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Skipjack Joe
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8088
Registered: 7-12-2004
Location: Bahia Asuncion
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I can see how their introduction would have caused havoc for the other critters. Some of them have lived in isolation so long they've evolved into
different subspecies. Getting rid of these cats may not be that easy, I would think.
Thank you for keeping us informed.
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Graham
Senior Nomad
Posts: 558
Registered: 6-16-2006
Location: San Diego and DeTour, MI
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Bajalera,
thanks again for the kind review of “Marooned With Very Little Beer,” though I was puzzled by your added postscript and recommendation to skip the
first chapter, saying it “dumps on the Bush administration,” and will “probably irritate some Democrats as well as all Republicans.”
I wrote: “However, having just become a US citizen, and feeling saddened and disturbed by some of the actions of the government, my government, and
finding myself alienated by the abysmal level of political discussion on the airwaves, the negativity, the anger, the name calling—scum, vermin,
maggots—I got into my head that I was going to hike across America to respectfully listen to and document the views of those with whom I found myself
disagreeing.”
I can’t imagine how that is dumping on anyone. OK, there are a few (often self-effacing) jokes in chapter one about publicans and sinners and family
values, but they are obviously light-hearted comments to get the readers into the story. My serious point was the importance of trying to understand
our opponents rather than hastily concluding that they must be either evil or mentally sick, even if they are Democrats or Republicans or whatever.
I’m not sure if you mean to imply that new citizens shouldn’t voice political opinions. As a Brit I always thought it was my birthright to express my
reasonable and forthright views about my government or any government… I’d hate to think that I’d lost that privilege when I became a US citizen. For
better or worse, when I took the oath of allegiance to the US I regarded myself as a full and hopefully contributing member of the body politic.
Chapter 1 introduces a philosophy (“Why can’t we have genuine debate instead of slogan shouting, mindless labeling, and ridiculous rhetoric?”) and
sense of humor that permeates the book, and highlights some of the negativity displayed in the many Nomad comments later quoted. I think it would be
sad to skip it and miss out on how, thank God, the “Walk Across America” plan morphed into the Guardian Angel Island trip.
I’m going to post Chapter 1 on my new website -- grahammackintoshbooks.com -- if anyone cares to take a look. Also, it’s often available to read on
the Amazon.com listing for Marooned.
Hope to chat with some of you at my Discover Baja slide presentation at 7 pm this Weds, June 25.
Graham
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Skipjack Joe
Elite Nomad
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Location: Bahia Asuncion
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http://bajadetour.books.officelive.com/Chapter1.aspx
From Chapter 1:
Vilification and demonization and suggesting your opponents are either evil or mentally sick seems to be the preferred approach. No wonder
Americans are so fond of shooting each other!
It seems to me that the Brits are pretty good at demonization themselves. Tony Blair did a spectacular good job of that in the Kosovo 'war'.
There's a fair amount of verbiage about Bush's war on Iraq. But Britain sent 40,000 troops to the war as I recall .....
They say that wars fought for practical reasons were much more humane than they've become. Once land was exchanged all went home. There was no good
and evil. No intefadas, no zealots. No democracies vs autocracies. Demonization - that's how we prep the public for a war. Throw in a couple of lines
about democracy. A dash of freedom and liberty. Stir real well. And you're ready for a modern war.
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Graham
Senior Nomad
Posts: 558
Registered: 6-16-2006
Location: San Diego and DeTour, MI
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Skip,
I find that one of the great things about being isolated and alone in Baja is the different mindset that inevitably descends...
Maybe Steinbeck put it best in his "Log from the Sea of Cortez":
“We had been drifting in some kind of dual world—a parallel realistic world; and the preoccupations of the world we came from, which are considered
realistic, were to us filled with mental mirage. Modern economies; war drives; party affiliations and lines; hatreds, political, and social and
racial, cannot survive in dignity the perspective of distance.”
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bajalera
Super Nomad
Posts: 1875
Registered: 10-15-2003
Location: Santa Maria CA
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Graham --
My main objection to Chapter 1 was a practical one, based on demographics. I assumed that you want to sell your book, and it's obvious to anyone who
spends much time on the Nomad board that quite a few of us are conservative. Why start out by alienating an important segment of your target audience?
