Poem: September 13, 1985

By Jack Brummet

It was quiet as a painting 
in Berkeley, 

driving at three a.m. 
on Telegraph Avenue 

toward Oakland, 
to the delivery room. 

I saw a new moon 
hung on our old sky. 

We watched the monitor 
and waited.

Her robber-stockinged face 
came down and one bleat 

to the rafters 
started us all breathing again. 
---o0o---

Poem: Stackabones (for Claire)

By Jack Brummet 

This is a poem I wrote a couple of days before my daughter Claire was born.

Stackabones

for Claire

"What is it?," you'll ask, and I'll hedge.
Things with no title aren't,

So make a name. Our dreams have no lexicon.
We'll look at wildflowers

In the chaparral and fill the silence
Around the blossoms with a name.

Waiting on you to be,
I try to remember not to forget.

In a dusty corner of my head
I've opened files with Websters of words,

Waiting on you to be.
We'll cover the earth with Venn Diagrams

Of our steps bisecting the old steps.
We'll breach the barricades

And walk circles from here to here.
The wheel itself rolls flat

And you can't slow it down;
With each spin of the ball it grows flatter,

But still rolls up and down the hill.
The list of whom the bucket was kicked by

Grows longer every day
And that bucket fills with tears.

Our job is to stay off that roster.
Back to the story.

God, gets the fire going
As She spins us back into the sun

To warm us up in the morning.
The sun didn't rise today,

But the sun doesn't rise.
The last cricket falls asleep,

And the birds begin their rounds.
Earth rolls over like a dog,

And the light
Floods in.
---o0o---

Claire Brummet: return to India

By Jack Brummet


My daughter Claire returned to India for a long visit in February.  Her first month was spent at an ashram, as she studied and trained for her yoga teacher certification.  She is now living in an apartment on top of a mountain, trading English lessons for food, and meeting lots of folks.   She is keeping a mostly photo-blog on Tumblr:  http://clairebrummet.tumblr.com/

"I have graduated from yoga school and am roaming around India. I am following in the footsteps of my father and trying to blog about my trip.  Welcome to my wacky world of drinking 5 rupee chai's, dodging piles of cow poop, bargaining for everything and avoiding auto-rickshaw drivers.  I have trouble explaining it all in words so it is mostly pictures."

Claire with her teacher on graduation day

"Me and Vishva and Chetena’s daughter, the amazing 5 year old Uma."

Claire with a guest yoga teacher--who is 104 years old "This is an old friend of Vishva’s and he came to teach our 6am class one day during the course. He is 104 and still going strong on the yoga tip. His name is Yogananda. One of the memorable pieces of wisdom he left us with was “Milk silent killer”.  

Graduation Day - that's Claire in the front row, second from the right

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Poem: The Night She Was Born

The Night She Was Born
by Jack Brummet

It was as quiet as a painting in Berkeley,
driving at three a.m. on Telegraph Avenue
toward Oakland, and the delivery room.
I saw a new moon hung on our old sky.
We watched the monitor and waited.
When her robber-stockinged face came down,
one bleat to the rafters started us all breathing again.
---o0o---

Claire Brummet and Colin Whitchelo's big screen debut in a Bollywood movie

By Jack Brummet
Travel Editor

Last spring, we met Claire and her BF Colin in India and traveled together for two weeks.  After Keelin and I departed back to America, they continued traveling for another couple of months.  When they went back to Mumbai, they ended up being extras in a Bollywood movie being shot for Christmas release.  This is that movie, and it is scheduled to be released Christmas Eve.  It looks hilarious.

Claire isn't sure where or how they appear in the film, but is pretty sure they appear in the end credits-- those elaborate song and dance routines that often end Indian movies.

"Only once in a blue moon is such a great criminal born who is fearless as well as shameless! And that blue moon happens to be 24th December,2010. Watch the theatrical trailer of the year's most awaited film Tees Maar Khan, starring Akshay Kumar & Katrina Kaif.The film Releases on 24th December 2010"


---o0o---

Claire Brummet & Colin Whitchelo in a Bollywood film

Claire wrote me about her adventures traveling back to Mumbai and on to Goa, after we parted company last week in Pune.  She and Colin ended up appearing in a Bollywood movie!  From her email:

"After leaving Pune and arriving in Mumbai we walked with our backpacks in the heat of the day from VT to Colaba. It was sweaty. We found the Salvation Army [jack note: no relation to OUR Salvation Army] hostel right behind the Taj. They didn't have any double rooms available so we had to get separate dorm bunks. Usually, we opt to pay a bit more for the double room when we stay at hostels. So, this was actually my first time staying in a dorm bed separate from Colin. The beds each cost Rs. 200 [jack note: about $5]. That included breakfast and lunch. Very cheap. The price fit the place. It was nasty. Bugs, smells, cold water, noise, and plenty of young dirty peers."


"Our first day [back in Mumbai] we were approached and asked to be in a Bollywood movie. A day of work with three meals included and you get paid Rs. 500 [jack note: about $12 USD] . It was a Tuesday when we got there and our train didn't leave until Saturday morn so we said yes. We had lots of time to kill. We did the Bollywood movie on Thursday."

