One of A Kind

This guy never ceases to amaze me.  He's got quite a history, mostly relating to song writers and such who were significant in shaping much of the music from the sixties on.
One of the people up here on ballistic mountain who has become a good friend.  Never meet a stranger, nicer guy.
I've learned from him to be careful whom you under estimate.

An old, old song about a guy who killed his fiance, claiming he thought she was a swan.  Maybe a couple of hundred years ago that defense worked.


I find that Cliff's singing voice has a special quality that I can't describe.  Hypnotic or something.
I swear I don't have that much of a belly, although I may be turning into a bit of a butterball. Not like it appears though. They are wrong to say the camera doesn't lie. It does. It is slanderous. Or libelous. Or both.

Fools and Racist Nutters

I happened to watch a video of Eric Clapton playing Hootchie Cootchie Man on youtube, and made the mistake of reading the comments.

The one that got to me stated that while the commenter loved it, he found it sooo weird to see an English guy "channeling Chicago and Delta blues".   There is a lot of that when it comes to blues and such.  To me, if music grabs you, it grabs you.

Obviously this idiot has no clue that much of rock ad roll, and the best of the British Invasion was blues based, and a lot of it even has elements of Bach.  Is it somehow off limits for other ethnicities to play music written by black people?

Are black people and non-whites banned from playing Beethoven?   What fools.

Granted, a lot of people just do not feel the blues groove.  Much of it gets me moving like few other genres.  I find it grabs me whereas a lot of bluegrass doesn't.  Either things resonate with a person or not.

I can assure you that Clapton, the Stones and other Brits ot only recognize the source of this music but did much to bring greater fame and rewards to may of the old blues guys like Howlin' Wolf, and others.

It never ceases to amaze and irk me when people insist on making a racial issue out of such things.

Clapton does a good cover of it, by the way.  He's not pretending to be black. He likes the music.  He has done entire albums of Robert Johnson, the protagonist of the crossroads legend, as well.

Oh, and another guy wanted the meaning of the lyrics explained.   Much of the blues is full of sexual metaphor.  I refrained from going into it.  Some of it contains terms which originate in superstitious magic type practices.  

More fun to play what you like and for me, to play off stuff that allows improvising and just letting out what you feel.  Blues offers that.

I believe basketball was invented by a white guy.  Do you think it is out of line if Africans or Chinese like to play the game?

Really, the worst thing about the internet is that it has made me painfully aware that there are millions of idiots running around loose.  I was naive enough not to know the number of dimwits was so large.
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Not In Miami Are We Toto?

Snowing and raining in East County.  That's a big deal in SoCal, even though this is the eastern sticks of SoCal.

Probably the odd neuro-wiring of my brain, but weather, geography and the like seem to have a big impact on me.  This is definitely far different than anywhere else I've lived.  That is not a bad thing.

Last night a huge owl flew over the hood of my car from left to right at eye level.  Not the first time.   It was really a surprise the first time.  It makes for a stunning moment on a country road in the pitch black night.

A couple of times I've been startled o the back deck at night when a big owl swoops within a foot or two of me on its way, hopefully, to help a mouse meet its maker.  I assume it is a owl.  Obviously a bird of prey, and very quiet in flight.  It is easier to see the ones that barely miss the windshield than it is the ones that fly by the back deck.

It just happens now then, not like a flock of them.  Not like owls fly in formation the way pelicans do.  That's another cool thing.  I can go to the coast any time I want to see the pelicans do their thing.   It brings back something of Miami and South Florida.  A bitter-sweet feeling.  I miss it, ad I don't.  I think I equate Miami to pain if I goo back too far, but it also brigs back some of the best years ever if I only go back so far.

Kid in a candy store there (Miami) for awhile.  But that eventually resulted in a poor choice and that was a crusher in the end.

Maybe I expect too much, or too little, of myself.  I do find it tough to let go of regrets, and that causes me to stagnate for fear any action ad ambition will only end badly or end in someone going home crying.

Some of us have an overactive imagination, or an overactive conscience, or both.  I tend to ignore the times I've been wronged much more than I can ignore times when I think I let others down.  Lack of balance.  Then, at the same time, I say, "Screw it, I'll show them!".  "Them" being a very vaguely defined tribe.

Best to be grateful for all that warrants gratitude.  I'd rather be me than anyone else when it comes down to it.  Good, bad, and ugly.

