Guns in the National Parks

It's now legal to carry a loaded gun in the national parks of this country. That became legal today. It depends a lot on the state in which the park resides as to what is legal. However, many parks are in multiple states. The Grand Canyon for example is in 3 states (Utah, Arizona, Nevada) in the form of 3 parks. That's 3 different state laws for firearms. You gonna keep track of the laws as you tramp down a trail, knowing exactly where the state lines are? Probably not.

Full disclosure. I own a gun. But I don't agree with the people who think that they should be allowed everywhere at all times. Those people are the ones I don't really trust to handle a firearm responsibly. People do stupid things and get angry. They shouldn't be able to shoot someone in a fit of anger over a campfire.

Here's a couple fun facts.

1. It's illegal to shoot any animal in a national park or wildlife reserve. So the gun you have on your hip is for who? You can't shoot the bears, and that might be the only really dangerous animal out there. Maybe a moose. So why do you need the gun?

2. Park rangers are unarmed. So is the gun for all the bandidos out there in the wilds of Yosemite? Rangers do fine without them.

I grew up in Arizona. As a kid I remember a store called Smittys. It had a place where you could check your gun in before you went shopping. That's just the way Arizona was back then. I have a friend who carries a gun everywhere he goes. He's a deputy sheriff. It's part of his job. I trust him to be responsible.

People go the national parks to get away from the everyday world. Now if you ask the loud folks at the next campsite to quiet down, are you going to get shot at? I hope it doesn't happen, but people are kinda dumb at times.

So I think the bears should get rifles to counter-balance all these humans with guns out. You want the right to bear arms? Then there should be armed bears.

The Sea

I like the term the "Sea." It has a more romantic, Hemingway-esque quality to it. It's more mysterious than the ocean. The ocean is National Geographic and scientific seeming to me. The Sea makes me think of tall sailing ships and bucaneers.

At the Terrenea resort there is a cliff overlooking the sea. It's a 70 foot drop to the rocky surf below. In the dark, before and after work the other day, I stood in the bracing wind looking out over the flat, endless dark water. And I had to wonder what it would have been like to cross the Atlantic 200 - 300 years ago in small (by todays standards) wind powered ships. The conditions would have been rudimentary; small cramped cabins, bad food, and miles and miles of vast water. No one showering. Navigation by the sun and stars? At the mercy of the weather and whatever Mother Nature throws at you. That's fucking nuts in my book.

Looking out over the Sea, not being able to discern anything, brought a fear of the unknown to me. It's a different kind of exploration. I don't fear things normal people do; heights, dying, etc. But getting into a wooden ship and circumnavigating the world? No thanks. I'm not necessarily a stay at home kind of guy, but I'd rather explore land. Less chance of drowning.

But with the Sea comes swashbuckling heroes. Errol Flynn characters. And inversely, Captains Bly and Ahab. Hmmm... It's hard to buckle a swash on land, though.

Pacific Islanders crossed, um, the Pacific in large canoes carved from big ass trees, powered by themselves. From Tonga to New Zealand or Hawaii. That strikes me as really crazy. How did they know which way to go? How did they know any land was out there at all? That is a huge risk to go look for an island which may or may not be out there. New Zealand was found because of clouds. If I recall correctly the Maori called New Zealand "Land of Clouds" in their native tongue. Being the natives that they are.

I've been on ferries. From Oslo to Copenhagen and Italy to Greece, but never a cruise ship. Ships now have GPS, computer navigation, things that make getting lost virtually impossible. Weather is not a mystery anymore. Hurricanes can be forecast a week in advance. So misadventure is very rare. Pirates do exist; stay away from the Somali coast and you'll probably be ok.

Normally I try to craft a good tag line at the end of these entries, but I never came up with one for this bit of blog. Sorry.

Hardwood Floors

Could someone tell me the allure of hardwood floors? Please?

The floor in the apartment above me is being sanded and fixed. It was carpet, but that is now gone and being replaced with a hardwood floor in this renovation. The process is fucking noisy. The neighbor who had the same thing happen with the apartment above her said the resulting hardwood floor is "an echo chamber" and "20 times worse than it was."

Fucking Awesome.

Since the floor has no padding on it at all the simple process of walking will be noisy as shit.

