Following
Posted on September 25, 2008 - Filed Under Deep thoughts, WTF?, What If?, i dunno, my opinions
About ten year ago maybe a little less, there was an independent film that came out called Following. It was a very quirky British film that centered around an odd duck who by chance one day followed someone, the whole day and watched what they did. For some reason this became a fascination with him and ultimately led him into a whole passal of trouble and he found the tables turned in a very uncomfortable way. I thought it was an interesting film and moreso an interesting concept because it makes one ponder, why would one person want to follow another?
I don’t know if any of you have been followed but I have and it’s a rather surreal experience. Because at first it may seem a bit flattering, you know? Like “Wow, I must be interesting, woo hoo.” But then ego gives way to reality and you really do start to wonder why it is a certain person just keeps turning up wherever you are. How they just manage to be anyplace you are, get involved in activities you are involved in and so forth.
I guess I’m not a total bore, but I certainly wouldn’t call myself fascinating. I just go about my business, have some fun, talk, chat, read, write, have a few laughs. You know, pretty much like anyone else - so what is there to see? I suppose it does have something to do with attraction or maybe it is just flat out curiosity. Is it possible that an average person like myself could be so alien to another that they would feel the need to study me, watch me, see what I do and say? Since it has happened I guess the cursory answer at least would have to be yes.
On the other hand maybe it has little or nothing to do with me, the watchee (if you will) and more to do with the watcher. I ponder sometimes what goes on in a mind like that - that they would follow someone else and just watch them. What would be the point, what need or desire would it fulfill? Is it that they are simply so unengaged in life that they have become a permanent spectator, too afraid to actually make direct contact and outwardly learn about someone, get to know them? Are they just taking notes because they are trying to develop a character study for a story? Is it only the unattainable that interests them? I’ve come to no real conclusions just more curiosity about the whole thing.
Anyone have any thoughts on this? What do you think the motivation is? Why do you think that? I’m seriously interested in your thoughts about this.
Zelda and the Money Pit
Posted on August 19, 2008 - Filed Under Humor, Just For Fun, Life, WTF?, adventure, brain farts, double yoiks, laughs, little dictators, losers, my opinions, really stupid shit, republicans
Many of you are familiar with my good friend Zelda, we have had many adventures in the past and continue have them, even as we approach our broken down middle aged years. Last year she and another friend of hers decided they didn’t want to work for the rest of their lives and thought it would be a really smart idea to invest in some real estate. They wanted to do the old flipping thing. You know, you buy a place, fix it up and then sell it? Easy as flapjacks, right?
Well Zelda being Zelda, naturally chose the perfect moment to go into this business -about 6 weeks before the crash. Isn’t there a saying…timing is everything…. Before they even had the first wall knocked down the value of property had evaporated like 7-11 gasoline. Though the property they bought was a very cool place up in the canyons with a spectacular view and lots of potential - it had been owned and lived in by a couple of crack heads for years and the work to just make the place livable was overwhelming, much less make it a showcase.
Now before all of this, Zelda had a small, albeit, thriving consulting business which she was doing smashingly with and making very nice income from and was more than comfortable. In fact, she was the only really prosperous one in our group of friends and we often had barbecues, summer cookouts and parties over there and had a lot of fun. Zelda bought the food, we cooked it and everyone ate it - a nice arrangement we all thought. Then this new business idea came to her in a dream or something and within weeks she went from snazzy, savvy businesswoman to beat-up, down-trodden day worker. Each time I saw her she had some new nerve damage, gash, cut, abrasion or burn. I secretly wondered if she was training for an xTreme fighting club soon to debut in Madison Square Garden.
Over the last several months, she has continued to rennovate and do improvements on the place - and whenever asked how much longer to go, her response was, ‘just a couple more weeks’ and after a while none of us asked her because it was apparent that Zelda was going to continue doing improvements until the house was bought and sold and the family moved in and asked her to leave.
She has lost 20 pounds, of which she is quite proud, however, being unable to stand upright and walk without a limp does take away from the newfound svelte figure and really how sexy can you be in a pair of steel toed boots and your big brothers jeans and tees?
