Friday Red Mr. Peanut Bank and Gallito Mescalito Blogging

Red Mr. Peanut Bank Hello everybody! We've been doing a bit of visiting this week.
Gallito Mescalito ¡Shriek!
Miss Egyptian Hippo of Love That's right, Gallito Mescalito! Ever since we arrived in the U.S.A., Padre has been dragging us around to meet folks.


Red Mr. Peanut Bank This week we met two people AND a new character has been added to our Troupe!


Gallito Mescalito ¡Shriek!


Miss Egyptian Hippo of Love Here we are at the Holy Land restaurant meeting that Ever-popular Commenter on Anglican/Episcopal blogs, Susan S., also known as Susie Sue!
Gallito Mescalito ¡Shriek!
Red Mr. Peanut Bank A wonderful meal was enjoyed by the humans at our table, and then. . .


Miss Egyptian Hippo of Love. . . we met The Hedgehog!
Gallito Mescalito ¿Shriek? ¡¡Shriek!!
Red Mr. Peanut Bank Well, we don't know her name. Padre wanted to name her Spiny Norman, but he wants to call EVERY hedgehog Spiny Norman.


Gallito Mescalito¡¡Shrieky-shriek!!
Nameless, at the moment, hedgehog What? I don't understand you.


Miss Egyptian Hippo of Love Right again, Gallito; we should ask the hedgehog what her name is. What is your name, sweet hedgehog?


Nameless until this moment, hedgehog My name is. . . Ima!


Miss Egyptian Hippo of Love Ima Hedgehog? HA! Great name!
Ima Hedgehog What's your name, big red thing?
Red Mr. Peanut Bank Well, I'm Red Mr. Peanut Bank, of course, and this is Miss Egyptian Hippo of Love, and that's. . .


Red Mr. Peanut Bank . . . the World Famous Gallito Mescalito!
Gallito Mescalito ¡Shriek!
Ima Hedgehog I don't understand him. Are you sure he's World Famous?


Miss Egyptian Hippo of Love Of course he is! Look at this mola behind us; he's so famous he's on there twice!!
Ima Hedgehog Well, okay. So, I'm very happy to meet you all.
Red Mr. Peanut Bank And we're all happy to meet you and welcome you to our Friday Night Gang.


Red Mr. Peanut Bank Next we went to the Church Divinity School of the Pacific and met Another Famous Episcopal Blogger. . .


Everyone in one voice Kirstin! Look how happy she is!
Kirstin I am very happy to meet you all. You're all so cute!


voice off-camera Hey, Kirstin! Who are your strange little friends?
Kirstin It's the Boyz and the Hippo!
voice off-camera You've got toys on the table!!
Kirstin Why don't you go eat some pie? There's some really good apple pie over there.


Kirstin Sheesh! Some people! So, it's nice to meet you all, but Follies is about to start. Maybe you guys should get back in Padre's bag.
Miss Egyptian Hippo of Love Well, it's wonderful to meet you, too, Kirstin. Break a leg in your skit tonight!
Red Mr. Peanut Bank Yes, Kirstin, it was great to meet you and you have a great evening. Who knows who well meet next?


Narrator, appearing suddenly, yet off-camera nonetheless Yes, who knows who the Gang will meet next week? Will more New Characters be added to the Troupe? Be sure to check in next Friday, Same Dance Party Blog, but probably not the Same Dance Party Time!
Gallito Mescalito ¡Shriek!

Follies At C.D.S.P.

Last night the Lovely Mona and I attended Community Night at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific. We attended the Eucharist in All Saints Chapel (we called it the Church of the Inaccurate Construction when I attended) and saw some friends from the Old Days. After church we had dinner in the Refectory with the famous Kirstin and a member of last year's Panama Project, Vivian Lam. Revda Jan Wood joined us.

After dinner Follies began. I have always been a big Follies fan and did quite a bit of writing for the program Way Back When. It is a great way for seminarians to blow off steam without resorting to waterboarding or other torture tactics, unlike Rush Limbaugh's favorite Fraternity. They roasted honored The Great Louis Weil with a funny bit about pop-music. TGLW is retiring and will be missed. This leaves only a couple of faculty from the age of the dinosaurs the days when I was a seminarian at CDSP. Follies is always full of in-jokes and some skits are too long, but over-all it was a fun night. And now, I'm off for lunch with Matty Boy!

Some photos.

Offertory at last night's Eucharist


Kirsten meets The Gang


A kiss for Red Mr. Peanut Bank


Miss Thang! the Co-MC for Follies


Some guy with a guitar


The Thurible Drill Team (In my day Barrie Bates and Bill Dogget would have demanded that we use hot coals and incense!)









The Great Louis Weil receives the adoration of the crowd


A Skit About Cell-phones in Chapel (featuring the Fabulous Vivian Lam on the right)



People dancing about


Ice Cream Cake Dance Thang

Friday Random Top Ten Twelve

Ya pushes "shuffle" and ya takes yer chances. . .