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Disagreeably Imploding

Certain landmarks in one's life force a bit of reflection.  Some of us tend to shatter when we look into that mirror.

I deleted the rest of this post due to the boring and depressing nature of it.  I've concluded that I have some serious issues with the blues, but I still know it is mostly a river of internal lies which occasionally bursts the dam I construct to keep it off the greater landscape of my mind.

Anyway, many, if not most, people are crazier and a bigger blight on society and the prospects of a happy world than I'll ever be. (i.e., pain in the ass)



You might want to click on the Piers Morgan - Penn Jillette videos 1 and 2 after the nanny one plays.
Piers is afraid to let views other than his own be articulated.  He is a coont, for sure.  I'm glad I rarely agree with him.  It is more fun to disagree with people whose personalities I dislike.  It is really too bad when I somewhat agree with those who are an embarrassment when expressing a view.  The recent gun discussion has brought many of those to the fore.

Actually that discussion has brought nitwits and weirdos from all sides out of hiding.  The amount of bad logic and stretched truth on both sides is alarming.  All over issues which won't solve anything.
Oh well

California Cops vs Cops

So, in LA an ex cop is allegedly on a rampage.  He's one of those guys who knows he is ultimately doomed, and has issued the requisite wordy manifesto.

What is so intriguing is that I believe many, maybe most, of his allegations against LAPD are true.  His rationale for targeting families of the bad guys is not very good.  I can sort of understand the rationale for some of the targets he names.

It is clear that they would rather take him dead than alive.   Cops up there shot up a pickup truck similar to his which belonged to people delivering newspapers.  That set a couple of innocents to the hospital with bullet wounds.  It seems like they opened fire on some others in this manhunt, as well, totally making the guy's case against the overuse of force by that outfit.

He claims he blew the whistle way back when and that led to his demise as a cop.  He claimed that lesbians on the force harass males, blacks harass white underlings, and that many white cops show no respect for blacks and others.  I don't think this guy is racist but I do think he has flipped out.

The interesting part is that I believe there is enough truth to his allegations that those on the force want him silenced quick, hence the shootings based on flimsy resemblance of vehicle and such.  It is the stuff of an action flick.  Had this man not murdered family members of cops, I'd almost be on his side.

Well, not really on his side because killing people is way off base except in self defense or if you are wiping out violent gangs and thugs.

The guy is a walking contradiction.  He's armed to the teeth with everything from handguns to big stuff that could threaten helicopters and such, yet he is all for extreme gun control.  He is 100% behind Obama on just about everything, apparently.  I do not equate that with his form of insanity, although I do think such views are shortsighted.

So, a rogue ex-cop shooting up the bad cops and innocent relatives being chased by regular cops who are shooting up innocent bystanders in the hope that maybe they'll get lucky.

Just strikes me as wild, crazy and bizarrely ironic in some way.  But that is par for the course i California.   Bullet rains to nowhere coming soon.

Oh I didn't ever mention that they want to put meters on the private wells of homeowners out here in the sticks, so they can bill you for your water.  That is the only source of water out here, other than rainfall.  Nt sure if it is legal to collect that.  Not a lot of rain falls anyway.

1984, Brave New World, see it like a native!  Come to California.  Or, I guess you could just stay in New York.  Similar outcome, slightly different attack.

It is pretty, and the weather in Southern California cannot be beat.

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Opportunity Knocks

What I learned from watching the Super Bowl is that there must be a real dearth of talent in the field of media advertising.  I won't discuss each individual ad, but just observe that only a couple were worth the trouble.

There has long been that obnoxious genre of advertisement which aims to irritate you so much that you can't forget it.   In my case that backfires.  I will seek out the competitive good or service to avoid, if possible, feeding a company that pollutes the airwaves with ads which annoy me.

Viewing this collection of 2013 Super Bowl advertisements, which cost millions of dollars to produce and air, are supposed to be the best, cutting edge efforts of the industry, has caused me to believe there must be wide open opportunity for intelligent, creative marketers.

Normally, I get the edgy stuff more than many of my friends, so I don't think being out of touch explains my revulsion to some of these sales ads.  Edgy can be clever and witty, or it can be painfully banal and nauseating.  I think most of the commercials were truly bad.  It may reflect the confusion and collective lack of wit and self esteem of the culture.  Certainly, it does not reflect the best in our species.