Oh yes, back to the money pit part. I cannot reveal how much they paid for the house nor how much they have spent, however I can say that of the 67 credit cards she has, she isn’t sure if any of them have enough left on them to buy dinner, her secret stash is gone, the line of credit they got with the house is gone, her personal lines of credit are gone - and well, they are pretty much going to have to sell the house for close to one million in order to make it worth their while. Yes, welcome to real estate investment in sunny California, folks. It just really isn’t like those cable tv shows where a coat of paint and some new curtains does the trick. To name just a few of the major projects for this house, they: built two decks, refurbished the fireplace, gutted and redid the kitchen, gutted and redid the master bath, built a laundry room, rewired, repiped, put on a new roof, painted inside and out, reguttered, rebuilt the corral and now are tending to the minor details, I wonder if it would have been cheaper to just knock down the old house and start from scratch. We’ll never know.
So anyway, please pray for Zelda, who now has the house listed and it really does look quite beautiful - but if she doesn’t sell it soon, she’ll be living in my backyard, existing on tomatoes, eggplant and mystery squash.
UPDATE:
Zelda just sent me a couple photos here:
Unfortuantely, they do don’t the place justice - the first of the living room and the second is the view from the master bedroom deck.
Also Zelda gave me the following message for you:
Please tell everyone I popped in, and thank them for their well wishes. The double vision is clearing up and I believe that the skull fracture is, in fact, healed. Brain damage was… OK I was going to say minimal, but that may not be entirely true, right? Zelda
Two Houses - Actions vs Words
Posted on August 12, 2008 - Filed Under George W Bush, WTF?, algore, amazing, bloviating one, global warming
(I was sent this by a friend and found it ever so interesting - though I was aware of it. I thought it might be an interesting thing to mention and it will be interesting to see the response to it. Annie)
House #1 A 20 room mansion (not including 8 bathrooms) heated by natural gas. Add on a pool (and a pool house) and a separate guest house, all heated by gas. In one month this residence consumes more energy than the average American household does in a year. The average bill for electricity and natural gas runs over $2400 per month. In natural gas alone, this property consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home. This house is not situated in a Northern or Midwestern ’snow belt’ area. It’s in the South.
House #2 Designed by an architecture professor at a leading national university. This house incorporates every ‘green’ feature current home construction can provide. The house is 4,000 square feet (4 bedrooms) and is nestled on a high prairie in the American southwest. A central closet in the house holds geothermal heat-pumps drawing ground water through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground.
The water (usually 67 degrees F) heats the house in the winter and cools it in the summer. The system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas and it consumes one-quarter electricity required for a conventional heating/cooling system. Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into a 25,000 gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets goes into underground purifying tanks and then into the cistern. The collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the house. Surrounding flowers and shrubs native to the area enable the property to blend into the surrounding rural landscape.
HOUSE #1 is outside of Nashville, Tennessee and is the home of ‘environmentalist ‘ Al Gore.
HOUSE #2 is on a ranch near Crawford, Texas and it is the home of the President of the United States, George W. Bush.
Verifying information can be found here.
(I do find it very enlightening that people in general seem to be more interested in believing the words rather than the actions. And this is just one reason why I can not help but make fun of Algore and call him a hypocrite. Annie )
The Frog Hotel Caper
Posted on June 16, 2008 - Filed Under Just For Fun, WTF?, frogs, gardening, nature
As many of you know, I’m a bit of a gardening nut - or maybe just a nutty gardener - but suffice to say that I like my nature pretty darn well. I have managed to find every vacant plot of dirt on Roomie’s property and stick something in there to grow and in fact, things do grow, magically.
Consequently, much of my garden or a large section of my many little gardens, is very near my bedroom window. Well, warm weather and happy, thriving plants attract more than butterflies and bees. They also attract crickets. Loud crickets. Very loud crickets. In fact, horny crickets, if I’m to believe what Roomie says. While the hot crickets are screeching out there in order to find the hot cricket chicks, I’m trying to sleep. Closing the window is not an option, unless I want to suffocate, so I began looking for solutions….
