Feature

Growing up, the words Please and Thank You were the “magic words.” If you wanted something you said, “please” and if you got something, you said “thank you”. To six- year-old me, that made perfect sense. Hell, to 56 year old me, it’s still makes perfect sense. These are common courtesy, common decency, common sense, words that are the foundation of life lessons. I’m just troubled that these words, not to mention a boat load of other words, phrases, expressions, are not being instilled in our children any longer. I beat those words, and others, into my daughters growing up and when I say “beat” it into them, I hope everyone knows I meant that in a metaphorical way. We practiced saying please and thank you the same way we practiced breathing. Has it become too much to say please and thank you, let alone excuse me or ex-squeeze me?

The word “please” is quiet pleasing to the ear. Please is a gracious way of requesting someone’s participation. Please pass me the salt; please pick up your toys; please take a seat; please make your bed; please don’t torment you sister; please drop my clothes off at the dry cleaner; please sir may I have some more; please please me; or please don’t eat the daisies. Please accept this article as the best I could do given how far past the deadline I am this month. Please is an enchanting word.

The words “thank” and “you,” standing alone, are just two little words, but together they show appreciation, thoughtfulness and gratitude. Thank you for your business; than you for waiting; thank you for seeing me; thank you for coming; thank you for the gift; thank you for the donation; thank you for the help; thank you for remembering; thank you for calling; thank you for the great service; thank you sir may I have another, or thank you for writing such a well thought out and slightly humorous article. Thank you is also endearing word.

Just of the record, excuse me is a polite expression, however ex-squeeze me is just fun to say—as long as it’s not taken in a sexually harassing, “me too,” way. If I’ve offended anyone, please excuse my oafish insensitivity and accept my heartfelt apology. Thank you.

When you think about the obvious times a please or thank you might be appropriate, my best advice is to start at home. Appreciate your partner for everything he, she or they do around the house. We can all fall into a rut or routine where we have our chores and they have theirs, but it never hurts to drop a please or thank you every once in awhile. It might cause someone to fall off their chair or question their hearing if they haven’t heard those words in months or maybe years. The reaction might be worth the effort alone. “Honey, thank you for washing and folding my socks and t-shirts. You really get those stains out,” or, “Sugar, would you please let me know if my flatulence bothers you tonight. I really shouldn’t have had the bean casserole.”  Once you’ve started to make progress at home, initiate the same game plan at work.

Has a magazine column writer ever received a YELP review? Yikes, that might be asking for trouble. I think YELP is a worthwhile website/app, but it’s not just for complaining. I probably post 7-8 positive YELP reviews to every 1-2 negative. I love recognizing good service and YELP is just one more way of saying thank you to an employee or company for exceptional service. Too many YELP trolls love blasting out negative reviews just for the exposure or attention. Lets all make a pledge to post at least one YELP review that’s positive/appreciative. Me first – I would like to thank Belinda in Macy’s accounting department for her excellent custom service in helping me resolve an overcharge for delivery. Belinda was professional, responsive, helpful, compassionate and a real problem solver. I wish more call center employees were like Miss Belinda at Macy’s, but please take the time to point out when someone does so that it might encourage others to train and implement better service.

It goes without saying that military personnel, first responders (law enforcement, firemen and paramedics) and teachers should always be thanked. They are the backbone of our society and without these brave souls on the front lines our country could fall into a state of bedlam, chaos or civil unrest. At the same time, on a completely different level, please recognize the unsung heroes that don’t get the recognition they deserve. Likewise, all veterans, and also public transportation (BART, bus and ferry) drivers, mail carriers, hospice workers and some politicians, as well as volunteers at every level: food banks, Meals on Wheels, charity fun runs, and youth sports programs are indebted to their volunteer work force.

As a former soccer, softball, baseball, football coach and swim team president, your kid’s leagues and teams wouldn’t exist without a dedicated group of parents who give countless hours to these programs. That’s not to say there aren’t occasional issues or problems, but suffice it to say 20% of the parents do 80% of the work to keep the subject sport operating. I’ve heard a lot of complaints in my day that never started with a “please” or ended with a “thank you.” It’s easy to be negative without any constructive ideas or personal commitment to resolve the problems. In my first-hand experience, organizations such as the San Ramon Valley Girls Athletic League (“SRVGAL softball”), Mustang Soccer and the San Ramon Valley Thunderbirds football and cheer programs are staffed by a lot of wonderfully dedicated volunteer parents who are involved for all the right reasons and those individuals deserve an occasional please and thank you. The same goes for all the volunteer parents who serve in scouting programs—both girls and boys.

