Mysteries in the Night

           Halloween will continue to be a primary topic on this blog until the end of October--that is unless an onslaught of disgruntled comments ask me to stop.  I do have more to say on the subject of Halloween and the economy which I will continue. In future blogs, I intend to address issues such as Halloween as Tradition, ways that Halloween is celebrated, the whys of Halloween,  costume ideas, Halloween from the religious viewpoint, Halloween entertainment, Halloween stories, and other Halloween related topics.  If any readers have anything special about Halloween to bring up I'd like to talk about that as well. 
          
           In a comment to one of my earlier blogs, Jennifer Hudson Taylor suggested that a "regular blog schedule" might be a helpful approach to giving a sense of continuity to one's efforts.  She suggests that readers like to know what to expect and may come back if they are routinely looking for something that interests them.  I guess this might be similar to watching a favorite TV show on a regular basis.  Many of us are creatures of habit.  I may try to develop my entries somewhat along these lines. Maybe I won't go so far as WACKY WEDNESDAYS  or SOMBER SUNDAYS, but the idea has merit and I may be playing with this.  So in that spirit I offer you the following:

          In my post of a week ago, I talked about some DARK MYSTERIES that I had read about recently. Yesterday's Los Angeles Times offered an update on the story of Mitrice Richardson, a 24-year-old woman    who had just outright seemed to have disappeared after she was released  from police custody at 1:25 AM on September 17.  She had been arrested after she had refused to pay a bill at a Malibu restaurant and then police discovered marijuana in her car.  Witnesses reported that she had been acting "odd, but entertaining".  Later police decided it was okay to let her go and sent her on her way with no purse, cell phone, or car.  That was the last confirmed sighting of Mitrice.  Since then there have been several reports of possible sightings but nothing confirmed.  Earlier this week a body was found in a burning dumpster in Santa Fe Springs, CA but police determined that the body was not Mitrice.  However police and relatives of the young woman are convinced that she is still alive somewhere. Where is Mitrice?  Let's pray that this young woman will be found unharmed and can continue on with her promising life.

             In the same posting I also mentioned the death of Amy Farris, a talented violin player who had been  in the group DAVE ALVIN AND THE GUILTY WOMEN.  Suicide is the suspected cause for death but so far I have not seen any other confirmation about this.  I have seen nothing but praises and accolades for her talents and for her as a person.  The loss of someone like this is so tragic.  And there have been so many.
The story made me think of another musical artist who departed having left a huge impact, but with so much more that could have been accomplished. 

            Gene Eugene was a musical genius the way I look at it.  I had been a fan and follower of Gene's for many years when I heard that he had died.  He was the primary creative force behind the highly innovative Christian rock/funk band ADAM AGAIN.  Gene produced, engineered, sang, played, and wrote most of the songs on the group's albums.  If they had not been hindered by the label of being identified as a "Christian" band they might have been much bigger than they were.  Let's face it-- to be indentified as a "Christian" band tends to turn off a lot of the pop music audience. Nevertheless, Gene was highly regarded in his music circles.  He also lent his immense talents in contributions to other groups' recording efforts and produced the albums of many more in his Green Room recording studio in Huntington Beach, CA. On March 20, 2000 Gene Andrusco (his real name) died in his sleep.  His friends said he had not been feeling well prior to his death and had said he had a headache before he had gone to bed.  He had also been in a car accident prior to his death and had been complaining about headaches. I never saw any absolute confirmation of what the cause of death was but at the age of 38 it was far too soon.  I met Gene at a party once, but didn't talk to him as much as I wished later on-- I think I was so surprised to find him at this particular party, a Halloween related party strangely enough, that I was just taken by surprise that he would have been there.  In any case, any rock music fans who are not familiar with Gene Eugene and the music with which he is associated you should check him out.  Some of the bands that he was connected with besides ADAM AGAIN are the LOST DOGS and THE SWIRLING EDDIES, not to mention the numerous bands for which he produced albums.  Click on this link to read more about Gene Eugene .

          Finally, last week I talked about another stupid gang-related death.  One could probably do an entire blog about nothing but this topic.  I am not going to go into this subject today, but I'm sure that I will sometime in the future.

           Leave a comment if you wish.  I'd love to hear what anyone has to say about any of this.  Anybody familiar with the music of Amy Farris?   Do you have any favorite Christian artists?  What is you opinion of Contemporary Christian Music?  I look forward to hearing from you.

Dark Mysteries

         Halloween conjures images of night and darkness.  Bats and black cats, witches, vampires, zombies, and other creatures of the night are offered up to frighten us during the Halloween season.  But the most frightening  or most puzzling mysteries of the darkness are the ones that we can read about everyday in the newspaper.  Here are three that I read about today:

Mitrice Richardson

      "She's afraid of the dark and always has been," said  Latice Sutton, the mother of Mitrice Richardson.  Mitrice Richardson was arrested on the night of September 16 after she refused to pay a bill at an upscale restaurant in Malibu, California.  Witnesses at the restaurant said the petite 24 year old black woman had begun acting in a rather odd fashion.  Police were called.  They admininstered a sobriety test and determined that she was not drunk.  After finding marijuana in her car they arrested her and took her to a nearby sheriff substation and impounded her car.  Latice was processed at the station and eventually released.  Her mother was going to pick her up later that morning, however for some reason Mitrice decided to leave on her own on foot saying that she was going to meet friends.  She is a doctorate student in Clinical Psychology who had recently graduated with a 4.0 average. She was a past beauty pageant contestant who has a good job and who is active in her community.  Why she was behaving so strangely that evening is indeed a mystery. But what happened after she left the police station at about 1 AM the morning of September 17 is perhaps a bigger mystery.  She disappeared and has yet to be heard from.  There have been a few reported but unconfirmed sightings.  What was going with Mitrice that night?  And why would a young woman who was afraid of the dark take off by herself in the darkness of the early morning in a place far from her home.  Where is Mitrice?

Amy Farris

         A beautiful, talented violin player, Amy Farris was a session musician who had played with many great artists and was highly regarded in the music industry.  She had come to Los Angeles from Austin, Texas to further pursue her music dreams. Amy was part of a new musical group, Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women, and the future was looking promising.  Then on Tuesday September 29 she was found dead in her home.  It was most probably suicide, but investigations are underway to confirm this.  I do not know anything about Amy Farris other than what the papers stated, but her story is just another of many other talented people who end their lives.  Year after year we have read of people who seem like they should have everything to live for but end their lives. What darkness overcomes these lives to make them end them?  It is a darkness I do not understand.

Andrew Garcia

        Little Andrew Garcia, 4 months old, was just innocently being fed when he became just another victim of Los Angeles area gang insanity.  It was in the darkness at about 1 AM Sunday morning September 27 in Van Nuys.  He was in the backseat of a car being fed by a woman, not his mother, who was also shot and sent to the hospital.  Andrew however was shot in the head and died.  Another man was also shot but he was apparently not to seriously wounded.  The police did not specifically attribute the incident to "gang violence", but all indications were that everyone involved had gang affiliations.  I personally don't understand this gangster mentality or why there is not more pressure to eliminate gangs.  Of course we have wonderful organizations like the ACLU to protect the rights of gangbangers and many of the gangs have the money for top notch legal defense.  The innocent pay the price for the freedom of gangs to exist.  Gang culture is a darkness that casts on ominously evil shadow over the future of our nation.

            There are many awful things that happen under the cover of night.  And the evil darkside of the human soul can cast its shadow no matter what the time of day.  This is why each of us who despise the evil dark need to shine our lights for good.