Friday Follies...
We're on the eve of Memorial Day weekend 2008, and anyone that has the slightest inkling of what the REAL meaning behind Memorial Day is probably going to be taking some time to reflect.
And reflection is good.
Think of it as "food for the soul".
A way to remember.
As a preamble to my Memorial Day post (this Monday), I want to offer some "reflections" if you will regarding the current state of affairs in this fine nation.
---With the ever-rising cost of oil, we've been seeing a financial catastrophe looming, the likes of which (imho) has yet to be rivaled in past history. We could offer up the burning of Rome, or the fire-bombing of Dresden, or assorted floods, earthquakes, and other "acts of nature" as good examples. But what we have here has all the makings of a potential paradigm shift in the global status quo.
If we were to consider some of the possible ramifications of this oil crisis, the world could take on a very different appearance. We could be looking at fiscal collapse of national infrastructures. We're already seeing the house market dropping faster than a $10 whore.
We're also seeing prices rise astronomically, as these fuel costs are passed onto the consumer for every item under the sun (and then some). And when we stop to consider all the products we use in our homes that has some type of petroleum base, we find ourselves deeper in this quagmire of "need".
And what better way to defeat the "nasty USA" than by ECONOMIC means (that we have little control over)? That's for all you conspiracy theorists out there.
In our rush to preserve environments, save species from extinction, and attempt to keep the earth pristine, we've neglected our real needs, and supplanted them with our narcissistic wants. We had the chance to wean ourselves off of SO much oil back in the 1970s...and we did sat on our asses. We had the chance to develop alternatives to fossil fuels, build more nuclear plants, and pursue wind, solar, and geothermal power with an honest zeal for a true balance between nature and ourselves. And we just scratched the asses we sat on.
Now, we spend time reflecting on what "could" have been. We do this because we're no longer able to frivolously drive anywhere, anytime, unless we're willing to hand over a nice chunk of our paychecks to fill the gas tank to do so.
Nice wake-up call.
---I think about when I was a kid...no computer stalkers wanting to "meet" me, no camera cellphones catching us picking our noses (or worse), no video game babysitters, no MTV/BET crap soiling our synapses, and just a lot FEWER problems.
We had simple solutions TO simple problems, when we even HAD problems (like Cold War nuclear annihilation). But that's what being a kid was all about.
Take bicycles...can't get ANY simpler than that, right?
You learn to ride, and that's about it. My dad taught me (I started out on a 24" model of all things - NO training wheels either). And when he did that, it opened up a much larger world for me.
Your bike was many things...it was your motorcycle (with strategically-placed baseball cards in the spokes, which today's kids seem to lack the skills to mimic), it was your horse, it was your partner, it was your "best friend".
Yessir...all I needed was my bike, a stretch of pavement or a road somewhere, and my imagination, and I was off on another "adventure", as were the rest of us kids. And woe to those of us that did not obey the rules of the road. No getting in the way of cars by riding down the middle of the street. NO riding across other peoples' property - that was "Verboten"!
We figured as long as we respected some simple rules, we would be shown respect back. And aside from the rare case where some numb-nut didn't know HOW to drive a damn car, that pretty much worked for us all.
Being a kid in "my" day meant that you had a decent command of your imagination. Hell, you had to have an imagination, because many times, your parents couldn't afford anything else. And if they did, they usually made sure it didn't run on batteries ("...Because they cost money, son").
So we had toy soldiers (green army men), cap pistols, toy trucks and cars...and plenty of "brain activity" to make it all work.
Kids today all seem to have problems we never had. Many are "bored", others suffer from ADHD, and still others just have heads full of bad wiring. And yet...they have ALL this stuff at their fingertips. Now I know some will argue that my generation had the same things said about them by OUR parents and grandparents. Yeah, we do that...compare other generations to OURS. But never was it more pronounced than with today's kids.
MY parents had none of what my generation had, and they still made out OK. MY generation had little if nothing of what kids have to day...and WE (for the most part) turned out OK. But you really have to wonder about today's generation. Every past generation has used what they had available to them to make being a kid work for them. We can't seem to say that today. Today's kids have more problems than we ever did, and yet they have all this "stuff" to keep them from becoming that way.
Makes you think, right?
Makes you "reflect".
So when I have the luxury of a few minutes of peace and quiet, I like to reflect on things like this, among other things. If we never feed our souls, we can't satisfy the hunger that we never can seem to explain. When our stomach is empty...we fill it. Maybe not with the "best " food available (pizza, hoagies and cheesesteaks for me, please), but we are compelled to eat what we need to just to survive. It's instinctual. It's primal. It's necessary.