So, I’ve been on my soapbox for about two hours now trying to craft a positive and yet poignant first article of the New Year. I’m far from the ideal role model and yet, I do try to practice what I preach. Please and thank you were once the norm; the basics every child was taught by parents who saw the value in manners and behavior. Don’t let these magic words die out with so many other life lessons that have fallen by the wayside. It’s too easy to blame social media or the millennial generation.

Let’s all take responsibility to please revitalize the basics in the New Year. Thank you.

Did you ever wonder where humans came from? I don’t mean the thing about mommy and daddy getting together and making babies, because they love each other. No, my question is deeper and more complex. For instance, has the Earth always had human inhabitants, Homo Sapiens and did we originate on Earth, or did we come from somewhere else? In high school and college, the teachers and professors always mentioned a missing link in our evolution, as though there was no direct connection with any of our supposed predecessors. Is that because, there really is no direct connection; only genetic manipulation? Perhaps, whoever created us (modern man) took the DNA from a Neanderthal, or Denisovan or other bipedal hominid, and the result was us. Let’s look at some of the creation stories and see which one you might agree with, or not.

Why, just the other day, this nice woman asked me: “Don’t you believe in evolution?”

I blurted out, “No, I don’t!” However, I had erroneously assumed that she was asking about Charles Darwin and his theory that all species of life have descended over a very long period of time from a common single-cell ancestor. And no, I don’t believe that. I do believe that as a species, we have evolved, and we keep evolving, to higher levels of intelligence, spirituality and physicality. But, think about it. What happened to the dinosaurs? It has also been discovered by scientists that some five hundred million or so years ago, dozens of new complex species appeared on the scene, seemingly out of nowhere, without any apparent, gradual evolutionary steps, the way Charles Darwin had postulated; basically, without any ancestors of kind. Just like that, magically there they were, as though some unknown super intelligence had made them appear out of some mysterious genetic laboratory. This is one of the reasons why I decided to take a closer look at some of the possibilities for how humans might have appeared on the scene.

One hypothesis bandied about is called Panspermia. It originated in the 5^th century BCE when the Greek philosopher Anaxagoras brought it up in a conversation with his fellow Greek philosophers, who first thought he was talking about some sort of eating disorder; anorexia. He tried to explain to his colleagues, “Panspermia, not anorexia. Anaxagoras is my name; oy veh!” (just kidding). The idea faded and wasn’t brought up until 1834, by a Swedish chemist named Jöns Jacob Berzelius, who thought it was something new. Apparently, he was the only one still interested in Panspermia. So, the theory lay dormant until 1871, when it caught the interest of William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, a Scots-Irish mathematical physicist and engineer. He fiddled with the theory until in 1905, Svante Arrhenius took interest. Over the years, many more scientific minds picked up on Panspermia as a possible delivery system of living organisms all over the universe; sort of a cosmic Amazon.com. Today, there are still a ton of Panspermia believers, but no real proof.

Before we go any further, here’s a brief definition of Panspermia, as I understand it: Life exists (existed) throughout the universe, floating around in a dormant state, being blown about by solar winds until it found a suitable environment to grow in and evolve. Some of the scientists believe that this is how life got started on planet Earth, including human beings. Mind you, according to Panspermia theorists, if life evolved on Earth, it would also have evolved on millions of other planets with similar environments, all over the universe. (Ref. 1)

Of course, there are still those in the scientific community who firmly believe that we evolved from some unknown single-cell organisms, some 3 billion years ago. They, however, cannot explain, where these organisms came from, and how some organism evolved into humans, some into alligators, and some into deranged, yapping chihuahuas.

In his book On the Origins of Species in 1859, Charles Darwin postulated that humankind started out as apes and over billions of years evolved into Homo Sapiens. Over the past hundred-plus years, this theory has been shot full of holes. For instance, evidence has popped up all over the world that Modern Man had had interactions with Neanderthals, and of course apes. As a matter of fact, footprints of Modern Man have been discovered alongside dinosaur footprints; pushing back even further the timeline for the appearance of Modern Man. This means that (we) humans, or Homo Sapiens couldn’t have evolved from Neanderthals, Denisovans, Homo Erectus, or apes, because humans lived right alongside them.

When still in high school, I asked my teacher this question, as the Darwin theory was being discussed: “Mr. Johnson, if we evolved from apes, why are there still apes around?” Mr. Johnson couldn’t satisfactorily answer my question.

