I'm Tired of Sequels, Are YOU?

TOY STORY 4: Newer but not necessarily better.

     The other day I went to see TOY STORY 4. I had enjoyed the first three TOY STORIES and was eager to see what more they could add to a wonderful trilogy. I had been warned though by my friend in China that it wasn't all that good and that his 10 year old nephew didn't like it partly because the translation on the screen moved too fast and he had no idea who all the toys we were so familiar with had come from. I found it very derivative and thought if they hadn't seen the first three it really didn't make much sense. 

Can any Aladdin compete with Robin Williams?

     This isn't the first time I noticed that Disney was capitalizing on hits from the past. One of my all time favorites from Pixar was ALADDIN. I went to see the live action version and while many of the songs and characters were there, it felt contrived. What you can do with a cartoon and CGI is very different in feel and execution. You expect a cartoon to be, well, beyond reality. It is often unsettling to see what appears to be live action react the same way. The magical charm is somehow taken away.

Can anyone real beat
Super‐cali‐fragil‐istic‐expi‐ali‐docious but
Andrews?Julie

   I finally got around to seeing the "new" MARY POPPINS and was very unhappy with it. There wasn't even one hummable song and it was shamelessly derivative of the original in just about every scene. The original may have been 55 years old but it has stood the test of time. This one will fade into oblivion.

     I thought that maybe I was alone in this until I read a commentary in TIME Magazine who pretty much came up with the same conclusion. I guess more of the cartoons will be made into live action, actions taken to milk to the last dollar amount of a prized property. I guess they think that if your kids or grandkids have never seen it, it's new to them. Pity the poor parent or grandparent who has seen the remarkable version with a milked down current version.

Same cast, more boring plot
because,well, times HAD changed

As I pondered this I began to consider how this same thing was happening on TV. "Magnum P.I.," Hawaii 5-0", "Murphy Brown" which I never liked before and liked even less 30 years later mercifully gone and "Will & Grace" also recently cut by the network. What was funny 20 years ago is no longer funny when Gay marriage is legal and gay men refer to their husbands and women talk about their wives.

     Again the movie industry talks about declining ticket sales. Have you looked at the weekly features? It's Blah Blah 3, or Remember This 5. Not many years ago they joked about ROCKY 25, HALLOWEEN 30 or SAW 15. I can remember being startled by the first FINAL DESTINATION movie but by FINAL DESTINATION 3 you knew when the next "accident" would occur. That last Avenger movie this year had such horrible ticket sales that it was pulled from all theaters in two weeks. Remember ISHTAR?

     Where are the new ideas, the new plots? It's a sad commentary when Amazon Prime or Netflix win more nominations on either TV or the Oscars than the film makers do. My recent bingeing has been on such shows as GRACE & FRANKIE, LONGMIRE, LUCIFER, STRANGER THINGS - all three seasons, TALES OF THE CITY, BLACK MIRROR. They are original and if there is another season as engaging and changing each year.

BLACK MIRROR brings back the terror of "THE
TWILIGHT ZONE" in a new 21st Century way!

       Now the one thing from the past that I have revisited just for laughs was the old CHEERS about a bar run by Sam Malone a washed up Red Sox relief pitcher. I was surprised at both the writing, how smart it was, even today, and the acting. From the first episode it was funny and as the years went by continued to be smart, sassy and relevant. There are few on "free" TV today. You have to wander to cable for Amazon or Netflix where I've discovered many of their made for shows come from England, often BBC. Are the British funnier than us? I find that hard to believe but their shows are and also far more serious and less predictable.

Suddenly Lucifer is far more sexy
and dangerous all over again

     As I wrote earlier this year, I saw 10 movies during 2019 FilmFest and while some were weird or strange at least they explored new topics. Chinas's DEAD PIGS told about the corruption of a manufacturer who made pig food that started killing the pigs around Shanghai as his sister stood against authorities trying to tear down the family home. A Danish film was downright mesmerizing and deserved better than it received. The audience was so engaged with a kidnapping that when they realized what crime had been committed nearly everyone screamed at the same time, NO! When was the last time you were in a theatre where that happened? It surely wasn't  STAR WARS 21! That we got to see and talk to the cop profiled in BLACKKLANSMAN, suddenly, white supremacy felt all to very real.

     When I was a journalism major in college my director / teacher told us you only needed three books to be successful to be a good writer; one of them being the Bible. Every story of mankind is in there he told us. And while there have been some blockbusters that came from there in the past, brought forward to modern times, maybe it's time to do a little mining there again. After all, critics say STAR WARS is nothing but a cowboy western on a planetary scale and cowboy tales come from our past and probably the past of every culture from the time of the Bible on.

Kids and adults are terrorized in STRANGER THINGS

     The studios, the directors and especially the screenwriters need to mine their own home and town and country and the world events of today. If there aren't a 100 stories after watching the nightly news each and every day, they aren't trying hard enough. I am reading Srinivashan's AMERICANA:  A 400 Year History of American Capitalism that tells the history of America through economics in a way I have never seen it before. If any book has plots and subplots of American history that needs to be told, at last I might add, this is it. 

     There are many stories out there that need to be told again and again for "those that forget history are bound to relive it." As we have seen in the movie theaters the past few years, producers, directors, screenwriters and actors think we have forgotten; we haven't. If you are going to do it again at least do it better "OR" leave it well enough alone.