Cups of beer nestled into the garden so the hot cricket dudes will be lured over to the bar section of the garden to have a cold one, whilst they wait on the ladies to appear, and incidentally drown in their beer literally, while waiting, was my first attempt. Nope, that didn’t work - I assume they were christian crickets, perhaps Quakers? Cricket hotels, where they check in but they don’t check out - apparently, they couldn’t find any cricket chicks who were willing. Watering the garden at night - only good for producing mold in the squash leaves. Making loud noises - doesn’t scare crickets but does make the neighbor dogs a little cranky. Drugs for sleeping seemed my only option…
Then someone casually mentioned that frogs eat crickets. “What’s that?” I asked, perking up almost instantly. “Really?” To say I was delighted at this ever so simple solution doesn’t begin to describe my joy. The next day I would go to the pet store, buy a few frogs, explaining to them that I have a never-ending, all you can eat, smorgasborg in my garden and there was no limit to what my little warty friends could have. I thought this pitch was sure to not only cause them never want to leave, but also that they would text all their other froggy friends and I would get a good night’s sleep as well. A real win-win. Now, I can just hear some of you saying that frogs make noise too - well, that’s true, but I like the sound of frogs, maybe it’s the non-screeching - but I digress…
So, the next day, off I go to the pet store - only to discover that no, they don’t actually have frogs in the store and they are a special order item and then the pet store lady showed me a big poster of all the many frogs one can buy and have as a pet. I had a feeling she’d freak out if I told her I was looking for a few mascotts for my garden, so I politely left, hoping I’d find another store who would just have frogs in stock and sell them to me.
While I was at it, I thought it would be good to g**gle what kind of frogs hang out in gardens, lest I purchase the wrong. The info was even more overwhelming - in addition to the fact that there are several religious sects which worship frogs, there are breeders with odd names and scary website and so that approach began to look hopeless and expensive. So, I did another search on how to tempt frogs into your garden. It was so simple I couldn’t believe it.
You make a little resort for them. I did just that. Nothing fancy, mind you, an old bowl, some water and rocks and floating plants and viola - a froggy pool. Since they need shade I got my potted bamboo plant and took it out there and positioned it so it would shade the area for them. And then…well, I crossed my fingers.
So, Friday…I finally managed to drag my butt out my blogging chair and went out to the garden to do some much needed weeding, tying, staking and fertilizing. After a couple of hours, things looked much better and I got the hose to water the thirsty devils that are growing like Triffods gone wild. As I sprayed the water over the cherry tomato section I saw something move. A little brown/yellow/green something, which I thought was a moth or butterfly that had lit on a leaf and flew off when the water got too close. But it moved again and I knew it wasn’t a moth, so I bent in closer to take a look. It was a teeny, tiny, little froggy. My heart skipped a beat. Had word about the froggy hotel spread already? I couldn’t believe my luck.
I chased him back and forth for a minute or so and finally caught the little fellow. He looked deeply into my eyes and I’m pretty sure, we had a moment. Then ever so gently I took him over to the hotel and put him in the pool. He swam a few strokes and then hopped onto a rock, then out of the pool and then he sunned himself for a sec before he hopped over to the big tomato plant and went for a climb.
Hopefully, he’s emailing all of his friends and they’ll have a summer of fun in the froggy hotel and I’ll get a good sleep through the summer. Crickets, beware!! Muwahahahahahahahahaah 
Update: Today, my little Freddy frog bounded out of the squash plants, let me chase and catch him and take him to the pool again. What was really amazing was that he let me take some pictures of him too! He even waited while I ran in the house to get the camera. So, if you want to see pictures of Freddy and the Froggy Hotel & Spa, go to my gardening page. Woo Hoo, we’re having fun now.
