Vulcan's Notebook

A stab at the border issue

2006-05-25T10:18:00.000-06:00

I am getting pretty worn out on the whole border issue and I wish we could just put it to rest and focus. Come on people! Focus on the big picture. You see, they are doing it again. The political hacks have pulled out this great big colorful pinyata for us to kick crap out of. We are all so busy looking at this thing that we forget we are involved in a pretty massive war with people getting maimed and killed on a daily basis. We are nearly out of oil.
The border issue is really a bi-partisan issue. Both sides want to claim credit for doing something about it but neither side actually wants to do something about it. Dems are afraid any law restricting the flow across the border will be preceived as anti-hispanic and possibly racist. The republicans see it as bad for business as anything restricting the flow would decrease the labor pool thus creating a greater demand and higher pay for labor.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think any of the politicians want to solve the problem. If they do, I have two really simple solutions that I believe would work. If you can think of a reason--a real, practical reason it would not work then please, let me know.
The solution is simple. You charge a hefty fine for any employer to hire an undocumented worker, say $10,000 per offense. This alone would most likely not do much as most people who commit crimes don't expect to get caught and this praticular crime would be very difficult to prosecute without witnesses and whatnot. But here's the kicker--this is what make it work--You give any illegal a fasttrack to citizinship for turning in an employer.
This throws the balance off. An employer might be willing to hire an illegal when he knows he can get away with paying him $10.00 an hour cash when he'd have to pay a citizen $15.00 for that citizen to get the same take-home pay. Not sure about where you live, but around here you cannot live off of $10.00 an hour--even if you aren't paying taxes.
Another way to fix the problem woud be to allow Mexico to be come the 51st state or maybe the 51-55th state. All of there young people can come up here to work and all our retired people can go down there to, well, retire. If we are going to have open borders, why not have that go both ways?

My belief is that none of this will happen. There will be no "fix." There might be some sort of political hackery. Something that lets both sides claim a partial victory and might involve some sort of amnesty. Something that simply clears the slate for yet another wave. The real problem, I think, is we need to agree on if it is actually a problem or not. If it is a real problem, fix it and move on. If it isn't then how 'bout we talk about something that matters. Something like what are we going to do when we run out of gas or why our children are dying in Iraq and Afghanastan for the last few drops of it.

Idea Bank

2006-03-25T02:51:00.000-06:00

Have you ever had an idea that you thought was just too good? I mean, there is this idea, it seems just so damn simple yet so obvious that you can't really, honestly believe that nobody else has had the idea? I'm not talking about the sort of idea you get when you get too baked. Those ideas always seem brilliant, but in the cold light of the day-after are forgotten--or should be.

I'm talking about the sort of idea that might just make an impact on the world. Might not be sliced bread or a better mousetrap or cold fusion but then again. . .

Some times I get these ideas. Sometimes, after chewing on them for a while, I find the hole in the logic--the reason they just won't work. Some I've had for a while. I've hidden them, nourished and polished them in the hopes that one day I might actually be able to make them happen and then for a brief moment I will have all the fame, fortune and glory I so greatly deserve.

That inevitably leads me to the realization that I do not want fame, fortune and glory. Maybe a bit of the fortune but as for the other two, I'm too set in my ways and fond of answereing my door in nothing but a towel. Methinks my life would change and I'm quite fond of the way it has been playing out thank you very much.

Still, Some of these ideas linger and the older I get the less interested I am in saving them for myself--as something I might get around to eventually. (I actually saw a round tuit years ago. Just the one and I've never seen one since. I think after I've finished this post, I might just see if I can find one on Ebay. My current belief is that you can find anything on Ebay--but you probably already figured that out for yourself.)

I've decided I am going to start putting some of these ideas on my blog. Feel free to use these ideas to fix the world but if you do, please do the right thing and acknowledge the thinker. If you make a wheelbarrel full of money on any of them, a check will be fine. If you are interested in helping make any of these things happen, please, by all means, let me know and maybe if we put our heads together and bang in unison, we just might get somewhere.

I call these ideas my "get rich slow and painfully" ideas. I call 'em that because most of them won't make a dime and the ones that will (or might) will make it at a rather slow rate. Most of them aren't about making money--they are about fixing things and making a diference.

Idea # 27
Idea 27 began to develop from a discussion I had years ago about internet porn and some of the difficulties it presented to legitimate. I was researching a paper for "Psychology of Women" on gender reassignment surgery. The class had been more or less organized male bashing--there were only three of us in the class and one dropped after the first week. After listening to how much it sucked to be a woman because of men, I began to wonder why it seemed I had heard much about men wanting to be surgically altered to become women but never had I heard of a women wanting to--or actually becoming--a man through surgery.

The problem with the internet is that any search that included even a vague reference to sex or sexual organs or the like, would result in literally a million hits. Try looking up breast cancer back then and you'd get plenty of porn but you would most likely become frustrated well before you found what you were looking for.

The sex reassignment surgery thing seemed to reinforce the dominant view in the class. Once again he men had the advantage. It seems the reason there are more men surgically becoming women than vice-versa is that it is relatively easy to turn a man into a woman while it is nearly impossible to go the other way.

My idea? Fairly simple. We have .gov for government. We have .edu for schools. We have .tv for reasons that escape me. Why not a .xxx? With a xxx extension, it would be some much easier to protect our children while making it easy for those who want it to find the porn.

I suppose some of the porn site people might have a problem with it but it could hardly be considered censorship. Even if some providers choose to block the xxx addresses, somebody else will step in and provide that service.

It might create a stampeede to secure the new .xxx addresses but, to be fair, anyone with a praticular .com should be allowed first option on the .xxx site of the same name.

Neither of us are likely to make any money on this idea but maybe it will protect free speech and the children at the same time.

My next get rich slow and painful will have to do with trains.

Tales of a Buick 8 part 2

2005-11-06T22:57:00.000-06:00

Guess it has been quite some time since I've posted. I'm sorta losing interest in this blog thing as it seem I can use this time more productively working on my web site or SST's or Mike's. I guess I'll keep it going for a bit but up until now it seems very few are following this anyway. Maybe nobody is following the web site either but. . .

Akay enough whine already. Lot has happend since Last time I posted. perhaps the most significant thing was getting my 1971 Riviera back from the body shop. It spent something like a year and a half getting re-painted. Early spring 2004 I took the car into the body shop where I used to work. I stripped the car down to bare metal and then over the past year and a half, the guys at the shop did the rest. Unfortunately I got it back just in time to put it away for the winter. Right now it is still in my shop so I have had to put the trike project on hold for now.

I put a bunch of pictures of the Riv up on my web site. I've also made quite a bit of headway on The web site I'm doing for Mike ( www.michaelculley.com ) and I've also been working on a web site for my friend Kurtis' independent film project.

Seems there is more to report but I'm not really in a writing mood tonight.

Some nice light reading for you

2005-09-22T23:08:00.000-06:00

www.halliburtonwatch.org

Posting Problems?

2005-09-22T18:29:00.000-06:00

I removed the word verification as it may have been making it difficult for people to post responses. I apologize for this inconvenience. If you recently tried to post a responce but had difficulty, please let me know as I am trying to isolate the problem.

Fixing the world Part One

2005-09-22T02:14:00.000-06:00

Have you ever had something you knew you needed to write but you were afraid to write it because you knew if you didn't get it just right--if you didn't nail it? Well, lets just say; "bad things, man! Bad things!"To make things just a teeny bit worse, you know with absolute certainty that you will bolloks it all up. The last bit of bother with it is it is simply too big. It is huge--so huge it won't fit inside your head--not all at once. God no! Simply impossible. You musn't take it straight on, you need to nibble. A little about the edges. A bit at a time, but if you ever try to look at the whole thing--and you will just as surely as you will look down when I tell you; "whatever you do, don't look down."--it will be too much.

