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WAR MACHINE
60% of our yearly budget is for the War Machine, that means 60% of our workers are employed in
those industries. Do you think any of those workers will vote to eliminate
their jobs?
That’s more than Russia & China combined spend on
war.
MISERABLE THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
The days are trickling away as inexorably as the sand in an
hourglass.
 |
| MY STYLE OF DANCE |
During my early days of experimenting with East Indian culture, (Sanscrit, Dance, etc.) I studied under the dancer Bupesh Gupta long enough to promote and perform in a public performance . I rented a small Church ,( owned by the local Laguna Beach Hari Krishna Sect.) for a one night stand. This all came back to me recently when my wife & I attended a local Indian Dance program at the Green Music center. Mysteryously, we were given free tickets at the entry ($50 each) for the performance, and watched the dance which was so different from my recollections that I was very disappointed, although the small group of musicians were outstanding. Anyway, as we were leaving, Joy said" That was a surprise, I thought it was going to be Indian Dancing, not from the middle East" .
Photo of SMARTS
in Aix in Aix in Provence, 1998
SMART a personal transportation module
I recently
bought an almost new SMART car to stay in the forefront of Design. Ever since I
saw their debut in Aix in Provence in 1998, I have secretly lusted for
one. This fabulous machine is the
ultimate Anti-American auto, due to its size, horsepower, & everything
else. Nevertheless, I am having a blast
driving it, 4 miles each way , although
I do have to admit I have to turn on all my defensive driving tactics to get to
my office every day. Since new ones will
go for nearly $20,000, I was looking for a used vehicle. Joy & I went to our
local Honda dealer who had a used SMART so we checked it out. The Salesman, a
slick Mexican complete with pin-curls on his temples, ran next door to find the
car. We actually drove it around the block and it seemed kind of like a normal
car, except for a weird kind of automatic shifting device that mimics a
transmission and clutch. When we returned and I asked told him I wanted to see
the engine, to assure myself they did not have a couple of squirrels in a wheel
there. I suggested it might be in the back
so we looked in the micro cargo space (about 12” wide) but didn’t see any sign
of an engine so we checked out the front of the car but there didn’t seem to
enough space there. Well, he struggled around trying to lift up the tiny hood
and managed to disengage the upper part but not enough to open it up to see if
there really is a radiator somewhere. Miffed, he went into the agency for help, but
we decided we had enough and left.
I was enamored with a red one so Joy found
one in San Francisco Mercedes Dealer, where we visited to see what they
had. We had struck gold as it is called,
as this place sold more SMART s than anyone else in US. And had a new slick
showroom on the second floor for the SMARTs.
Also, they had a 2nd generation 2014 red one with only 5,000
miles on it for $8,000. We struck a deal, as Joy should be able to sell her 20
year old Honda V-Tech for nearly that much. I drove it home in a huge rainstorm up and
down the hills of SF, learning about shifting , windscreen wipers, etc. as on
the job training. Around Novato I
discovered I was doing about 70 mph in a heavy rain so I slowed a bit as I am
forever cautious driving in wet weather.
After driving my new car for a couple of
weeks, I am more than happy about the car, once I understood the automatic
transmission and looking up other anomalies of the car. (How to get into the
hood, etc.). The car only weighs about 1600 lbs. and I can vouch that it could be
due to the elimination of springs, & shock absorbers. Also, it drives pretty much like a normal car
except there is no front or back. It does have a few creature comforts like a
sensor that turns on the wipers when it gets rain, heated seats, and air
conditioning. I do not like the fact that I have to turn off the lights
manually, but I suppose it could be a portion of the system that will turn off
everything after you’ve left the vehicle? I finally located the battery under
the floor mat as well as a swell tire patch kit that takes the place of a spare
tire. Heated seats, but no tachometer
(most new cars have these but are probably not used as most of us are ignorant
of what to do about it.).
I am
not real happy that my neighbor, Michele, called it a “Clown Car”, but come to
think of it, that’s pretty accurate. So
of course Joy gave me the red sponge clown nose to wear while driving.
This car has
brought me back to Deja-Vu, as Smart car drivers are waving at each other, just
like us early Volkswagen drivers did in the 1950‘s.
A GENERATION
SWINE (Gonzo Journalism at its’ best)
I just
finished reading a book by Hunter S. Thompson “A Generation of Swine”. And
wonder where the current replacement for him is in our culture. First, I had to
look up the word “Gonzo”. It seems to be
rather murky, of course, but it generally is agreed that it describes the first
person participatory style which the author is protagonist.” (Social critique + self-esteem).
He wrote
mostly in 1950’s to 1990’s. It seems there were not a lot of rags that would
consider printing his rants but fortunately Esquire, Rolling Stone and even the
San Francisco Examiner and the National Observer had enough sense to publish his stuff. Here
are a few tantalizing samples of his wit;
“NIXON: What we tend to forget , he has been elected to almost every office in
America except sheriff, and he understands politics as well as almost anybody.
