1. I read in the news online that brain death may not happen when the heart stops. So that's awesome. The mind will continue to scream WHAT THE FUCK!?! after the heart stops pumping blood. I saw a Twilight Zone type show that had the same premise. A guy created a drug that kept the conciousness alive after the body died. The tag to the show was the lights passing overhead as his body with the screaming living mind was taken to autopsy. Or something like that.
Maybe when the body dies a bullet should be put into the brain to kill the mind.
But who does the research to figure this shit out? That's so fucked up and not the least bit comforting.
2. I was reading Methuselah's Children by Robert Heinlein this week and one sentence struck me.
"Whenever the citizens fix their attention on one issue to the exclusion of other, the situation is ripe for scalawags, demagogues, ambitious men on horseback."
That pretty much covers so many politicians this past year. They fed upon the tea party's hatred of all things democratic. And who were the scalawags on horseback? Ted Cruz. Rand Paul. Darrell Issa. etc. They demagogued Benghazi, the ACA. Created scandals where there were none.
I long for the day when they get voted out of congress. Or are found in congress with a boy sheep.
3. My dad could have died recently from a whole pile of stupidity. I'll list the things that could have led to this.
A. When going to the desert leave directions on where you are going.
B. Take water. More than a pint bottle. Duh.
C. Have a fully charged cell phone. Or a charger in the car. Even if there is no signal then you can walk to find one. A cell phone with a dead battery is a fucking paperweight.
D. Don't be concerned about the cost of a tow truck to pull your mechanically disabled truck out of the mud. Death or being cheap... Hmmmm....
E. When you are found by guys on dirt bikes ask to be taken to civilization.
My dad went with a friend to look at some land she had in the desert around Lake Pleasant in AZ. Her cell phone is old and the battery lasts mere hours. They had the linkage in the truck break and the tire got stuck in mud. They were going to walk out some dirt road. When the guys on dirt bikes (motorcycles) found them they were out of water. They gave them some. They walked back to the truck. The dirt bikers came and checked on them. One had mechanical knowledge and was able to do something so the truck would start and go forward. But only forward. They also had small shovels and cleared the tire from the mud. Once free they got back to civilization, picked up my Dad's car, and then they went to drop the truck at my Dad's mechanic.
This trip which should have been 3 hours was 12. Yeah, it's not like it was Colorado in December, but had the guys on dirt bikes not come along, this would be a different ending to the story.
The woman will now forever be known as the person who almost got my Dad killed.
Monday, December 30, 2013
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Camelback 2013
While in Phoenix I did the yearly jaunt up Camelback Mountain with Terry. It's a yearly test, basically, just to see how fucked up my body is.
The time up the mountain this year was 48:31, and the down time was 37:10. Though Terry had a different down time on his watch even though we were walking down together. He had 27 minutes. I think he read it wrong and before he could look at it again he deleted the time from his watch.
I didn't stop as we climbed the trail like i did last year, but kept a steady pace. I beat my time up last year but I was faster paced last year because I had stopped more than once to catch my breath. Slower pace, quicker time. Don't really know how that works out. The difference this year, according to Terry: Less cussing.
I was just trudging along I guess.
I do wonder how fast he could do it on his own.
The time up the mountain this year was 48:31, and the down time was 37:10. Though Terry had a different down time on his watch even though we were walking down together. He had 27 minutes. I think he read it wrong and before he could look at it again he deleted the time from his watch.
I didn't stop as we climbed the trail like i did last year, but kept a steady pace. I beat my time up last year but I was faster paced last year because I had stopped more than once to catch my breath. Slower pace, quicker time. Don't really know how that works out. The difference this year, according to Terry: Less cussing.
I was just trudging along I guess.
I do wonder how fast he could do it on his own.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Ghosts of Friends Past
I was looking at my old address book tonight. I was trying to figure out who I would send Christmas cards to. As I was looking page by page I was wondering what happened to these people who were important enough to write their names in the address book.
People I met while pursuing an acting career. People I trained with in London and San Francisco, some I met while doing theatre in San Diego at the Globe and the Rep. The faces and voices which accompany the names were easy to remember for most everyone. There were a few names I couldn't place. A number of people had died. Some years ago, some more recent. There were a lot of old defunct addresses. And some people had moved a multitude of times.