Thank you for reading my blog. I invite you to take the time to read earlier blogs where my emphasis is to explore the ways art and design affects our daily lives ... and always has. I share with you what inspires me with the hope that it will inspire you as well. Comments are always welcomed! 

Be sure to check my ETSY store ... KrugsStudio.etsy.com. I am adding many new and exciting, collectible birdhouses and craft items. Many of the items talked about here will be for sale there!

The POWER of Words

Amazon vs. Consumers Reports Ratings

    

     I don't know about you but I am always comparing products. Years ago the only valid "tester" of things we purchased was either word-of-mouth or CONSUMER REPORTS. If you were a camera nut, or auto fiend there were magazines that, and still today, give you their impressions of various models made both here and abroad. As with all things however, you had to trust the reviewer.

     However, after a series of items, purchased on Consumer's recommendations, went south big time, I refused to continue my subscriptions anymore. Instead I would ask friends about items they bought or learned my lesson from bad purchases.

     When Amazon came along and started their star system, 1 - 5 stars, that became a convenient place to check out any items you wanted to buy. Rather than read the 5 star reviews, I hunted down the 1 and 2 star reviews reading the complaints then deciding if I could live with the faults or not. After the review scandal where it was revealed people were paid to write good reviews, I again backed off. However, I was back soon figuring the lowest scores had valid truth and they were not paid for that review.

     This week, in light of the Amazon made up PRIME holiday this July 15 - 16, I checked out a lot of things that I didn't need and did succumb to a few. I was also reading a copy of Consumer Reports and since I had had lousy luck with vacuums of any sort I was in the market yet again. Up to this point I've had the best luck with a $25 O'Cedar Robot that manages to collect at least most of my Labrador's hair. She is an unmitigated fur ball that has me vacuuming once or twice a day. And that's after brushing enough hair off her to fill a pillow! The stick cordless vacuum gets clogged all the time. I spend more time finding the clog than vacuuming.

     Consumer's had a review or a variety of vacuums and one, an electric Dirt Devil got a high rating. They noted that it had a 26 ft. cord that had a retraction feature, a biggie for me, and was good on carpets and collecting dog hair. 

     Yet, when I looked up the same model on Amazon, it only had a 2 star rating and many complaints. I wondered, how could the same model tested in a lab and considered good be rated so poorly on Amazon? Then it dawned on me. Testing a product has a short time frame in which to measure. On Amazon, these aren't testers but users and they often have a much longer time frame when they use an item. It is their experience, the experience in the real world that gives a much better view of products.

     Consumer's car reports have a longer time frame and continuing ratings on cars as they age. But that's all. Other items don't have that luxury of time and while they perform well in the short term, begin to fail as they age. Another-wards, what's good today may not be good tomorrow.

     Amazon is not much better actually. The review process is tedious and ultimately boring. After you purchase something they will send an email asking you to rate the item or the purchase. You open the email and are supposed to click one to five stars. Then the screen changes and you are asked to sign in, give the review a headline and write not too few or too many words about the product. Even though they even identify you as a "verified client or purchaser" you have to prove that yes, you are you and by then, well, I give up. Why are they asking me all these questions? They know I purchased the item. Let me rate it and if necessary comment. While I understand some of the need, my time is valuable too and if I give it 3 stars I don't want to write a "report." It's middle of the road. "Enough" said.

     Its common knowledge that bad news travels 10 times faster than good news. I was taught this  as a Journalism - Marketing major in college. If I get a particularly terrible product you can be sure I'm going to comment. The same can be said for a tremendous product. Most things, however, are okay and don't deserve other than a 1 - 5 star rating. Who wants to spend an hour writing about their experience? I have enough to do maintaining my condo, dealing with the dog, cooking meals for myself, housecleaning, doctors appointment, and oh yes, finding time to be creative, not always succeeding. Amazon needs to streamline the process for the majority of their reviews. They know who I am. They know I am a "verified" purchaser. Will I continue to look at reviews? YES. Do I need to write WAR & PEACE for each and every item I purchase? NO!

     The only way we can really know for sure which gives better or, shall we say, more accurate reviews, is to simply buy the product and see which review is more accurate. The one good thing about buying it on Amazon is that you can, within a certain number of days, return it. That process is thankfully simple though its often a hassle to find a UPS Store of FedEx store nearby or open when you happen to be in the area. The service center for UPS in Palm Springs closes for lunch around 2 to 3, usually when I am out and about.

     As we become a more and more online shopping community, I think we are finding that the old ways of doing business don't work. As other retailers smarten up we are again seeing what was old becoming new again ... service. Real service not the made-up kind we deal with on the phone. However, success will be in the details and the execution. As I have said before, manufacturers will have to be much more attentive to their customers. You might have been able to sell shoddy products in the past, but not anyone, where just about everyone with a cell phone, can make comments that are available to everyone else. These comments can make or break companies, and do. If everyone gives a product 1 star and wishes it could be a -1 star, would you buy it?

Thank you for reading my blog. I invite you to take the time to read earlier blogs where my emphasis is to explore the ways art and design affects our daily lives ... and always has. I share with you what inspires me with the hope that it will inspire you as well. Comments are always welcomed! 

Be sure to check my ETSY store ... KrugsStudio.etsy.com. I am adding many new and exciting, collectible birdhouses and craft items. Many of the items talked about here will be for sale there!

Recreating A Basic Birdhouse

Here was the basic raw birdhouse. I started drawing

the ferns used in the cutouts and put them on the

top, sides and back.