Katrina isn't a little nibble--it's a huge gaddamned slice. Can't look at it--not straight at it. Got to look a bit over to the left--just off to the side. Look at how slow the president acted. Look at how
stupid it was to not use the busses. How criminal it was to leave the nursing home patients. We need these thing. We need the Army Engineers to blame. We need the city planners and state government. We need to focus our anger. Thousands dead. Not in Iraq. Not in Africa. Not in Malasia, India or Paris. This happened in America and these things don't happen in America. This is not what we pay our hard--earned tax dollars for! Can we get a refund?

We blame. Why? Why is it that before the water is pumped out or before the fire is out. Before the cars get towed. Before anything else--hell, sometimes even before we ask if everybody is okay, we start looking for who we can pin it on. Who's to bless and who's to blame?

Why? Lots and lots and lots of "whys" starting with a city that was built mostly under sea level--one that is sinking( the city not the sea--sea's rising). We constantly and continually ask why and who but for the wrong reason. We look for why and who so we can divide up the bill. We blame so we don't get stuck with the tab. We shout accusations back and forth and just keep our finger's crossed that when the shitstorm ends we are one of the one's left standing.

After we place the blame--after we sacrifice the goat--we go back to business as usual. We fail to address the underlying problem. We need these goats. We need diversions we cannot look this in the face because in it we see death. Not the death of some poor resident of the Big Easy. The death we see is our own. We might say, in that patented dark humor, "well, that's what you get when you live by the beach." Or something more crass. But on some level, we see our own inevitability.

We dont want that. We don't want to know, we don't want to realize that in the grand scheme of things--barring an afterlife--we really don't mean squat. We don't want to realize that with all our amazing technology we can get snuffed out by nothing more than the wind and the rain. We don't want even to think about this. We don't want to think about the possibilities this encapsules. We don't want this thought leading to the idea that maybe we are hurting the planet as that might lead to other thoughts--other guilts. Guilt for things we have done and for things we have refused to do--things we still refuse to do. We don't want this to spiral into a strange sense that maybe we've already been through this before.

We will rebuild New Orleans it seems but I have a bunch of questions I think we should discuss before we start rebuilding.

Family Traditions

2005-09-21T23:21:00.000-06:00

The other day I had a friend over for dinner. As I began preparing dinner--a roast, I grabbed the butcher's knife and began cutting the ends off the roast. My friend asked me why I was cutting the ends off. I had to pause. At first the question just struck me as absurd. Some things were, well, they just were. The truth was I cut the ends of the roast off because that is how my mother did it. It never occured to me to ask why. It just was. I put down the knife and picked up the phone.

When I asked my mother why she cut the ends of the roast off before she cooked it, she was silent for a few moments. Finally she answered; "well I always cut the ends off because that is how your Grandmother always did it.

Even more perplexed at this point, I asked my mom to put my Grandma on the phone--my Grandma lives with my parents now.

I asked Grandma why she cut the ends off the roast before she cooked it. She answered; "I cut the ends off so the roast would fit in my pan.

Oops!

2005-09-14T01:47:00.000-06:00

I must apologize to any of you who tried go to my writing page. You can follow the link on this page to my web site and then look for the link that says my writing. For now, it is in the first column right below the link to my blog. If that doesn't work you can cut and paste www.vulcansworkshop.com/writing and I think that should take you there.

Gumbo and Gasoline-- the gumbo part

2005-09-14T01:15:00.000-06:00

I got the ways and means
To New Orleans I'm going
Down by the river
Where it's warm and green
I'm gonna have drink, and walk around
I got a lot to think about oh yeah

Concrete Blonde,
Bloodletting.

I'm drawn to this like a moth to flame. I've been trying to avoid it for over a week now but I guess it is time I tackle this as it seems itwon't leave me alone.

My mind keeps being drawn back to her. Back to the French Quarter and that one insane night I spent there with her. Has it really been nine years? I can't help but wonder if she was still there. Me? I was just passing through. To her, it was home. I can only hope she made it
out. Chances are though if she didn't get out shortly after I left her, I doubt she lasted this long. Nevertheless, Tammy, if you are out there, my thoughts are with you.

The tragedy is undeniable. The loss of life and property is just unimaginable. I remember the day My friend Josh's house burned down and seeing and understanding what it was to lose all of one's personal possessions. I remember when we had an unprecedented 17 inches of rain
in 24 hours and so many lost so much. We were "lucky" as we only had six inches or so in the basement. My friend Kevin's parents lost everything up to the second floor (including all of his sister's belongings which were in the basement). They had to leave in a boat. Funny thing about
flood damage is you can't get flood insurance unless you live in a flood plain. Until your property floods, it can't be considered a flood plain. A lot of hard working people lost everything. But I don't think anyone lost their lives.

I just can't imagine the enormity of the situation. I remember shortly after 9/11, I went to meet my buddy Mike at a tattoo convention in Chicago. I remember looking up at the Sears tower and thinking about the twin towers of the World Trade Center. My god, it is huge. It is impossible to process the two--the image of the twin towers going down with the reality of the Sears Tower. The two just don't go together easy--not in my head anyway. That is the sort of thing one shouldn't try to fit. I tried a few years ago--right about the time we started blowing
shit up in Iraq. I tried fitting that into my head, the Twin Towers, kicking the shit out of Iraq and other things, personal things. I almost made it fit but then just as I was about to succede, there was a sudden darkness with ghosts of black choppers and steamships and icebergs and
conch shells shattering like so much glass.

The things that kept me going and held the darkness were the things that surprised me. You see, I'm a Romantic Cynic. I suppose this might seem contradictory but let me explain. You know the example of optimist/pessimist of the glass half full/empty? Well, As a cynic, I
believe it doesn't matter because some idiot will most likely come by and break the glass before you get a chance to drink it. What makes things really confusing is that I am also a romantic. I believe that things could be-- should be better. I believe that a lot of things were better and have since gone to hell. If only we didn't have to take the bad with the good.

After 9/11 the romantic in me and the cynic had quite a conversation. The Romantic was overwhelmed with the outpouring of the human spirit-- of love. I remember seeing all of the people walking away for the carnage in New York. There was no black, white, yellow, red. All
were a pasty gray. And then red, white and blue.

The stories of heroism-- of the 343 firefighters, the police, the passengers and crew of Flight 93. They were all heroes. Each and every one. We all pulled together. For a brief moment we were one-- we wereall Americans-- even the French!

There were things the cynic was pointing at. There was, of course, the hijackers. The impossibly offensive idea that any God worth serving would think it a good thing to kill people. There was the fear that we might just turn the entire middle-east into a vast ocean of glass uninhabitable for God knows how long. Eventually we would go there and blow shit up and kill people but for a moment, the entire world held its breath. From Moscow to Beijing, from Scandinavia to South Africa, the world held its breath Some grieved for us-- with us, others looked nervously at there feet. There was a very few who burned our flag andcelebrated in the street but not many.

The world watched and wondered. They wanted to see what the world's most powerful country would do after being bloodied. I think most of them were generally surprised when we held hands and hugged each other and told each other that things would be all right-- that we could lean on each other. That tragedy brought us together as a Nation. Just like Pearl Harbor galvanized our parent's parent's generation to wake thissleeping giant.

We are a wonderful, beautiful, nearly magical people. Where else in the world do people so diverse live and get along at all? Hell, in Ireland we have Catholics and Protestants killing each other. In The middle-east we have Jews and Palestinians, in Iraq we have Shiites and Sunnis killing each other and Americans. The whole history of the human race is us versus them. Our country is unique in that we are not all black or white or red-haired, red-skinned, blonde-haired-blue-eyed, we are all different-- from every part of the world. My Grandmother was Irish, my grandfather German. We are all immigrants, (well, except the Native Americans who really got the shit-end of the stick!) I wish we could go back to the way they lived and respected the land but I fearthere are way too many of us for that now.

