Mysteries from Somewhere Other

After seeing Interstate 60, the movie, I am wondering what this I-59 situation is. As far as I know there is no I-60.
Maybe no I-59

It would have to be a north-south thoroughfare.

Also, I am not sure who sent this. I have an idea, but I could be wrong.

So, this could mean I am being drawn to a mystic highway by a ghost or other force from another dimension.

When you live as I do, you seek drama wherever there is a drop or two to be squeezed out.

Cool card, don't you think? I thought so.

I guess it doesn't matter where it comes from, as long as it isn't like getting a horse's head. Don't they do that when the mob is going to waste you?

See, the drama thing again. Oh good my life is getting interesting; they've put a contract out on me. You know you need to step up the game when you find yourself thinking like that.

Hulu.com Movie Review; volume 60 and 61

Interstate 60 is a movie I liked.
They did not call it The Sixty. Nope, it was "interstate sixty".
That was not the only reason I liked it.
It was funny, surreal, silly, and kind of magical. Overall, enjoyable and uplifting.

That's it.



Also the surfing documentary "Bustin' Down the Door" is very good. And it is the real deal.
This tells the tale of how surfing became a professional sport with some money attached.
The Aussies and South Africans hit Hawaii and surfing would never be the same. They tended to rub the locals the wrong way, but their realization that they had to be brash to get noticed, and crazy good surfers to back it up eventually paid off.
It is the sort of documentary that holds my interest.
Bitchin flick

Time Flies

So, I had a birthday.
Usually I try to keep it low key and am fine with it if no one notices or says a word. This year I was not sure I was prepared to face my reality. Old and not famous or rich or even a minor patriarch. Boo hoo.

Then it dawned on me: it is simply not in my organic being to grow up. I can be responsible and not childish as far as petty jealousy and such, but the air of the grown up and the restrictions that carries are foreign to my being. Most of my difficulties in life have come from trying to fight that truth.

Maybe now I will no longer attempt to fit a mold that will never work.

We had practice last night and the band surprised me with cake, decorations, a 2 disc set of Bob Marley's last concert, recorded live, parrot coffee, and a toy guitar that looks like it ought to be from the Barbi collection.
A pink guitar with that wang bar or whatever it is called. It has buttons on the neck that play notes, and it plays some prerecorded songs. When you hit the bar a valley girl says things like, "Rock on!" and "Whatever!".
My favorite is when she says "whatever".
So I am now a guitar god with my mini Barbi Strat.

When friends go to such trouble for you and manage to make you laugh like that, it is hard not to feel pretty good and forget the complaints about how you could have been a contender. Maybe I am where I ought to be, and not so far off of who I am supposed to be.

Considering that I expected a sudden death many many years ago from the consequences of driving cars upside down, and hanging in areas where people like to shoot guns, this is all gravy.

Last night was a great time and I thoroughly enjoyed feeling special. I marvel at the trouble people sometimes go to in order to let others know they are OK and mean something. Despite anything else that goes on, there is a lot of good in the human race.

100 pages + and holding

No question about it--I have to get back to work on my story. I haven't lost interest by any means. There was one minor thing I needed to decide and it wasn't even part of the main course of the thing. But it is a part I want in there, and want it to be right because it matters to me.

Can't just leave you thinking a certain set of characters are no count slackers. The main characters don't mind because they are like me. But the other people I'm concerned with need to be shown some dignity.

Have to work and have other obligations but at night I could get to it. Besides, night is when I always find it easiest to do most things. And my deadline is not as distant as it was. Time just whistles by when you aren't paying attention. But when you get in the zone, whether it is playing music, writing, or running with a football, time ceases to have the same measure. It can stand still, or slow down or disappear until you return to normalcy.

Sometimes time stands still for me but when I get back to regular awareness I realize a big chunk of it went by for everyone else. Then there are times when it seemed I was gone for hours in some zone, only to find maybe a minute or less went by in the world as we know it.

Santa Ana?

If this wind keeps up, this cabin could be blown clear to Hawaii. I'll keep the windows shut tight so it is less likely to sink along the way.

If the wind were blowing the opposite direction I could visit friends and relatives. All I'd need is a little steering wheel. Whatever the case, I'm impressed the thing has stayed put this long.

I hope it waits until I get back from a minor work mission before it lets loose and heads to Oz.

Free Floating Rage, or less

Not less than free. Less than rage, maybe. I don't know. I do know I am better off not interacting a lot because my usual gentle gracious self has become rather acerbic and irritable. Must be a reason.

I do have sense enough to see it so I almost managed to keep my mouth shut during practice tonight. Of course I did have to give an opinion or two but then I sincerely tried to say nothing. It was even noticed because one of the guitars caught that a string was out and wondered that I hadn't beat him to it. I usually notice before any one else. It wasn't one of the strings that bugs me the most and it wasn't bad. Besides it had just gone out and not by much. He has a good ear and stays pretty much on. These guys stay in tune better than any I've played with for a long long time.

It struck me that I wanted to be annoyed or feel like I was fighting something. That is when things come out which have nothing to do with what is at hand or the person in front of you. So, I kept cool enough.

Maybe it is just the state of life and I feel it. Probably not. I bet I am in a rage at myself. Maybe at reality in general.

I've lived long enough for things to come to pass so that I can say, "I told you so, you short sighted, smarmy m-----fu----!!".
The trouble is, the short sighted, smarmy MFs don't acknowledge their words and views from days past when I said, wait and see.

So now I have to live a little longer so that that the next crop of SSSMFs can be told of their foolishness.

