"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation" - Walden, H.D. Thoreau

It is staggering to ponder the billions of humans that have inhabited the earth over the past two hundred thousand years. I find it sad that they all lived short lives, every one with varying degrees of heartache, disappointments, and maladies, and every one spent wrapped up in its own seemingly important pursuits...now almost entirely lost in time and obscurity.

In this context, what really matters and how should we spend our precious time and energy?

Speed of Dark

My thoughts swim in mercantile seas              

whose tides soothe my parched tongue,

then boil my bile.

I see scurrying lobsters                       

who serve pagan treats to cynical marsupials,

who sing, in abandon,

the dissonant song of the diaper people.

From Chaos and Disorder, a commerce incantation,

I flee to the promised land,

under the canopy of a chronically candid lying sky,                 

away from the thespian gurgle,                       

whose pernicious social toxins are shrouded in sweet lilac peace offerings.

"And Now - Your Squaresville Evening News Team..."

"...Dirk Tool with the news, Rhonda Runway with our award winning Doppler 2012 radar coverage, and on sports - Johnny Manchild ..."  

People forget that televised news is included in the broad heading of "Entertainment". So don't be surprised when you see the theatre that is the daily forecast, with exaggeration pushed as far as possible. Tangent: Is it just my "local news team", or are they worse than ever in terms of being over corny/provincial, and lazy? I see only scant effort expended in excavating fresh (or, perish the thought...clever or groundbreaking) local and state stories, and the tired, hokey, and superficial are the order of the day.

November 2010

Nice lighting captured with cell phone of Minneapolis. 
Wells Fargo building in the background.

Roll Your Own

When I look at cars and trucks I am struck with the notion that there is, in the simplest terms, three parts - a basic soulless substructure (frame or unitized design), a drive train, and a unique shell. I have observed that without the thin stamped sheet metal shell, the vehicle seems to be very dull and relatively indistinctive - that is, from the other vehicles in its genre (suv, cuv, truck, sedan/coupe). In fact, there is a kind of interchangeability within a brand or even between them. I have often wondered how great it would be for a new auto company/division to emerge and pioneer a truly new approach, that of modular designs. These would involve a number of standard substructure platforms (e.g. "Truck Chassis, 1000# Cargo Weight Rating; "Truck Chassis, 2000# Weight Rating"; "Performance Platform - wheel base 1" (for coupes or sedans); "Performance Platform, wheelbase 2" (" "), et cetera. Consumers would choose a base and couple it with their choice of drivetrain-suspension packages, and finally, their choice of shell. How about having a large selection of shells, and even a fully customizable option (if you got the cash, why not)?  In this scenario, it seems conceivable to me that satellite industries would emerge for the production of such shells, with unique looks, applications, and materials.

Reminiscence

That I could know you again in the places that we frolicked,
without the world’s cares,

as blithe children -
that which was, that which is, that which is yet to be,

from the origin,

through the tides

from the pensive,

from the joy,

in the motions of sheltered visionaries,
reborn in continuity -

a breathing,

streaming,

vicarious lineage.

Wood You Agree?

It's pretty much a given that most houses are framed in wood (2x12, 2x4, 1" sheets, et cetera). I, for one, don't care if wood is used, it's sight-unseen. How about plastics? Would it be more cost effective? I'm not sure. Such materials would not age like wood and that stuff can be composed with specific physical attributes, varying the elasticity, yield/tensile, strength, hardness, and crush rating characteristics, even surpassing wood, without the inherent susceptibility to grain inconsistencies/irregularities, humidity, and temperature changes found in traditional lumber. I found out that there are many firms currently producing wood composites and even pure substitutes like high-density polyethylene (HDPE) lumber or fiberglass-reinforced or polystyrene-blended designs (which are used even in heavy duty commercial applications, such as with rail ties). Additionally, as I understand it, sustainability issues are being addressed with more vigor with the use of bioplastics in these configurations, which can reuse biomass such as dead plant life and garbage. Cool stuff, indeed. I'm sure that one day the forests will remain untouched except for a small portion harvested for furniture, crafts, and the like - with even those largely switching to non-petroleum plastic alternatives.    