We didn't loot after 9/11. We didn't horde or make a run on the banks or anything else "unseemly" We had a point to focus our anger and it was a righteous anger. Maybe not the wrath of God but rather thereckoning of man.

We had a purpose and we all gave whatever we could. Some gave blood. Some gave money, food. Others gave of themselves. Thousands move into New York to help in any why they could. We held hands and we sang and we lit candles. We prayed to whatever Gods we are close to. We sang and celebrated the lives of the heroes. There was fear, panics when white powders showed up in envelopes. We were a bit jumpy-- hell, we still arefor that matter.

Some of us worried that this would be the necessary excuse to erode our freedom-- the precise thing our enemies hate so much. We worried if they were winning by us giving in-- giving ground. We came up with ways to protect ourselves. We developed new tools like the Department of Homeland Security. Some still worry that maybe we gave up a bit too much freedom in the wake of the attacks. Most I guess just accept it as thenatural consequence of being packed so tightly.

I was impressed. I was proud of my country and my countrymen. I was glad we had strong leaders-- even if I didn't vote for them. I saw true leadership in the wake of the terrorist attacks. I saw Mayor Giuliani stand up and do what leaders are supposed to do in times of chrisis. they are supposed to lead and comfort. Giuliani reminded me of the speeches of Churchill during the battle of Britain. I was proud to be a part of this. I was proud to be an American.

While 9/11 shows us our strengths, New Orleans shows our weakness. I have been completely and utterly disgusted over and over again in the past few years with the press. Between sensationalist inept over-coverage, completely missing the real story, failing to follow up on the real story, running from one circus to another quite often. When I was in college, I embraced the ideals of the Fourth Estate and I thought for a time that I would make my mark-- my contribution-- by becoming a reporter. That was before O.J.

Me and my friend Josh were supposed to be heading to another friend's house but I kept getting the "in a minute" thing. When I finally came in the house to see what was taking so long, I found Josh sitting in front of the TV with some other friends. They were looking at video footage of a white Bronco sitting in the driveway of what looked like a very nice house. I asked Josh what
was going on, he said it was O.J.

I didn't know which was worse, that the press would broadcast live footage of a white bronco doing absolutely nothing for four hours or that my friends would actually watch it. I became so disgusted that Iliterally did not watch TV again for nearly four years.

The press has become vultures swooping in to show the death and destruction. Tonight, CNN ran a story about how they sued to be able to show us dead bodies. CNN was bitching that, even though a judge decided they could take pictures of the corpses being picked up-- even though
they could legally do it, the National guard moved vehicles to block the camera's view.

They sued to be able to show us corpses. Not sure about you but I don't want to see any corpses-- especially ones that have been sitting in shit-water for two weeks. Bad enough people have to pick 'em up. Not sure about you but I'm a bit uncomfortable with the thought of everybody seeing my fat bloated corpse on national television. And I sure as shitdon't want to see somebody I love like that!

Don't get me wrong, I have seen a few members of the press that seem to be doing their job and doing it well. Shepard Smith comes to mind. Geraldo is close but, being from near Chicago, I have a hard time taking him seriously. I'm sure there are others out there but the game is such
that the press are so worried about scooping and sensationalizing, that they don't seem all that worried about the truth.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about. Early on the press was reporting that people were shooting first-responders to steal their boats. After hearing this reported either on Fox or CNN, there isnothing about it to be found anywhere.

The press deserves a big kick in the crotch. But another group of jackasses needs a kick also. The politicians. It comes as no surprise to me-- remember I'm a cynic-- that the politicians are scrambling to try to divert blame. All of the politicians involved in this thing need to be quietly taken out and shot. Since we can't to that, hopefully we will remember what happened and will vote accordingly. At least Bush had the balls to make the Nixon-patented passive-voice half-assed apology. Guess it is too much to expect any politician to say, Yep, I fucked up. Itisn't all my fuck-up but some of it is mine.

The real tragedy is we didn't have a Giuliani to stand up and say shit was going to get fixed. This really is the only thing we need a leader for. We don't need a leader to scream at the mayor or the Guv'ner-- we can do that ourselves. What we need is somebody who can take charge and at least make you think they have things under control.

When you look around and realize the people who are supposed to be in charge don't have a clue what they are doing, the urge to go off and fend for onesself becomes more of a survival instinct than a simple idea. Given the lack of leadership, we should be amazed that any of the police stuck around-- that was heroic nearly to the point of stupidity. Those that took off? Well, can't we simply say they were human andforget about them for now?

Today, on the news the LA State's Attorney announced he was charging the owners of the St. Rita nursing home with negligent homicide for leaving 34 patients to fend for themselves. The authorities claim they offered to send busses (perhaps to bring 'em to the Superdome?) to
evacuate the patients the day before the storm and the owners refused. If convicted they could be sentenced to a maximum of 170 years for their transgressions.

Sure, I guess they deserve to be punished. I mean, assuming losing everything and living with the knowledge they were responsible for the deaths of 34 people in their care isn't a punishment. They said they notified the relatives and told them they were not evacuating but theywere welcome to come and get their loved ones.

Seems to me we are holding these people to a much higher standard than anybody else of any level of authority. Could not the same basic argument be made to bring charges against the Mayor, the Governor,perhaps even the president himself?

Bring your lawyer
And I'll bring mine
Get together, and we could have
a bad time

George Harrison,
Sue me Sue you blues

I live in the Midwest. We get a bit of snow up here. For those of you unfamiliar. Snow is this pretty white stuff that covers everything. Sometimes it melts and turns into water. Sometimes it melts and re-freezes and becomes ice. It is wonderful to look at but it makes driving and even walking hazardous. There were stories that went around when I was a kid. They might have been urban legends but they might have at least been based in truth. The story was always that a FOAF (friend of a friend) had just finished shoveling the sidewalk when a neighbor lady walked down the sidewalk The lady fell and broke her hip. After the lady recovered from
the broken hip, she got a lawyer and sued the homeowner. The court decided that if the man had not shoveled the snow would have been an act of God and therefore not the homeowner's fault but since he shoveled, it became his responsibility since it was no longer natural.

Maybe the story was bullshit. Maybe someone made it up. Most of us have heard of the lady who sued McDonalds because her coffee was too hot. We have all heard of the frivolous lawsuit. We have all been warned that if we come across someone who is injured we should not touch them or move them unless they are in imminent danger. I have heard of a person getting sued for braking someone's ribs while giving them CPR-- did save their life.

Whether real or imagined, the fear of litigation is huge. Any time there is a disaster of any magnitude, the first thing to do seems to be to call your lawyer.

I heard somewhere over the past few weeks that the Mayor of New Orleans was worried because the Hotels threatened to sue him if he called a mandatory evacuation and it turned out to be a false alarm. I have not been able to find anything to support this claim. I have not been able to find any evidence that any hotel anywhere has ever sued local authorities for declaring a emergency. Whether this is true or had any bearing on the situation will most likely remain a mystery. The mayor did, however, say that the reason he didn't use the busses to evacuate was because he didn't have any drivers. Desperate times call for desperate measures but you can't help but wonder if he got a bunch of people to volunteer to drive the busses and somebody wrecked one of 'em full of people, gotta wonder if the big story is the amazing rescueor the irresponsible mayor.

A few years ago, there was a fire in a skyscraper in Chicago in an old county building. Literally, before the smoke had cleared, accusations were flying and everybody was trying to implicate someone else and also trying to dodge their own guilt. Hell, even with the 9/11 thing, we got some of that. That is why the government gave an average of on million dollars to the victims families. This was in exchange foran agreement they would not sue anybody.

Don't get me wrong, we do need to look back at things to see what we did right and what we did wrong but it seems more often than not, we only look far enough to pin the blame on someone or something. We give the litigants a target. And then we step back and congratulate ourselves
for dodging a bullet.

