"It takes a train to..."

1. One of the greatest Dylan songs ever. 'It takes a lot to laugh, it takes a train to cry.' A song title with your name on it, if you've known the blues. Plug it in, and steep yourself. My default association tale...At midnight, if I'm lucky, after just settling in, far far away, but not far enough, comes the wail of the Amtrack. Starlight route? For five to ten minutes, the engineer launches the melodic train code. This is not your grandfather's steam engine whistle, but a deeper, richer tone resonating over the somnolent city. I never rode the rails until I was well into my 30's. I'm a child of the jet age. The fastest way off the island (I'm not talking Survivor) was through the air. Trains. Def old school. And with with a mystery destination every night.

2. Aftermath of the Trayvon Martin verdict. I happened to be driving through downtown Oakland, a couple of days after the demonstrations. Block after block had establishments with every window broken, boarded up. Oakland, the city, that needs merchants to bolster their sagging economy keeps taking it on the chin. Uh, soon there might not be a there, there.

3. Orange is the New Black. If you've been in outer space and just returned,
this is a Netflix series based on Piper Kerman's book detailing her incarceration for 15 months in a woman's minimum security prison. The telly show takes liberties; the series' genre is comedy-drama, and falls under the 'chick flick' (who cares?) label. It is a raunchy, incredibly funny, frank,  production rift with characters rarely seen on the networks: African American and Hispanic woman who are not just window dressing but an inclusive significant part of the entire collage.

4. Eshleman Hall. Demolished. Gone. Built in 1965 on the Univ of California, Berkeley campus and primarily housing student organizations; site of demonstrations and protests, vandalism, numerous thefts, two fires, a murder in 1992, Grace Asuncion, a cold case, and the barrier from which CeCe flew...wounded, we were young then but will never forget.