The Bondage of Stuff
Posted on May 3, 2008 - Filed Under Life, WTF?, brain farts, really stupid shit
(I dedicate this to my friend Ange, who was the inspiration. WC)
Okay man,
I’ve had enough
I’m gettin’ over
my bondage of stuff
Not takin’ things
off the cuff
Gotta throw away
what’s in my duff
If you get in my way
I could get gruff
So shut your mouth
don’t gimme no guff
Gonna blow this down
gonna have to huff
gotta turn it around
gonna have to puff
And when I’m thru
it might be rough
Cuz Lord knows
I’ll miss my stuff
But I’m keepin’ my prayer
of hangin’ tough
Cuz I just can’t live
in the Bondage of Stuff.
copyright 2008
3,000 Miles on One Tank of Gas?????
Posted on March 20, 2008 - Filed Under WTF?, amazing, high-tech
Is it a car? An airplane? A hover craft? Nope. It’s the wave of the future. A car so fuel efficient you could conceivably drive across the country on one measely tank of gas. It really reminds me of George Jetson’s little coupe, remember that one? I wonder what kind of hairdo you’d wear with that though?
It’s a three-wheeler, which brings to mind all kinds of fun stunts one could endeavor with this baby - especially on a wide open highway on a windy day.
Actually from this view, it reminds me of R2D2 on steroids:
Though the interior is kind of cool looking and I can imagine zooming down the highway as the scenery rushes by - feeling like I was in my own special space craft.
For the full scoop and all the specs click here.
It’s really worth the read and quite an amazing piece of machinery. I wonder when I get test drive this thing.
WC
Pictorial Editorial on Democrat Race
Posted on March 19, 2008 - Filed Under WTF?, brain farts, candidates
It’s a Taxing Situation…
Posted on February 26, 2008 - Filed Under Election 2008, Politics, WTF?, candidates
You know, rather than discuss the candidates per se - let’s look at an issue for a change. There has been, over the years, a lot of rhetoric about taxes - good and bad.
The Dems are fond of saying that the Pubbies, particularly Bush, only want to give tax breaks to the rich. While I think that most of us realize that at best, this is an exaggeration - I think a little actual information is a better way to consider things.
And as they say, the truth shall set you free. Honestly, I didn’t realize myself that there was such a difference - I did notice my taxes have been lower for the last several years, but since I’ve never really made much money, I guess the change didn’t really hit me.
But I do think it is noteworthy. The following information came from here, if you want to check it out.
Taxes under Clinton 1999 Taxes under Bush 2008
Single making 30K - tax $8,400 Single making 30K - tax $4,500
Single making 50K - tax $14,000 Single making 50K - tax $12,500
Single making 75K - tax $23,250 Single making 75K - tax $18,750
Married making 60K - tax $16,800 Married making 60K- tax $9,000
Married making 75K - tax $21,000 Married making 75K - tax $18,750
Married making 125K - tax $38,750 Married making 125K - tax $31,250
It is interesting when you consider that many people believe that Bush is not giving them a break tax wise, and that Bill Clinton was the one who was looking out for them. That Clinton had such a great economy and Bush ruined it. The truth is, that the unemployment rate has been consistently lower under Bush than it ever was under Clinton, the stock market has reached all time highs under Bush and despite the trillions of dollars that 911 cost us, we have thrived. Part of the reason for this is the tax cuts.
Both Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama have said they intend to end the Bush tax cuts, if elected. So, if that comes to pass, instead of paying 15%-25% of your income - you will be paying 28%-31% of your income - providing they go with the previous Bill Clinton levels. However, knowing politicians as we do - they will likely justify even higher rates based on inflation, cost of living and cost of all their new programs - so we may well see tax levels closer to 40% on the high end.
Yep, I’d have to agree - they surely do want change. The question are you willing to pay for it?
WC
(H.T. to Ger for passing on the info. )
This is a graph for Grace and connects to my response to her comment. WC
Bring in the Clones…
Posted on February 11, 2008 - Filed Under WTF?, assclowns, brain farts
I’m sure by now, most of you have heard the exciting news that we will soon be eating cloned cow, pig and goat. If not, you can catch up here. I for one, am very excited about this new and innovative development. Just think, not only can we have our own favorite milk cow, Bessie - but we can also enjoy her as a steak, rump roast or tenderloin - whilst she still moos in the barn out yonder. It’s a win-win situation, right?