1. The Modern World The Jam
2. My Wave Soundgarden
3. Up In The Sky The Social Club
4. Yeh Dil Deewana (From Pardes) Sonu Nigam, Hema Sardesai, Shankar Mahadevan
5. Boy With A Problem Elvis Costello and the Attractions
6. Particle Man They Might Be Giants
7. Do Right Woman, Do Right Man Willie Nelson
8. Lost In The Supermarket The Clash
9. The Crimes of Paris Elvis Costello and the Attractions
10. Quia Ergo Femina Mortem Instruxit (Hildegard von Bingen) Sequentia
11. John I Love You Sinead O'Connor
12. Stab Your Back The Damned

We're doing a Friday Random Top Twelve today to make up for the Fridays which were list-less (I mean "with out lists," not "languid or indifferent"). Off to a great start with the Jam and Soundgarden and Social Club. The Social Club were part of the Great San José Thang we did back in the 1980's. Too bad you can't hear this song onnacounna it's really good! That is not my favorite song from Pardes, but it'll do. I didn't even know I had any Willie Nelson on the iTunes and was shocked with that song came up; I blame Eric Jackson. And, like all Right Thinking Persons™, I prefer Aretha's version. Thank God the Damned appeared to redeem this list!

Waddaya listening to? Please post your lists in the Comments.

Capitalism vs. Communism

This is still the most honest portrayal

Nicked from Grandmère Mimi a while back

Muchas Flores

Yesterday the Lovely Mona and I had lunch with Susan S. at the Holy Land restaurant in Berkeley. The ladies had the falafel while I had the lamb and turkey schwarma sammich. It was all very good, as was our visit with Susan S. She had requested a mola picturing a gallito, and we delivered it. Here's a photo of Susie Sue with her mola.


We saw many pretty flowers during our pilgrimage to and from The Holy Land, and, since we had the camera with us, we took lotsa photos.

Una paragua de flores





Look at those pretty trees!


The pretty trees close-up












California poppy




Roses growing up a pine tree

Today the Lovely Mona is with Miss Bebé and her mom, Tara, while I continue my reading. I gots lotsa books to read for my project.

Re-connected!

I apologize for the lack of posts lately. We've kinda had internet access, but not with our own computer, and it's kinda difficult to do the kind of blogging for which I am guilty known on someone else's machine.

Yesterday at church Susan S. reminded me of the importance of keeping things current and how unfair it is to keep my "fans" (her term) hanging. Soooo, today, on my way to the Lovely GTU Library (where Padre will be spending lotsa time!), I stopped by theM.A.C. store on Shattuck and purchased a MAXPower Wireless USB thang (of course, the REAL Max Power is something else) so we is connecticated now! YAY! I also found Many Books for my Very Important super secret and mysterious Research n' stuff.

Ya know, in Panama, where a new President has been elected, we're on Eastern Standard Time all year around, and I must admit that I am having some difficulty adjusting to Pacific Daylight Savings Time, onnacounna it seems as if the day is half over by the time we get going here in Oakland. But I shall survive!

The Lovely Mona spends much of her time getting to know Miss Bebé, The World's Most Beautiful Granchile™. Here is a photo she took on Thursday.


So,let's see if we can get things back on schedule at this ding-dang Dance Party!

Happy International Worker's Day Labour Day!

Almighty God, you have so linked our lives one with another that all we do affects, for good or ill, all other lives: So guide us in the work we do, that we may do it not for self alone, but for the common good; and, as we seek a proper return for our own labor, make us mindful of the rightful aspirations of other workers, and arouse our concern for those who are out of work; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.



Almighty God, whose Son Jesus Christ in his earthly life shared our toil and hallowed our labor: Be present with your people where they work; make those who carry on the industries
and commerce of this land responsive to your will; and give to us all a pride in what we do, and a just return for our labor; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.



Almighty God our heavenly Father, you declare your glory and show forth your handiwork in the heavens and in the earth: Deliver us in our various occupations from the service of self alone, that we may do the work you give us to do in truth and beauty and for the common good; for the sake of him who came among us as one who serves, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.




In the early 1980's, the only job I could find as a Purchasing Agent was with a Defense Contractor, the notorious United Technologies Corporation, Chemical Systems Division. We made rocket engines. I used to buy all the electronics for the IUS, or Inertial Upper-stage, a rocket which propelled satellites into orbit after they left the cargo hold of the Space Shuttle. I didn't fit in very well, but I struggled on. My dear friend Matty Boy, who was working as a game designer for Activision, loved to call me every May 1 and say "Happy International Worker's Day, Comrade! Here's hoping your office is heavily festooned with flowers!!" and then he'd hang-up. Now I live in Panamá, where 1 de Mayo actually IS Labour Day. This year I'm in California, where they think this is some kinda Spring Festival or something; must be sumkina English Influence.



The Lovely Mona has requested that I be very clear that SHE IS NOT A COMMUNIST, unlike her commie-bastid husband.

May God bless all the workers around the world, those employed and those un-employed and those under employed. Many workers are losing their jobs due to the Great Republican Depression, and we pray for those who are unemployed throughout the world. And remember, everyone, the Workers hold the means of production!

Here's hoping your office is heavily festooned with flowers!