Here is another interesting theory explaining humanities origins, unique to Russia: Cosmism, which was the name given to a philosophical and cultural movement started in the early 20^th century. In it, proponents believed in humanity’s origins being from the Cosmos. It is somewhat similar to Panspermia, but not exactly the same. These scholarly individuals did their best to research any alien presence on our planet that would lead them to find evidence and prove their theory. They tried to make every effort to try and return to the Cosmos, hence the USSR’s strong determination to win the space race. The interesting part of Cosmism was that it somehow connected the rise and fall of the Soviet Socialist Empire with its interest in ancient civilizations. Many Russians firmly believed, and some still do, that ancient aliens visited our planet, and more specifically visited throughout Russia’s enormous territory, much of which is still uninhabited. This is also why the Soviets have always been interested in UFOs. Yet, the Soviet government also did its best to identify, silence and imprison Russian intellectuals who dared research and believe in Cosmism and extraterrestrials, as opposed to Communism.

Unfortunately, Cosmism succumbed to Communism, because as they said in the USSR, a good communist does not believe in Cosmism or God; only Communism.

In late 1991, Communism succumbed to its own cancer. It is unfortunate that Cosmism was not allowed to thrive and therefore we were never able to discover, where specifically in the cosmos, did humanity originate; was it from just some floating particles, or actual upright human beings. Perhaps, the theory will get resurrected, now that Communism no longer controls thinking (in Russia anyway). (Ref. 2)

We will now look at the Biblical story of the creation of the first humans. Since my father was a Calvinist (Protestant) and my mother a Roman Catholic, I got to attend both catechism and Sunday school. This is how I learned that, in the Bible, in Genesis, we are told that Adam and Eve were the first humans created by God (Yahweh) and deposited into a paradise, called Eden. Adam and Eve were told by God, not to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, which they did, by listening to a snake.

For disobeying God, they were banished from Eden. So, while wandering around aimlessly, Adam and Eve had two children, both boys. One was named Cain and the other Abel. Cain became a farmer and Abel became a shepherd. The sons both made sacrifices to God for providing their crops, but Abel’s sacrifice (of meat) was God’s favorite. Being jealous of his brother, Cain the farmer killed Abel, whereupon God punished Cain to a life of wandering. “Cain then dwelt in the land of Nod, east of Eden where he built a city, he called E-noch, after his son whom he fathered to start a line of descendants beginning with him (Enoch)”. (Ref 3)

It was never satisfactorily explained to me, how, if Adam and Eve were the first two humans, and they had two sons, named Cain and Abel, and there were no other females around, and Cain then killed Abel out of jealousy, and was punished by being condemned to a life of wandering, that somehow, he came upon the land of Nod, where he built a city and fathered numerous descendants. With whom? If he was one of four original humans, who were the creatures living in Nod that he could have mated with and father all those children? Where did all the lovely females come from? There must have been other people living nearby, not created by God? Please, explain. Also, what was The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and why exactly were Adam and Eve kicked out of Eden? I’ll have some thoughts on that later.

Here’s another interesting concept, which was developed by the scholarly author and researcher, Zecharia Sitchin, in a series of books that begin with the Twelfth Planet. In this book, Mr. Sitchin, who understood several ancient languages, postulates that according to his research in decoding ancient tablets and writings, modern humans were originally created some 450,000 years ago, to serve as a slave-like workforce to extract gold, for the Annunaki who were the inhabitants of the planet Nibiru. According to the story, the atmosphere of their planet was in dire need of repair, and apparently, gold was the solution. So, Nibiru is a planet with a strange, elongated, elliptical orbit, almost perpendicular to the orbit of the rest of the planets in our solar system. Nibiru enters our solar system, approximately every 3,600 years.

The name Annunaki translates as those who from the heavens came (Extraterrestrials?) and they are considered mythological deities by mainstream academia. However, Zecharia Sitchin presents a very compelling case in his books for the Annunaki being flesh and blood humanoid extraterrestrial travelers who came to our planet on a real mission. To accomplish their goal of extracting as much gold as possible, they needed a workforce.