2 people had their own pages in the address book. Both front and back because they moved so often. One was in the Army and subject to the whim of his employment, and the other was a vagabond until he married and moved to Culver City.
I went on the internet and took a list of 20 or so names to delve into. These were people I was closer to or we had trained together.Which for actors means long hours, parties, and drinking and shenanigans. Some were girls I liked but never connected with.
What did I find out? A lot of the actors trained in acting then did something else entirely. There were a few who continued to work in some capacity. The searches were intersting because as actors we tend to have a bigger footprint on the internet then your average person. We do plays and shows and there's IMDb. There are pictures, headshots, and reviews of our work. Some people I didn't need to look up. They are Tony award winners. One teacher in London has an Oscar for the music to Shakespeare in Love. Another teacher (director) was Oscar nominated for Billy Elliot. One director from San Diego has been directing on Broadway for the past decade and has won Tonys. The famous are easily found.
Some names didn't register a hit at all. Like the person disappeared or was a figment of a fever dream. Some people segued into jobs in the same area, but as teachers in colleges. Some people were in pictures, but not on websites. One person was gay. Which now makes more sense when I think back on it. Maybe he didn't know it then or didn't admit it.
It was an interesting exercise in the passage of time and the evolution of people, friends, acquaintances, fellow students, co-workers.
People I met while pursuing an acting career. People I trained with in London and San Francisco, some I met while doing theatre in San Diego at the Globe and the Rep. The faces and voices which accompany the names were easy to remember for most everyone. There were a few names I couldn't place. A number of people had died. Some years ago, some more recent. There were a lot of old defunct addresses. And some people had moved a multitude of times.
2 people had their own pages in the address book. Both front and back because they moved so often. One was in the Army and subject to the whim of his employment, and the other was a vagabond until he married and moved to Culver City.
I went on the internet and took a list of 20 or so names to delve into. These were people I was closer to or we had trained together.Which for actors means long hours, parties, and drinking and shenanigans. Some were girls I liked but never connected with.
What did I find out? A lot of the actors trained in acting then did something else entirely. There were a few who continued to work in some capacity. The searches were intersting because as actors we tend to have a bigger footprint on the internet then your average person. We do plays and shows and there's IMDb. There are pictures, headshots, and reviews of our work. Some people I didn't need to look up. They are Tony award winners. One teacher in London has an Oscar for the music to Shakespeare in Love. Another teacher (director) was Oscar nominated for Billy Elliot. One director from San Diego has been directing on Broadway for the past decade and has won Tonys. The famous are easily found.
Some names didn't register a hit at all. Like the person disappeared or was a figment of a fever dream. Some people segued into jobs in the same area, but as teachers in colleges. Some people were in pictures, but not on websites. One person was gay. Which now makes more sense when I think back on it. Maybe he didn't know it then or didn't admit it.
It was an interesting exercise in the passage of time and the evolution of people, friends, acquaintances, fellow students, co-workers.
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Random Meeting at a Bus Stop
Let's hope it's a long and healthy hate."
He also had a friend who survived the Indianapolis sinking. Look it up. It's a very famous military tragedy at sea. Robert Shaw talks about it in Jaws.
Larry also
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
The Thanksgiving Non Surprise
There's bad weather this Thanksgiving. Its' all over the news. It is not like it happens all the time.
Oh, wait, it does.
Every year at Thanksgiving there is bad weather which fucks up traffic and flights all over the country. There are stories all over the news with reporters standing out in the cold, the rain and snow all to prove that winter is indeed snowy and as luck would have it, it effects travel.
Shocking.
The news should all agree to not report the bad weather in such doomsday terms. The would be allowed to run a weather story on Thanksgiving only if the conditions are awesome and beautiful. Something along the lines of, "It's a bright sunny day on Thanksgiving. The air is crisp and travel is going to be smooth." To report that there is bad weather in winter is just lame.