Would it be that we take as much time wondering how to properly feed our souls as well as our bodies.
Personal reflection might not be a pork tenderloin, but it sure beats the hell out of starving oneself in ways one cannot imagine. And like any kid, you surely must have SOME imagination in you to figure that one out.
---Now if you'll pardon me, I've got to go and see what the squirrels are up to outside.
Looks like my "watch-squirrel" found some new "friends"...and the Force is strong with them apparently.
Catch you on Memorial Day, but in the meantime...
Do have a SAFE weekend.

You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet...
We finally hit the "magic" number. FOUR DOLLARS A GALLON for gasoline. Take a few moments to let that sink in as you sip your coffee. FOUR DOLLARS. Say it a few times out loud. It's OK to get pissed over this. I know I sure as hell am.
I grow weary of people (in power) telling ME to cut back, drive frugally, and consider alternative forms of transportation like bikes and buses.
Been there, done that...and at a time when it wasn't "in vogue".
Enough is truly enough. Now...it's MY time. I've been as frugal as I'm going to be, and it got me NOWHERE, as I'm sure many of you also have seen as you did likewise.
It's OUR time then.
It's time to stop hugging trees, and get those drills tapping the vast reserves under OUR territory for more oil, until this nation wakes the hell up gets serious and does something about another fuel source (and between you...me, and the fencepost...ETHANOL ain't gonna cut it, and certainly NOT for under $3 a gallon). We're not going to "ruin" our environment...not by a long shot. And we're not going to kill of species, destroy our natural resources, or increase global warming. Other nations are doing that much FOR US. And no one seems to bother THEM about it.
The American oil companies are before our lawgivers now in D.C. and the "grilling" they're being exposed to is so limp-wristed it's not funny. MY parent scolded me worse than this to get to the truth.
Let ME ask them some POINT-BLANK questions, and toss a few colorful metaphors, laced with expletives at them, and then we can ALL watch them sweat.
Personally, I'd love to see the government take control of these companies, but it's not going to happen...these mega-firms are too damn powerful, already run the government, have too many people in their hip pockets, and have been at their game for too damn long.
Meanwhile...back at the ranch...we, the consumer have to deal with the fallout from their huge profits. How's $36 BILLION in 3 months grab 'ya?
Be nice if a LOT more of that went into opening NEW refineries (none have been built in close to 30 years), enlarging current ones, and making life tolerable for those on the brink of financial collapse, due to fuel costing more for people to travel to and from work than they're being paid on the damn job.
Predictions say we might very well see FIVE DOLLARS A GALLON gas by summer's end. Amazing how this occurs PRECISELY when we look forward to getting away from it all for a spell, isn't it?
I've belabored this point here to no end. This nation needs to do something...and quickly. If we were to drill for oil in NEW locations today...right now....we still wouldn't see the net results for months, if not years, but at least we'd be moving in a positive direction, instead of having the oil company moguls sitting on their grossly fat asses, smoking $50 cigars, dining on caviar on their yachts.
This is worse that the rail barons of another millennium in SO many ways.
Still...we can do better than this as a nation.
We should.
We must.
And now...let's switch gears...
Missed It By One.
I reported here this past Monday that the new INDIANA JONES film was to premiere this FRIDAY. Thanks to the "overwhelming responses" I received (yeah, I'm being sarcastic here) I found out I was in error. Yeah, I know this RARELY happens, if ever, but I want to be correct whenever I bring you truth in news and information that's worthy of publication here.
INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL starts TODAY (Thursday) at theaters near you. But if you still want to go tomorrow, that's fine too.
This did take me by surprise, as I'm used to some blockbuster opening on FRIDAY (as did IRON MAN), or even on a WEDNESDAY (as did the very first STAR WARS movie did on 25 May 1977...a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away), but this Thursday thing threw me off my game, and I apologize for any confusion this may have caused.
Tell you one thing...Harrison Ford does pretty good for someone reaching retirement age. He's 65, and to see him once again as our favorite action hero/archaeologist/professor, you'd never think it, or know it. Even though, at one point in the movie, he mentions (during one harrowing ordeal) "This used to be a lot easier".
He's got that right.
Life itself used to be a "lot easier" and I mean that.
If there is ONE THING I have gleaned from all the years I've attended the cinema, it's that no matter WHAT goes on OUTSIDE the theater, given the right movie...the right actors, and the right plot, we CAN forget about the trials and tribulations that will await us after the next two hours are up.
We need to forget some things...for a little while.
We have earned that right.