According to his interpretation, the hominids on planet Earth, at the time of their arrival, were incapable of communicating and carrying out tasks, such as extracting gold. This forced the Annunaki to do some manipulations with the genes of these earthly bipedal hominids, to turn them into obedient, intelligent workers (slaves). In other words, they conducted some genetic manipulations. The head geneticist Inanna, goddess of love, fertility, and warfare, did her thing, and the result was the first worker humans. As these workers evolved over several generations, the Annunaki became aware of the rather attractive human females, and not having enough females on the crew aboard their spaceship, and being far away from home for several years, they decided to canoodle with these new human females; and there was a lot of canoodling. The result was Modern Humans, or human-Annunaki hybrids; smarter, stronger and more attractive than their predecessors. (Ref 4)

A variation on the theme of the Annunaki, believed by some Ancient Alien Theorists is simply that extraterrestrials in their UFOs are the ones who brought the first humans to Earth, and that they periodically come back to check on the humans’ evolution and occasionally do some tweaking of our genetic code. Which is why, we have seen so many stories about UFOs zooming around the skies of planet Earth. Even Navy jet pilots have caught these hypersonic vehicles zipping around at super high speeds, doing the kinds of aerobatics that would kill a human pilot.

Now, if you think that this is a new phenomenon, think twice. There is strong evidence in art, ancient lore, old sculptures, even on coinage of strange round objects flying around the sky, that are apparently not from Earth. Evidence can also be found all over the planet, recorded as petroglyphs on rocky outcrops, dating back hundreds and maybe thousands of years, showing strange humanoid creatures and flying machines. So, our creator/observers have been around for quite some time.

Whoever created our ancestors and whatever they were, the humans of planet Earth always considered their creators gods and goddesses, because they came from “up-there,” from above the clouds—from heaven. Since they were descending from the sky, in most instances with a lot of thunder, fire and lightning, they had to be gods.

Because underdeveloped humans, who had never seen advanced technological creations such as flying machines, could find no other explanation, those beings had to be divine—gods—and therefore had to be worshiped and even feared. After all, those were the gods that had created them, so they could most certainly exterminate them if they wished.

I have given you several origin stories, however, none of them have been proven so far. In some cases, we are told that there is no need for (scientific) proof; we simply must believe because it has been written so. In other cases, we are told that the geniuses in the mainstream scientific community believe they have the answers; they just don’t agree on which is the right answer. In other words, they don’t know either; although some insist that they do.

Many years ago, I heard this fascinating presentation of a unique origin theory: somewhere around about two to three million years ago, Mars lost its atmosphere and water in some sort of catastrophic event. The presenter explained that Mars, at the time, was very Earth-like. It was very plausible that human-like hominids inhabited Mars and had evolved to a scientific and technological level that allowed them to predict this oncoming disaster that would destroy their planet, in sufficient time that they came up with a plan to save, at least some of the inhabitants. They had to have been studying our solar system, looking for a suitable planet to escape to, and discovered that planet Earth was very Mars-like. They sent teams of astronauts on scouting missions to Earth and found an area that looked suitable for their purposes. They then set up a safe environment in an area that was defined by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, known to us as Mesopotamia. They began sending teams of scientists and workers, to set up a base camp and build a bio-dome with living quarters and food production facilities. As time was running out, they began transferring spaceship-loads of Martians, to occupy the newly created facilities. Unfortunately, the catastrophe hit, destroying the atmosphere and the Martian civilization before they could all be saved. The new arrivals were to live and multiply in this specially created environment until there was need to expand their territory due to a growing population.

Wait a minute. Doesn’t that sound familiar? Isn’t that similar to what Elon Musk and Space-X intend to do on Mars? Send astronauts and scientists, build facilities and populate them with Earthlings (without the global catastrophe, of course). That would almost be like returning the Martians to Mars! So, the Martians, they could be us… (Ref 5)

Many cultures, all over the Earth believe that we humans were created by divine beings—gods who had come here from somewhere in the heavens: the firmament, outer space. In India, China, Egypt, South America and in the Southwest of the United States, there are myths of space faring heavenly beings descending from the sky in flaming chariots, golden disks and fiery dragons, roaring and belching smoke, and creating the first man, then teaching mankind how to build, raise animals and grow crops. These divine beings would interact with their creation until they could be left on their own; but always promising to return at some time in the future. If these cultures all believe that these are not myths, but actual events, recorded, remembered and passed down generation to generation, who are we to say “it ain’t so?”

New evidence about Humanity’s origins is being discovered on an almost daily basis, with the advent of new infrared imaging, radar technology, and via the use of satellite imagery. We are discovering that we have all been wrong about how long Modern Humans, Homo Sapiens have been roaming planet Earth. And, one of these days, we will be told, which of the above theories will answer the question: where did we come from? But I have a funny feeling, it may be a combination of all the above.

What do you think?

REFERENCES

Ref 1: I have read about Panspermia in various publications, including Atlantis Rising Magazine.

Ref 2: Cosmism was a topic touched upon in an Ancient Aliens video, regarding the Soviet Union’s secret interest in UFOs and Extraterrestrials.