Wrong! Call me crazy, but I have an icky meter that goes off the dial at the very thought of eating cloned food. The argument they make is that it’s just like any other food - other food (they say) is bred through artificial insemination, what’s the diff? Hmmm…maybe because we’re eating a science project. Also what about the inbreeding? You ever have a pedigree animal? They’re froot loops- because (like the royal family) they have been inbred so many times that that line from China Town hits a little too close to the home.
Besides that, it isn’t hard to make cows, or sheep or pigs or any of those edible varmits. We’ve been growing them for a long time and before we came along, they were growing themselves just fine. What is the actual need to clone animals? Based on what the article says they cost 20 times what it costs for a regular animal. So, where’s the motivation? Are they stuffing them with other super ingredients that will make us be more agreeable? That will make us learn to like and trust our politicians? Or something else equally insane?
Are they working out a super market chain for China? Really, why bother if the costs are so prohibitive and the general public is grossed out by the very notion? Inquiring minds want to know.
Personally, I don’t like people engineering my food. I am a good enough cook that I don’t need the extra help. As it is, they already stuff the real ones with hormones and God knows what - so what is going to be in a fake one? And what will we come to call this food? Instead of a cheeseburger we’ll have clone burgers, instead of meatloaf, it will be cloneloaf, prime-clone? t-bone imitation meat? The marketing challenges will be something to overcome to be sure.
Though, now that it’s been approved, with our luck the government won’t require the suppliers to tell us it’s cloned. And it probably won’t be until we all start walking into walls, waking up in the middle of the night with an irrational urge to moo and develop obsessions with grass that they start to rethink it. By then, too, they’ll be a whole litany of odd and strange diseases that people will sue the clone factories for giving them by secretly force-feeding them magic meat.
I have to hand it to them for pulling it off because I mean, how does one even think of such things, let alone do them? But honestly, why didn’t they decide to clone something useful, like gasoline, heating oil, or fifty dollar bills? Now that would be a science project I could get behind. WC
Now What?
Posted on February 7, 2008 - Filed Under WTF?, back to work, brain farts, breathe
Okay, so lately my adventures have been weird to say the least. I started off on my job hunt and lo and behold my old bosses asked me back. I thought it was the answer to my prayers. I had always really enjoyed working with them and I was ready to come back.
Ooops, I sighed a sigh of relief too soon. Because their business is cyclic and connected to show business (can you say writer’s strike?) things were slow that first week. It made me worry and I resolved to ask them what was up on Monday.
Well, it wasn’t good news - not at all. So, once again I find myself on the job market. Which really makes me feel like a week old steak on sale in the clearance meat section.
I don’t know what it is about looking for a job that is so depressing and demoralizing but man does it get me down. I have to promote myself to strangers and try to convince them that they would be a fool not to hire me, when in fact, I often wonder if I really even want to work at their establishment. It’s a quandry - one must work in order to survive in the basic sense and yet working for others is about the last thing in the world I want to do. Am I lazy? Maybe. I’ve been reflecting on that a lot lately. But I’m thinking that isn’t really it. I think the real problem for me is that I’m just sick of office politics and being at the mercy of another person for my survival.
I have often considered starting my own business but can’t really come up with anything that seems feasible enough to generate enough income and frankly it’s confusing and overwhelming. I am in awe of those who do manage it though. I mean, how do they come up with this stuff? It makes me feel as though I am missing some vital brain cell or initiative gene because I can’t seem to do it.
The multi-level marketing thing is a no-go - aside from it smacking of being a scam, I just can’t see myself doing it and feeling right about it. The scams are everywhere and one starts to feel wary of most of it. Still, I do have a set of skills that should be marketable and should be able to be parlayed into some sort of going concern.
So, I ask you, dear readers - any ideas? Any tips or tricks you care to share with me?
A befuddled and confused WC.