I suppose the turtle in the cold water which was ever so slowly warmed to boiling still doesn't know he's been cooked. He just can't figure out what happened and saying, "I told you that was a kettle and not a friendly aquarium!" means nothing to him. You know nothing and he is sure what he needs now is good cheap healthcare.

It could be, in certain instances, that I am the SSSMF to whom I speak. Dang, it's hot in here. How'd that happen?

One Thought For Life:part 60

Beware a noisy mob; it is rare that truth and beauty result from their riots.

I found the most violently hateful people were in the thick of mob actions, even back when it made sense to be disturbed about the draft and the war in VietNam. There were many angles for discontent. One undersung view was that the war was not being waged in any way directed at a conclusion such as "winning", and it cost a lot of lives just from that perspective. Never mind that the real objective was a little blurry, and that forcing people to go may be a little heavy handed.

But contrary to what we've since been told, a very large number of those who organized and waged demonstrations were not in any way full of peace and love. Just ask an innocent question. Try getting where you needed to go while they blocked your path shouting insults if your hair was too short or your attire did not fit the mold. I saw it.

That is how mobs work, and are worked. There can be legitimate stated objectives, which is great, but in any huge mob, there are those who want power and do not care who gets hurt. The noisier and more chaotic, the more you can bet less than pure ends will be served. The bulk of most big mobs could not even articulate their reasons for chanting in the streets. They do it because everyone else is and they have no faith in their own ability to think.

Dealing with a group is not like dealing one on one with an individual. A person in a group will do things he/she would not do normally. A group takes on a mind of its own, and can easily become a creature of no conscience. And there are usually those who want to scream in the megaphone and have the crowd repeat everything they say. That type of scene has always disgusted and saddened me almost as much as the drafting of young people to fight non-defensive wars.

People participate as much because of the feeling of power being with the crowd brings as because they are firmly against or for some policy, practice or condition. There are definitely times to rebel, but even then beware the angry mob.

The best rebellion is to make collecting the money to fund the evil doers very difficult. But that actually takes more guts than running with a pack breaking windows and setting fires.

The Genius of the Third World

I'm sill not sure what constitutes the basis of the numbering of worlds, 1st, 2nd, 3rd. But we all know what it means. 3rd world=better bring your own toilet paper, don't drink the water, and whatever you do do not get locked up. Not so different from our country any more. But different.

It used to be that standing in line for government red tape things like driver's license or title transfer, or trying to get on an airplane was indicative of 3rd world countries. Rights were questionable and use of authority seemed absolute and capricious. We are there.

The real genius of 3rd world regimes is how they manage to create a legal system which could be used to fry anyone for any reason, all under the gtuise of the greater good and making a better citizenry.

I think this story is a very good illustration of what the thinking typical of the 3rd world and, more and more, typical of our own citizens who see the state as God, lead to: Don't 'exhale' in Malawi

"The government of Malawi plan to punish persistent offenders 'who foul the air' in a bid to 'mould responsible and disciplined citizens.'"

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1351174/African-country-set-make-breaking-wind-crime.html#ixzz1CfAUmglP

Yes, it is true. They are pondering the necessity to outlaw breaking wind, cutting the cheese; no farting allowed. Since the US has steadily been taking cues from more troubled regions of the globe in creating new policies and laws, perhaps this is a glimpse at our own future.

It All Just Appears

Held hostage by unnecessary difficulties. That is the way of it.

That is how it works in my own existence and in the larger picture.

I know I am not happy to think that Egyptian instability could raise the price of fuel. I'm particularly not happy because the dependence on foreign oil is a false market, created by evil-doers and useful idiots. There is no reason we should be dependent upon that, and no reason we should be a little stretched in the refinery department.

Not only that, but had there been a truly free world without the government-business partnership which manipulates competition and demand, there may be more reasonable alternatives already at hand.

The main thing is that when the writing has been on the wall for fifty years or more, how shocked can you be when things come to pass? And how stupid is it to then look to the same philosophy and people who created the problem to fix it?

On the personal level, there is little choice. You make your problem you fix it. But you do have to fix the problem with a different approach from that which created it.

Unbelievable, but Possibly True

The Gods may or may not be crazy, however the can be no doubt that many people the world over are strangely insane. Nuts. I'm not sure which ones are and which aren't.

I will say that my country's insistence on policies I find bizarre may be finally proving to be the scam I think they are and have been for a long time. All the mid-east N. Africa Israeli involvement has been obviously something other than what is represented, and other than what the obvious opponents claimed.

So, now while pretending to back one faction it comes out we've been grooming dissidents. No telling how that tale unfolds. We'll never know the real deal.

What, the big threat to Egypt's guy is to do what?, or we'll cut off AID? WTF? Why the aid to begin with?
How about we stay out of it forever. If we continue to arm regions over there it will continue to be trouble. I disagree with those who refuse to see that we have made terrorists and their supporters richer and more dangerous over the years. I disagree with those who underplay the role of mosques and imams here and elsewhere in the plots and murderous activities too.

Basically quit kissing ass, quit throwing money at lunatic dictators or any country. And quit pretending we can set up a perfect government among people we don't even understand, especially when our own government has run so far amok.

Government is supposed to set a structure for people to pursue their own lives as they see fit, and to prevent them from interfering with the rights of others. Around the world they have tended to do just the opposite, and in the name of all that is holy. It obviously does not work well under the typical framework of government involving itself in all facets of life here or elsewhere. I'd think that is obvious. It is like one group of bullies taking charge under guise of protecting you from less powerful bullies rather than just shutting down the bully groups.

the end