An Occasional Series on Bumper Stickers and Other Signs

Tired of Winning Yet?

Here's a quick summary of some of the American military problems revealed by the war with Iran. Even though the fancy hardware has worked well, for now, we might not have the staying power required for successful asymmetric war. The longer we fight, the less likely we'll "win" (whatever that means when Donald Trump changes the goalposts every day):

The United States for many years has exhibited a deep-rooted bias toward quality over quantity. The same tendency, to a lesser extent, was on display at the beginning of World War II, when the Navy preferred to build large fleet destroyers instead of the vessels it needed to defeat German submarines. As a result, even Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King, the wartime chief of naval operations, concluded that “the Navy did not obtain adequate means to deal with the U-boat until late in 1943.” The solution lay in shifting production to smaller destroyer escorts, the ancestors of contemporary frigates—smaller, slower, cheaper, and quicker to build. More than 500 were built for the Navy alone during that war. In the current case, the Navy now has so few vessels that the loss of even one ultra-valuable major warship would be a humiliation; the loss of several, a catastrophe. But history suggests that in naval wars, ships sink.

My Latest Jigsaw Puzzle

This mid-century America themed puzzle had 750 pieces. The previous two puzzles I assembled had 1,000-pieces. So, this puzzle was much easier to do than the previous two, taking just two days, rather than two weeks for the first puzzle and a week for the second. And because this puzzle was easier to assemble I didn't refer to the picture for direction nearly so much. So, it was not quite "commando-style," as Walt put it, referring to the picture not at all, but heading in that direction.

Jesus Christ Superstar - Music Circus - March 21, 2026

Gabe took me to see this. Excellent show. I thought the ensemble needed to be a bit bigger; in particular, I think they needed more singers on "Superstar," but I appreciate that the stage is not infinite in size.

 

Butch Ware's Campaign Post

I make a brief appearance here in Butch Ware’s (Green Party) California gubernatorial campaign post:

 

@fabfloresfox Butch Ware with the People Dr. Butch Ware came out to join the ICE protest at Sunrise and Greenback and Arden and Howe, Saturday, March 21, 2026 @Butch Ware #greenwave2026 #butchware4gov ♬ original sound - Sayra

TSA and Project 2025

Trump’s treatment of the TSA mirrors its treatment of the National Weather Service. Break the government service first, then promote kickback-paying private contractors to take over the service.

 

@erikajordanmft Share your thoughts.. #airport #Psychology #Travel #Airplanes #sociology ♬ original sound - Erika Jordan

“Sirāt”

Fairly late at night out in front of Safeway. A well-dressed middle-aged man was bullying shoppers to give him money to break dance. Shoppers scurried past without making eye contact with him. “Ah,” I thought, “but for the grace of God, that’s me.” 

Still, the god of dance demanded attention. So, I went to see “Sirāt” at the Tower Theater (March 20th). Excellent movie about Spanish ravers on a road trip, plunging deeper and deeper into the Sahara. Apparently the movie is controversial for its superficial treatment of Saharan politics, but that didn’t bother me. I loved its portrayal of rave culture, and the various characters in the film.

 

 

Here's an interesting documentary about the soundscape of the movie.

My Latest 1,000-Piece Jigsaw Accomplishment!

Caucasian Jesus' Technology Will Save Us

@morganlee343 Space-X, NASA, or U.S. Space Command will not return my calls or emails. Time is of the essence. Humanity hangs in the balance. Call or write your elected officials about the CSJ threat to our planet. #caucasianspacejesus #caucasianjesusimpacteventtheory #extinctionlevelevent #warsandrumorsofwar #thesecondcomingofchrist ♬ Suspenseful and tense orchestra(1318015) - SoLaTiDo

Starlet Dance Studio

Albuquerque is always good for thought-provoking signage, but I saw less of that on my recent visit to the city. Still, I present to you the Starlet Dance Studio on North Fourth Street, with strange images painted on the front windows of children dancing, plus various other signs.

Howe at Arden Protest, March 14, 2026

My appearance on Reddit at the continuing protest at Howe at Arden on Saturdays, 12-2 p.m. My collection of signs is getting large.

The Coincidence of General McCasland's Disappearance

(John alerted me to this.)

I'm wondering about a coincidence that occurred during my recent trip to Albuquerque, where I gave a talk entitled "Looking at 'Breaking Bad' and 'Better Call Saul' from a Jungian Perspective" at the 47th annual conference of the Southwest Popular/American Culture Association (SWPACA) at the Marriott Hotel on Louisiana Blvd. The session lasted from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on February 27th. I spoke primarily from noon to 1:00 p.m., in part, about the role of Carl Jung's understanding of coincidences and synchronicities in these television shows. 