I don't know about you but in crafting I have never, ever, been able to just paint inside the lines. Remember those words of wisdom in grade school? As most artists discover very early in life, its really what's outside those lines that makes all the difference in the world. I guess the mantra of any creative person would be, "Color OUTSIDE the lines, damnit!"

     As I was working on getting the ferns "right" and carrying the design around to all of the sides, I thought about using the interesting pods that drop from a tree in my complex as well. Give it some dimension. 

     Since the seeds in the pods were mostly gone I decided that I would add golden beads in them to add a little color and bling to the entire project. As you will see it gives the birdhouse a more 3D effect and radically changes the look of the entire item.

     Since I thought the ferns should show the sky, the next step was to stain the entire birdhouse with a light blue stain. I figured this needed to be in place before I painted the mimicked ferns that would cover the birdhouse.

Its important to sand every item
as well. As you sketch keep sandpaper
handy to remove those rough spots

     One of the tricks in painting, one that I learned early on when I started oil painting is to consider backgrounds and lay them first and then build your colors from dark to light. It seems counter intuitive but it works. Since I didn't want blue stain over the ferns I did that work first knowing the dark greens would cover the blue.

Adding blue stain

     I can't tell you how tedious this process was. First the sketching of the ferns, then the painting of every surface but the front that already had them cut out of the wood. It's a good thing I like audio books. This was a 13 CD disk book!

     However, its important to get the layout right now because it is very difficult to go back and try to correct. My mistake here was that once the pencil outlines were made and then the stain was added, I could not go back and erase errant lines. You must cover them now with paint.

Here you can see the project about
halfway done. The base has been
painted, the ferns added and several
of the pods are in place.

     Once the fern leaves cover the rest of the birdhouse, I realized that they needed a bit of "lightening." Any plant has lights and darks. To add a bit of color to the solid deep colors I added dots, something like the spores the leaves of all ferns have. This allowed me to add a bit of color, something missing as you can see at the left. It's nice but still rather two dimensional.

Spores are added to the ferns and
natural painted pods with shiny
beds complete the vision of the front

  Here you can see the change the "spore" dots make and how the addition of the painted pods with beads give both depth and interest to the basic birdhouse. What was plain and almost too simple on the roof, both sides and back suddenly has new interest echoing the cutouts that grace the front of this birdhouse. 

Even the roof, which dominates this
birdhouse is given the fern treatment.
The pods and painted ferns break up
a large, blank area giving new
dimensionality!

     

     I am never satisfied with what I buy instead considering it just like a blank canvas that needs or wants additions that make it more interesting. Just as a canvas is a blank slate open to anything the imagination can, well, imagine, I apply that same kind of consideration to a birdhouse or any craft item for that matter that I paint. Its what we do with it that can make all the difference in the world. It is the crafter, the painter that can see the possibilities and creates one of a kind items that are often as original as any work of art. To me, this is MY work of art three dimensionally. 

     Again, I urge you to think outside the box, or color, if you dare, outside the lines. You never know what you might end up with but unless you try you will never know the excitement of creativity that just might make wonderful be fantastic!

The finished birdhouse. You can find it in my Etsy store at:
Krugsstudio.etsy.com

      Thank you for reading my blog. I invite you to take the time to read earlier blogs where my emphasis is to explore the ways art and design affects our daily lives ... and always has. I share with you what inspires me with the hope that it will inspire you as well. Comments are always welcomed! 

     Be sure to check my ETSY store ... KrugsStudio.etsy.com. I am adding many new and exciting, collectible birdhouses and craft items. Many of the items talked about here will be for sale there!

Why Seniors Or Anyone Else Don't Count Anymore

In a trip to China last year by friend came back from paying our dinner bill and said, after being gone a very long time, "I don't know how seniors can pay for things anymore. I just spent all this time trying to pay and I 'thought' I knew what I was doing."

     I just got off the phone with Capital One trying to redeem milage points for a ticket I purchased on the 4th of July while the earth was rolling under me (here in Southern California) again speaking to Capital One. They said that the points towards my ticket payment would be available in 48 hours. Dutifully I called them 48 hours later, today, and was told that it wouldn't be posted until midnight tonight, another 12+ hours; so closer to 72 hours. If I called at 12:01 am I can battle their robot again and get credit for my ticket.

    To be fair, she said that I could go online and do it there, again after 12:01, but from my last experience that was an invitation to again play Sisyphus rolling rocks up hills and them rolling back down. You know the drill. After 15 screens you give up, what they wanted in the first place.

      You have to wonder what companies are considering when it comes to customer service. The mantra of "Your call is so important to us. We are experiencing higher than normal call volume but you are important." There are two options, 1. leave a number that they will never call back or 2. stay on the line where your wait time is at least 45 minutes. I feel that each one designs the experience to benefit them and remove themselves as far away from giving any service while eagerly taking your money. It doesn't matter anymore what you do either. There is a kind of "stonewall" separating you from speaking to any living person. How many web sites have you searched for a phone number to actually talk to someone? I'll bet plenty.

     Apple isn't bad and they usually return calls in a matter of minutes and actually try to help you when things go south. It is a rare experience today though. That's probably why I tend to stay with the same services, providers and companies that provide good "enough" service. Believe it or not, my time is worth money too!