From an editorial viewpoint, the opening chapter of a book about a Baja California adventure is expected to relate to this region in some way, to
provide a setting. What you provided, instead, was a totally incongruant rant on U.S. politics.
\"Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest never happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.\" -
Mark Twain
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65300
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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What I think was relevant in mentioning politics in the beginning of Graham's book was that he FIRST was thinking of walking across the USA in a
protest of the liberation of Iraq by allied troops... Thank God he abandoned that plan and returned to Baja instead!!
So, that is why politics appeared in the first chapter... Sure, it could have been left out as it had not much else to do with living on the island
for two months... But Graham was passionate about his beliefs and shared them with his readers. I hope the conservative and anti dictatorship/ pro
free Iraq fans don't get too down on him... The past is the past, and every four years you can make your opinion known... no need to make enemies
over politics. 
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bajalera
Super Nomad
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No need to make enemies over a book review, either, but when sent a free copy and asked to review a book, my personal opinion is what you get.
\"Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest never happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.\" -
Mark Twain
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MexicoTed
Senior Nomad
Posts: 708
Registered: 8-2-2004
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All politics aside, I just came back from Graham's presentation at Discover Baja Travel Club's office in San Diego. The slide show and Graham's
descriptions and levity made me want to jump in my truck and cross the border for LA Bay right away! Great job Graham and kudos to Carol and Hugh
Kramer for putting it on. If you haven't been to one of Graham's lectures on his books, you gotta catch him next time.
Ted
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65300
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Agree with you there Ted... Elizabeth and I have seen it 3 times, so that was why we didn't do the nearly 100 mile round trip drive last night... but
it is worth it if you haven't seen Graham's show.
Lee, yes I understand your opinion and agree with why you gave it... I only wanted to add the explanation for the purpose of Graham mentioning the
president, so the hard core patriots might still give the book a chance at being a good buy. Graham in no Jane Fonda, afterall!
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Skipjack Joe
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8088
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Location: Bahia Asuncion
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Graham has repeatedly stated how important baja has been to his personal well being. It's isolation and bareness puts life into perspective and is
spiritually uplifting. I believe the 'political' statements are just a way of emphasizing why he values baja so much. He's contrasting the two worlds.
I don't see the comments as a polemic.
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Eugenio
Nomad
Posts: 206
Registered: 4-23-2008
Location: Navojoa, Son.
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Why didn't Graham immigrate to Mexico?
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65300
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Because he fell in love with an American nammed Bonni, who lived in San Diego... It's all in the second book! 'Journey with a Baja Burro'
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Graham
Senior Nomad
Posts: 558
Registered: 6-16-2006
Location: San Diego and DeTour, MI
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Ted, glad you enjoyed the slide presentation. Hugh and Carol at Discover Baja always host a terrific evening.
Appreciate your viewpoint Skip. Thanks. I should leave it to others to decide whether those three short pages at the beginning of "Marooned" are “an
incongruent rant.” They’re now up on my website -- grahammackintoshbooks.com
You could also argue that the last chapter of the book, describing the death of Penny, the canine heroine of my earlier book “Nearer My Dog to Thee”
was likewise incongruent -- doesn’t have much to do with Guardian Angel Island – but I would submit it was equally a vital part of the story, and part
of the same process of spiritual development.
By the way, my beef was with some of the specific policies of the current administration, not with conservatives. I have plenty such leanings myself.
I was 100 per cent behind Gulf War One, for example.
And I appreciate your perspective Bajalera, if we keep an open mind and maintain respect for each other's reasonable convictions, there's no sense
making enemies over book reviews. We authors need all the help and insight we can get.
I may be naïve, but I’d like to think that I’ll never change my opinions for fear of losing book sales... but I'll always be open to persuasion by the
facts, or being shown the weakness of my argument.
And I guess, as David said, I never immigrated to Mexico partly because I fell in love with a wonderful lady and chose to get married in the US and
help raise her two children.
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bajalera
Super Nomad
Posts: 1875
Registered: 10-15-2003
Location: Santa Maria CA
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If you were naive, Graham, you wouldn't be elevating a piddly difference of viewpoint to a status it doesn't merit. I in no way suggested that you
change your opinions, but merely questioned where you chose to place them.
