AS WE WAKE UP......

• I saw this new film, The Company You Keep, yesterday and really enjoyed it.  You know you are getting old when the stories of your youth become "historical pieces".  The film follows a young newspaper reporter played by Shia LaBeouf, and after the arrest of a Weather Underground suspect (Susan Sarandon), LaBeouf sets out on a journey to track down another at-large member (Robert Redford) of the American radical left organization. They got in some good statements about corporate control of the government and our propensity to kill legions around the world.

• It's been raining here for days but today the sun is shining which means doing some more gardening while I can.  I stuck our tomato plants in the ground during a lull in the rain two days ago.  It's also a day for some house cleaning as our mud room is full of mud and the kitchen floor needs washing.  Let the truth be told about the life of an organizer.

• Friend Regis Tremblay has finished his documentary film about Jeju Island that he is now calling Ghosts of Jeju which I think is an excellent title.  Going to look at it today and he is then going to turn it over to a couple hot-shot young film guys he's known since they were in college.  They are going to fine tune it.  Regis has worked day and night on this project for more than six months.  A true labor of love and necessity.

• Word from Gangjeong village on Jeju Island is that Mayor Kang and another villager were released from jail (several others still remain in the slammer) after the tragic events of last Thursday when he was almost hung to death trying to defend their protest tents across the road from the Navy base gates.  I was touched when I read that after being released folks gathered for a meeting and song and they finished with this one:  "A march for the Beloved." The lyrics include.. "Without trace of love, honor, and name, we have made a hot pledge to go together on this way.... Our hot cry as we wake up... As we stand in front, please go along with us, all the livings..."  Remember to boycott Samsung products.