     However, that may change. I was reading about all the changes Apple is making to their computer operating system and how the iPhone and iPad and possibly the Watch will all have their own operating systems. One of the reasons I bought the very first iPhone, but have become increasingly disenchanted with them, is that what was once elegant and simple for even a senior to use has become cumbersome and awkward. Functions come and go, designs have come and gone. The current phones resemble the feeling and fit of the very first phone. Design is important as Ive's and others have learned. Pretty isn't always functional especially if you hold the phone in your hands a lot each day.

     As I read today about the seriously ugly new Chevy trucks, each face even uglier than the last, the moaning over the new 2019 iPhones with an ugly bulge for its cameras so you should wait anyway for the 2020 5G version, you have to wonder, why? Why create things, operations, promotions that you already know are stinkers? If you have a promotion about "What's in your wallet," make the wallet work for me rather than what's easier for you? 48 hours is maybe reasonable but you know the transaction is recorded instantly, this IS the 21st century, not the 19th. Why make me wait? She could see the transaction but I can't get any help until 12:01 am, Sunday, July 7th.

     I don't know, maybe the next time around I WILL see what's in my wallet and it may not be Capital One!

   

Thank you for reading my blog. I invite you to take the time to read earlier blogs where my emphasis is to explore the ways art and design affects our daily lives ... and always has. I share with you what inspires me with the hope that it will inspire you as well. Comments are always welcomed! 

Be sure to check my ETSY store ... KrugsStudio.etsy.com. I am adding many new and exciting, collectible birdhouses and craft items. Many of the items talked about here will be for sale there!

Designing A Human Living Space

Where did this ALL come from? There was
very little for living here!

I don't know about you but I have to admit being addicted to HGTV. A channel that started I think as a lark, but it's now way to buy and remodel a home that has become an industry in itself. I think however, it resembles a Hallmark romance with an all to predictable script.

     You know the routine, a couple either sees a house they want, already own or find a "deal" they can't resist but hate some of the features. The Property Brothers or any of the others, give them options that they decide to try, there is always some crisis that adds $$$, it finally gets done and everyone is happy, or so we think. I have seen articles about the dark side of this but it does give you ideas whether you like their ideas or not.

     

A few days later

     When I moved to Palm Springs as a single man, I had to take what I could afford. Friends found me a condo rental that allowed both me and my dog to live there. And when I moved there other than boxes of clothes, books and art materials, I had little else.

     Every room was filled with boxes of things, nothing to live with. I had a chair, a bed, a lamp, an antique trunk and not much else. I had made trips out here to get pots, pans, plates, glasses, silverware. Friends had given me a microwave, pot holders, iron, and a few other things that might see me through. However after days of unpacking I had little in the way of furniture and I looked like a single almost derelict  man starting all over again, and I was.

     I wanted more but had to deal with what I had at the present time and it wasn't much.

Putting things away and putting new things together. The TV stand, the dining table and chairs
in the west facing rental condo.

     I started taking the paper and kept my eye out for "deals." It was January and I couldn't afford much. Much of my money was being spent on my divorce so money remained tight. I was a regular visitor at local consignment stores, Goodwill, Angel View and Revivals, stores with donated things for sale. I put my new big screen TV at an angle so that the glare from the windows would be reduced. For a long time everything was grouped and angled for the TV. I bought and hung cheap curtains to keep out the sun from the west facing living room. The afternoon sun was intense come summer.

My new living room mirrored my rental condo and was covered with a vinyl textured wallpaper.
It was not only awful but the glue was so strong taking it off removed the drywall paper.
I glued it back and carefully painted a dove grey over it.

      I soon noticed spring sales and found a great deal on fake wicker patio furniture at Big Lots. For $500 I could get a 3-seat sofa, two club chairs with ottomans and a glass coffee table. I still had my pickup so I loaded that up, dragged it in and started putting it together. It was a deal and for 2 ½ years was the foundation of my living room in both the rental and later in the condo I purchased. They had he same condo layout so I literally duplicated the layout in the move. This furniture served me well.

This was the layout in the rental and in my new condo. When I moved into the condo I purchased I followed the same layout. It was considered temporary until I found something I liked better indoors.

     In September of 2016 I heard that one of the HOA board members was thinking of selling his condo. I talked it over from friends who said it was a deal so I made an offer and it was accepted. It was not an experience I want to go through anytime soon but by the end of October it was mine. I thought I could live with it but once in and looking carefully at everything realized it had to be changed. With only two months before my lease was up, a friend gutted and rebuilt the kitchen, I installed fans in every room, painted every room and my friend from China arrived during the holidays and we got everything out of one condo and in the new condo by December 31st. They had the same layouts, except the new condo had a small but useable dining room that allowed for a wall or more storage and a bar, I put everything in the same location. I cooked Christmas dinner in the new and beautiful kitchen.

    One of the things I noticed was how much a TV dominates our living today. Living room, bedrooms, even, in some cases, kitchens. Yes, I have two TV's and one is in the bedroom but I gradually realized that sofas angled to face a huge TV didn't facilitate conversations. When I finally found a unique sectional, a mid-Century style, I wanted it. Knowing there could be sales I waited and got a discount of 25%. With several friends we picked it up at the store, dragged it in the living room after taking the patio furniture out to the patio and assembled it. What I like about this sectional was that it had back pillows you could move around or remove completely and had a twin bed. It was minimal in design yet looked smart and fit in with the pale grey walls making the room look bigger.

     I added a fake fireplace to a blank wall, a timely addition as we struggled to find why I had no heat last February. As it was I carried a portable heater from room to room. After installing the fireplace we added a mantle complimented by a beautiful poster print of an Ansel Adams photo. I discovered just this simple addition made the room homey. Nothing beats a flickering fire even if its imaginery!