We need to be able to blame somebody or something. We need it in much the same way we need stupid people. We are like children walking though a minefield. We need to be able to say, "see, see that is precisely where they went wrong. As long as we don't step on that spot right there we will be fine." We congratulate ourselves for being smarter than the poor bastard that just got blown to hell and we continue on until the next one bites the dust. It is the only way we cancope.

So we find somebody to blame. We find a scapegoat-- a sacrificial lamb and we hang it on them. We have to because if we don't, we will look around and see that we are in the middle of a minefield with no safe way out. We carry on because surely this tragedy cannot happen again as we have fixed the problem and fixed the blame.

The real problem-- the real blame goes to the damn French. It was their brilliant idea to build the city in the first place. Tom Jefferson shares in the blame since he bought it from the French. Hell, Jacksonfought the Limeys off so we can blame him too.

Seriously though, The City of New Orleans should not exist on such a scale-- not where it is. The simple truth of the matter might be nobody did anything about it because nothing could be done. There is something like a million people living in or near New Orleans. There are ssentially three main pathways in and out. We all now know that over 100,000 of it's citizens didn't have transportation. Think about this. Suppose you want to get a million people out of New Orleans, 100k of them without transportation. Where in the hell are you going to put them? It isn't like you can call up Texas and make reservations for a half-million rooms.
Here's the thing, If you tell people to get the hell out and they don't go, then it is their fault for not leaving. Well, except for those that don't have cars but still, you can blame them too because it isn't like anybody has tried to keep the fact New Orleans is below the waterline a secret. But if you decide you are going to load up everybody on busses and just head off to Woodstock, you are in the wrong generation. You fill those busses with people and then get some drivers,
they are now your problem. Not that they weren't your problem before but it is kinda like shoveling the sidewalk. You participated and now you are stuck.

Suppose you do? Suppose you manage to get a bunch of busses and get them ready to move out, how many people are actually going to take that trip. I've asked myself the same question since this happened. If I were told to evacuate my home, would I? Would I leave my home and head to parts unknown with a million other people to go and find sheltersomewhere else?

Hard to answer. I live in the Midwest for a lot of starting with I was born here. Sometimes I hate winter. I hate snow. Try pushing a wheelchair across a frozen parking lot and you will begin to understand why. Sometimes I think I would like to live somewhere where it is warm year round. I've thought about it and I've ruled out the West Coast because of the earthquake hazard and I've ruled out the North Carolina-to-Texas area because of the hurricanes. Arizona and New Mexico seem too hot. So I'm stuck here with the occasional blizzard and tornado. You don't evacuate for blizzards and tornadoes. For blizzards you watch the pretty white stuff and if it gets really crazy you shovel your roof (we haven't had to do that since '70). For Tornadoes, you hide inthe basement for a bit.

I think the real thing we are all pissed off about is having to look through the thin veneer we call civilization. We fancy ourselves beyond all that. We have the Internet. We have satellite communications we have huge ships and helicopters and all these wonderful toys. We like to see
ourselves as enlightened and educated. We like to think we are above the tribal barbarism we see in the third world.

We think we are in control. We are masters of our world. We are an enlightened beacon unto the world-- we lead the way. But when the water flows over the levy and we get a glimpse of what might happen, we get pissed. Instead of getting pissed at ourselves-- for really it is our own arrogance that has caused this-- we find scapegoats. We blame Mayors and Governors and Presidents and nursing home owners and we congratulate ourselves for finding the culprits and then? Then we blissfully ignorethe basic, intrinsic cause of the problem in the first place.

So we continue. We rebuild a city that should not have existed in the first place. We rebuild the levies to beat the last storm. We ignore the subsidence-- the sinking of the city. We ignore the continual destruction of the wetlands which used to protect the city-- which leave the city more and more vulnerable over the years. As the wetlands disappear, as the delta disappears and as global warming continues to raise the ocean level on the sinking city. The population continues to grow It will be relatively safe for a while. It is not likely that this generation will forget or begin to think it couldn't happen again. For a while mandatory evacuations will actually see people heading for shelter but after a few false alarms. After a few mad-dashes out of the city
only to find there are no rooms available, people will get tired of that crap and will begin to gamble. Maybe fifty or sixty years from now another big one will hit. Maybe by then the population of the New Orleans area will be home for 2 million people?

Not sure what will happen but I know one thing for sure, When it happens again, the ones who lose the most will be the ones who don't have anything. They will be the ones that can't afford to evacuate. They will be the ones who don't have insurance because they can't afford it.
What little they have will be washed away. They will be the ones that pay with their lives. And once again we will be trying to figure out whose fault it is. Next time the answer will be simple. It will be our fault.

One last thing before I go. There were a lot of smart people warning us what would happen in New Orleans but nobody listened. We should listen now. We should listen to what they have to say about the Mississippi delta but we need NEED NEED NEED to listen to what they are telling us about oil and the environment and do something about it before it is too late. If we let that go, there will be nothing left to blame.

Run, run, run, run
You better make your face up in
Your favorite disguise
With your button down lips and your
Roller blind eyes
With your empty smile
And your hungry heart
Feel the bile rising from your guilty past
With your nerves in tatters
When the conch shell shatters
And the hammers batter
Down the door
You better run

Pink Floyd,
Run Like Hell

Poems laddies!

2005-09-06T22:25:00.000-06:00

I have begun putting my writing up on my web site. I decided to start with my poetry because I haven't given up on my prose yet. www.vulcansworkshop/writing should take you straight there. lemme know what you think.

Just a thought

2005-09-03T00:38:00.000-06:00

We could send a film crew to New Orleans and call it "the Real Survivor." But seriously, could somebody please push Geraldo out the door of the helicopter?

Gumbo and Gasoline

2005-09-02T22:45:00.000-06:00

Been itching to write for quite a while now. Been too caught up in the real world though. The trike is coming along nicely and the 1971 Riviera seems to be a week away from finished--has been for about a month and a half now.

Thing I've been wanting to write about is gasoline. Specifically, the price of gasoline. Prior to Katrina and her waves this week, I was estatic about the price of gasoline. I thought it was about damn time we paid a more realistic price for gasoline. We've been getting by way too cheaply. To look at the cars on the road--all the SUV's and big trucks getting 8-9 gallons per mile (yeah I know), You'd think Gas and oil we an unlimited resource--or that people were not aware that we will run out--most likely in our lifetime. Nobody knows exactly when. Impossible to say with China's demand exploding.

We have been at war with various parts of the middle east since the early 1970's because of oil. we got crap going on in South America because of oil and Detroit--in its infinite wisdom--is pumping out trucks that get worse gas milage than my 1974 Cadillac Coupe DeVille--a car that was built before--a few days before--we realized the oil supply was in doubt.

You might think me a hypocrite for driving a 1974 Coupe DeVille with the biggest V8 Engine Detroit ever put in a passenger vehicle. The Cadillac 472 7.7 liters of displacement. It is a monster motor in a monster car but the thing gets 16 miles to the gallon in the city. That is horrible but it is better than most new SUVs coming out of Detroit. Take a look:
(city/highway)
Cadillac Escalade - 12/16
Dodge Durango - 13/17
Ford Explorer - 15/20
GMC Yukon - 14/18
Isuzu Trooper -15/19
Jeep Grand Cherokee - 15/20
Land Rover - 12/15
Lincoln Navigator - 12/17
Nissan Pathfinder - 15/19
Nissan Xterra - 16/18
Mitsubishi Montero 13/18

So why? Why after thirty years of R&D of CAFE standards and government mandates and--most importantly-- thirty plus years of knowing that we would eventually run out of oil. Why are we making cars that get worse gas mileage than my 1974 Cadillac Coupe DeVille--a car that was supposed to be the high-water mark. It (and other huge cars like it) nearly killed the American auto industry.