So for an all too brief time, we won't have a care in the world, as we pass the popcorn.
It's nice to know that.
(We now return you to your regularly-scheduled lives)

Hump Day Again???
Well, that week sure flew past quickly.
Be nice if we could slow things down just a wee bit. It must be true what they say about getting older - time speeds up.
At least it sure is seems that way.
- Ted Kennedy has been diagnosed with a glioma in the brain...sorry, been through that already. My grandmother (mom's side) had that, and she lasted for almost 4 years.
It started the same way with her...a seizure.
As the tumor grows, loss of balance, coordination and thought processes are the usual symptoms as the glioma presses on certain nerve clusters in the brain.
- Judge Kenny Scheibenberger gets a smackdown from the state appellate court and told to overturn his previous ruling for a 100 year sentence for a career drug dealer, one Sharico Devon Blakeley (29).
During his initial sentence last year, Blakeley often interrupted his lawyer and the prosecutor and challenged Scheibenberger stating at one point, "I'll be back. Soon".
The court of appeals thought the 100-year sentence inappropriate, and remanded the case and ordered Judge Kenny to reduce the sentence to SIXTY years, which (pending good behavior) could see this poison peddler Blakeley released within THIRTY years. Yessir...another travesty of justice.
Gotta love it.
God willing, if I'm still around and see Blakeley walking MY street in 30 years, I'll just shoot the bastard. And with me being in my 80s, what can the judicial system do to me THEN, eh?
- Allen County Sheriff's Department rejected a bid to unionize by a vote of 245-58.
Good idea.
- Kelty home slated for auction to pay for court costs. And to think at one time, he was the best hope (short of a Libertarian) this city had to break this cycle of spending and taxation. Well, I won't dwell on the witch hunt that ensued, but I wish Matt well as he moves from his Florida Drive home to a cottage on Sylvan Lake built by his late great grandfather. It's not a permanent move, but he's going to take things one at a time.
- Last night's City council meeting with County council members in a joint "tether ball" match proved most enjoyable. The ball went back and forth regarding WHO is responsible for bridge maintenance. Tim Pape turned it into a "moral" issue by making an analogy to finding a baby along a road. Discarded infants and bridges in need of repair...yeah, there's a correlation there.
Where's Denny Crane when you need him?
Don't worry folks, that lady ain't singing just yet on this one.
- Oh, Indy will host the 2012 SUPERBOWL (big fat hairy deal)...guess they've got to pay for Lucas Oil Stadium SOME way, hmm? But if that MAYAN calendar prediction of the "end of days" is true (12/21/12) I wouldn't be blowing the wad and getting those tickets JUST yet.
- Harrison Square limps along. But we already predicted problems, didn't we?
Can't quite sell those CONDOS, can they? The "Hardballers" have mentioned about FIVE restaurants that are interested for the retail aspect of the project.
Yeah...more LOW-paying jobs. JUST what this city needs to shore up that welfare-driven tax base eroding the hell out of this 'burg.
Does the phrase "Biting off more than one can chew" have ANY relevance NOW? If not, I'd still stock up on WHITE PAINT, because I know of one "pachyderm" that will be NEEDING it.
...And let's take a talley of the stirring I've been doing in my neighborhood's $hitpot. I've managed to get at least ONE house cited for weed violations, and had one trailer full of refuse (that had been sitting for 2 weeks) towed the hell away (and the people called in a stolen vehicle report the next day...ROFLMAO!)...I love it!
That's 2 for 2.
Now, let's see about calling parking control on that minivan that's been sitting at the curb down the block for OVER a week. And maybe we'll contact NCE to do some follow-ups. Sounds like a plan.
Like I'm fond of saying - Someone has to do it, because If I DON'T do it...NO ONE will, and that's WHY things DO get done down here. It's just ONE GUY trying his damnedest to keep things from getting worse. Imagine what would happen if a few MORE people felt likewise.
Oh, wait...THEY all MOVED.
Life is never without a perverse yet humorous sense of irony...don'cha think?
It's got to get better eventually, because it can't get much worse.
And that's about AS POSITIVE as one can hope to be in OUR part of town.
"Smiles, everyone...Welcome to Fantasy Island".
Yeah...I wish!

Time Keeps On Slippin'....
...Into the future (as that Steve Miller song goes). And yesterday, we spoke about history. Well, today that IS history, so let's focus on TOMORROW'S history, namely today's PRESENT. If you're a bit confused by all this "time travel", rest assured all will be straightened out...in good time.