Several miles away, at his home just east of Tramway Blvd. in Albuquerque, between 11:10 a.m. and 12:04 p.m., retired Air Force Maj. Gen. William Neil McCasland, an expert on astronautics and UFOs, took his hiking boots, his wallet, and a .38 caliber revolver (but not his glasses or phone), and completely vanished. McCasland is now the subject of a manhunt. The New York Post hints at darker doings.

McCasland vanished as we spoke in our session. 

There is no obvious connection between McCasland and myself, but there are some affinities:

• He's 68 years old; I'm 69;
• I was a "Stay-in-School" student working at the Air Force Weapons Laboratory (AFWL) at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque from 1977-1980.  McCasland was materiel wing director of the Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate, and commander of the AFWL successor organization, the Phillips Research Site, from 2001-2004, at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque.
• McCasland has recently done consulting work on UFOs.  Indeed, few people in the country are as conversant on the subject.  Meanwhile, on this trip, I hunted down several filming locations for 1976's "The Man Who Fell To Earth," (TMWFTE) starring David Bowie, who played an alien visitor to Earth named Thomas Jerome Newton.
• On this trip, I visited a prime TMWFTE filming location, Fenton Lake in the Jemez Mountains.  Seventy-seven miles north is Archuleta Mesa, near Dulce, NM, famed as a likely UFO base.

I hope they find McCasland in good health soon. I hope he didn't fly off to the Hale-Bopp Comet with Heaven's Gate.  I think we'd have things in common and have lots to talk about.

Peacock Jigsaw Puzzle

For Christmas 2024, Rachel got me this 1,000-piece Peacock jigsaw puzzle. Very difficult. Maybe the most-difficult jigsaw puzzle I ever attempted. But, in the end, very pretty!

Flight From Sacramento to Las Vegas - February 24, 2026

Natomas neighborhood and Interstate 80, foreground.  Background, West Sacramento and the Sacramento River.  The American River comes in from the left.

Just above center, downtown Sacramento.

American River, Capitol City freeway, Del Paso.

Goethe Park, between Rancho Cordova and Carmichael.

Mather Field.

Some mysterious place in the Sierras.

Amargosa Valley, Nevada.

Pahrump Valley, California.

Pahrump Valley, California.

Cement plants just southwest of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Edge of the Las Vegas metropolitan area.

Looking at “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul” from a Jungian Perspective

Here is the talk I gave at the just-concluded 47th annual conference of the Southwest/Popular American Culture Association (SWPACA) in Albuquerque. 

There is some evidence that Gilliverse showrunners are trying to communicate directly with the unconscious minds of viewers, in order to engineer emotional reactions from the viewers. Examples focus on Skyler White and Chuck McGill, at work.

 

Brought Along The Passport - And Why, Exactly?

I brought along extra ID (my passport) on my recent trip to ABQ, because you have to do that these days:

 

The Las Vegas Strip as Seen From a Climbing Airliner - March 1, 2026

There’s always a stop on the way back from Albuquerque to Sacramento, and often it’s Las Vegas. Nighttime takeoffs to the northeast are the best, but takeoffs to the west are pretty good. Views of the Strip at night are the best!

 

Loaded Downtown View

There are pleasing coincidences in Albuquerque. 

Here is “The South Western Brewery & Ice Company Building” (Home of Glorieta Beer, since 1899). 

Scattered about are neon signs to be included in the future “Neon Park” museum. 

And the adjacent low warehouse? That was “Mesa Paper Products,” the headquarters of a criminal mastermind (played by Eddie Albert) in 1974’s “The Take,” starring Billy Dee Williams (shortly before Star Wars). They featured the best car chases! 

More on “Neon Park”:

Left behind from another era & dating back almost 90 years, many of the signs were iconic Mother Road/Route 66 neon business markers, drawing folks into the motels, diners or retail shops from the 1930’s onward. Judging by the battered conditions of some of them, many of the signs will now see better days…

A Visit To Fenton Lake - February 26, 2026

Yesterday (Feb. 26th) was fun, traveling around the Jemez Mountains of NM with my sister Michelle. We walked completely around Fenton Lake with her new dog Gemma (filming location for “The Man Who Fell To Earth,” 1976) and drove through the Gilman Tunnels (popular filming location for numerous shows, including “Pluribus,” Season 1). It was my first time at both places, long overdue, and made possible by ridiculous February warmth.