So here we are in 2005. Even before Katrina flooded New Orleans and shut down 25% of the US oil supply industry we were facing gasoline prices edging up near $3.00 a gallon.
I wasn't crying. I was celebrating. I know it will be a hardship for some people and for them I am sorry but I think it will be good for all the people out there who were buying the Escalades and Navigators and whatnots. I think maybe they will look at trading it for something that makes a bit more sense and maybe, just maybe, Detroit will start building vehicles that make sense instead of building cars disquised as trucks to get around the CAFE standards.
I know the US auto makers are hurting already but I really don't have a lot of sympathy for them. I see them as part of the problem. They need to get with the program or get out of the way.

Honestly though, I think the only thing that is going to change people's behaviour is to hit them in the pocketbook. I started smoking when I was sixteen. Back then, you could get a pack of cigarettes for a buck just about anywhere. A few years ago Uncle Sam began raising the tax rate on cigarettes to obscene levels. My first reaction was outrage. How dare the government do this to me? I no longer wanted to smoke but I was addicted. My 2.00 a day habit became 3 then five. For a while I took to rolling my own cigarettes and finally I quit. Some time before I quit I realized the beauty of the strategy. It is a free country, you are free to smoke cigarettes if you want but we are going to make it a bit harder for you to smoke by charging you more for cigarettes.

That is ultimately the way it should be with gasoline. The price of gasoline should be high enough that we need to look at other means of fuel--at other modes of transportation. We need to reward the smart thing to do and punish stupidity. I don't like paying $3.00 or more for gasoline but I think it is fair. Didja ever wonder why gasoline is so much more expensive in Europe and Canada? It is because our government helps support the oil industries with tax breaks and things like that. Even to the point of going to war over oil.

What we need to do is ease the price of gasoline up. Let people get used to paying more for gas. Unfortunately, it is not likely to happen. It was going that way but this littlething in New Orleans has really thrown a wrench into the works. Now it is going to go like a damned rollercoaster. Watch and see. OPEC is going to panic and start pumping as much as they can. The Government will most likely open up the strategic reserves and the pendulum swings the other way.

We need to find a balance. I read a long time ago that OPEC set the target price for a barrel of oil--I don't remember when or for how much--but It was set where it was set because any higher and alternative fuel sources become more cost effective than oil.

That is the goal of OPEC and the oil industry. To get as much money out of the oil game before it all goes up in smoke. We need to be smarter than that. If Ethanol is more attractive than Gasoline when gasoline hits $2.00 a gallon, then we need to make sure Gas costs at least $2.10 a gallon. If the cheapset gas powered car costs $10k, make sure the cheapest electric car costs 9k. If that means taxing the shit out of gasoline or gas powered cars, so be it. If people want to to the wrong thing, let em but make them pay. Stop punishing people for doing the right thing. Stop letting the auto companies and Madison Ave. tell you what you want to drive--especially if they are going to lie to you.

So instead of bitching about the high price of gasoline, think about it as a necessary step on the road to energy independence. Consider it your patriotic duty to stop wasting gasoline

Ray, when someone asks if you're a god, you say YES!!!!

2005-08-06T09:34:00.000-06:00

I would like to clear up a little misconception about my pseudonym. It has absolutely nothing to do with Star Trek. It is a nickname that was given to me by a friend who believed certain aspects of my being were well represented by the Roman God Vulcan. This flattered me so I decided to hold on to it. Vulcan was the Roman God of the forge and of fire and volcanoes. Vulcan essentially migrated from the greek God Hephaestus. Hephaestus just doesn't have the same ring to it. If you look for information on Vulcan you will get a lot of "See Hephaestus" entries. Rather than tell you the story of Vulcan, I'll encourage you to go to godchecker.com and read what they have to say. While you are there, take some time to check out the site. Bet'cha didn't know the Egyptian God Min was their god of Sex and Lettuce.
And the F.W.? Well, I'll keep that for myself and my close friends for a little while longer.

"My god what have we done?"

2005-08-06T08:15:00.000-06:00

Those were the words Paul Tibbets wrote in his journal after dropping the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima at exactly 8:15:15 local time sixty years ago today. I try to imagine the world my grandparents knew. A world without the fear of complete and instant destruction. Wonder if it was nice? Nah, probably boring.

Don't poke the bear

2005-08-05T01:38:00.000-06:00

I'm sure I put the sign on this morning but it never seems to do any good. Guess it is human nature. Try this one. Don't think about one legged nuns walking goats for the next five minutes starting right now.

Okay. How'd that work out? Yeah, kinda thought so. Same way with the sign. Don't poke the bear. Don't poke the bear. "This bear?" he asks as he casually pokes the bear with a sharp stick.

Okay Pat, in all fairness, I guess it wasn't today you poked but I sorta' thought this was behind us but the voices on the ether say differently. After I first saw your guestbook "complaint" about the web site, I re-read my editorial several times and for the life of me I cannot figure out what the hell you are whining about. ( you can re-read it yoursef ) For the record, what I wrote was my opinion and has absolutely nothing to do with Small Shiny Things. It was all me. It was an editorial and was clearly labeled as such and was on the editorial page. Beyond that. At no point did I refer to you or even five year jacket directly and it was completely about how I felt about this project and five year jacket. I gave a good ten years of my life to you guys and I don't recall asking for anything in return. Never once. I feel I'm entitled to comment and secure a little bit of closure. Also, as far as the small shiny things web site, the philosophy is clearly stated in the mission statement. The site is for the community. I think Kevin may have pointed this out to you already. If you care to rebut my Editorial, please, be my guest. Anyone is welcome to write anything they want and we will try to find a place for it.

But you see now I'm pissed. I'm pissed because I may have failed as a writer. I went to some trouble to avoid pissing on anybody's boots but nevertheless, here we are. No offense but I think perhaps you read a bit too much into what I wrote in the inaugeral editorial. Nobody else who has read it felt I was saying anything like what you read into it. I would encourage you to re-read the editorial and perhaps keep in mind it is an opinion--my opinion and it wouldn't hurt for you to remember that you left before I did and quite frankly, I saw your leaving as at least the beginning of the end. Just don't expect me to get all teary-eyed over your reunion with "the band." Personally, I think the people you've chosen to play with don't play well with others. If you are having fun then more power to ya. I wish I could believe that you are and that it will end well, but I know it won't. I think you do too. In fact, maybe that is what bothers you about what I wrote. Maybe it is that you know it won't end any other way and seeing Jay and Kev and Ron and Chris having fun, well, that really has to piss you guys off. Is that why you guys were so rotten to Krista and Greg? How long have they been going to your shows? Nice guys, real nice! Well, they are in good company with all the rest of the people who bent over backwards to help you guys and got kicked in the junk as a reward. Should I make a list? Anyway, cheer up 'cause you are bound to go far with that attitude.

Rednecks and Nekkid chix

2005-08-04T03:03:00.000-06:00

This started as a reply to Kevin's rant on the Dukes of Hazard but it promises to be much more long winded than would be polite mainly because I got a huge load of crap to not deal with right now. So instead I'll hit this one-head-on. In part, I agree with Kevin. I mean as far as
the sex versus violence issue. If I have to choose, I'd rather see somebody getting a knobber than getting their throat slit Just a persoanl preference. I imagine there are some out there who prefer it the other way around. Wouldn't mind if they'd wear hats--it would make it easier to avoid them. Maybe a t-shit that says something like "I'd rather beat my wife than kisss her." or maybe like "blow something up, I'm tired of all these tits.

Personaly, I'm sick of both the sex and violence everywhere--TV, movies, fireworks. Who was it said "Needing above all Silence and warmth, we produce Brutal cold and noise.?" Was that Auden? What pisses me off is that we even have to choose. I mean, it always comes down to some stupid argument like "Okay fine, but if you want your violence, then you are going to have to give me my sex." Jesus Man! What have we done? What did we get in exchange for our imaginations? And where was I when we all agreed to this? What difference does it make if Jessica Simpson has talent or not. Her career is nearly over anyway. "What is the shelf-life of a teenage queen?"