If the holiday were moved to April or May these yearly problems would not happen. Isn't thanksgiving a holiday to celebrate the pilgrims surviving a bad winter? Wouldn't it make sense to have it after winter and not during the beginning or middle?
I should start a petition for the change of Thanksgiving to a time when it's easy to travel.
Oh, wait, it does.
Every year at Thanksgiving there is bad weather which fucks up traffic and flights all over the country. There are stories all over the news with reporters standing out in the cold, the rain and snow all to prove that winter is indeed snowy and as luck would have it, it effects travel.
Shocking.
The news should all agree to not report the bad weather in such doomsday terms. The would be allowed to run a weather story on Thanksgiving only if the conditions are awesome and beautiful. Something along the lines of, "It's a bright sunny day on Thanksgiving. The air is crisp and travel is going to be smooth." To report that there is bad weather in winter is just lame.
If the holiday were moved to April or May these yearly problems would not happen. Isn't thanksgiving a holiday to celebrate the pilgrims surviving a bad winter? Wouldn't it make sense to have it after winter and not during the beginning or middle?
I should start a petition for the change of Thanksgiving to a time when it's easy to travel.
Smoke and Vapor
The E cigarette thing is odd. Every time I see someone with an e cigarette or vapor cigarette, they seem to have this attitude. There is something that comes off them that is defiant. If you said you couldn't smoke one someplace I think they would immediately say that they "aren't smoking. It's water vapor."
The way it is held is odd too. It's more like a small flute they are ashamed to be carrying around than a cigarette. It seems they are trying to hide it so there isn't a confrontation, but they are defensive.
I don't know if the health consequences are lessened by vapor as opposed to smoke, but nicotine is not a good thing to be sucking on. I don't think it actually helps people who smoke quit smoking. It seems just to be a transition of addictions. Don't you get more nicotine this way? Without the cancer causing smoke?
It will be interesting to see what happens with laws regarding this smoking technology. Is it really a civil liberties thing? We let people kill themselves in lots of ways. Why restrict a new one?
Humans are curious things...
The way it is held is odd too. It's more like a small flute they are ashamed to be carrying around than a cigarette. It seems they are trying to hide it so there isn't a confrontation, but they are defensive.
I don't know if the health consequences are lessened by vapor as opposed to smoke, but nicotine is not a good thing to be sucking on. I don't think it actually helps people who smoke quit smoking. It seems just to be a transition of addictions. Don't you get more nicotine this way? Without the cancer causing smoke?
It will be interesting to see what happens with laws regarding this smoking technology. Is it really a civil liberties thing? We let people kill themselves in lots of ways. Why restrict a new one?
Humans are curious things...
A 40 Hour Work Week... For Congress.
Most people think Congress sucks. And it kind of does. They spend more time raising money for the next campaign and having dueling press conferences than they do in Washington DC doing things to make the country better. No wonder herpes has a higher rating in most polls.
An average Senator and Representative make $174,000 a year.
But they only work a limited number of days. The Senate had 132 working days this year. The House had 147 days. Your average working Joe has a potential of about 261 minus holidays, so maybe 256. That's without taking any vacation time.
So an 8 hour day of work in 256 days is 2048 hours.
The Senate had 1056 hours if you figure an 8 hour day.
The House had 1176 hours with an 8 hour day.
So basically Congress is getting paid a huge salary to work half the days most everyone else in the USA does.
But then there's the salary. $174,000.
Again figuring an 8 hour day, the Senate is paying $164.77 an hour.
The House is paying $147.96 an hour.
If they kept the same salary but worked 256 days, the hourly rate is $84.96. Still a huge amount for an hours work.
If that $84.96 were the base line for their hourly rate, and Congress got paid by the hour, the days and hours they worked this year would earn them much less. $99912.96 in the Senate and $89,717.76 in the House.
Basically make the Congress work for an hourly wage with the promise of making $174,000 if they work a 40 hour week. I bet they would work on weekends for the time and a half, and they might even unionize to get better conditions.If they worked that many hours, some things might get done. Laws might get passed. Roads, education, immigration, healthcare, all the things stalled in the Congress might improve.
Not gonna happen, but some interesting, albeit depressing, math.
