Here’s a photograph my dad took at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire in May, 1986.

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This might be a good day for writing Christmas songs…

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It is a little startling to notice that today is the 10th anniversary of my father’s death. This is an ideal occasion to present gerrypearce.com. This website contains a few thousand pages of original written material, with much more to come. In time it will contain the best photographs from the thousands he left behind and some of the home movies he shot at the Renaissance Faire and at various science fiction conventions over the years.

The few years my dad really prospered as a writer were when he had a salaried job at Walt Disney Studios, turning out TV scripts for The Wonderful World of Disney. He also wrote hundreds of syndicated TV shows for Bill Burrud Productions. Throughout his professional life, from the 1950′s until a couple of months before his final illness, Gerry wrote stories for science fiction and mystery magazines.

My dad spent several decades working on a book about the plight of the Palestinian people, entitled Generations of Betrayal. Two different versions of this book are available at gerrypearce.com.

The 2003 version of Generations of Betrayal is the last project Gerry completed. He wrapped up the final edit of this book days before his final illness took him away from the word processor for good. 46 chapters are available for you to peruse right now, in HTML format.

The 1981 version of Generations of Betrayal is 26 chapters long, presented here in PDF format. This one came very close to being published.

On this new website, one thing you’re not going to encounter is any commentary from me. I’m trying to give my dad a chance to speak to everybody without any interference. If you have any reaction to the material, I’d be curious to know about it.

My dad was an enthusiastic letter writer. I’ve collected quite a few of his letters with an eye toward publishing an edited edition someday. If anybody reading this has more, I’d be curious to have a look.

Thinking about the day, ruminating on reality, I’m reminded of one of my favorite Fred Allen lines:

“Live each day as if it’s going to be your last — and one day you’ll be right.”

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For me this blurred image has a vaguely dreamlike quality. Could this picture really be 33 years old? The field in the background has been richly developed during those years. Was that shirt one I’d bought in ’73 to wear at my graduation from junior high? Inside the car I can see that my disassembled racing bike is in the back seat. Wasn’t that fancy bike stolen right out from under my nose at Venice Beach seven or eight years later?

Here is a 2013 Mustang Fastback, which I rented for my latest excursion to Redwood Country. The modern car is quite similar to the one that was built 45 years ago, but it is more comfortable and has more modern conveniences. It was fun to drive around northwest California in this car…but it did serve to prove that nostalgia is a longing for something you couldn’t stand anymore. I’m much happier with my Sebring than I ever was with a car with a hard-top.

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Highway 20 is a magnificent place to drive. You take the 101 into glamorous Willits, Gateway to Redwood Country, and turn left towards Fort Bragg. A series of remarkable events found me on this wonderful road on April 20, headed to Garberville in southern Humboldt County. The graffiti is from a rest area bathroom off Highway 20. Here’s a sample of the local color!

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I got this poster in England while I was studying law at Magdalen College back in 1982. It has stood the test of time better than the ideology Maggie and her American soul-mate offered the world.

“Maggie Thatcher, Milk Snatcher.”

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I am pleased and impressed.

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Hey, the camera in my HTC One V phone is capable of halfway-decent photography!

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San Diego has America’s Finest Weather. Here’s the latest evidence: a spectacular rainbow to help 2013 start off in style. For no extra charge, here’s a closeup.

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A rainy evening outside the LA County Art Museum

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The local fish wrap is an egregious embarrassment known as the San Diego Union Tribune. This product is published by somebody who calls himself “Papa Doug” Manchester, a name more suitable for the owner of a chain of pizza delivery stores. The San Diego Free Press says Manchester “…took a hard right turn and drove the local newspaper off the cliff of delusional insanity.”

This paper used to have a little slogan near the top of the first page that read, “More Than 1,000,000 Readers Weekly.” Now in the same spot are the words, “The World’s Greatest Country and America’s Finest City.” Really? I’m reminded of something once said by Spiro Agnew, Vice President of the United States: “America is still the greatest nation in the country!”

Over the years I’ve observed that San Diego has “America’s Finest Weather,” but it’s hard not to notice that the town is dominated by the military and big money connected to developers and other standard-issue rich folks. Even so, out of habit our household has carried on subscribing to this increasingly shrill Republican paper – until recently. Alexis and I decided we were fed up with the constant barrage of naked Republican propaganda and the general absence of meaningful content. Why pay for this rubbish?

Take a look at the white netbook in the picture. It cost $150 new. I’ve got it configured as a dual-boot Windows / Ubuntu system, but I find myself using the Linux OS almost all of the time. It’s a perfect operating system for a little cheap computer because it is so much faster than Windows.