With all the advances in technology and communication, I expected better.  Much better.  Are enough people of the variety that will find pure garbage appealing just because it is put before them as if it is to be liked?  Laff track people.

I did like one or two.  If some of the others had not irritated me to the point of near anger, I might approach those companies with some better ad concepts.  As it is I hope those firms wither and die.

One of the most bizarre and interesting Super Bowls I've seen, though.  And I thought Beyonce did a fine job at the half, and appears to have generously included her old bandmates.  Whatever her political connections and all that, the woman is obviously talented, hard working, and in fine shape.  Fortunately, I've not read the reviews and spin, if any, on the topic of her half time show.

Must be cool to get by without need of a last name.


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Hand Shake Banditry

Perhaps not everyone was taught or received the memo when it comes to the traditional handshake.  In the male world, it is supposed to be firm, but stop short of a grip pressure contest.

I've encountered those who want to prove dominance by catching people off guard with a vise-like, bone crusher handshake.  Their smile is invariably a odd sneer as they try to play alpha dog.

One of the big tricks some guys play is the quick grab.  They close in on the end of your hand before you can get in there far enough for your fingers to wrap around the other palm.  They trap the last half of your fingers and crush.  Since the rest of your hand can't get in on the act there is little you can do.

I've met a few women who attempt bone crushing handshakes, but very few.   Those who use the shake to some purpose generally add a subtle caress which is every bit as powerful and far more persuasive than the bone crusher.  But that's another story.

I get the motive behind the bone crusher.  It means that someone is trying to prove something, or intimidate others.  The quick grippers are merely cheating, or else they fear you might be a bone crusher so they beat you to it by trapping your fingers before your palms can meet.

What I don't get is the limp dish towel, dead fish handshake.  If I, too, just stuck out a limp hand, I'm not sure how it would go or if the handshake would ever occur.  Maybe lazy people do that so the other has all the responsibility for making the handshake happen.

It isn't as if the handshake is unknown in our culture so, even though the dead fish seemed confused and baffled by the custom, it is unlikely that the mystery of the process is really a explanation for the odd approach.

The crusher usually comes from prospective mates' fathers and brothers, and business people who want to mess with you for some reason.  And from crime boss types.  The last two categories can overlap, and often do in the world of government-business partnerships.  Crony capitalism, which is what that is.

Political types will pull that crusher play, while pulling you toward them, grabbing your arm.  It is a message; I'm top dog here and I dominate.

Some say you can tell a lot about a man by his shoes.  I say you can tell more by how he acts.  Paying attention to how someone behaves and interacts with you and others is probably more telling than staring at his shoes.  Anything to avoid contact and reality.  Like the hiring process at many firms.  Let's avoid actual contact with the candidate.  What are his shoes like?

Applicants must submit one page resume detailing the last forty years of job experience, and a photo of your shoes, being worn.  Photo must not include anything above the ankles, just the shoes as they appear on your feet.

The evolution of the culture appears to be solving the handshake issue with the fist bump, or even the air fist bump.  So far I have not encountered anyone who can turn the fist bump into much of anything.  I don't see it taking over in most business situations.  

Fiction: Human Nature part 1292013

Whether they admit it or not, people are fans of fiction.  It is inescapable.

That's why there are so many conflicting and varied accounts and opinions on any topic.   For example, the debt situation and violence are issues which have all kinds of theories and statistics thrown out there.  Often the info is skewed or incomplete, but it fits the narrative.

If ten people came upon an automobile that had obviously gone over the cliff 300 feet above, but none actually witnessed the event, several scenarios would emerge in their imaginations.  Some would picture the driver intentionally going over the edge while others would assume drugs or alcohol was involved.

Some one might go so far as to create imaginary partial lives for the couple who died in the crash.  They must have been on their way home from the hooplah festival a few miles away.  And it sound like reasoned deduction, but it is still fiction.  If it turns out that it coincides will reality, that reinforces the process, which may or may not be on target the next time.

The origin of the theory is fiction born in the imagination.

If the item is newsworthy in that area, the details and even the number of people involved would change two or three times in 24 hours.  That's because people love to jump to a conclusion based on very little information, and they tend to be protective of their view, even in the face of facts or equally valid conclusions.  It is as if they are given an irresistible specific event and they create a path that explains how that came to be.