     Still the TV dominated the living room and after finding a chrome and glass sofa table put it in front of the windows behind the sofas. Treasures from my past were placed on them but basically they were hidden.

     After a trip to see my daughter in Memphis where I saw an amazing steel sculpture, I thought that I could create a painting that mirrored the shape in red and did. It was designed to go behind the sectional replacing a collection of paintings I had done. It was to be bold ... lots of red and would dominate the room. By hanging the new painting I realized that the L-shaped sectional had to change. So, pencil and paper in hand I doodled possible new layouts and finally hit upon a square formation with the sofa table exposed in front of the windows, one sofa under the painting along the wall with the other facing it and not the TV. A coffee table set in-between and I found a swivel recliner to close the square. It was the perfect solution to talking to everyone and being able to swivel to watch TV.

     With this new design I realized I had embraced change, change I found that created a wonderful solution for rearranging my living room and being able to showcase things I have bought or created and wanted friends to see.

     This creates an intimate space that is people friendly and yet not too difficult to rearrange for a night at the movies. After all, we need to create spaces for people to connect with each other not the other way around. I have seen too many people on a bus, the subway, restaurants, waiting rooms at airports either bent over their phone or as happened to me in Flagstaff sitting next to a woman on her phone at the bar who never shut up as I tried to eat my meal. She even ignored the man she was with sitting next to her. We may be more connected than ever but rarely with the person in the room with us. 

       Now the TV hasn't moved but the positioning of the furniture has. I can swivel in the recliner to watch TV or turn around to face those in my "conversation pit." It creates intimacy that doesn't require the TV to be the dominant force in the room. Those sitting under the painting have an unobstructed view and those facing can merely reposition the sofa backs to watch as well.

     My condo is only 1043 sq. ft. but for me or two or three it's a perfect size. Easy to clean and during most of the year, has an outside patio to enjoy sunny days three seasons of the year. Summer, well, all bets are off!

     One of the tricks I used in this new setting was getting snow white heat blocking curtains. When the dark walnut colored shutters are closed, its like a cave in the living room. The curtains I felt will reflect lights when they are on and with the curtains closed making the room bright yet keep much of the heat from Lucite windows out. My next project will be to insert double paned windows in the living room to reduce even more the heat that enters the condo. I have friends who did that on the west facing side and the difference is amazing.

     My advice is make your home, well, your home. Most of us can't afford the kinds of renovations we see on TV yet with a little planning, some paint and new arrangements, and yes, some daring, your can create a home that you love and be proud to use. Don't be afraid to mix styles but let that different piece be a single item and stay away from too many styles. I say stick with a simple single look and use a treasured antique for contrast. The same could be said for colors. Here I use grays with lots of red accents. Too many colors resembles, to me at least, a circus. Your home should be your resting place not a night at the carnival.

Thank you for reading my blog. I invite you to take the time to read earlier blogs where my emphasis is to explore the ways art and design affects our daily lives ... and always has. I share with you what inspires me with the hope that it will inspire you as well. Comments are always welcomed! 

Be sure to check my ETSY store ... KrugsStudio.etsy.com. I am adding many new and exciting, collectible birdhouses and craft items. Many of the items talked about here will be for sale there!

The Confessions of a Lost United Methodist

Religion is often called the opiate of the masses. While there have been times when I would agree, I think that at this stage of my life, the final stage, life and experiences have taught me that there is something greater than me, me and others, others and the world. In fact I was designed by something greater than me to be me.

Raised a Lutheran, one of the few things my German father insisted on, I have attended a variety of churches in my lifetime before settling on the Methodist Church, the church my girlfriend and then wife had attended for many years. We were married in 1977 and I loved this small town church of probably at most 300 members. Many of the city council members were attendees and it was a loving and caring church. Few were wealthy but all were giving and after a potluck no senior left without a plateful of food for future meals.

For me, the most important job of the pastor is to inspire me, bring those old, ancient words of the Old and New Testaments to life in our era. I have discovered more than a few times that what is old is new again and its all in the Bible.

In college the director of our Journalism School said the only books a journalist needed for reference and style was the Bible, Shakespeare and the Sears catalog. Why you might ask? The Bible told all the stories of man in succinct verbiage, Shakespeare for style and the Sears catalog? They were able to describe a million items in a few words that left no doubt what you were getting. In fact that might be a good beginning for the digital age as well.

The Methodist Church I was married in and attended
for many years in Monterey Park, CA

My son was baptized a Methodist and provided comic relief in church for years. Talking at 6 months in complete sentences he was a star at “Children’s time” with the pastor before the main service and the kids were sent to Sunday school. We were a combined church with a Japanese congregation whose pastor was as often a target of my son’s observations too. There were more than a few times we would duck below the pews at one of his many observations and the phone would be ringing when we got home with my laughing mother-in-law recounting what she had heard about church that day. Though she wasn’t laughing at an anniversary dinner when in walked about 15 Little People, some who had been in “The Wizard of Oz” and my amazed son stood up on his seat, pointed and in a loud voice said, “Gramma, look, its the munchkins!” Yes, he had just seen The Wizard of Oz and she dived under the table in embarrassment as I grabbed him and rushed outside.

