But the times I did get to talk to him had a lasting effect. First of all, this was the beginning of Vietnam, and Jim was an outspoken war resister. We were all worried about the draft, and Jim many times referred to organizations like the War Resisters League. He also was part of the growing downtown avant-garde music/film/happenings scene. And, of course, there were the films and events with Carolee Schneemann. Once I did manage to talk to him about some naive ideas I had for music composition programming based on number theory. He thought it interesting enough to invite me up to his cottage near New Haven.

That was one of many such strange encounters. He picked me up at the train station and drove us into the woods. He was living with Carolee in a painter's cottage.. one large room, with bedroom, kitchen and bathroom tucked away out of sight. All the walls had big windows all the way around, and the A-frame ceiling was high enough for Carolee's really big canvases. And lined up under the windows was a large record collection. The Beatles were playing on the stereo. We went inside. Had coffee. Talked music. Carolee made an appearance and then it was time to go. I was very nervous. Very uncomfortable. A kid from the suburbs, in the same room as two formidable artists. We went out to the car. Jim embraced Carolee. And then we noticed the flat tire. Next thing we're changing a muddy tire, I'm feeling foolish. Back on the train to NYC I'm trying to it all out figure out. More than forty two years later, I still don't understand that day. But I've always wanted to live in a house like that one!

Cody's Books celebrated 50 years in Berkeley while at the same time closing its flagship store on Telegraph Avenue. (Two other stores, one on 4th Street in Berkeley, the other in San Francisco).

Needless to say, it was a bittersweet moment.

Fred and Pat Cody (seen on the left) started Cody's Books on Telegraph Avenue in 1956.

In the late 70's Andy Ross (seen on the right) bought the store from the retiring Codys. (Fred Cody died in 1983).

Later, Andy opened a branch on flourishing 4th Street in West Berkeley, and recently another store in San Francisco.

But since the '90's the Telegraph store was losing money. Telegraph Avenue was the problem.

So today they threw a party at the Telegraph store -- first to celebrate 50 years as a bookstore in Berkeley, and to say farewell to the Telegraph store.

Tomorrow, Monday, the store will be closed, everything carted away. Big FOR LEASE signs are already up on the windows.

Independent bookstores like Cody's are closing and few new stores are taking their place.

There are lots of reasons for this. You could say the economy, high rents, high book prices, have made the traditional stores unprofitable.

You could blame the internet for providing instant access to online catalogs and discounted prices.

Or, you could blame the community and local politicians for letting places like Telegraph Avenue, the driveway into the University of California campus, decay and drive away business.

Or, you could just say that bookstores and a reading public are now a thing of the past. Maybe only niche stores that specialize, take up less floor space, employ fewer booksellers, can survive these times.

No one had an answer today. This was a hard and cold business decision. Still, everyone in the crowd had stories and memories of times well spent at Cody's Telegraph, even if you had to fight the panhandlers outside on the street.

I have two memories of my own.

First was in the mid '70's. A guy named John Gage was working part-time at Cody's, managing the math and science sections. I would stop by at lunch and we'd talk about math books. John was getting his graduate degree in econometrics at UC Berkeley, down the street. He eventually went on to become one of the earliest employees at Sun Microsystems.

The other was the time Bill Clinton came to the Telegraph store in June, 2004. I've blogged about that elsewhere.

Still, Cody's Books is alive. The 4th Street and San Francisco stores are ok. No one said running a large bookstore was easy these days. But stores like Cody's, and Moe's, and all the other independent stores in your neighborhood need your support.

Support your local independents!

Program
Linda Catlin Smith: "As you pass a reflective surface" (1991)
Ronald Bruce Smith: String Quartet #2 "Nostalgia" (2006) - World Premiere
R. Murray Schafer: String Quartet #3 (1981)
José Evangelista: Spanish Garland (1993)

This is a great opportunity to hear this wonderful quartet. The Murray Schafer quartet #3 is very rarely performed. Schafer, born in 1933, is quite an intriguing composer, and probably Canada's most well known. His music always has some surprises, yet is rarely performed. Ronald Bruce Smith is from Toronto by studied at UC Berkeley, Stanford, and IRCAM in Paris. His Second Quartet was written for the Del Sol.

Looks like Kinky has made it to the Texas ballot with more than enough signatures!

This could be a new day for Texas, and a new day for the rest of the country.

Ever since Texas took over the country, we've all be headed down hill at an alarming rate. Now, maybe something will change.

More power to my namesake, the Kinkster

A recent PBS/Nova program reveals that the amount of sunlight reaching the earth has diminished over the recent past, mainly caused by air pollution making the clouds more reflective. The net result is that it has slowed the development of global warming. Without this dimming of the Sun, we would by now be experiencing the beginnings of the worst disasters caused by global warming.

That's a strange situation to be in... air pollution slowing global warming. And the more we do to reduce air pollution, the faster global warming occurs.

The only solution is to deal with both, altho scientists interviewed in the program indicate that unless we do something significant real soon (10 years?) we're screwed.

See it for yourself: The Dimming of the Sun at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sun/