Ref 3: The story of Cain and Abel fascinated me, so I checked it out in the King James version of the Bible, pub. 2009, in La Sainte Bible, Version Synodale, Pub. 1952 – My Ecole de Dimanche (Sunday school in France) Bible, and finally in Unger’s Bible Dictionary, Pub. 1987. They all tell basically the same tale, and none have a satisfactory explanation for the Land of Nod, to the east of Eden.

Ref 4: The Annunaki creating Modern Man, came from my reading a series of books by Zecharia Sitchin. The first volume being: The Twelfth Planet, dealing with creation.

Ref 5: I attended a couple of lectures on the topic of the destruction of the Planet Mars, some forty years ago. I summed up as best as I could, the information I remembered. 

2019  Outlook: Winds of Change

Tailwinds of tax cuts and strong earnings shifted to headwinds of trade tariffs, global economic slowdown and tighter monetary policy in 2018.  What does it mean for 2019?

U.S. Stock Market

Gauging the investment and economic climate is always challenging—at least it has been for me over the last 35 years. But, ’tis the season!  It is with every new year that economists, research analysts, market experts and my type, portfolio managers, offer their outlook and forecast for the year ahead. 

Even as this year’s theme is Winds of Change, the truth is, the weather is easier to forecast than the stock market.  While I wouldn’t trade my job to be a weather man, the weather’s wind predictions might have a higher success rate than foretelling the changing winds moving the stock market. With that, back to my job.

This is my outlook for the U.S. stock market in 2019, along with a view of the U.S. economy.  My 2019 outlook for the global markets and economy will appear in ALIVE next month.  

What I know…

In March, the bull market we have enjoyed turns ten.  It is the longest bull market in history.  It is instructive to remember what Sir John Templeton said about bull markets.  “Bull markets are born out of pessimism, grow on skepticism, mature on optimism and die on euphoria,” he said.  Euphoria is an emotion that leads to greed and excess. That makes for the most helpless animal of the Wall Street bunch; pigs.  According to the Chinese calendar, 2019 is the Year of the Pig. Coincidence?  Essentially, bull markets don’t end of old age; they end with piggishness. Let’s remember, “Bulls can make money and bears can make money, but pigs get slaughtered.” That old Wall Street sage sounds grim, but it’s true. So, let’s not be the pig.

We know that investor sentiment, a key psychological indicator of the stock market, is far from euphoric. In fact, the “Bull/Bear Barometer” has flashed decreasing bullish and increasing bearish sentiment since early October. This development is good; it’s bullish, from a contrarian perspective.  Simply put, in contrarian thinking, bad is good and good is bad. Therefore, it is bullish that market sentiment has recently turned bearish.  What caused the market sentiment swing that began in early October? The tailwinds of tax cuts and strong earnings shifted to headwinds of trade tariffs, global economic slowdown and tighter monetary policy. We also know stocks’ historically strong post-midterm-election performance trend is a tailwind, but mounting trade uncertainty and the political landscape have created offsetting headwinds. Discipline around diversification and rebalancing will be important in 2019. Recession risk is rising, and we know stocks historically have posted their weakest performance during the six months leading up to recessions.  Over the last 50 years, U.S. equities have never peaked more than 13 months before an economic recession, so if we learn in the near term that the market topped with its October highs, the next recession is no sooner than late 2019. 

What I think…

Earnings will be key. I expect earnings growth to decelerate sharply in 2019.  Year-over-year comparisons will be more challenging relative to the tax-cut-related boost 2018 earnings received. Last year’s fourth quarter volatility was in large part driven by a growing conviction that 2018 would be “peak” earnings for companies. Also, I see the continued strength in the U.S. dollar and the impact of trade tariffs imposing additional headwinds for earnings, even though stock valuations have become more reasonable as prices have dropped. The winds of change affecting the market will further influence investor sentiment, which is likely to move the stock market in 2019, as volatility persists. As I write this 2019 OUTLOOK, the major U.S. stock indexes are struggling to recapture key support levels. After slicing through their respective 200-day moving averages, the major market indexes have attempted—and twice failed—to climb back above those meaningful levels. Having clearly fallen enough to be in “correction” mode, the looming question is: will the U.S. stock market fall further into the throes of a bear market? I don’t think so. With the notion that bull markets do not simply die of old age, as a strategist I think it is too early to become overly defensive given that 2020 seems the recession danger zone. Ultimately, stock prices are all about earnings. Adopting the consensus view, I expect earnings growth to drop significantly from last year’s growth rate. With a forecast of 9% earnings growth for the S&P 500 in 2019, I have a price target of 3000 for the major index—not bad from the current level of 2600 in mid-December, but for proper perspective, only a 2% price gain from 2940 in early October. Do the potential returns justify the risks? It’s the most fundamental investment question. I think they do. Again, as said above, discipline around diversification and rebalancing will be important in 2019 to contend successfully with the winds of change.