I really like this fan trailer for TMWFTE. Captures the movie well:

 

SWPACA Session Announcement

Hello Albuquerque folks! You are all invited to the Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul session at this year’s Southwest Popular/American Cultural Association meeting. It will be a thoughtful good time for all! 

There are three talks this year, starting late morning on Friday, February 27th. I will be talking about several things, including what appears to be efforts by the showrunners to communicate directly with and influence the unconscious minds of viewers. 

More information: 

Location: Marriot Albuquerque, 2101 Louisiana Blvd NE. 

No charge. 

Fri, 02/27/2026 - 11:30 am - 1:00 pm 9Session 3036: Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul 1: The Worlds of Vince Gilligan 

Room: Santa Fe 

Three talks: 

“Breaking Bad,” Feminism, and the Men's Rights Movement, Anna Gretz, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 

The Most Dangerous Karen: "Pluribus" and White Female Rage, Patricia Zane Biebelle, Southeast New Mexico College 

Looking at “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul” from a Jungian Perspective, Marc Valdez, Independent Scholar 

Come for a Vince-Gilligan good time!

[UPDATE: Biebelle was not able to attend, so it was just the two of the rest of us.  There was plenty of time to talk about other matters.  The crowd seemed larger than last year, and the questions were better.]

Investigating Filming Locations - A Day To Move - February 25, 2026

Today (Wednesday, February 25th), I tried to discover more information about a difficult-to-access Albuquerque filming location, a high-end townhouse (Oliver Farnsworth’s New York City apartment, from “The Man Who Fell To Earth,” starring David Bowie, 1976). I found my target location, but I was distracted by the activity two doors down. Movers were removing furniture from that townhouse. I asked them if I could meet the owners. 

The owners were a 93-year-old woman and her daughter on one of the most significant days of their lives. It was time to sell the place and move the elder into a nursing home. 

The elder was lucid and well-spoken: an Albuquerque native; bright, well-traveled. She reminisced about times gone by. But time had taken its toll and it was time to leave. 

One day I’ll learn more about my target location. Today, it was enough to learn about this place.

Travel To Albuquerque For The SWPACA Conference

Time for breakfast in the ABQ (at Loyola's, of course!).

Howe at Arden Protest - Sacramento, CA - February 21, 2026

Catching up on adding content. Here is the Howe at Arden anti-ICE protest on February 21st. Different music on different corners.

 

"The Salacious Sins Of Sister Cuthberta"

Sisters Cuthberta (Rachel Rycerz) and Andalucia (Kristarae Flores).

Big Idea Theater in Sacramento has been presenting a variety of one act plays.  On Valentine's Day I went to see "Now Are You Afraid of Me?," a drama about dealing with legacy of an Alaskan murderer, and "The Salacious Sins Of Sister Cuthberta," a touching story about two nuns and a cat in 16th Century France.

"The Salacious Sins Of Sister Cuthberta" was a strange experience for me.  I had repeatedly run lines with Rachel, and so I was very familiar with the dialogue, particularly Sister Andalucia's lines.  Still, I had been delivering the lines "flat."  In the show, the lines were energized with emotion, so it was a completely different experience altogether!

Excellent show!

RIP, Jesse Jackson

Farewell Jesse Jackson, who mounted presidential runs based on his experience in the Civil Rights movement. 

 I recall seeing Jackson once. His presidential campaign came to the University of Arizona in Tucson in April, 1984. I waited outside Centennial Hall with the crowd. We expected his motorcade shortly. There was a nervous energy in the crowd I didn't like. This looked a setup for an assassination. 

Twenty feet away, at the front of the crowd, a photographer with a fancy camera took pictures. Suddenly, the motorcade began arriving. The photographer calmly set his camera onto the pavement, turned left, and slugged the man standing next to him. Boom! Unexpected chaos in the front line! 

 Jackson's limousine pulled up at that instant, the door opened, and he stepped out. Guards blithely ushered him into the auditorium. Apparently unexpected chaos is quite expected in those circles. In seconds, the tense moment was over. We entered the hall and watched Jackson give his speech.

Arguing With A MAGA Chud

Because arguments on the Internet these days seem too bloodless and intellectual, I present to you this guy (starting at 1:08, from the weekly protest at Howe and Arden Blvds. in Sacramento, CA, on Valentine's Day, February 14, 2026).

 

My "Von Dutch" Karaoke Project

I've been trying to learn this Charli XCX song, maybe for karaoke some day. I need a bit more, panache maybe....

 

Back at The Montessori School Again

Smiling cap.