The church went through troubled times and after enough of a divided church we attended other Methodist Churches in our area before moving on. We let the kids decide which church they liked. We decided that we would all attend as a family, something neither of our parents did and would be a part of the Methodist community. We wanted them to learn Christian responsibility and helping and caring for others.

Our children went through all the church programs and even attending a Catholic high school would write the liturgies they could not be a part of and my son, through our church sponsorship, became an Eagle Scout. Church was a big part of our lives and most of our friends were church friends.

When I had an early retirement because of health issues I attended a 6:30 am meeting of men every Tuesday morning where we discussed the Bible, read books about the Bible and became friends. One of the attractions of the Methodist Church for me was Wesleys encouragement to question. There we had many deep discussions about doctrine, the meaning of those old and ancient verses and the sudden realization that they were as real and unrealized today as they were then.

One memorable book was about the parable of the prodigal son. We learned in reading about the young and foolish son who asked for his inheritance early, left and spent it all. He then realized in desperation that he would live better as a servant to his father than where he was now, raising pigs. Instead of being rejected, he is embraced by his father as the son who left but returned. It was the reaction of the elder brother that stunned us. When he utters why are you wasting clothes and food on this son who left when I have stayed and have done all that you asked so that I would inherit this? It struck all of us that we are not the prodigals, we were the elder son, the son who only did his father’s bidding so he’d inherit everything. For me, this proved the observations of the Bible are as valid today as over 5,000 years ago in Israel.

Pastors come and go. Religious ideas also come and go. Fascinated my whole life by religion I realized that all of the world’s great religions have the same basic tenets. However, it was in the practice that even within each faith there were vast differences. 

While we may not want to admit it, Christianity has never had a smooth transition wherever it has landed. The wars of Europe were often religious based. After the Muslims became a faith and swept the Middle East, North Africa and ruled in Spain for 700 years, there was constant warfare between these two faiths. When Luther nailed his 97 Thesis on the church door a 30 year war was fought between the Catholic Church and the new Lutherans, soon called the Protestant Church, over who was the true servant of God.

While battle between Protestant faiths may have died down, we are witnessing the struggles of the Muslim faith between those of tradition and those, who like many Christians, are secular saying government and religion are separate. Our Constitution enshrined this tradition though I might note there are those who don’t realize or even acknowledge this fact. Yet, the struggles within the various Protestant denominations continue in our modern world. It can be boiled down simply to WWJD, what would Jesus do?

The World United Methodist Council just had a vote over the legitimacy of the LGBTQ community and how it would be treated and acknowledged. Methodists have been struggling with this issue for at least 20 years, far too many years considering many other Protestant faiths have settled this issue. First the Episcopalians, then Unitarians, several of the Lutheran Synods, the United Church of Christ, and Presbyterians have settled the issue of what all would agree are God’s creations, but not the Methodist Church. Offering several last minute possibilities to keep the church whole, the world vote was to keep the traditional view of homosexuality, as against God’s teachings. The irony, not lost of the LGBTQ community, is that church doctrine insists that all our welcome and must be accepted into the church’s family. However, no pastor or official can be Gay nor are pastors allowed to bless a Gay wedding.

United Methodist Church - Palm Springs

After I moved to Palm Springs I decided that I was through with the church. I had been a busy, active church member, had even started a monthly poker night with church members, probably not “churchly” but a convivial monthly get together where the guys caught up on each other. However, the unexpected revelation of my sexual orientation left me alone and forced me to start my life all over again, in a new place with new friends and loss of some family members.

The Methodist Church of Palm Springs is a reconciliation church and embraces all regardless of race, faith and for me, sexual orientation. I had missed church, the contemplation of ideas in our modern world that despite it technological innovations remains all too familiar sociologically to the Biblical past. Is there a story on TV or the movies or an article on the Internet that at its core is different from those in the Bible? My professor was right, we all live the same stories over and over again. Like love, being a good (you put in the faith), loving and caring believer takes work, something many are unwilling to do. How easy is it to let someone else do the thinking for us? Give us the answers so we can go on with our lives, blindly without questioning what Jesus said.

I have come to compare many of my recent decisions to Jesus’ parable of the adulterous wife. While there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that she was guilty, Jesus sums up her actions and those of her accusers with a simple question: “He who is without guilt cast the first stone.” Of course no one is guiltless and quietly the crowd disperses. Jesus admonition to the wife to “Go and sin no more” is also cautionary for who can call an act sin? God? Does the fact one woman loves another at the exclusion of loving a man mean they are sinners? A man who loves another man destined to go to hell? 

Every culture has struggled with this fact, Christians the most. Go forth and multiply has seemed throughout history as a justification for fecundity. The other truism is that one of six couples will naturally be childless. Are they sinners too? Is the religious requirement for salvation that we procreate? What happens to childless couples? Or priests? Or nuns?

The turning point for me was a chat with the UMC PS church at Gay Pride in Palm Springs, last November. As I wandered the booths one of the church members offered me a Gay Pride bracelet and asked if I attended church. I stopped, then admitted I was a Methodist but just hadn’t been able to attend since I moved here. He explained about his church, how I was truly welcome and its mission of reconciliation and inclusion. He urged me to attend. Suddenly, each Sunday, I would think as I read the Sunday paper about church and finally decided to attend in December. The pastor was a dynamo and I truly enjoyed her sermons and found that they would stay with me all week. I would discuss them with friends and finally made the decision to change my membership.