The U.S. Economy

As some think 2018 was a peak earnings year, some also think the U.S. economy is now as good as it gets for the cycle. Real GDP growth in the middle quarters of 2018 logged north of 3%, roughly double the estimate of the U.S. economy’s long-term potential at the year’s start. Earnings growth for the S&P 500 index has been 25% or higher in every quarter this year (through Q3) – a remarkable rate seen usually when coming out of recessions. And, the unemployment rate stands near a 50-year low. U.S. fundamentals are unequivocally strong right now.

• Interest Rates: 1 & 4, or 1 & no more?  The inference is, will the Fed raise their key federal funds rate one more time in late December, as they have signaled, and hike four more times in 2019, or will they raise one and be done (with no rate increases in ’19)?  That’s the great debate over the Fed’s target interest rate.   Certainly “ZIRP” (zero interest rate policy) is a thing of the past as the Fed has raised rates eight times since December of 2015. Many believed through most of 2018 that the Federal Reserve was on a mission to get interest rates to normal levels. ZIRP was far from normal and so is today’s still low rate level. Interest rates in the United States averaged 5.70% from 1971 until 2006, reaching an all-time high of 20% in March of 1980 and a record low of 0.25% in December of 2008. As I write this is mid-December, I see the Fed’s playbook as “1 + 1 = done”.  They will hike rates late December 2018 and at the June 2019 scheduled FOMC meeting. The wild card?  Chairman Jerome Powell & Co. at the Fed decide NOT to raise in December…

• Inflation:  Labor costs are the biggest component of inflation in the U.S. With unemployment near 50-year lows, labor costs can only go up. Expect this in 2019, and inflation pressures to ensue. As I said this time last year, the jobs market is just too strong for another year of below average inflation measured by the CPI (Consumer Price Index). Historically, inflation has averaged about 3.2%. As of late 2018, the “core” rate — all prices except food and energy — picked up to a 2.2% yearly rate. This rate will likely edge up to near 3% by the end of 2019 as the economic expansion generates small inflationary pressures, the healthy jobs market being the catalyst. Speaking of health, U.S. health care inflation rate was at 2.03% (2018), compared to 1.68% last year (2017). This is lower than the long-term average of 5.32%.  Expect inflation approaching 3% in 2019. 

Look for Part 2 of my 2019 Outlook: Global Markets and Economy, in February’s ALIVE Magazine. 

HAPPY & HEALTHY NEW YEAR! 8Z

I first met Ben Fernandez thirty years ago, and he was already a trivia legend. Over the years my respect for him grew, so with his passing on December 19^th I’d like to show you that everyone felt the same way about him, both as a competitor and as a person.

Ben was born in Emeryville, and he and his Oakland-born wife, Donna, were married for about 60 years. They were devoted parents to their three daughters.

They lived for decades in Pleasanton, where Ben excelled in his insurance career. He was involved in local fundraisers and worked on a variety of committees for the Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce. He cared very much for the city, championing its growth and supporting its local politicians.

Ben’s phenomenal memory for both film and sports trivia made him a deadly one-two competitor in local and national competitions. Starting in the 1970s, Ben and his cohorts founded friendly trivia matches in Oakland that continue once a month to this day. He competed in the national Boulder, Colorado tournament, and was a frequent Bay Area radio guest. Here are some comments from those who played with and against him:

“We all want to be held in high esteem by our colleagues.  Ben was.”

“He was a legend in every way—a local sports historian and one of the greatest of the greatest generation. I am heartbroken that I won’t hear him come up with the best trivia answer of the night.”

“I was impressed by Ben’s sportsmanship and overall friendliness. He was a true gentleman.”

“I first met Ben when I did a story on the King’s X trivia night for The Oakland Tribune in 1984. He made me feel welcome and brought me into the group. I’ll never forget that; there are so many stories. I’ll never forget his knowledge and his ready laughter.”

“As the Godfather of Trivia for the Bay Area, I was always impressed and moved not only by Ben’s incredible range of knowledge and love of all things that enrich our lives in sports, entertainment, and other diversions from our work, but also his generosity and calmness that kept the rest of us in line. He was truly one of the top class-acts of a person I have encountered in my lifetime and I am sure in all of your lifetimes. Here’s to a life truly well lived.”