He is a mechanic, a true leverage junkie – for all his kinks and crimes and
even his weird drinking problem, he possesses a truly awesome, bedrock
shrewdness that made him perhaps the most successful politician of his
generation. When he lost the governorship of California, he came so close to
that one that he ran publicly amok when he lost. That was when he called the
press gang of rotten cowards who had ruined his life but who “won’t have
Richard Nixon to kick around anymore”.
Six years later he was elected president of the United States.” Nixon?
“Not all Democrats are speed freaks, lechers
and fools,…Nature abhors a vacuum, and it is the nature of American politics in
these times to have a Kennedy haunting the White House.”
“One of Washington’s cheapest and scurviest big-time
political consultants say the Democrats can’t stand another of those hideous
exposures, that the whole party will turn into a late-night TV joke. - But
he was wrong. The voters are fed up with this orgy of dumbness and punishment.
The electorate will demand a degenerate in the White House. (Sep, 1987).”
“It is difficult for the ordinary voter to come to grips with
the notion that a truly evil man, a truthless monster with the brains of
a king rat and the soul of a cockroach, is about to sworn in as president of the United States for the next
four years….And he will bring his gang in with him, a mean network of lawyers and
salesmen and pimps who will loot the national treasury, warp the laws, mock at
least one reason to declare war, officially, on some hapless tribe in the
Sahara or heathen fanatic like the Ayatollah Khomeni. (1987)”
Bush?
“IRAN/CONTRA MESS - The whole investigation was a farce and a
scam that benefitted nobody except Washington lawyers who charge $1,000 an hour
for courtroom time. Oliver North’s bill for legal fees will be a million
dollars, which has already been covered by the private donations. If this low-rent scandal is the best this
generation can do, they deserve what they’re getting and they are going to have
to live with it. They deserve to be called A Generation of Swine.”
“SENATOR PAUL SIMON - Simon is small and ugly and weird and
he almost never smiles. He has lips like Mick Jagger and the ears of a young
baboon.”
“This is the problem with this anguished generation.
Somewhere along time ago they fell in love with the idea that politicians –
even the slickest and brightest presidential candidates – were real heroes and
truly exciting people. That is wrong on its face. They are mainly dull people
with corrupt instincts and criminal children.
(July 1987)”
SEE WHAT I MEAN. AND HE WAS TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE WHO WERE
LIVING AT THE TIME!
A HISTORY OF
SPECIES
Have you ever wondered how long a particular critter lived? I’m at your
service, once again, with the following collection of minitue.
(ANCIENTS )- WHEEL OF 84
(Approx.)84 Lacs = 8,400,000 years
(one lac = 100,000)
SPECIES (Quantity) Ancient sages Current
Plants 3,ooo,ooo 300,000
Water Creatures 400,000 ?
Insects 2,700,000 1,000,000
Birds 1,400,000 10,000
Land animals (man) 400,000 5,500,000?
Bacteria ? 10,000
TOTALS 8,400,000 8,700,000 (+/- 1.3
M) pretty close, eh?
LIFE SPAN
(Western Concepts)
INSECTS
Ant 15
Fruit Fly 0.1
day?
Aphid 5
days
Spiders 15
yrs?
Tick 4
Cicada 17
yr
Wood Beetle 45
yr
BIRDS Years
Blue Jay 4
Canary 24
Macaw 64
Tit Mouse 9
Pigeon 35
ANIMALS
Humans 115
Chimp 37
Squirrel 15
Pond Scum ?
Mouse 3
yr
Rat 7
Hamster 1.8
Dog 29
Cat 38
Horse 62
Elephant (Asian)
86
Bear 42
FISH / AMPHIBEAN
Frog 5
– 15
Goldfish 25
Sturgeon 50
Koi 23-200
Tortoise 190
Eels 150
Whale, Bowhead 200
PLANTS
Sequoia 3,000
Bristlecone Pine 4,843
Creosote Bush 11,700!
Mojave
Juniper 3,000
Larch 700
Pine, Swiss 1200
Redwood, Sierra 4,000
Dragon Tree 200
Bo Tree 2,500
English Oak ,000
English Ivy 440
Grape vine(Zin.) 100
Mushroom days
CRUSTACEANS
Crayfish 30
Water Flea 0.2
MOLLUSK/MISC.
Clam 1
– 10
Snail 1
– 30
Bi-valve Ming 405 yrs
Earthworm 10
years?
Leech 27
Rotifer 0.003
– 0.1 days? Plankton, etc.
NEW BOOK COVERS
Originally I began this rant (in 2006) about things that bothered me but
other people didn’t seem to mind or notice. I sometimes get side-tracked in
dispensing interesting ruminations but don’t let me forget about my ‘Pet
Peeve - THE BOOK DUST COVER” . I guess I
don’t mind a book that has a cover clinging to it’s cover as the hardcover is
difficult to print with pictures and color stuff in order to sell the item. But
what really freaks me out it when some friend will keep the cover for years,
until it’s all tattered and worn to nothing but a bloody rag. I admit it
sometimes handy to use as a page mark until you can score one but for god’s
sake, throw it away after you’ve started reading as is a real hassle for me to
try to keep it in place while reading. If I know the owner is a “Duster” I will place the cover aside until I have finished
the book, but I don’t guarantee it will be returned with it.