An average Senator and Representative make $174,000 a year.
But they only work a limited number of days. The Senate had 132 working days this year. The House had 147 days. Your average working Joe has a potential of about 261 minus holidays, so maybe 256. That's without taking any vacation time.
So an 8 hour day of work in 256 days is 2048 hours.
The Senate had 1056 hours if you figure an 8 hour day.
The House had 1176 hours with an 8 hour day.
So basically Congress is getting paid a huge salary to work half the days most everyone else in the USA does.
But then there's the salary. $174,000.
Again figuring an 8 hour day, the Senate is paying $164.77 an hour.
The House is paying $147.96 an hour.
If they kept the same salary but worked 256 days, the hourly rate is $84.96. Still a huge amount for an hours work.
If that $84.96 were the base line for their hourly rate, and Congress got paid by the hour, the days and hours they worked this year would earn them much less. $99912.96 in the Senate and $89,717.76 in the House.
Basically make the Congress work for an hourly wage with the promise of making $174,000 if they work a 40 hour week. I bet they would work on weekends for the time and a half, and they might even unionize to get better conditions.If they worked that many hours, some things might get done. Laws might get passed. Roads, education, immigration, healthcare, all the things stalled in the Congress might improve.
Not gonna happen, but some interesting, albeit depressing, math.
Monday, October 28, 2013
Gym
I had a Groupon for a 3 month gym membership to what people who are body builders call "the Mecca." It's a name in body building that has been around for almost 50 years and lots of very famous people worked out there. Arnold for one.
I've had memberships at other gyms in the past, but I never saw that many really big muscle bound people like I see at this gym. They are huge and veiny and all super tan. But I have noticed a couple of the guys limp. They have the big muscles but they can't move simply like other people can. Was it a exercise injury? Torn ACL from some training accident which never healed properly? You get size but at a cost.
I wonder at the sacrifices these people do for the perfect look. Their ideal body. I heard a couple of the large guys talking. One said he was eating 10 times a day starting at 4:30 am. Fucking really? That's nuts. I'm sure it's a lot of lean protein and whatnot, but what reason drives them? If they were actors, they were no one I've ever seen or heard of. So what do they do for work? Or is being big their only job?
My membership ends tomorrow. The guy at the desk said there was one day left on the membership. Oh NO! Yeah, I really don't care to renew my membership there. They seem to think that because this gym is the Mecca of bodybuilding that there are no other gyms which could provide the same services. It's a gym. There are machines and weights. All gyms have this in various combinations. Just because it's a world famous gym doesn't make me want to spend that kind of money for a service I can get from another gym for 1/4 the cost per year. You just have to shop around.
So I'll miss seeing the behemoths of the gym in their natural habitat. I don't think the new place I found will have their like. Maybe a few, but nothing like the frequency of sightings. The new gym will have machines and weights and cost a lot less.
I've had memberships at other gyms in the past, but I never saw that many really big muscle bound people like I see at this gym. They are huge and veiny and all super tan. But I have noticed a couple of the guys limp. They have the big muscles but they can't move simply like other people can. Was it a exercise injury? Torn ACL from some training accident which never healed properly? You get size but at a cost.
I wonder at the sacrifices these people do for the perfect look. Their ideal body. I heard a couple of the large guys talking. One said he was eating 10 times a day starting at 4:30 am. Fucking really? That's nuts. I'm sure it's a lot of lean protein and whatnot, but what reason drives them? If they were actors, they were no one I've ever seen or heard of. So what do they do for work? Or is being big their only job?
My membership ends tomorrow. The guy at the desk said there was one day left on the membership. Oh NO! Yeah, I really don't care to renew my membership there. They seem to think that because this gym is the Mecca of bodybuilding that there are no other gyms which could provide the same services. It's a gym. There are machines and weights. All gyms have this in various combinations. Just because it's a world famous gym doesn't make me want to spend that kind of money for a service I can get from another gym for 1/4 the cost per year. You just have to shop around.
So I'll miss seeing the behemoths of the gym in their natural habitat. I don't think the new place I found will have their like. Maybe a few, but nothing like the frequency of sightings. The new gym will have machines and weights and cost a lot less.