So I ask again, what is the allure of hardwood floors? I walk around bare foot most of the time on my carpets. On a hardwood floor it's cold in the winter, and the dust, hair, and particulates end up on your feet. So why is this flooring system better? It's posh? Real estate ads boldly proclaim "Hardwood Floors!" In fact, having them seems to raise the price of the rent and makes houses cost more. Ooooo, hardwood floors...

What do people with hardwood floors do? They cover them with area rugs! Which makes me think people really only like the idea of hardwood floors.
What good is a hardwood floor if you have to have on shoes or slippers all the time because it's cold and uncomfortable?

That's my view and I'm sticking to it.

"I Was Wondering..."

"what happened to you," said Mark Anderson.

I was working on a rigging job at the Terrenea Resort. The rigger, John, was someone from Phoenix and we knew a lot of the same people. While we were talking one of the guys who works for him called. It was Mark. We used to work together before I moved to LA. John handed me the phone and Mark and I chatted for a few minutes. He has 3 kids and says he is old. He said he thought about me the other week. It was something related to a U2 concert we were working. In the camera rehearsal I was onstage standing in for Adam the bass player. It was cold and rainy and 3 a.m. It was awesome.

"I was wondering what happened to you" he said.

Fuck What has happened to me? A lot, but it seems like very little when you see where I still am in Hollywood.

It was nice to chat with him, but that sentence came at a time which has been very hard for me regarding money, my car being fucked up in a new way, and so many things.

It was a little bit of a reality check. An unwanted one.

Where'd that check go?

UPDATE!
The check cleared February 19th. 2 weeks after I put it in the mail. What the fuck!?!


Just got an email alert from a credit card I have. They didn't get the payment I sent 10 days ago. So this will fuck my credit rating, and cost me $39 in late fees or more than that. I would really like to know what the fuck happened. I have never had a problem with any payment and have never had anything get lost in the mail. And of all the things to get lost, damn, this is a bad one.

FUCK.

sigh.

Things Learned from Animals

I housesit for a number of people and I find I learn stuff from the animals I watch.

Even though a cat may have a collar, putting a leash on a cat makes them freak out. But it's kinda funny to watch... for about 10 seconds.

Cats can see into other dimensions. And using the information gleaned from these viewings, suddenly decide to be in the next room NOW.

If there is more than one dog in the house, I will always have a favorite. It's the one that's the easiest, lowest maintenance dog of the 2. I whisper to it. "You are my favorite dog in the room." I whisper just so the other one doesn't get jealous...

If the leash slips from your hand while walking the dog and it takes off down the sidewalk, step on the leash when you catch up to it. You won't have time to reach down and grab it.

If a cat is exclusively and indoor cat, it will work very hard to escape. And glare at you when you foil it's plans.

Rabbits are pretty useless as pets. Because they don't like to be picked up, and hide in the hutch as far away from wherever you are. Try not to take it personally.

Rats are just plain creepy. I don't give a shit when people say they are actually nice. They are vermin that carry the plague. (Okay, I can't get over the primordial "ick" factor. Sue me.)

Every animal has it's own quirks. Behavior caused by the way the owner treats it. Or the way it was treated when young. I see it because I am not used to the behavior and try to suss out why it does things.

Finally!

Well, dear readers, you might be familiar with the saga of the Screaming Bitch upstairs. Things got interesting in October when the landlord gave her an eviction notice. Her behavior lately has turned for the worst. I emailed the landlord about the stereo blasting for up to 8 hours a day and the reply said, "She's moving this next month, so I would let it go."

Cool. Good to know, but when were they going to tell me? What is her last day?

This latest behavior is that of a spoiled child throwing a tantrum. OR a Spiteful, Vengeful C%nt trying to squeeze out more annoyance from me. But now that I know, I can be a bit more zen. However, what does it say about this person that her natural inclination is to be a Bitch? A person facing eviction would normally become a church mouse and leave quietly. At least that would be the smart thing to do. This Bitch gets as mean as her little mind will let her be. "I'm gonna be noisy! That'll show him!"

Yeah? Fuck you. You have no job, no life, you want to be nothing, you do nothing, you are nothing. And now you have no cheap place to live. You are the worst part of the human condition. Ignorant, mean, spiteful, self righteous. EVIL. Yeah. Just going to call you evil. You are a welfare cheat, and have figured out how to game the system. It's time for Kharma to lay you low.

