Fred Owen's Frog Hospital: Why Reality Depends On California's Unreality

Excerpt: "Hard work isn't enough. You need to have a dream. You need to have hope and freedom. You need to think that things just might get better. You need to have imagination. And a lot of those good things come from California -- we're the dream factory. You need a cloud to sleep on -- we've got them. You do have to work hard, but without that dream...... whoah..... without that dream you're just walking to your grave." 

FROG HOSPITAL -- Feb. 8, 2014

By Fred Owens

I thought it would never rain in Santa Barbara, but it's raining real rainy-rain right now and we are staying in the house. 

This will leave us still officially in a drought, but me and everyone else will ignore that depressing fact -- being Californians, having that great good quality of forgetting the past and ignoring the future.  Living for the moment -- that's a virtue, isn't it?

No, plan for the future and remember the past. Learn from our mistakes. That's the right way to be..... sure.

I'm speaking of coastal California where I live, near the beach. You go inland you may as well be in Texas -- a foreign country full of dust, hard work and poverty  -- so I'm told, but I never go there. Bakersfield, Fresno, places like that, you might as well be landing on the moon.

And Sacramento. I was there once. It was hot and flat and I didn't stay long.

Governor Jerry Brown lives in Sacramento and he seems to like it. He also seems to enjoy piles of paperwork and long meetings with angry people demanding everything. He's kind of a weird guy if you think about it. But he enjoys being Governor, so we might elect him to a third term. I wouldn't want the job myself.

The Movies. The movie business is leaving California, gone to tax havens in Louisiana and Michigan and other dreadful places. Of course it's cheaper back East -- because it's so far from the beach..... But the Hollywood stars and financiers will stay here. They have their fantasy castles in Malibu. Malibu is far too precious to leave just because of some tax break. 

What is Real? People say California isn't real. Well, they're right. California is half dream and half illusion. If you want real, move to Nebraska. Nebraska is incredibly real and they have lots of cows there too. Nebraska is so real they even made a movie out of it starring Bruce Dern. But guess what -- the movie was made be people from California. We're good at making movies because movies aren't real. Movie making is a multi-billion dollar business that supports thousands of people around the country and around the world. And it's not real, except it is.

Hard Work. They say hard work leads to success, but they lied. Look at Russia, they are the hardest working people on earth. Grandma shoveling coal in her babushka. Peasants toiling in the fields from sunrise to sunset. Factory workings sweating and cursing. Working hard all right, and yet they are so poor. You know why?

Because hard work isn't enough. You need to have a dream. You need to have hope and freedom. You need to think that things just might get better. You need to have imagination. And a lot of those good things come from California -- we're the dream factory. You need a cloud to sleep on -- we've got them. You do have to work hard, but without that dream...... whoah..... without that dream you're just walking to your grave.

Now for the Owens Awards. The Owens Awards are just like the Oscars except there are no rules.

Best movie about Nebraska. Not Nebraska. Nope. The best movie about Nebraska is Badlands starring Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek, filmed in 1973, the story of Charlie Starkweather.

Best movie about Kansas. You know the answer -- The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland. The runner-up is In Cold Blood.

Best movie about Texas. The best movie about Texas is The Alamo  starring John Wayne.

I can go all around the country like this. But all these movies were made in Hollywood, except for some outdoor locations. Take Texas, please. No, I mean take Texas as an example. Texas is a pile of dirt if it doesn't have a story to tell. And who tells that story? Hollywood. Hollywood makes Texas look good......You're welcome.

So bring on the rain. More rain in Santa Barbara. We hope.

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Fred Owens
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