"They picked us up at 5am and drove us three hours to a hill station outside Mumbai. The location was amazing and although the day was long and hot seeing the area was worth it. Once we got there, they dressed all of the girls up in short skirts and tank tops. They did our hair and makeup. I'm pretty sure they get foreigners because we have no problem dressing like skanks. The shoot was a trip. The movie was supposed to be a comedy like Austin Powers they said. There was an elaborate set (which reminded me a lot of AmC) and hundreds of people in hilarious outfits. The plot of the movie was vaguely explained to us and it made no sense. I wrote down the name of the movie and it comes out on December 24th. Hopefully we will be able to download it. Once I can show you the pictures it will make a lot more sense."
---o0o---

Travel Pals - 2+ weeks traveling with Keelin, Claire, and Colin - pictures of us on the road

What a great bunch these three were to travel with. We had a great time, and saw far more, and met more people than we ever hoped for. I will write more soon. . .I've just arrived home after a 28 hour road trip, and two long long flights from Bombay to Seoul, Korea and four hours later Seoul to Seattle.

Anyhow, thank you Claire, Colin, and Keelin. Click all pictures to enlarge...

---o0o---

On the lake in Udaipur, Part 1 (traveling mates)

Here are the photos of us today as we boated around the lake and stopped on the island. Part 2 will be the photos of the palaces and island gardens. Keelin Curran, Claire Brummet, Jack Brummet, Colin Whitchelo - click to enlarge.

---o0o---

Claire Brummet and Colin Whitchelo, fodder for the papparazzi?

Keelin also starred in numerous photos--click to enlarge


It may be because western tourists are in very short supply right now, this being the hot season (we were almost the only westerners in somewhat obscure Aurangabad...but now, reaching Udaipur, there are a lot of Germans). Or maybe it's because Claire and Colin are lovable and photogenic (which they are). But when we visited the Ellora Caves, every one wanted a picture taken with Claire and Colin. Colin thinks they posed for around fifty pictures that day.


Even a geezer like me was approached by many Indians and posed for photos; they wanted to say hello. At least five or six asked for my email address. All the college students I talked to at our fort visit wanted to know about life in the USA, and what we thought of India ("I LOVE it" I told them). They would, to a person, tell us 16 days was not nearly long enough to see such a wide and diverse and historic country--"you need to visit at least six months!" And they're probably right. Fortunately, my daughter Claire and BF Colin Whitchelo will be here a couple of months--they like that very much. I know for sure, like Arnold said, "I'll be back." (Note: when they ask where I'm from, the one thing that seems to register is if I tell them north of California, and south of Alaska).


I am blown away by the kindness and warmth (and awesome head bobbing!) of the Indian people--all of them...in traditional dress, in western dress, of whatever caste or religion. It helps of course, that far more of them speak English than in any country in which I've traveled. We can actually talk and connect. I don't know if it is their deep faith, or the tolerance they've developed amongst their many religions, but when you spend a little time with the people, it's not surprising what a hotbed of religion this is, or why Buddhism, Hinduism, and all the other hundreds of religions germinated and flourished here. You know, as Sarah Palin said "that hopey changey stuff"--like, say, Gandhi!


Maybe Claire and Colin remind them of someone else?




---o0o--

My Traveling Partners

Keelin Curran, Colin Whitcheloe, and Claire Brummet
at a fortification wall at a massive Fort we visited


Keelin standing at the sea wall with the Bay
of Bengal behind her



Claire and Colin with a pitcher of beer at
Leopolds in Mumbai. They--and many other
watering holes serve these silly "beer towers"
instead of pitchers

Claire Brummet & Colin Whitchelo's South Korea Blog

Claire Brummet & Colin Whitchelo have now been living and teaching English in South Korea for about two weeks.

They just started a blog, right here on BlogSpot ®. Bookmark it and check in on their adventure. There are already some excellent nuggets there..

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Painting: Bobbins & The Mooch

Click to enlarge

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Painting: Claire Brummet a/k/a Moochie

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Painting: Colum, Claire and Del on the beach in Naxos, Greece

click to enlarge

---o0o---

The Graduate, Claire Brummet exits the University of Victoria

Claire and Keelin in Berkeley, 1985



Bobbins, Juack, Hari, Cobbles, and Moochie, California 2005

I never told her to get into plastics...that's so The Graduate. I don't think we pushed her to ever take up one line or the other because it would make her rich or famous or put her on top. We've watched Claire Brummet wend her way through a few possibilities: software development, English, Film, and finally, where she found her home, Philosophy. Keelin and I both majored in English in college, and we ended up just fine. I have to assume Philosophy is the same. . .it's one of those majors where you learn to think and write and as life goes on, you translate what you know to what you need to do. In any case, and whatever she makes of it, this is a personal high...to see your child graduate from college is a moving and intensely personal high.

Claire with BF, Colin, 2007, Victoria, BC, Canada

In my case, at least, the curse is broken. I was the first--and only--Brummet to attend college, and certainly the only one to graduate. On my other, Jones, side, only my cousin David finished college. So Claire is the first second generation Brummet to beat the hillbilly curse. The Joneses have managed to get a few more through. And I love her for that. I wasn't just an anomaly! She may even best me by getting her J.D., M.A., or PhD.

Claire and Jack, Pike Place Market, 1986

I am travelling in a few hours to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, to watch her graduate. And I am so happy and proud, it's really hard to articulate. Yeah, we've done a lot of stupid things, and venerated a lot of bad behavior over the years, but come on. . .is this a great country or what? Congratulations Moochie! We just love 'ya.
---o0o---

Photos: Claire and Hailey at the Victoria Wax Museum, and Claire solo

click the photos to enlarge

---o0o---