In the interim there was a letter and discussion from the Bishop about a meeting in February that would decide the mission and fate of the church over the LGBTQ community. The meeting in Portland, OR last summer nearly saw the church split and the St. Louis meeting would decide that fate for the whole church. When asked what would happen should it fail to be inclusive she explained there was a real possibility the church would split into a “traditional” church and a more liberal church that welcomed Gay members and pastors who would perform marriages. The Western Region, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Hawaii and California were mostly liberal churches and remain together in whatever format was decided. Similar views were held in the NE churches as well.

Being Gay is probably one of the hardest realizations any man or woman can experience. I can’t even imagine the feelings of being transgender but for all, our lives are difficult. Daily we are told through ads, religion, relationships what we are supposed to be knowing what we are instead. The recent revelations of how deep homosexuality ran and runs in Hollywood made me realize why so many of the most popular and famous stars could be Gay. They lived in two different worlds, daily. It wasn’t a stretch to assume to be someone else because they were doing it each and every day of their lives. What is one more personality? They were masters of what many called deceit. For them, it was survival. 

In many countries, even today, to be caught in a same sex act is a death penalty at its worst or at the least years in prison. The question never asked is, did God not create us all? If he created Gay men and women, why? Do Gay people decide one day, “I think I’ll be Gay. I want to be beat, and chastised and discriminated against. Doesn’t that sound fun?”

If, as the most evangelical Christian believes that God created us all, why is it such a leap to believe that he created us all to be part of a larger story? If the world were to realize just how many of the people they revere were Gay, it would be shocking. I recently discovered that Van Steuben, the father of the modern American army who was an immigrant from Prussia and helped Washington win our revolution was Gay. It was known and understood but clearly didn’t stop him or Washington from saving this country. 

My church has let me down. Gay or straight it has taken it’s legacy from a progressive church with programs that have benefitted all to one that has narrowed its focus and abandoned its mantle that hopefully will be reborn from it’s ashes. Rather than a flame and cross, I propose that the Phoenix becomes its new symbol, a flaming cross in its beak.

Thank you for reading my blog. I invite you to take the time to read earlier blogs where my emphasis is to explore the ways art and design affects our daily lives ... and always has. I share with you what inspires me with the hope that it will inspire you as well. Comments are always welcomed! 

Be sure to check my ETSY store ... KrugsStudio.etsy.com. I am adding many new and exciting, collectible birdhouses and craft items. Many of the items talked about here will be for sale there!

The Frustrations of Modern Flying

Leaving sunny Palm Springs and hoping we can land
in stormy Seattle!

I recently flew with my Chinese friend from Palm Springs to Shanghai, China. It was something that I had planned to do alone and then in a surprise to me, he piggybacked on my flight when we went back to China.

You see, I had planned the trip when it became impossible for him to visit at Christmas. Searching for the best time to visit our original April date got moved to March as he was sure that he would have to go on sea trials on one of the gigantic bulk carriers his company was building, that he was the electrical engineer for. In April though the date was still up in the air. Poking around Expedia I got a fare from Palm Springs to Seattle, then on to Shanghai, China for $490.00 ... cheaper in fact than flying to NYC! I discovered that a day could mean the difference of up to $400.00 a ticket and this was just for coach. Telling him about it he said, “Get it!”

Coach is a misnomer don’t you think? Why don’t they just say “cattle car” and give us bales of hay to sit on. They might actually be softer and more comfortable. At least it would give you something to munch on with far more to eat than those tiny packets of “free” whatever that stuff is. I think someone counts the nuts, pretzels, etc. The taste would not be much different.

Anyway, in one of our January morning FaceTime talks he says, “I will see you in a Month.” “No, I replied, its more like six weeks.” “No, he says again, I WILL see you in a month, from today.” His planned trip to Singapore was changed and he instead decided to fly to LAX and return with me to China. He mirrored my flight.

Immediately I called Expedia and asked them to help me put our seats together. After about 90 minutes it appeared that we were successful and I was sent confirmations that our seats on the Alaska flight to Seattle and the Delta flight to Shanghai had us together. Since the Delta flight was about 12 hours who wants to sit apart?

Five days before we left I had a feeling that something was amiss. I got confirmations about my flights from Expedia to stick into my iPhone calendar and that showed the original seats. Worrying about the Delta flight first I gave them a call.

While not easy to find, I was able to find a phone number, left my message and they called me back right away. We went over the confirmation and seating and she told me that I was set. My number had been changed and that my friend and I were seated together. I asked for a written email and it came as we talked. The only missing assignment was the Alaska flight going to Seattle. I thanked her and then called Alaska.

Alaska also was easy to reach and they too confirmed the seats I had changed two months before. Evidently it was recorded by them and they emailed the complete itinerary for me, going and coming with the seats I had reserved months before.

Palm Springs airport is a dream for flyers. Since our flight was number two of the morning, at 6:10 there were few people and we went through check-in at the counter in a few minutes (no pre-boarding, they needed to see our passports) and moved 6 pounds of goods from one suitcase to another. However, if there is any complaint about this or any American airport its that the rules seem to change like the days. What you did once, you don’t do now. They want to see your electronic devices, then they don’t, or they want them in another basket, sometimes turned on and another time off. I got frisked this time but normally don’t as I have done the TSA Pre-Chek for faster check through. Ah well, nothing has been the same since 9/11. We only waited a short time until we boarded.

We left on time for Seattle. Our weather had been cold and dreary. The final days before we left our Palm Springs weather was back and off we flew to the lands where winter was still in full sway. The flight was uneventful and since neither one of us could sleep the night before we both fell asleep before we left the ground.