One story the local news aired was about the rising cost of LANDSCAPING. Now anyone with some common sense will tell you that doing something half-assed doesn't take much money (or brains), but doing something worthwhile and lasting requires something I like to call WORK.
It's much like Accounting 101 in that regard.
Most every time, you will GET OUT whatever you PUT IN to whatever endeavor you choose to pursue.
That applies REAL WELL to landscaping.
Now since we're not fortunate (or is that UNfortunate) enough to have some palatial estate requiring a platoon of gardeners and an arsenal of equipment to maintain, we have the essentials for lawn care. With the rising fuel prices, many are rethinking the cost of HIRING a landscaper, and with good reason. Down side to this is that these landscapers are taking a hit IN THE WALLET (as well as on the chin).
Many professionals have to put out so much more money for fuel...for their vehicles that carry the equipment as well as the equipment itself, so...well...you do the math on all that.
Some firms have had to cut back staff to balance the ledger. It's not a pretty picture for those businesses in times like this.
Then we have the semi-pros...those that freelance themselves all over the place with nothing more than a trailer with a riding mower, some rakes, a blower, and a smile. Even they are feeling the pinch.
Down from that we have the "I drive a mower in the trunk of my Lincoln to whoever stops me so they can avoid Neighborhood Code enforcement citing them for not cutting their lawn" fellows. These men are farther from retirement than I am, and yet this is the ONLY thing they do. Must be for the pocket change. They will be affected the least.
As for me? Well, I'm one of those that does his OWN lawn, as I've mentioned here often. And I do it using Nikola Tesla's offspring, namely ALTERNATING CURRENT vis-a-vis ELECTRICITY. Got my electric mower, weed whacker, and blower. Less noise than gas-powered counterparts, enough power to get the job done, and NO pollutants. Also...NO going to the gas pump when something craps out. The ONLY thing that can stop me is a power blackout, and the usual time something like THAT would occur would be during a thunderstorm.
And between you, me and the fence post, I don't see the need to drag a 120 Volt power cord about in the pouring rain JUST to mow the damn lawn. I can wait. Patience is STILL a virtue, right folks?
But all of this is just another one of those dominoes you hear falling.
With these fuel prices, the future of family travel also comes into question.
Those long Sunday "drives to nowhere" have all but gone the way of the passenger pigeon.
Every Sunday, after church, the family would get into the car, and Dad would drive....anywhere...somewhere.
No destination in mind...it was just to get away from it all for a spell.
That was something we all came to look forward to.
And it WORKED.
Back in those days, hell we even took the DOG out with us!
Those times when Dad would head outside the city for a nice weekend afternoon tour of Americana are relatively extinct!
AAA has folded their hand, and admitted that people will be travelling LESS come this Memorial Day weekend.
Perhaps it's times like these that family will mean what it USED to mean, as far as "togetherness" is concerned? Maybe we'll see more family activities that are centered around the house (because we can't afford the luxury of driving frivolously to see some farm animals out in the country). Can the old horseshoe pit or badminton net in the backyard be far behind?
I've pretty much been a "homebody" most of my life, except those times when I was "compelled" to be away from home by circumstances I had no control over. But there was always something to do AT or NEAR home. We didn't even have to take a bus to attend school. We had neighborhood schools (something you will most likely see revisited in the very near future). We had neighborhood stores (none of this mall every so many miles apart thing). We had NEIGHBORS (that were a vital part of the communities we grew up in).
We had it all back then, and we didn't even have iPods, cellphones, GPS, MP3, computers, electronic watches (you WOUND it up every day), calculators (pencil, paper, fingers, and some brains were our calculators), and in some extreme cases...portable radios (that was for the "rich"). We couldn't even afford a car early on, so we did without one until Dad could get one. He had friends with cars and they offered to drive us around.
Amazing how we managed to MAKE IT to now...isn't it?
By comparison, today we've become SO accustomed to having "it all", whatever that means this week, and we cringe at the thought of NOT having all this stuff we seemingly cannot do without.
Well, this gas crunch is forcing us to think "outside our box" as it were.
And perhaps taking a few pages from our past will see us through just fine during the interim.We might even start a damn TREND!
Maybe if we were all just a little MORE self-sufficient, and a little LESS reliant on all these bells and whistles, we might rekindle what it meant to be a family...a community...even a nation.
What the hell...it sure can't hurt at this point in time...right?

Monday Musings...
Have you been counting the days?
Have you been listening to the strains of a certain John Williams soundtrack?
Does your memory wander back to the early 1980s when things seemed a lot different, and gas prices were a LOT LOWER?