What ever gave you the idea that the music industry has something to do with art or quality? It is what it claims to be. It is an industry In-dus-try. It develops a product, packages it up all slick and sells it. Why in the hell would they try to follow what the people want? Why
in the hell would you try to produce art? Art is way too elusive. Too finiky. The difference between art and trash can be one single stroke, one sigle verse, note or riff, besides it is far too difficult to guess what the people are going to want next so it makes much more sense to
tell them what they want next. The factories in Orlando are pumping out teenage Queens like crazy. It is a much better product--much easier to predict and to control. The problem with talented musicians it there will come a time when you can no longer control them. Put ten years of your life into promoting a band only to watch them sign with a different label who wants the back catalog and future profits. The new label doesn't have to recoup the investment--the seed money that went into making the band big--huge. Now somebody else is reaping the rewards just because some pissy little musician decided his talent was worth more? It is a business and unfortunately the record industry caters to the 14-21 crowd--they are the ones who can afford to go buy a couple CD's a week. Those days are over for most of us.

The entertainment industry is the same way. TV movies, Hell, even the news. Since when is "Joe Millionare"--or any of the other un-reality crap--Since when is that news? When I was in college, I was seriously contemplating a career as a print journalist. There were two main things that blew this idea right out of my head. First was waiting for my friend Josh because he was
plastered to the TV watching a white Bronco sitting in a driveway. We were supposed to be going to a party but instead--for four hours--he watched a helicopter fly around O.J.'s Bronco. I quit watching TV altogether for some three years because of that--kind'a wished I'd never
started again. It is an addiction isn't it? The other reason was because they drummed it into your head that the average newspaper reader read at the 8th grade level, therefore, as
writer, I would need to limit my vocabulary and complexity to this level. Maybe I'm wrong but I see something of a connection here. 1. Most newspapers are written at the 8th grade level. 1. Most newspaper readers read at the 8th grade level. There deifinitely seems to be a connection.

You may have noticed that I have two number ones on this list. You tell me which is cause and which is effect?

There were other issues but a general disgust for the "Fourth Estate" pretty much doomed me to the life of a freelance writer/novelist wannabe. So what? I'd rather keep it as a hobby than let somebody else pervert it.

I really don't understand Cooter's point on this whole thing. I mean this isn't like seeing Julie Andrew's tits (I'm still in therapy over that one). I can't really imagine anybody taking the kids to see the Dukes of Hazard thinking " well, gee it is based on a TV show so it must be okay." Quite frankly, the sort of people who would take their kids to see a movie whose star is a bright orange Charger named after a Confederate General (Lee) with a confederate flag on the roof and horn that plays the first 12 notes of "Dixie"(of course I know the confederate flag isn't a racial thing).

The real travesty is the TV series cost the lives of 300 innocent Chargers and the production of the movie brings the death toll up another 23. What a waste! Films like "The Dukes of Hazard" are simple entertainment as was the origina seriesl. The original was another "night of the comet." It seemed good at the time but that was a long time ago. How many of you have seen any of the original episodes lately? It wasn't fine art. Think about it, couple redneck moonshiners running around in a 1969 Charger? The sole redemption of the series was the fashion phenomonon of "Daisy Dukes"--Refresh me? What exactly was Cooter's beef?!

Perhaps what is most disgusting and disturbing is that anybody would pay any attention to what "the-guy-who-played-cooter" had to say in the first place. If we need him as a moral compass then we are completely screwed--just light the fuse and be done with it! This is news because? His opinion is valid why? He is an authority on what is good and decent? When I hear of this sort of thing I can't help but wonder. Some jackass at some point in time said there's
no such thing as bad publicity and apparently, since it must'a come from Madison Ave, we swallowed it hook, line and sinker.

Remember when the Paris Hilton Video hit the internet and then the news? Am I the only one struck by the timing? I mean, it seemed to me that the Video hit the news something like the week before her show aired on Fox. Maybe I'm just cynical and I'm quite sure a bit paranoid but it seems just as likely that she--or her people-- put her little nudie flick out there for the press.

I can't help wonder if this isn't the case with good 'ol Cooter. Maybe it is part of the press junket? Maybe they kicked Ol' Cooter some coin to stir the press up a bit? Probably nothing illegal about it either but it still stinks. I don't hear a whole lot of people saying "Well, me and the little lady was goin' ta take the boys ta see that thar Dukes movie but you know, good old Cooter said it was too racy." On the other hand I can see a bunch of pubescent boys saying "we gotta go check out that ne Dukes movie, I hear Daisy gets all nasty and does ____ to ____ ( fill in the blank and don't worry if it ain't true!)

A few years ago, I read an article in Esquire magazine about a new production of Nabakov's Lolita. I had just finished reading the book and was interested in seeing a modern interpretation as the Kubrik version took some liberties with the story and seemed to fall short of Nabakov's
writing. Time passed and the movie never came. As it turns out, after the film was shot, edited and printed, no distributors were willing to touch it--they were afraid of it. The storyline was apparently just too much for them--even though it was based on a work of literature and had
already been made into a movie once before--years before. Eventually HBO
ran it and later I think it was released on DVD.

I really wish we could get it through to the movie industry that they don't need to show us everything. It is unfortunate that they seem to think they need to show us every little detail in living color. I've seen sex and I've seen people die. What hollywood give us isn't as real as the real thing in either case. In fact, at least for me, it isn't as real as my imagination can make it. Hitchcock knew it. Hitchcock knew that if he gave us enough of a push, our imaginations would do much better to fill in the blanks. I think it is still true today. I never actually saw Ilsa
fuck either Rick or Victor in Casablanca but it is still one of best love stories ever put on the silver screen. I have seen Ingrid Bergmen's breasts in my mind and they are glorious. I don't think the real thing could ever hold a candle to my expectations. I miss that. I miss those days. Who decided that full-on penetration was more appealing than a flash or something implied? There is very little sexy in a full-on spread shot--it is like something you'd see in a biology textbook. Only thing less sexy than that is panty-hose. Bah!

The closest we've had to that sort of class recently was Natalie Portman. She still hasn't done a nude scene and I really hope she never does. Although I wish she hadn't taken it as far as she did in "Closer." That was enough to make Hef blush.

For those of you who don't know me, let me say this for the record--Mom, you might want to skip this paragraph--lest you think I'm some sort of prude. I am guilty of the occasional porngraphic escapade. I enjoy a good dirty movie now and then. And I have, on rare occasions contributed to the arts in the form of small donations directly to the coffers of independent dance troupes. I'm not saying anybody should have the right to tell anybody else what they are allowed to read, write, look at, film, masturbate to or whatever. The caveat being it needs to be legal, consentual and hopefully not expliotive.

Okay, I'm going to stop that train right here cause that is going down an entirely different track.

As far as matters of quality and otherwise judging art, it is unfortunate that not everybody likes the things I like but then again, it might be a rather boring world if all the radio stations played was Bob Dylan, U2, Gordon Lightfoot, Roger Waters and George Harrison. (Such a shame the wrong two Beatles died first). Dylan was once asked about being a poet. His reply was that he considered himself a song and dance man. I seriously doubt Jessica Simpson has any illusions about who she is and what she can expect from her adoring fans. She's got maybe a one in a thousand shot at any sort of name recognition ten years down the road. Not sure about you but I would rather spend my entire life as a wanna-be than to spend most my time as a has-been.