The loud stereo you are trying to inflict on me is getting old with the neighbors. Today I was talking to the next door neighbor, he thought the loud music was coming from the church across the street. I told him to call the police if it bothers him. And what about the monstrosity of Condos next to my building? If I paid $500,000 for a condo I would be very pissed off with her antics.

I'm sure as she gets closer to leaving the antics are going to get interesting and louder. And the people in my building she thinks are friends are going to turn on her, seeing her for the Bitch she truly is.

Ke$ha's Fake Hollywood Sign

Over the years people have pranked the Hollywood sign. Hollyweed in the 80's, Holywood when the pope visited. But on youtbe today there is a video of a singer named Ke$ha I only heard of last week "pranking" the Hollywood sign.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW3Vb3jXmBs

I looked at this an my BULLSHIT meter went nuts. The letters of the HOLLYWOOD sign are 45 feet tall. They had one roll of fabric that looked to be 4-6 feet wide and 30 feet long. They were using spray paint to spell out her name. Uh, you would need a huge amount of paint to do those letters and a lot more fabric than that.

To mount the fabric to the sign you would need some equipment and fucking climbing gear because a bunch of drunk girls in short pants would fall off an die trying this stunt. They are not Spiderman. Clothing was wrong for Winter time too. You'd think one of the girls would bitch about being cold.

The cop that stopped them, the patch said "Police" on his shoulders. The LAPD uniform looked wrong. The patches on the shoulder, never seen that style. Most don't have patches on the shoulder. He just wouldn't walk away and leave them up there. He would escort them away or arrest them. They're trespassing. He would have another cop with him. You don't go up to the top of that mountain without backup. The real cops would shut down the camera immediately and not let you film them. There's public intoxication. The girls seemed drunk or high. The cop would have searched them. To many things made me think he's an actor. Or an extra they know with a cop uniform.

In LA this sign is better protected than most mansions. There are cameras watching it 24/7. It's target for people to visit, grafitti, and there was at least one suicide off it. If you head up Beachwood Blvd going uphill toward the sign, there are large signs which say, "No Hollywood Sign Access." This is to discourage tourists.

Lastly, if this really had happened, don't you think it would have been in the news? It would have been a big deal. And the LAPD would arrest her because it's not like someone else did it. The stupid thing is it's on youtube. People have been arrrested for putting videos of them tagging things on youtube. It's evidence.

I really hate these fame whoring no talent losers. This will get her name out there, but I hope they rake her over the coals for the FAKE it is. And the overproduced vocals for her song "tik Tok."

Body Modification

I have no tattoos or piercings. It's a choice. I have seen some really cool tattoos and thought it might be cool to get one, but then I change my mind for lots of reasons. What happens when you no longer like the tattoo? You're kinda stuck with it. It can be lasered off, but that costs about 5 - 10 times the price of the tattoo. So it doesn't seem like a good investment.

A friend of mine got his fiance's name tattooed on his arm after she had his tattooed on hers. He was leery about the idea but did it anyway. Guess what? They broke up within 6 months. So he had "Courtney" on his arm. Tattoo artists will advise against getting the tattoo of a person's name on you. You will break up with them in 6 months.

I have a friend who is a former makeup artist in LA. She would spend hours covering up tattoos on actors. It's like painting a wall. It takes several coats to cover them up and then you need to touch up because of sweat and wear. I have on my acting resume under special skills "no tattoos or piercings". I am a blank slate. If a part needs a tattoo, it can be created on my skin. I heard Ozzy Osbourne in an interview say, "if you want to stand out, don't do anything." Since everyone seems to have something done...

Piercings. Lips, tongue, eyebrows, anything you can think of can be pierced. Genitals, Ouch! I didn't like a scratch test for allergies. Piercings, no thanks. When I was a kid and I was losing a tooth, my tongue would play with it because it was something foreign going on in my mouth. The thing I notice about tongue and lip piercings is that the person will play with it constantly. And they have no idea they are doing it. I did know a girl with a pierced clit. It was kinda interesting, but not gonna say any more.

So basically I am boring. I think the body modification that can be done is not that interesting. The body modification I want is wings. Real ones. I want to be able to fly. Fuck the 405 I'll just fly to where I need to go. Or gills might be interesting. So I could scuba in warm water sans scuba gear. Or a prehensile tail. It would be helpful rigging. Though only one of these at a time. If you had wings and a tail, all you need is a little hat, and you're a flying monkey from the Wizard of Oz.