“I’m very sorry to hear of Ben’s passing. He was the cornerstone of the King’s X trivia group when I started in 1982, and remained so for almost all of the 36 years since. He had that natural way of being open and friendly, and needless to say, he also had that killer combination of being equally good at answering both movie and sports questions—the toughest combination to beat—something I remember because I came out on the losing end against that ability many times. But win or lose, he was a welcoming, genial guy, and he will be much missed.”

Those thoughts very much sum up my feelings about Ben, too.  I am honored to attempt to fill his shoes for this magazine with fun trivia questions. I’ll definitely draw on his style, since Ben set the standard.  Thank you, Ben.

A Personal Remembrance from Joe Redmond

When asked to say a few words about the passing of my friend Ben (Fernandez) for Alive Magazine, I didn’t hesitate and immediately said, “Sure , I can do that easily.” But with the January issue deadline already past due, I suddenly realized that to do justice to that task was almost impossible, especially with the clock ticking. So, I’ll simply say that Ben meant the world to me, as he did to countless folks in the Bay Area. Ben, who was the youngest 87-year-old I’ve ever known, was so many things to so many, I can only mention how it’s affected me.

Ben was the first person I met socially when I arrived in California from Chicago in the Fall of 1979. And that was at the Kings X in Oakland where monthly Trivia matches were held. I walked into the sports bar one Tuesday evening for the first time and Ben made a very lonesome stranger feel not only at home, but like I had friends right away… and many of those I met have become my close friends for 40 years.

Ben was the wittiest, smartest and most interesting man I’ve ever known and I was constantly amazed on how the consummate insurance executive was so expert at general knowledge of sports and entertainment that he could have had a successful career in all those fields. He was so good that he was often invited to San Francisco radio programs to offer color and opinions on air. He was the only person in my world that was a member of The American Film Institute (AFI) and he was asked to speak at events in the Bay Area for decades.

Ben’s greatest joy was his family and he spent the last few decades traveling the world with his wife, of over 60 years and being the best grandfather a man could be.

I’ve so many memories of Ben; I couldn’t nor have the time to reflect on them at this moment, but do have a day I’ll always remember. He once called me and asked me if I’d like to join him on a short trip to Palo Alto to take part in a film retrospective of Billy Wilder, the famous film director. (They were playing a full month of his pictures at the Stanford Theatre). We spent a Saturday afternoon watching Some Like it Hot and The Apartment, where we attended a reception afterward and socialized with the guests of honor, Billy Wilder, himself and Jack Lemmon. For a movie buff like myself, I was in 7th Heaven. Thanks, Ben.

In my pursuit of the important aspects of art in our lives, I often seek less common roads to find stories and subject matter that offers a new perspective on an art form that may not be discussed or explored very often. In my June article about Rick Holcomb, the former Danville resident who, through a relatively kindly twist of fate, was fortunate to have joined forces with Cathy Riggs in her delightful “I’ve Been Framed” frame shop in Martinez. Subsequently, Rick has become a picture framing craftsman who demonstrates a unique vision in framing customers’ art. While in the shop, I was inadvertently introduced to Jim Marieiro, a master wood carver, who just happened to be conducting a wood carving class in the back room of the frame shop on that particular day.

I had never really thought of wood carving as an art form previously, nor had I ever been to an exhibit of this type of art. Rick introduced me to this gentleman as “both a state and national champion wood carver for many years.” I was surprised to see such exquisite examples in that classroom of birds and fish carvings, I was taken aback.

I recently followed up on my previously piqued interest and requested an interview with Jim Marieiro. When we spoke, he told me that he did his first wood carvings primarily of decoys that he could use in his hunting adventures when he was between 15 to 16 years of age. He continued carving and also got into taxidermy. Before long, he became so good at this art that friends began asking him to do their taxidermy and eventually he became the founder of the California Association of Taxidermists. Taxidermists, especially some of the best in the world, also compete in state, national, and world competitions, and at state shows, and the top taxidermists in the world conduct seminars as well. Originally, the California State association show and meeting was held annually in Redding California.

Jim retired from taxidermy 12 years ago as his love of wood carving had grown into such a fine art that he was in great demand as a teacher of wood carving and was capable of generating considerable income from it as well. Jim said, “Some of the miniatures go from $250 each to upwards of $5,000 for the larger items, such as one Eagle I sold.” One of his duck carvings replicating a Hooded Merganser (which is found locally in the Walnut and Pacheco creeks) has become a truly beautiful specimen of his work.