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Taxi Dancers
I was in downtown LA to work at the Orpheum, Theatre on Broadway. I parked at Broadway and Olympic. I walked toward the theatre past an open door. It was a dance hall. Inside I saw something I thought was gone decades ago. A taxi dance venue. I thought places like that disappeared in the 1950s. I slowed down and looked at the scene inside.
I saw what in some ways reminded me of a dance in 6th grade. The women were on one side of the room dressed in their nice tight dresses, hair and makeup done, clutching small purses. The men were mainly Latinos, dressed in cowboy boots, jeans, and some had cowboy hats, around pool tables playing pool and standing in groups.
No one was dancing.
A DJ played music in a booth and the men looked like they were having a good time. The women were patient. Waiting for a man to get the courage to cross that huge divide that separates groups of men from groups of women.
I remember seeing taxi dancers in a movie or some TV show. I thought it was sad and lonely. To see it in reality... It was sad in reality too.
Where do these men and women come from? Taxi dancing seems so odd. It might get you as meany dances as you pay for but it's rather hollow companionship. What an odd archaic thing to still exist in a world of online dating.
I saw what in some ways reminded me of a dance in 6th grade. The women were on one side of the room dressed in their nice tight dresses, hair and makeup done, clutching small purses. The men were mainly Latinos, dressed in cowboy boots, jeans, and some had cowboy hats, around pool tables playing pool and standing in groups.
No one was dancing.
A DJ played music in a booth and the men looked like they were having a good time. The women were patient. Waiting for a man to get the courage to cross that huge divide that separates groups of men from groups of women.
I remember seeing taxi dancers in a movie or some TV show. I thought it was sad and lonely. To see it in reality... It was sad in reality too.
Where do these men and women come from? Taxi dancing seems so odd. It might get you as meany dances as you pay for but it's rather hollow companionship. What an odd archaic thing to still exist in a world of online dating.
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Style
I'm always amazed at style. I don't really have one. Generally I wear Levi 501s and whatever t-shirt is next.
I'm talking about the style that takes a lot of time and preparation and dedication to do day in and day out. If it's celebrities, it's kind of part and parcel of the job. Standing out. So Lady Gaga has weird, crazy style. But it's all part of an act. If you are wearing a meat dress, you will get noticed. By the press if not by wolves.
But if you aren't a celebrity and style is a way of being noticed as different from the rest of the people, what would the cut off be? The point where you are saying, "That is too far. Takes too much time."
Walking around Hollywood you see all sorts of crazy styles. And sometimes I have to wonder is it worth it? The time involved to get hair to do that. Or to strap 54 leather bracelets up your arms. Or tight leather pants in 100 degree heat. Style sacrificed at the altar of comfort.
I don't really care that much about my image that I will take a lot of time to pick out clothes. I have some things that are dressy, and suits for work and auditions, but I basically don't care. About what I'm wearing or what people think about me.
It might be a left over camouflage thing from grade school and high school. If you looked different you were ridiculed. So you didn't deviate from the base line of what most kids wore. I was also not one of the kids in sports so being in the drama department, you were a target for ridicule.
I don't know. So many things about who you are are left over from school. Whether style or self image. The roots are deep.
I'm talking about the style that takes a lot of time and preparation and dedication to do day in and day out. If it's celebrities, it's kind of part and parcel of the job. Standing out. So Lady Gaga has weird, crazy style. But it's all part of an act. If you are wearing a meat dress, you will get noticed. By the press if not by wolves.
But if you aren't a celebrity and style is a way of being noticed as different from the rest of the people, what would the cut off be? The point where you are saying, "That is too far. Takes too much time."
Walking around Hollywood you see all sorts of crazy styles. And sometimes I have to wonder is it worth it? The time involved to get hair to do that. Or to strap 54 leather bracelets up your arms. Or tight leather pants in 100 degree heat. Style sacrificed at the altar of comfort.
I don't really care that much about my image that I will take a lot of time to pick out clothes. I have some things that are dressy, and suits for work and auditions, but I basically don't care. About what I'm wearing or what people think about me.