To me, the Letters-to-the-Editor section of the Union/Tribune is a more fitting forum for political views than the opening chapter of a
My-Baja-Adventure book.
Although there's not much fuel for enmity in that, for me to find myself sticking up for the Bush administration is certainly good for a giggle or
two.
\"Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest never happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.\" -
Mark Twain
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Eugenio
Nomad
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Location: Navojoa, Son.
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Soooo....Graham didn't immigrate because of any love or respect felt for his adopted country or it's people. Or for any feelings of freedom or
opportunity.
It must be interesting living trapped in a country which one disdains.
Seems to me it'd be easier to immigrate to Mexico (or whatever other country that one prefers) and live in the US on a visa. That way the citizenship
slot could be filled by someone who really wants to be a citizen - after all - there are quotas.
Oh well.
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Graham
Senior Nomad
Posts: 558
Registered: 6-16-2006
Location: San Diego and DeTour, MI
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Bajalera, it comes down to a simple issue about the relevance of that first chapter. I would contend that chapter one serves many functions in the
book. You disagree. I respect that.
When you say… “From an editorial viewpoint, the opening chapter of a book about a Baja California adventure is expected to relate to this region in
some way, to provide a setting…” those are wise words, but you have to remember that I’m not writing a guidebook to Rosarito Beach or Los Cabos. If
it serves my purpose as a writer then I’m willing to experiment and break with any such expectations. If no one wants to read my book – that’s fair
enough. I willingly put my head on the block. Doing things “by the book” has never been my forte -- that’s probably why I’ve come through all my Baja
adventures unscathed… and also why I do them in the first place.
There are other “settings” I’m trying to establish. Who I am, what I’ve done, who my family members are, how I think, how they think, how humor is
going to be a big part of the story… and how ultimately the reader is hopefully about to experience a journey of the heart and the mind as well as a
journey to the island. All included in three easy pages.
Without introducing the readers to my baseline mental state and political perspective, so much in the book won’t have the same impact. For example
when wildly fearful and paranoid in the face of the threat of drug runners paying me a nocturnal visit on the island, I wrote: “Evil doers abounded. I
was ready to engage in any preemptive strike, endorse any extraordinary rendition, back any enhanced interrogation techniques, to take out any
potential aggressor before they could even think of attacking me.” Bush and Cheney would have loved me at that point. Mercifully that mindset didn’t
last. And then I was able to quote with approval Abraham Lincoln’s words “I destroy my enemy by making him my friend.”
And Eugenio you’ll have to explain to me by what logic you concluded that my love for an American citizen means I must be “trapped” living in a
country that I “disdain.” I have been living the best part of twenty years in a country that I have come to respect and love and appreciate. It would
take another book to tell you about that. That’s why I used the word “partly.” You seemed to have missed that.
[Edited on 6-27-2008 by Graham]
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Eugenio
Nomad
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Registered: 4-23-2008
Location: Navojoa, Son.
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As a matter of fact I didn't miss the word "partly" Graham - it made your statement ambiguous - which is why I questioned it.
It's good to hear you love, respect etc. your adopted country - if you had been forthright about your feelings earlier there would have been no
problem.
Cheers paisa.
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bajalera
Super Nomad
Posts: 1875
Registered: 10-15-2003
Location: Santa Maria CA
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You'll have to pardon me, Graham, but I don't really give jack squat about your baseline mental state and the journey through your heart and mind and
all that other good stuff.
What I have given you is the kind of advice you would have received from an editor, had you submitted your manuscript to an established publishing
company like those I have spent the better part of forty years working for, instead of publishing it yourself.
At least you now know who NOT to ask to review your next literary effort.
\"Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest never happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.\" -
Mark Twain
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Graham
Senior Nomad
Posts: 558
Registered: 6-16-2006
Location: San Diego and DeTour, MI
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Thanks Bajalera. I have no regret asking you to review my new book. I still appreciate your thoughtful opinion and expertise. My books are never going
to fit any formula but my own.
Graham
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bajalera
Super Nomad
Posts: 1875
Registered: 10-15-2003
Location: Santa Maria CA
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I'm sorry to hear that. It wouldn't really take much effort to remove that "amateur self-published" stigma.
\"Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest never happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.\" -
Mark Twain
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