We have a very nasty history of treating our female actors and musicians as disposable. We don't want to see 'em grow up or grow old. As soon as they start showing their age, well, they better have a helluva lot of talent because for every older woman actor there are ten younger, hungrier actors. You can see Sean Connery playing love scenes with Catherine Zeta-Jones but I don't think you will ever see somebody like Tyne Daly doing a love scene with Ben Afflac. If Jessica Simpson can make a ton of money off this movie or from a few albums, more power to her, Maybe she will turn out to be one of the better actresses? I hated his music but Mark Whalburg turned out to be a pretty good actor.

Well, thanks for letting me talk about something that really didn't
matter. Stay Real.

To: BHS class of '85

2005-07-31T01:13:00.000-06:00

Strange thoughts running through my head this last day of July in this "foul year of the lord" 2005. Spent a good portion of Friday night and last night with a bunch of people who had the singular misfortune of being part of the same graduating class of 1985, Batavia High School. I am actually somemewhat suprised I went.
For me, high school was not something to celebrate--nothing to miss. High school was a four year sentence. For me high school was torture. It was something to be endured--something to suffer through. I have to accept some responsibility for the hard time I had but some was shared by a few petty, mean spirited kids and teachers. On one horribly dark day I was actually spit upon in the hallway. I've had many more humiliating moments since that make this one seem almost petty, but at the time it was the most humiliating thing I could even conceive of.
I didn't come here to bitch and moan about how unfair life is or about how mean kids are. Actually, I came here to apologize. I have spent the better part of my life dismissing much of my high school years as a dark place with absolutely no redeeming qualities. This past weekend, you all reminded me that there were some good times along with the bad. For those of you who were there and made this past weekend an enjoyable and memorable time for me, I thank you. For those of you who didn't show up--who made my time at BHS forgetable, You are forgiven.

crystaline

2005-07-11T22:55:00.000-06:00

Every once in a while you hear something that just captures how crazy this world is in one simple moment of crystaline clarity. I got slammed with two in the past few days.
First one was this weekend. My nephew was over and he was watching the reruns er, sorry Rebroadcasts, of the the live 8. In between videos they had sound bites and quotes from people speaking to the need to help in Africa. I was only half watching and listening but I swear to you, some guy was talking about the problems in Africa and said we need to stop providing food to the Africans for cheaper than the African farmers can. Huh? Did I miss something? I thought the problem was aids and starvation due to famine? So this guy is advocating charging more for food?
Apparently the problem is that if the people of Africa get cheap or free food, the farmers are not interested in planting more food. If the farmers don't plant, don't harvest, then there isn't enough food to go around. Makes sense I guess. Apparently what we need to do is stop providing the people of Africa with free or cheap food so farming will be a lucrative business again and then everything will be okay. It will be a bit painful at first because there will be a period of, shall we say, adjustment? It will take time for the farmers to realize that is is now cost-effective to farm once again but the period will be mercifully shortened by the attrition of the starving. The duality of this problem numbs the mind.
This duality is hardly unique. sometimes it comes more in the form of Hypocracy as it did in the second example. Last night I was watching "long way 'round" again." If you are not familular, it is a video diary of Ewan Mcgregor and one of his mates traveling around the world on a pair of BMW motorcycles. On one praticular stretch if the road of bones, they are riding in the back of an "articulate lorry". They spot a bear crossing the road and the driver and some of the others take off after the bear. They kill the bear for it's skin and gall bladder. It equals money. Ewan indicates his horror and disdain for the Russians killing the bear for simple profit. Ewan's partner is a bit more pragmatic--indicating that he understands that this is big money for them. the fur and the gall bladder will et them nearly $600-- not too shabby here let alone the middle of Siberia.
It is, I suppose socialogically interesting to see the two diferent reactions of the two friends. But what is even more interesting is the very next scene in which Ewan Mcgregor takes great pleasure in chopping down a pine tree simply to throw into a hole to bridge a gap so the truck may pass. His "justification" is there are millions of trees. One might also point out to Mr Mcgregor just how much his trip costs in terms of resources--the gasoline alone to move three bikes and 2 SUV's such a great distance.
It is not my intention to condemn Ewan Mcgregor for his cavalier attitude towards the living forest or to condemn his condemnation of the Russian bear-killers. It is simply an example of how different people draw the lines in different places. Before you go judging me or anybody else think about this: We live in a consumer society and it is impossible to live in our world without having a negative impact on the environment. I don't think any of us really want to destroy the world but lets face it, unless we walk out into the woods and feed ourselves to the nearest bear, we are a detriment to the environment. So unless you are looking for a bear to feed yourself to, don't blame me if I draw that line in a different place.
maybe, maybe, Jut maybe if we concentrate on the things that we agree on, maybe then we can start moving in the same--in the right direction. I think maybe even the hunters might agree that it would be better if the bear was still alive. Maybe we can agree that it would be better if he didn't have to shoot the bear to make money to provide for his family. Maybe?

Live aid to Live 8

2005-07-04T23:11:00.000-06:00

It is hard thing to realize that the original Live aid was nearly 20 years ago. I remember the first one. It was the summer after I graduated from High school. It is a whole different world we live in today. But in many ways it hasn't really changed at all. Twenty years ago we would-- some of us-- be struck by the idea that one man could end all of existence. Russian or American. The leaders of either country had the power within their hands to destroy the entire world-- or at least make our species extinct. There was always some debate as to the fate of the cockroaches.
I remember worrying and thinking as a child how it was unfair that this thing could happen. It was a real fear. It was the cold war. they called it a cold war but it really wasn't that cold. the war in Afghanistan was very real. Yeah things have changed! The wall fell in Berlin as the Soviet Union collapsed. It was Russia's overextension in Afghanistan and not the military or economic might of the United States which brought the Russian Bear to it's knees. Yet we congratulated ourselves on a Job well-done and then just sort of forgot about all the nasty little things we had to do to all the other countries out there in the name of the greater good. After Russia fell, we had no use for Afghanistan-- or so we thought. We really quit giving a shit about everybody else at that point. Times were good. Money was good. We had the Internet and we had already saved the world from the "yellow threat."
Jesus! How could we be so wrong? How could we let it get this far? I guess ultimately the downfall of all great civilizations is the sheer weight of their own bureaucracy. The Greeks and Romans would probably teach us that lesson if we were willing to listen. I guess we can only blame ourselves. I guess we should never have just assumed that somebody out East actually knew what they were doing.
Not sure where this wild ride will take us. Not sure about you but I prefer some crazy Ivan with his finger on the button much more than the idea that something somewhere might happen. the real thing that bothers me is that if Terrorism is by definition the use of terror to control peoples behavior, then who are the agents of terror.
Yesterday was the 4th of July. Remember that this day is the day we celebrate the Declaration of Independence. This is the only document in our government that is sacred and inviolate.

War zones and restoration

2005-05-19T00:03:00.000-06:00

Is this the way to Armidillo?

Not sure why I like watching that video so much. I suspect it has to do with the feeling that we might just get out of this mess alive. 'nuther three and a half years and we'll probably have a better idea.

Been bustin' my arse workin' on the trike. We've got it nearly to bare frame. the only thing left on it is the front end and the rear axle. I want to mount it on some sort of dolly before I pull the rest of it apart. once the front and rear wheels are off it will be a bit harder to move about. It is rough but it is mostly all there. The only things outright missing are the original rear wheels and the Linkert carburettur. If you happen to have a pair of servi wheels or a linkert m-18 laying around. . .
There's a swap-meet this weekend in Sandwich. Think I might head out there and see what I can see. Not much hope of finding what I need but gotta' try I guess.
Don't have much time for other stuff like writing on this--or working on my web site but I am using what time I have more to my advantage. It feels good to have things that get you up in the morning--things you want to do not so much that you have to do.