He dutifully studies each of the fish, ducks, birds and other animals that he carves so that he can be completely accurate in his presentation of these subjects. He can even tell you that the Hooded Merganser only eats fish and/or crawdads.

Jim explained that a simple carving takes about two to three weeks to complete. Of course, he is very experienced and works at a professional level. “And that’s not steady, continuous working; sometimes (it’s) only two or three days a week,” he says.

The Pacific Flyway Decoy Association is the big show in the Western United States, held annually in Sacramento, every July. “Unfortunately,” says Mr. Marieiro, “the PFD Association doesn’t advertise like it used to.” He used to find used posters on just about every telephone pole in Martinez informing the public about the upcoming gathering, but today their marketing has primarily shifted to the Internet.

The Association’s convention is still attended by thousands of people, but is nowhere near the “shoulder to shoulder” crowds that they used to have. It is still a terrific show but not as many people are made aware of it. Each year the show brings competitors all the way from New York, Texas, and Idaho. In addition, the show includes seminars and thousands of exhibits during the three-day event.

There is another group called the Capital Woodcarvers in Sacramento that meets in May of each year, and this group carves everything you could imagine—from fancy rocking chairs to gourds, and from human figures to antique-style artifacts.

Locally, Jim says his students range from beginners and intermediate woodcarvers, up to some of the finest experts in the country. This community of artists has become an extended family; a wonderful group helping each other to learn this art. He says that the kind of competitions that his class, the California’s Contra Costa County Critter Club, like to do, is primarily to carve fish and birds. “We have a lot of kids in our club, especially on our Thursday night classes, and some of these kids range from real youngsters to older kids, clearly into their twenties,” he said. “I do this because I love to teach kids this art and I want to get this art more out there, and these kids especially love carving these birds and fish,” he added.

While there is a ten dollar per class fee for each student to pay for the use of the studio space, Marieiro provides this instruction to all without any remuneration going to himself, and he has even worked out a deal with the frame shop owner, Cathy Riggs, so that all students 18 years of age or under are absolutely free!

When I attended one of the Thursday evening classes, I met adult student, Alex Kobylik, who originally investigated the class to find an educational art program that his two boys, Jonas and Alan could enjoy after the Martinez “Art Euphoria” program came to an end. The instructor of that program referred the Kobylik family to Jim Marieiro’s Thursday night program. Alex says that his boys fell in love with the program, not only because they love the projects that they were working on but primarily because instructor Marieiro became like a second grandfather to them.

This family had emigrated from Europe and all their extended family was still there. Alex says that Mr. Marieiro treated them like family and demonstrated such great love of this art that the boys took it to heart. The proof may lie in the fact that within two to three years both boys have become national award winners. It is also noteworthy that when Alex brought his children to become involved in this art class, he had no intention to become a student himself, but he discovered that he really enjoyed it while working with his boys in this activity. Further he says, “it has brought his entire family even closer together.”

I also attended one of the Wednesday afternoon classes where I met Mr. EB Mussa, who in the span of three years, has become a national champion and award winner. He discovered this class quite accidentally while he was on his way to have lunch at a restaurant across the street from the frame shop. He noticed some beautiful carved fish and birds in the window and went inside to inquire as to who created them. He was invited by shop owner Cathy Riggs to come back and attend one of the workshops for free just to get acquainted. Now after three years, he’s knee-deep in artwork.  

Ngam Worley attended a December Wednesday afternoon class and quickly decided that she too will be joining the 2019 class.  Even Jim Marieiro’s grandson, Dominic Pruett, has been a national champion three years in a row and I photographed one of his exquisite blue ribbon, award-winning fish carvings.

Hopefully, after you see this article and the beauty that can be accomplished through these classes and the love that this art form has generated in these talented carvers, you won’t simply “eat your heart out,” but you will come down to the “I’ve Been Framed” frame shop and art studio at 411 Ferry Street (at the corner of Marina Vista Avenue) in Martinez, and drop in on one of these classes and maybe, eventually, “Carve Your Art Out” too. It’s a great group of people in a very supportive atmosphere.  In addition, this is a great little frame shop.  If you call Cathy Riggs or Rick Holcomb at (925) 228-7353 and ask either of them about these classes, they will gladly explain what they’re about, when they happen, and will invite you to their frame shop to get acquainted. And Jim’s beautiful work is on display and for sale in the shop as well, so you can start your own collection of these exquisite art pieces!