It's been about three months since I've been at the Montessori school.  I got sick around November 8th, and the cough lingered.  Then there were the holidays, and anti-ICE activities.  So, when I finally returned, enough time had passed that I had forgotten the names of many of the students.  Time to recommit the names to memory!

In the last two weeks I've assisted in a lower-elementary class.  Nice kids.  I spent time checking in-class work, asking some to rewrite backward fives and threes.  I listened to them sound out words, and trip over the many English words where that method doesn't work very well: words like "who."

One boy in the class seemed unusually boisterous while walking in the line heading to lunch.  He liked my smiling cap, so he quickly grabbed it, and held it for a keep-away game.  Another slightly-less boisterous student pretended to help me retrieve the cap but actually wanted the cap for himself. So, we had a lot of fun with the cap.

At lunch, the boisterous boy kept lunging at me to garb the cap.  The other assistants seemed troubled by what first appeared to be an assault on an adult.  It was OK, though.  It's just how we roll.  I swear, I'm just as much an instigator of trouble as the kids sometimes.

I amused the kids by gobbling like a turkey, which I do, in part, by shaking my jowls.  The kids try to imitate me, but can't, because they aren't old enough to have jowls.

So noisy at lunch!  A group of boys were collecting banana peels and grinding them in the floor between the lunch tables and next to the wall, to create a micro-environment where it was impossible to walk without slipping onto the floor.  I collected the peels and foiled the project.

At lunch, I analyzed the play structure, trying to forecast the motives and moves of about 25 kids, to interject to foil rough play and help them avoid injuries.  It's hard, though.  For example there's one kid blocking the narrow entry to the slide.  He had a friend helping him.  Then there's another kid determined to break through the blockade and go down the slide.  He has confederates too. Then there are kids glued onto the slide itself and trying to peel each other off of it.  Not surprisingly, several kids ended up with banged knees.

Then I was diverted by another kid.  This kid is unusually focused and wants to play only in a Star-Wars-like fashion - light sabers, clone technology, force fields, lasers, and all the other assorted weaponry, etc. Because of the strict Star-Wars focus, however, this kid often has trouble finding playmates and seems lonely.  So I play.  I have to remember that even though the kid is to all appearances a girl, he identifies as male.  Easy to make faux pas.

Back in class, the boisterous boy wanted to show me his favorite classroom activity.  He jammed a pencil tip into an eraser, then broke off the tip.  He did the same with a number of pencils, collecting the lead from all the pencil tips.  I found this activity irritating, since someone will have to sharpen the pencils again.  "What is the point?" I asked.  "To gather the pencil leads and grind them into a powder!" the kid replied.  "But then what?" I answered.  No good answer here.  Some people may be incorrigible.

Good times!

RIP, Robert Duvall

Rest in Peace, Robert Duvall. So many excellent movies! 

My favorite movie of his was the one for which he won the Best Actor Academy Award in 1984, "Tender Mercies." Best movie ever!

 

Thursday Evening at the Camp for Justice

A week had passed, so Thursday evening it was time to check in once again on the good folks protesting ICE at the Camp for Justice, at the John Moss Federal Building in downtown Sacramento. 

A week ago, Sac PD took the tipi that had been erected at the John Moss Building. A tent (that some called a yurt) was quickly erected in its place. Then sometime in the last week, the yurt too was removed, leaving open space for a variety of memorials. 

Evenings at the Camp for Justice are a real demonstration of community. People have been bringing food to share. There is fine conversation and occasional bits of music. Very peaceful, when ICE is quiet.

   

Music of the spheres, on Thursday evening, February 12, 2026.

 

The tipi at the John Moss Building on the evening of February 3, 2026, The Sac PD took the tipi on Thursday morning, February 5, 2026.

The yurt, the replacement for the tipi, on February 5, 2026. The yurt didn't last very long.

Stay cute.

Chalk drawings!

RIP, Nancy Shappell

RIP, Nancy Shappell, Bruce Warren's sister, who spent many years in North Dakota as a USDA scientist, but passed away in Virginia. Obituary.

The Testament of Ann Lee

Almost forgot to mention, I saw this film (around January 17, 2026). Kind of a peculiarity of a movie; dark and textured. Still, I'm reminded of my history professor from UNM days, Ferenc Szasz, who was a specialist on Protestant sects in 19th-Century America. This movie was meant for him! 

An interesting thing is that the credits list mostly Hungarians. Some of the scenes were filmed in Scandinavia (Sweden, I think). I didn't realize American religious sects were of such interest to Europeans!

   

The music and choreography are quite remarkable!