I want to do the servi as original as possible. Some things are hard to figure in terms of compromise and others will be determined by what sort of luck I have. I wish there was a way to restore the servi in such a manner that it looked like the nearly 50 year old machine that it is as opposed to something that just rolled off the assembly line. Maybe redo all the paint and then leave the tanks and box and fenders out in the yard for a year or two? I've done weathereing on scale models before so I suppose it would be possible to "fake it? dunno but I think it would look much cooler if it looked like it had been well cared for over the last 47 years instead of looking like it had been abused for the last 20 and then put back to like new.

Keep watching here and on my web site for updates. Not sure how much longer I'm going to be doing this blog thing. I'm thinking I should probably move it to my web site now that I have that up and running. I have noticed a couple times in the last few days that my computer seems to be shutting itself off for some reason. This will have the unfortunate affect of pulling both my web site and the SST site down. I should be able to have a dedicated server set up for the web stuff within a few weeks. Once the stability issues are worked out, then I'll most likely start "blogging" on my web site.

I'll try to get some updated pics on my web site of the Servicar project. Right now I just have the basics and a bunch of pictures but you are welcome to take a look-see.

Damn, Dude! Not another project!

2005-05-08T08:02:00.000-06:00

The other day I got a call from my brother. Diesel called him and told him about a trike for sale. It is a 1958 Harley Servicar. Like a dumbass I went and looked at it. Like a dumbass, I went and bought it. It is a disease. Whenever I have a little bit of money I have to go out and spend in on these projects, then I spend all my time working on them until they are done. Sometimes I "back-burner 'em" Sometimes they get back-burnered until I finally understand they are beyond help.
I'm starting to feel that way about the 1967 Riviera as every time I get close to making progress on it, I find a more pressing project. That one just seems so monumental and my limitations--not just my physical ability but also the limitations of time and space are huge factors.
I need a bigger shop!
I barely have enough room for my tools and I'm not done buying tools.
I Might be getting the servi later this morning or early afternoon. Not sure how that is going to work out 'cause I have to be at my parent's house for Mom's day by 2:00. Once it gets here, I'll take some pictures and get 'em up on my web site.

Back again

2005-05-04T22:48:00.000-06:00

Didn't mean it to be quite so long but since Kev and Jay seem to be the only ones reading this anyway, youse guys know what my excuse is going to be. Yeah, here it is: this is it guys. THis is the launch. We are live! www.smallshinythings.com is up and running. Check it out, let me know that you think. Yeah, I know it sorta sucks and if that is all you have to say you can keep it to yourself but seriously this is for you guys and the fans so if you have any ideas or any contributions or suggestions, by all means don't be shy.
We definitely need a picture of Ron so if anybody's got one, let me know.

Sewing is for girls

2005-04-19T01:31:00.000-06:00

I've been playing with my new sewing machine for the past several days. Well, I call it new because it is new to me. In reality, it is less new than I am and that, my friend, is saying a helluvalot. The machine is a Singer made in 1935. 1935. A few things have happened since then. In 1935 the name Hitler wasn't nearly as well known. Television? don't think so. When did that beast come around? Things were built to last and, more importantly, they were built to be kept in service. There were no stickers that said "no user servicable parts." The idea of planned obsolescence was not only unthought of, it would be dismissed as criminal. Things were built to last and last and last. This sewing machine is proof of that ethic.
This sewing machine might have been used in a factory to sew leather goods or car upholstery. It may have done war-time service. Sometimes, I wish things like this could actually talk to me. I wish they could tell me where they have been--what they've done. Sewing machines are amazing, complex, machines that preform a relatively simple task. I mean, think about it, all they do is take string and fasten two pieces of material together. A task so simple it could be done by our ancestors with a piece of bone and sinew from an animal.
The machines though, they are marvels of mechanization--of prescision. It is an incredibly prescise machine. Everything has to happen in a very well-timed order, every piece has to function in just the right manner.
I spent the day yesterday getting to know the machine. I had to clean up some of the parts as they had corroded from perhaps years of neglect. I had to do some research on the web to figure out how to use it--how to thread the string properly. then I got to play with it.
This machine isn't for the timid or the clumsy. I know my fingers wouldn't slow it down if I were careless enough to put it in the way and I suspect the bones wouldn't slow it down that much either. This thing is a Singer "walking foot" industrial machine. It was designed for sewing through thick leather, canvas, virtually anything. Could probably even sew wood with it but I'd never subject it to that sort of abuse because it really doesn't belong to me.
By this, I don't mean it belongs to someone else and they have graciously allowed me to use it. That is not what I mean at all. It is in my care. It will remain in my care until I pass it on but how can I claim ownership of something that was 32 years old when I was born? Something that is 70 years old--older than my father? It seems arrogance to call something like this my own. It will outlive me as long as I don't abuse it. Hell, even if I do, it still might.
I used it for the first time today to make a cover for it. Something to keep it nice and oiled and to keep the dust off of it when I am working on other things. I find myself trying to make up things I need just so I can use this magnificent machine. I want to sew. The machine wants to sew. That is its purpose. Simple, direct. It was made to sew and it will be capable of doing that job perhaps forever.
It really is a marvelous machine.

Tales of a Buick V8 part 1

2005-04-12T12:15:00.000-06:00

Once again Ebay has put me in a spot of trouble. After going to the body shop to check the progress of my 1971 Riviera, I was pleasantly suprised to see the body mostly in primer. Steve (guy at the body shop) told me that he would begin working on it in a week and he had about four weeks to go to finish it. So I take back some of the nasty things I said baout him. Some--but not all.
There are still a few bits that I'd like to replace so I was looking on Ebay to see what I could see. And damned if I didn't find another 1971 Riv. Somehow I managed to talk myself into bidding on it. Once again I realize there needs to be a self-help group for car junkies!

This 'new' Riv makes a total of five cars. Every one of them is a project to one degree or another. My 1967 Riviera is perhaps the worst as it need major cancer surgery and the body completely redone. The 1974 Cadillac I am currently driving needs the minor surface rust sandblasted and then it will need to be painted and I really should pull the heads off to fix the exhaust manifold leaks. The Allante still has issues with the ABS brakes and has sevral other ailments. The 1971 Riviera will (hopefully) be coming home in a few weeks with fresh paint but then I will have to look at the front suspension and at some point, I think I will have to redo the 'top end of the motor.
So what the hell was I thinking buying another car--another 1971 Riviera? I have been asking myself that question since I first added the car to my watched list.
The only answer I can come up with is that it truly is a disease--an addiction. It is also a creative outlet.
Restoring things is a creative process and a passion. I'm not talking about fixing a new car with a bashed in fender by putting a new fender on and spraying the car to match--although that, I suppose is creative in its own way. I'm talking about taking a tired old thing that is one stumble away from the boneyard and making it as nearly new as one can. I'm talking about chasing down parts and fixing the ones you can't replace. I'm talking about performing surgery where necessary.
I'm talking about preserving a part of our past. I'm talking about taking something nearly dead and making it live again.
The servicar I restored was, so far, my crowning achievement in this sort of endeavour. With that, I was able to take something that hardly anybody thought was savable and bring it back to shining glory. When I get my web site sorted out, I'll have pictures of it on there. Until then, send me an email and I'll send you a few pics.
It is the journey for me. It has little to do with the destination. I'm glad I finished the trike but the enjoyment ended shortly after I finished it. I enjoy the process of restoring things--of creating things but the finishing is often a let-down.

In the Beginning

2005-04-12T11:49:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure how I feel about this whole blog thing but I figger I'll give 'er a spin and see what it's all about instead of simply bashing that which I don't understand. I suspect it is a bit of a party where everybody is talking and nobody is listening. I hope I'm wrong. I imagine a lot of stuff I'll sound off on will be things I don't understand. Maybe some of you will be able to help. Other things I'll talk about are things I think I understand but it seems nobody else does. Mostly it will, I suppose, be discussions aobut a world that is sometimes frightening and that seems to be on the verge of 'moving on.' Quite possibly soon. Maybe it is too late to turn it around but I'd at least like to see us try.