enemy. We are friends now after that brawl called the Revolution. We almost speak the same language.
Still, while I respect others and do not think they are wrong, I’m an American. It does not make me better, just different.
The phrase “Happy Independence Day” means just that.

Mike McLellan can be contacted by calling and leaving a message at 830-4201 or emailing him at DrMikeM@sbcglobal.net.

Michael Jackson

As so many others are commenting on this I suppose I do not have to weigh in, but I will anyway. Michael Jackson's huge talent somehow was not enough for him. There is in his life the sad theme of someone whose internal yardstick was so great that he never could measure up. He did not like the way he looked. He seemed to have a fear of growing old(er). He sought happiness as if it was an end in itself rather than the product of the adventure of life. He rests now. One hopes that it is in peace.

Madoff

Bernard Madoff says that he was just trying to raise morale and help his victims in a time of economic trial.
This is like Hannibal working to help over-population of Europe.