If you're like millions of other people, you've been secretly uncoiling your whip, dusting off that revolver, and brushing up your fedora in anticipation for the new INDIANA JONES movie, set to premiere this Friday.
Titled "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull", this is the 4th installment in the series (with the last movie being made back in 1989). Suffice it to say, time has been fairly kind to Dr. Jones (can we say likewise?) as he embarks on an adventure that could save the world (somehow, that never seems to get old).
Last evening two related shows were aired. The Sci-Fi Channel had a 2 hour presentation that dealt with the crystal skulls, and although it did contain some history, was laced profusely with conjecture. One thing I did find interesting, is that the skulls (there are supposedly 13 in all) have something to do with the Mayan calendar and the ominous date of 21 December 2012, or 12/21/12. Planetary alignment and magnetic pole reversal was mentioned. It wasn't really all mumbo-jumbo, but it had enough possible credibility to make it somewhat intriguing. The folklore behind much of it did have a basis in facts.
The other 2 hour show on The History Channel was much more interesting to me. It dealt with the science of archaeology, with the comparisons AND differences between real life and the Indiana Jones movies. It told how today's archaeologists were inspired by the films to pursue a career in this fascinating field of historical study. They spoke about relics, robbers, politics, and the CHALLENGE to preserve history, learn from what it can tell us, as well as being challenged THEMSELVES (a lesson for us all there, perhaps?)
OK...I get it...in my NEXT life, I WILL become an archaeologist (note to self).
I have to admit to being a history buff as well as a fan of the Indiana Jones series (whatta franchise). I have all the novelizations, a making of book, and the screenplay/storyboard book. I even have my own brown fedora gathering it's own dust (from Mesopotamia perhaps?) upstairs over the dresser. And I do enjoy reading about history. The book about finding King Tut's tomb (written BY Howard Carter) is riveting.
And having married a teacher of LATIN (yeah, the ROMAN one, and not the Spanish one), we share this desire to know more about our early times as a civilization, albeit it Greek, Roman, Babylonian, or whatever.
I remember my former pastor in Philly once dug up some CIVIL WAR era artifacts when he was working the grounds of the church (maybe that's why I've taken to gardening now), and he displayed them one Sunday morning. Among them was a bayonet, still in pretty good condition (for being in the ground ALL those years). We did live within a mile of the old Frankford Arsenal (which supplied our troops during that time), so this was nothing less than amazing.
I can't really say I've found anything of note, other than some fossilized fern in some old chunk of coal when I was a kid (and that was pretty cool).
We did (as a class) often visit the Natural History Museum in Philly (that stuffed great white shark over the archway leading downstairs always DID scare the hell out of me), as well as the Franklin Institute, and I did get to visit the Smithsonian Institution and THE National History Museum there (both a MUST see if you are EVER even remotely NEAR Washington, D.C.), and I can say that the "wow" factor is in full swing at both places when it comes to the past. You will NOT be disappointed one bit.
It's this wonder of seeing how people did things and conducted their lives in times past that amazes me. They accomplished so much with so little (compared to the technological juggernaut we are privy to today). I mean when you think about CAST PIPES to bring water (via aqueduct) to your city, it's like the second coming of Christ (as many thought back then), or perhaps when iron was first used, or even when fashioning clothing for our primate backs using looms and artisans to stitch it all together. We take all of this for granted every day...and we really shouldn't.
We marvel at all the electronic wonders at our feet, while forgetting that we owe mostly ALL of it to a Croatian IMMIGRANT who came here (legally) to work for his future rival, Thomas Edison. Yes, I'm referring to Nikola Tesla, the man who provided us with something called ALTERNATING CURRENT - the basis for most everything running on electricity these days. And our vehicles are not exempt, as he patented the first ELECTRIC STARTER motor. So, every time you turn the key, or flip a switch, you're revisiting history, my friends. History is to be embraced...enjoyed...remembered.
And I suppose that's why I have this "bad taste" in my mouth when I hear about something as "small" as the Lincoln Museum closing here in Fort Wayne.
History is HUGE, no matter what size the building or exhibit. History has been around a lot longer than we have, and will continue long after we've become part OF it. We need to KNOW about it.
We need to LEARN from it
Anything that denies us of our curiosity and desire to KNOW about anything concerning any aspect of our past (as a people, or as a race) is nothing short of horrendous.
To deny our past (in whatever manner or shape it takes) can only cause us to repeat past mistakes.
And we don't learn very much that way, do we?
Then again, the societies inhabiting the face of the Earth are getting used to "do-overs"...aren't we?
Maybe we'll get one come December 21st 2012?
Just something to ponder...