SeaTac has to be one of the worst airports in the world. We ALL know LAX is in the top 10 for worst airport in the world; how SeaTac escaped is beyond me. If we asked once, we asked several times how to find our gates. Turns out, unless you’re counting steps that day, you need to take a train. Finding it and using it are like LA freeway signs, they merely tell those who know where they are going they are almost there. Someone needs to grab a few out-of-towners, give them places to find and carefully watch what they do. Luckily we had three hours; we used up one getting from Alaska to Delta!

767's were built until January of 2019. Their first flight though was
 in 1981.  Trust me, the electronics showed it. We sat in the midst
of the plane in darkness and no power for 10 hours

I had never flown Delta before and my friend who is literally a world traveler thought it was a good flight. However, after our trip to China he, as well as I, wasn’t so sure any more. First off as we sat at the gate, the signs cheerfully announced that we were on time and that boarding would be soon. When the boarding time came and there was still no plane we asked how could we board when there was no plane? “It’s coming,” we were told. Finally, a full 30 minutes after boarding time was to start it arrived. Then we waited some more as they checked it out. Boarding finally started with about 20 minutes to leave “on time.” It was during this “boarding” time they decided to fuel the plane. That went on after we boarded, the doors were closed and we were all strapped in. Then, I guess because we missed out departure time we sat. Compared to Chinese airports where you sit in the plane an hour waiting to pull away from the gate we were only delayed 30 minutes.

SeaTac is a busy airport as we saw at least 10 lined up ready to take off. We joined the line after a good 20 minutes getting to the runway lineup. Even though we hadn’t taken off yet, we were told we would arrive early even though we left late. Actually we did but not quite as we expected.

It was a full flight, as usual. I didn’t spot one empty seat. We were served a decent meal soon after we left and there was a good selection of music, TV shows and movies to see, some recent Oscar nominees. However, that soon stopped. For some reason the area of our seats lost all power ... the controls “only” accessible via a TV screen embedded in the seat back died and despite complaining and attempted fixes didn’t work the rest of the flight. It makes for a grim 10 hours where you can’t read, there is little to watch other than on your phone or iPad. We were on the sun side of the plane and opening the shade was like placing a spotlight on everything around us. Uneasily we tried to sleep, I listened a little to music on my headphones and attempted to sleep.

Coming home from Shanghai, not only was my seating area affected by buggy software, the entire plane was. We were told multiple times NOT to touch the control panels as they attempted to boot the entire planes audio-electrical system and finally an hour out things more or less settled down.

This was after the two 737 MAX crashes and after each announcement I wondered, if they can't get this right, what about the flight deck  that is also all software controlled. It leaves a hollow in your stomach, trust me. You are over the open ocean for at least 10 hours.

In short, I wasn’t impressed with my flight and if asked would probably rate it a 3 or 4. In short, I got what I paid for.

However, the fun hadn’t stopped. When we landed we were told that we would be going to a new gate. We actually landed 30 minutes early. As we headed to the gates, and drove and drove to where we finally parked on the tarmac after passing at least 10 empty gates. We were told that we would be taken to the terminal by buses (we were on a 767 packed to the gills) and there was a high step so be careful and since it was raining it could be slick. It WAS high and it was slick..AND wet.

Yup, there we were waiting for the bus to take us to the terminal.
It didn't help gazing at at least 10 empty gates.

Trundled off with carryons and backpacks in hand onto the cold wet ramp, trudging down the stairs and hustling over to the bus where we were packed like sardines, it didn’t take too long and we entered the terminal near immigration. In hindsight it was a plus. As inconvenient as it was, we actually were through the entire immigration process faster than it had taken on several previous trips using a gate. Here too the entering procedure had changed and you truly felt like you were living 1984. Pictures and fingerprints were now collected though not much interest was shown in me but citizens of China were carefully screened. 

At last we were free to go and find our driver to take us to our hotel, a short meal and bed! It had been a long long day, about 29 hours long and all I could think of was stretching out!!!

In my lifetime, flying has literally been reduced, unless you pay from 5 to 10 times coach for business or first class, to my first long trip on a Greyhound bus heading from Portland, OR to Stillwater, OK as a college freshman. In fact, that old Greyhound bus had more room and far more comfortable seats. All we have gained is faster travel, most of the time, as planes are subject to the same restraints of weather as buses or trains. Another flight taken soon after I returned from China flying to and from Memphis, TN in fact was worse. They could get me to Houston but I would have to stay the night and leave for home the next day. I called my son-in-law who came to get me and I stayed another night.

As the victim of a thrombotic blood clot from an airline flight, seat spacing is a real concern. It’s time that the FAA and our government step in and decree what is an acceptable space for passengers. There needs to be a law that “NO” government official can fly anything but coach and has to go through the same travails the average citizen goes through for their flights. You can rest assured this would be the only way meaningful changes would be made that would benefit the rest of us. To me, an elected official is just that, chosen to represent us, not to lord over us. 

Thank you for reading my blog. I invite you to take the time to read earlier blogs where my emphasis is to explore the ways art and design affects our daily lives ... and always has. I share with you what inspires me with the hope that it will inspire you as well. Comments are always welcomed! 

Be sure to check my ETSY store ... KrugsStudio.etsy.com. I am adding many new and exciting, collectible birdhouses and craft items. Many of the items talked about here will be for sale there!