It might be a left over camouflage thing from grade school and high school. If you looked different you were ridiculed. So you didn't deviate from the base line of what most kids wore. I was also not one of the kids in sports so being in the drama department, you were a target for ridicule.
I don't know. So many things about who you are are left over from school. Whether style or self image. The roots are deep.
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Random Thoughts
Why is every repair on my car always the most expensive option mechanically for that model?
How do people listen to Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck and think they are saying reasonable shit?
My main reason for not online dating would be the fear the eharmony creator would be going on the date with me. Creepy commercials, dude.
Shaving my chest for a picture led to over a month of weird itchiness. And I kept looking at my torso. It was oddly foreign to me.
Sometimes I want to take a backpack and just fucking disappear.
I fear I may have missed the window to move to Amsterdam and be a nightly performer in a live sex show.
I look to find myself in the commercials I worked on as an extra. Usually I can find me.The chin is a dead give away.
One person until death do you part? That seems... I don't know... A bit unrealistic.
I like the smell of burning steel that comes from welding; the acrid ozone smell. It reminds me of the time I spent working with steel. Welding swords for theatrical combat.
If a supermarket always has a certain loaf of bread on sale for it's card holders, why not just lower the price for everyone? Is that 50 cents really such a windfall?
Does anyone on Facebook ever post the simplest truth? "I could really use a blowjob." "God, I need to get laid."
On the days I don't leave my apartment (never opening the door), I sometimes wonder if I will run out of oxygen.
Having sex after a long dry spell makes one want more sex. I notice women much more than I previously did. Which was a lot.
I should be a talking head pundit on MSNBC. I have strong political opinions just like them.
Twitter makes me wonder if I have thoughts that should go out to the world on a daily basis.
The evenings are very quiet and I long for the busy time of being in rehearsal.
How do people listen to Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck and think they are saying reasonable shit?
My main reason for not online dating would be the fear the eharmony creator would be going on the date with me. Creepy commercials, dude.
Shaving my chest for a picture led to over a month of weird itchiness. And I kept looking at my torso. It was oddly foreign to me.
Sometimes I want to take a backpack and just fucking disappear.
I fear I may have missed the window to move to Amsterdam and be a nightly performer in a live sex show.
I look to find myself in the commercials I worked on as an extra. Usually I can find me.The chin is a dead give away.
One person until death do you part? That seems... I don't know... A bit unrealistic.
I like the smell of burning steel that comes from welding; the acrid ozone smell. It reminds me of the time I spent working with steel. Welding swords for theatrical combat.
If a supermarket always has a certain loaf of bread on sale for it's card holders, why not just lower the price for everyone? Is that 50 cents really such a windfall?
Does anyone on Facebook ever post the simplest truth? "I could really use a blowjob." "God, I need to get laid."
On the days I don't leave my apartment (never opening the door), I sometimes wonder if I will run out of oxygen.
Having sex after a long dry spell makes one want more sex. I notice women much more than I previously did. Which was a lot.
I should be a talking head pundit on MSNBC. I have strong political opinions just like them.
Twitter makes me wonder if I have thoughts that should go out to the world on a daily basis.
The evenings are very quiet and I long for the busy time of being in rehearsal.
Friday, October 4, 2013
Attrition in Los Angeles
I was having lunch with a fellow actor yesterday. We have known each other for 15 years or so, having met while working at a small theatre in a basement in Pasadena. We were doing plays. Why? Because live theatre, live performing, is like sex. You can tell when the audience is with you and there is a cycle of energy given out and sent back to the performer onstage.
I've been having a rough go of it lately. I haven't done a play in a while. I'm woefully under represented. My agent has not called at all this year which is why I'm looking to get a new one. So I was doing the actor's lament, "I'm not getting out, my agent sucks, yadda yadda yadda." It's venting all actors do.
We started talking about the people who have given up and why. Because in the years I've been in LA I've seen lots of people come and even more go. And the personal reasons for quitting acting are many. She told me of a few people she knew and what the specific reason was for quitting acting. And one of them was a small snub, but it was personal and not meant to be mean, but it was kind of cruel. An off handed comment that a casting director made. Really? That one comment broke the camel's back? Fuck me. It's part of the business. Because the commodity is you. You may not get the part, but there are likely 99 reasons out of 100 for not getting it that probably have nothing to do with you.
