At the Edge of Creation I once worked with a man at the age of creation and he was good to work with, for he spoke in short bursts of excitement as though what he had said before the conjunction was aged by the sentence’s end. ©Peter Bray 1976 All rights reserved A Short Serenade […]
The A Cappella Handyman: Our Favorites
Our Favorites Sitting at breakfast at First Street Cafe (440 First Street), this past Sunday, December 10, 2017, it’s time for a confessional: This is our favorite eating place in all of Benicia! Ever since they opened under owners, Mark and Terry Krull some nearly 22 years ago in 1996, wife Janice and I have […]
The A Capella Handyman: A 1936 La Salle
I was told it was cold on Jan.30, 1943 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, but I wasn’t concerned. I was warm inside my mother, Karen Bray, when Kaboom, I was out and breathing on my own! Dad was stationed nearby at OCS, Officer Candidate School with the US Army-Air Force and the US was definitely at […]
The A Cappella Handyman: Hunkering Down (1999-2002)
Hunkering Down (1999-2002) Hunkering down in my steel-toed workboots, our backs against this tired warehouse wall, I’m still wondering how we all got this far. Lunchbox Tim will be riding with me today, my new trainee. Maybe a day over 18 with or without his high school diploma or GED, it’s not for me to […]
The A Cappella Handyman: Thanking Robert Mueller
Thanking Robert Mueller Recently I wrote this stuff and I know it’s not enough to get me into ANY Hall of Fame or have All The Waterfront Ducks remember my name, but that’s OK, so long as Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash singing now over the PA system at Starbucks will cut me some […]
The A Cappella Handyman: (Pi)rSquared Club
(Pi)rSquared Club I entered the CEO’s Executive office answering an ad for a technical illustrator. I figured my break from the (Pi)rSquared Club was nearly complete and my portfolio of technical drawings I had done in my lifetime of six years of college was pretty impressive. I had no idea what they produced at this […]
The A Cappella Handyman: Readers & Writers
A first order of business: a large Thank You to Georgia T. Benedict of Benicia for her positive response to my column of last week, “Mad Dog & Bozos.” It’s always a pleasure to hear that somebody appreciates reading my column. We are a small town and this is a limited edition newspaper, but we […]
Letters: ISO panel and kudos to Peter Bray
Come to ISO panel at Library The May 5 major flaring event at the Valero Refinery in Benicia was another indicator of the continuing need for local oversight and verification of safe refinery operations. Benicia is the only refinery town in the Bay Area without the protection of an Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO) that protects […]
The A Cappella Handyman: ‘Mad Dog’ & Bozos
‘Mad Dog’ & Bozos So illegitimate President Trump is still too fearful of the voting U.S. public to learn his real net worth and sources of his income, so he still refuses to show us his income taxes. And he refuses to put his wealth into a real blind trust where he can’t monitor and/or […]
The A Cappella Handyman: Prosody & Alliteration
Prosody & Alliteration Aha! The MECHANICS of Poetry and Songwriting! Prosody and alliteration have to do with the rhythm and repetition of word, vowel and consonant sounds in poetry and songwriting. They make it a pleasant piece to sing or perform and pull it along like a train on its own set of unique tracks. […]