Breakfast is a little different without newspapers flying around the table. There have been times when I subscribed to several newspapers at the same time. These days I am not subscribing to any at all. The little computer screen is easy to read. The trackball mouse turns all the pages, my morning coffee conveniently adjacent. When the Financial Times renews its offer to give me the pink fish wrap for Peasant Price instead of Daddy Warbucks Retail, I’ll gladly take them up on it.

If you look closely at the picture, you’ll see that my dainty little netbook is browsing the UT’s  website. Now “Papa John,” er, “Papa Doug” will have to carry on working to enrich himself and his cronies at the public expense without getting any further monthly checks from me.

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Raising kids is a delight. As regular readers know, I take seriously my responsibilities as a parent. That’s why, back in the summer of 2010, I exercised extreme caution when I dangled Lana and her camera over the tiger cage barrier at the zoo so she could look death in the eye and get a really cool photograph.

Here is a picture of me with Lana, Alexis and Emily. Ms. Em recently turned 21. To help her celebrate, Alexis thought it would be fun and memorable to go out on an early morning wine country vineyard horseback riding tour. She and I have been riding horses together since we were teenagers. The ride was great fun.

After we finished with the tour, we got into our car and went to several of the local vineyards, armed with tickets and hand stamps. As usual under social drinking circumstances, I was the designated driver. I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that all wine tasting events are set up to emphasize moderation and “responsible drinking.” That’s why they only give you a little serving of each of the multiple wines you get to sample at each stop.

Join me now for a rousing prayer meeting, all about Sin and Mr. Booze.

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The San Diego Zoo Art Camp actually is set up for all ages. I didn’t require any special dispensation to be able to attend. There’s a lot to be said for the experience; certainly it was a highlight of the summer for me. It is much different to go to the zoo for a day and spend an hour at a single exhibit compared to a typical visit where you’re trying to see as much as possible. It’s also cool to go to the zoo for several hours a day, five days in a row.

There is a lot to be said for hanging out with children, too. The kids ranged in age from 8 to 14. All of them were charming and most of them were accomplished young artists. It was a pleasure to spend the week with Elana, getting behind the scenes glimpses into the working of the zoo. We both enjoyed studying and practicing the art of drawing, too. The teacher was generous with her knowledge and patient with her students. Here is my elephant and Lana’s giraffes, to show you what we were up to.

 When we were at Art Camp back in 2010, Elana got a great photograph of an outraged and hungry tiger. Maybe it was a little risky for me to dangle her over the protective barrier just to get a really good picture, but I figured it was a good way for us to bond, plus it’s invaluable for young people to face death and live to tell the tale.

This year it was my turn to get a spectacular picture of a deadly predator without the presence of bars or glass barriers in the way to mess up the shot. Here’s the picture – a furious and ravenous crocodile!

These animals are impressive killing machines, but they have a tender side too – they care for their babies with far more attention to detail than most reptiles. They have eyes as acute as owls and also superb hearing. Crocs can swim and run very fast, too. They tend to be ambush hunters, lying in wait for unsuspecting prey. This was my big advantage. Surprise was on my side. Most captive crocodiles are not used to guys with cameras making a hurried run-through in order to get a quick photograph!

As you can see, the picture was well worth any short-term danger. Sure, I know a lot of idiots get killed at zoos every year. They drop their camera into the tiger cage and try to retrieve it, or they want to pet the nice panda or polar bear. Those folks are Darwin Award candidates for sure. What the High Cabal doesn’t want you to know about are all the people who take less outrageous, more calculated risks for the sake of art.

OK, I understand that it is against the rules and generally accepted notions of common sense for an ordinary middle-aged clown to risk life and limb for a photograph. Still, nobody got hurt. It is true that the croc did go after me a split-second after I took the picture, but the fact that I’m writing this is proof that he didn’t get me. It’s also true that some of the zoo attendees were quite frightened by the sudden action in the crocodile enclosure. I admit that I didn’t expect to have quite such a close call, and it’s also true that I didn’t know that the croc would end up slamming into the glass so forcefully. I imagine a few of the folks were a little flustered by the experience. Well, I say that the picture was worth it. You be the judge.

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Here is a fine example of Phrynosoma, the Great Horned Lizard. Native American cultures respected these creatures for being symbols of strength. You can find out more about ‘horny toads’ here and here.

In case you’re curious to trace my previous series of lizard-related material, you can try here, here, here, here and definitely here.

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