Que Pasa?

One last note on programming. I would not be surprised if there was a laugh whenever cable and satellite programmers schedule the numerous Spanish shows (there are 12 such channels in my venue...not even part of an optional "package"!). Good thing we don't have to sit through French, German, Vietnamese, Chinese (the dozens of dialects), Romanian, Arabic, Portuguese, Russian, Punjabi, Turkish, Korean, Italian, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Dutch, Tai, Czech, Welch, Danish, Swahili, Tibetan, Somali, Greek, Norwegian, Finnish, Kurdish, Hebrew...well, you get the picture.

Grub

 

I very infrequently indulge in "junk food", but when I do I am not overwrought with guilt. If one scrutinizes "junk food" it becomes obvious that for many folks it is no worse and no better than their typical home fodder. Leaving aside those examples that are extra greasy, or jumbo sized, or have extra cheese, et cetera, a very simple burger meal, for example, is often lean meat (cooked over a fire in many locations, translating to less fat), with lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles. The fries, for example, may very well be cooked with light oil and that veggie is chock full of nutrients (in truth, one can simply skip this and any soda (or get a salad) if carbs are a problem). These ingredients sound like home fixins. People will make this at home (and often add bacon or cheese, perhaps with chips in lieu of fries, along with sausage and god-knows-what-the-*$%^*- is-in-it hot dogs) and suddenly it is 'good ole home cookin'. Folks is funny.

Programming and Commercials

I feel compelled to contravene on the unwritten rules of broadcasting and push for the following two improvements to broadcasting: (1) Proposal #1 (for the major networks): Rather than having to endure (although I usually never do) the laborious, painful stream of commercials that appear every 10-15 minutes, I would advocate the notion of limiting commercials to one per hour...perhaps a 10-minute commercial halfway through the broadcast arch. Networks will simply demand an uber fee for the time slot and companies will pay this as they will have exclusive reign for those precious minutes. I think it has merit. How about encouraging all the major networks to be a vanguard for such an approach. All it takes is one progressive network to advance this; (2) Proposal No. 2 (for cable and satellite companies): Let's be blunt. We dole out hard earned wampum for the privilege of having what is, largely, crapola, somehow distilled down to some extreme, broad snapshot of what they think represents the prevailing community tastes (of course, at the absolute lowest investment for the cable/satellite firm choosing it). When you think about it though, everyone, or let's say, every household, has a unique viewer profile, with its own viewing preferences (e.g. badminton championships, old sitcoms, rainforest insect specials, whatever). I would like to push for a new approach, which I can visualize being very popular with consumers - fully customizable plans. Within this system, Joe Consumer is allotted (for the price point he chooses) x-many channels (perhaps further divided into sub-types like x-many "sports" channels, x-many "science" channels, et cetera), from which Joe chooses whatever specific channels that he damn well prefers, tailored to his distinctive tastes. How about a limited, target market beta run with this programming angle?

A fool and his money....where are those rabbit ears?

Burnout

Life is full of so much bulls--t that gobbles up our time. Example from my schedule:

Average Daily Time Needed, Hours  / Running Balance

• 24 hour day...less:
• Sleep: 6-8    / 16-18
• Commute: 2  /  14-16
• Work: 8  /  6-8
• Showering, ironing, etc: 0.5  /  5.5-7.5
• Errands (3 hours/week = 0.4 hours/day)  /  5.1-7.1
• Chores (yard work, cooking, etc); (9 hours/week = 1.3 hour/day)  /  3.8-5.8
• Exercise: 0.5  /  3.3 - 5.3
• Miscellaneous distractions (repairs, telemarketers, etc):  0.5  /  2.8-4.8 balance

That's it. Conservatively speaking, on average, I (by extension, most western humans) have around 3-5 hours each day to live...to enjoy, to watch television, to create, to play with our kids, go to the beach, go on a date, to read, or study. What a joke. The Industrial Revolution and technology were supposed to have freed up more time for us and to usher us into the Age of Aquarius, the New Man, et cetera. I don't see it. We are just gerbils spinning around a wheel most of the time, with barely enough time to live beyond the daily grind. Sad.