ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST

We moved our house to Redwood City, which is part of Silicon Valley. If you want a tech company, you can stand in one spot and throw a rock and hit about 142 of them. Our house was about a mile from the HQ of Meta, formerly known as Facebook and owner of about every digital platform we use. We drove down to Cupertino and stopped into the Visitor’s Center/Store for the HQ of Apple, which is the originator and maker of most of the smart phones in the whole wide world. The visitor’s center is like a museum, sales center, and all things Apple. The visitor’s center is across the street from Apple offices. The offices were built in the shape of a circle on the cheap for only 5 billion dollars. The offices are protected by fences, gates, security cameras, and who knows what else. No one gets through the gate and into the building unless you are an employee - I suspect employees go through a serious background check before getting hired. Honesty compels me to tell you that the place is really impressive and astounding. To think how these two companies have changed the world is pretty incredible. I guess history will judge whether it is for good or ill.

Back to our place in Redwood City, I was taken by the elegance of the old courthouse in Redwood City. Redwood City has a new courthouse and the city fathers and mothers converted the old courthouse to the History Center. What an impressive building (see below).

We drove into San Jose to see what we could find. More tech companies. San Jose has a beautiful downtown. We also drove through the campus of Stanford. Lot’s of eucalyptus trees, mission style buildings, the stadium which is the home to the woefully-bad (this year) Stanford Cardinal football team, and the track and field facility. I point out that facility because it is top shelf. Stanford has dedicated it to Payton Jordan, who was an outstanding track coach for 10 years at Occidental College and then for 23 years at Stanford University. Additionally, Jordan was the head coach of the 1968 United States Olympic track and field team, one of the most powerful track teams ever assembled, which won a record twenty-four medals, including twelve golds. For those of you of a certain age, you will remember that one of the iconic moments in the civil rights movement occurred at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City when Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their gloved fists during the national anthem for the medal ceremony for the 200m event. They caused quite a stir among white cats.

We also visited San Francisco which is one of our favorite cities. There is so much to see there. I know we’ll need to return to take in another dose of heaven. We’ve been there before and love it. The city is home to some icons of architecture like the TransAmerica building, the Coit Tower, the Nob Hill district, and Chinatown. There are famous sites like the Golden Gate Bridge, the painted ladies at Alamo Square, Oracle Park which is home to the San Francisco Giants, and the Palace of Fine Arts. The Palace of Fine Arts in the Marina District is a monumental structure originally constructed for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in order to exhibit works of art. San Francisco is also the site of some of the iconic movements of modern history. The Haight-Ashbury district is a neighborhood known as one of the main centers of the counterculture of the 1960s. City Hall has been the center of controversy for a long time because San Francisco has always been on the edge of progressive politics. For example, Harvey Milk was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He sponsored a bill banning discrimination in public accommodations, housing, and employment on the basis of sexual orientation. The Supervisors passed the bill by a vote of 11–1, and it was signed into law by Mayor George Moscone. On November 27, 1978, Milk and Moscone were assassinated by Dan White, a disgruntled former city supervisor who cast the sole vote against Milk's bill. Milk represented the Castro district, a neighborhood that experienced a mass immigration of gay men and lesbians in the late 60s and early 70s. The Castro remains one of the most prominent symbols of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender activism.

Speaking of moving toward more freedoms, I love some of Jack Nicholson’s movies. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is probably one of his best. The film was the second to win all five major Academy Awards (Best Picture, Actor in Lead Role, Actress in Lead Role, Director, and Screenplay). In it, Nicholson plays Randle McMurphy, a Korean War veteran and criminal who, to avoid hard labor in a penitentiary, pleads insanity and is admitted to a mental institution. The ward is dominated by head nurse Mildred Ratched, a cold, passive-aggressive tyrant who intimidates her patients. Nurse Ratched sees McMurphy's lively, rebellious presence as a threat to her authority, which she responds to by confiscating cards and cigarettes and rationing privileges. You probably know the story. If you don’t, I recommend watching the movie with one of your favorite beverages.

Why do so many humans today see changes in society as a threat to their authority. I know both tribes think they are right, but when are regular human beings going rebel against other humans telling them what to think and believe, what to read, and generally try to gain control of the government. What about treating others with love, respect, kindness, and compromise? For those of us cats who want more love, respect, and kindness, we have to vote for candidates who want to expand our rights and freedoms, or at the very least, vote against candidates who want to exclude people of color, limit rights and freedoms, tell people what they can and cannot read, and won’t vote to establish some reasonable gun laws. As the late Elijah Cummings use to say, “Come on now! We’re better than this.”

Peace,

Buster

ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST

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