In 1992 Terrence and Gloria Davidson moved to Modesto, California. By this time Terrence Davidson was 62 years old and a retired air traffic controller. The couple sold their home in Altadena, California, and moved north to the California Central Valley. They considered moving to San Mateo, California, the San Francisco Bay Area city where Gloria spent … Continue reading Post 31: The Air Traffic Controller
Post 30: Fubont ya Watu Weusi Wazuri
Fubont ya Watu Weusi Wazuri (Kiswahili: Fubont of the Beautiful Black People), Part 1 Fubont was a rapper who claimed to be a human from another world, like Mike Valentine from Mars in the 1961 novel by Robert A. Heinlein. He said he was an English language learner and told his listeners that he did … Continue reading Post 30: Fubont ya Watu Weusi Wazuri
Post 29: The Sword
In the fall of 2020 took my sword to get it sharpened at a knife sharpening shop on Pelandale. The sword was a katana, modeled after Japanese samurai swords. It was a gift from my daughter, a cheap souvenir sword she found on a popular online auction website. I only got it sharpened so I … Continue reading Post 29: The Sword
Post 28: Kosmos and the History Lesson
College student Kosmos Villareal worked on the final project for his Advanced Media Studies course. He named his final project “The History Lesson.” Kosmos thought it might be fun and a ‘killer project,’ as he called it, to take a film made from every television show and commercial broadcast for a year. This proved unfeasible, so … Continue reading Post 28: Kosmos and the History Lesson
Post 27: California-zombie-fication
I missed the Blue Note Jazz concert at the Gallo Performing Arts Center in downtown Modesto because I ate some bad chicken. I found a leftover chicken leg in the refrigerator and ate it. I didn’t realize that it should have been thrown out a week earlier. It tasted fine to me. I got sick … Continue reading Post 27: California-zombie-fication
Post 25: Your Monkey Wrench Ain’t the Right Tool for My Engine
Your Monkey Wrench Ain’t the Right Tool for My EngineBy Babinot, Hortencia, performing as GoGo ShebanaPerformed at the 2027 Modesto Hip Hop Festival Vroom vroomOn the red hot streetVroom vroomUnderneath my feetAccelerator pedalAll down to the metalGonna set the paceFor a big street raceVroom vroomGonna go hella fastVroom vroomGonna kick your ass TurbochargeGonna go real largeWhen … Continue reading Post 25: Your Monkey Wrench Ain’t the Right Tool for My Engine
Post 24: GoGo Shebana
The Modesto hip-hop festival of 2027 featured a variety of acts from around Northern California. The headliner for the festival was GoGo Shebana. She had a popular song, Your Monkey Wrench Ain’t the Right Tool for My Engine, that received a lot of airplay and attention online because it was part of the soundtrack in the car-centered … Continue reading Post 24: GoGo Shebana
Post 23: Suspicious Car at the ATM
April 2024 In Modesto, there aren’t any physical banks located on the west side of town, west of State Route 99, the Golden State Highway. A freight train line runs roughly parallel to the highway and sometimes long trains pass through Modesto, blocking traffic between the east and west sides of town. When that happens, … Continue reading Post 23: Suspicious Car at the ATM
Post 22: The Plastic Triceratops
A jury handed down an involuntary manslaughter conviction for two coworkers who once labored in a cubicle expanse that occupied the entire floor of a nondescript office building on the southern edge of downtown Modesto. Daniel Polemicus and Frederick Adhominus, accidentally killed their immediate supervisor, the late Goodson Simpatico. All three men worked at Retronomy, … Continue reading Post 22: The Plastic Triceratops
Post number 21: Five Haiku in Modesto
On my magic couchDreaming of another worldIn bright Modesto A conflagrationFire burning deep in my soulA revelation And I need to thinkAnd contemplate the cosmosAnd then I can sleep My magic guitarSings a blue meditationThen space-time will shift Then a door opensThis to a new dimensionThe infinite love