Another part of human nature is that few care to research a thing far enough that it blows their gut reaction theory out the window.  It is easier to take in hearsay.  Easier not to scrutinize sources and references.  Human nature things tend to often fit together hand in glove like that.

Fiction is both the easy, and maybe only, way to explain things, and the way toward working, workable theories.  When more facts come to light, then the theories change a bit in order to make sense of those things.  And it takes crafting a story in some form which explains it and ties things up until next time.

I think this universal facet of human nature is what Jerry Springer and some other TV hosts have exploited.  That thing where the audience weighs in on the drama of the people on stage after hearing a few sound bites.  "Yes, I think you should sell everything and go to Tibet", "You need to leave that man."  They don't know, but they made up stories to explain the creature before them. .  It is just the nature of the beast.

Guns Again

It is a bit daunting to hear the talk.  Even more daunting to feel corralled into one camp or the other.  If only I trusted "the authorities" more with firepower than I do the bulk of citizens.  I don't.

Some people do.  The underlying question is really one pertaining to functions of various levels of government.  I see it one way, and there is substantial disagreement with my view.

Am I here by permission, or not?  That is the essence of the question which underlies most of what is going on.  Who and what exists by permission, and by whose permission?

Often a public issue, defined by politicians and opportunists (a life form common in the press as well as elsewhere),  is somewhat of a code for something else entirely.

In any case, I'm not a gun nut, but if I decided to be, I'd like to indulge that desire unimpeded by the state.  That is unthinkable in some circles.  So be it.  I recognize the squeeze differently than most.  It's much the same as the thinking which presumes the feds ought to be in the R and D business.

Studies Show: Idiots March With or Without Good Purpose

I've heard so many gun statistics--in on ear and out the other--lately, none of which solve any problems or make a compelling case for anything worth doing.

I am not sure I even own a gun.  The nincompoops in this picture make me think I should own several. "Please, Mr. King, please make more rules for us.  Rules which apply to us but not you.".

looks oddly unionish

Sometimes the insanity is so...insane...that it is hard to address straight up.  First off, your ideas for safety wouldn't have saved anyone.  Just like the creation of Homeland Security and the harassment of normal people wouldn't have prevented 911.

One statistic being spouted by some lady on PBS went something like this: those with a gun in the home are 12 times more likely to be victims of a gun accident. No shit.  And those who drive cars are way more likely to be victims of an automobile accident.

Putting on the pained martyr's sad face does not mean your cause will do anything to promote peace and prosperity, and prevent the evil doers from doing evil.  Your problem is that you don't realize that you keep empowering the longest serving evil doers on the block.

Gun sales are up by a gazillion percent.  So, the reactionaries, who seize any cause that they deem to be non-conservative, have actually helped put more guns into the hands of the public.  I'm fine with that.

Reactionaries reacting to reactionaries.  Nothing wrong with reacting.  There is something wrong with reacting in stupid ways.  And nine times out of ten regulation is the stupid way, especially in the fashion it is accomplished by professional bureaucrats and government zealots.

It makes me less nervous to hear about private gun sales than it does for government agencies to stock up.  Particularly on the domestic side.  (maybe Eric Holder will find a way to slip a few more to Mexican gangs just because he can)

For crying out loud, this justice department, and this state department have armed more criminals and enemies of our people that anyone on earth.  Now you ask them to disarm over regulate firearm ownership by citizens?  You must be nuts to trust your safety to this ever growing monster any more than is absolutely necessary.

I'm skeptical of marches most of the time anyway.  One which is a march demanding more laws to curb rights of individuals is definitely suspect.  Then I look and realize that the supposed motivation, "to keep our precious little bastards--I mean children---safe" is nothing but nice sounding irrelevancy, and I lose respect for the movement.

Densely populated areas with draconian gun laws do not do well.  No lunatics appear to be reading the "GUN FREE ZONE" signs.  Or, maybe they are...

More of the big Pretense, self righteous neo bolsheviks who think they will forever be in with the policy makers and others unaffected by their tyranny.   Maybe people are just too damned stupid, petty, greedy, and nosy to accept freedom.

I'm in disbelief.  If people will spend money and band together in worthless causes which do not accomplish the stated goal, then it ought to be easy to get filthy rich off these wannabe state slaves.