Anyway. I was reflecting earlier in the week about this subject. Where did the actors I know go? They got a day job and slowly faded away from acting. They found that a steady income was more attractive then perpetual struggle. A job opened up in another state. A child came along and they can raise it cheaper with better schools in a midwest state. There seemed to be plenty of small reasons to give up a titanic struggle. And big reasons too. But each person has to figure out what that point is.
It's hard. It's very discouraging. Can you be happy doing something else? Can you see yourself doing that thing? Go. Do it. You may save yourself a lot of frustration and heartache.
But for all the people I know who have left the profession and Los Angeles, I know they are being replaced by actors from all over the country who hop off the bus fresh faced. These are the stars of their high schools and colleges. Their professional training programs. These are the ones who haven't been beaten down by the machine of Hollywood.
I don't know if I have a breaking point. Or if I will be like a terrier playing tug of war with a huge rope tied to a mountain until I have a heart attack and die.
The thing is, I have friends working. I know people in movies and on series and working as guest stars. I know people in commercials and voice over. And those people give me hope that I will succeed. I don't want to be someone who has given up. Unless I win $400 million. But I'd produce my own movies if I did win that kind of money.
I've been having a rough go of it lately. I haven't done a play in a while. I'm woefully under represented. My agent has not called at all this year which is why I'm looking to get a new one. So I was doing the actor's lament, "I'm not getting out, my agent sucks, yadda yadda yadda." It's venting all actors do.
We started talking about the people who have given up and why. Because in the years I've been in LA I've seen lots of people come and even more go. And the personal reasons for quitting acting are many. She told me of a few people she knew and what the specific reason was for quitting acting. And one of them was a small snub, but it was personal and not meant to be mean, but it was kind of cruel. An off handed comment that a casting director made. Really? That one comment broke the camel's back? Fuck me. It's part of the business. Because the commodity is you. You may not get the part, but there are likely 99 reasons out of 100 for not getting it that probably have nothing to do with you.
Anyway. I was reflecting earlier in the week about this subject. Where did the actors I know go? They got a day job and slowly faded away from acting. They found that a steady income was more attractive then perpetual struggle. A job opened up in another state. A child came along and they can raise it cheaper with better schools in a midwest state. There seemed to be plenty of small reasons to give up a titanic struggle. And big reasons too. But each person has to figure out what that point is.
It's hard. It's very discouraging. Can you be happy doing something else? Can you see yourself doing that thing? Go. Do it. You may save yourself a lot of frustration and heartache.
But for all the people I know who have left the profession and Los Angeles, I know they are being replaced by actors from all over the country who hop off the bus fresh faced. These are the stars of their high schools and colleges. Their professional training programs. These are the ones who haven't been beaten down by the machine of Hollywood.
I don't know if I have a breaking point. Or if I will be like a terrier playing tug of war with a huge rope tied to a mountain until I have a heart attack and die.
The thing is, I have friends working. I know people in movies and on series and working as guest stars. I know people in commercials and voice over. And those people give me hope that I will succeed. I don't want to be someone who has given up. Unless I win $400 million. But I'd produce my own movies if I did win that kind of money.
Monday, September 30, 2013
The American Taliban
Yeah, the name is one I first heard on The Newsroom. The HBO, Aaron Sorkin show. But it perfectly describes the Tea Party faction of the GOP. They have totally hijacked that party with crazy super duper far right thinking that has made government grind to a halt.
Right now, about 15 minutes ago, the midnight deadline for a government shutdown passed. Which is the stupidest thing that could possibly happen. But the Tea Party is not very bright. They think they can force the Affordable Care Act to go away just by throwing a temper tantrum. The thing they don't seem to get is that this idea of healthcare reform had been vetted with the country since it had been signed into law in 2010.
They seem to think that the vote in both houses of congress, the signing by the President, the litigation upheld by the Supreme Court, a Presidential election where the opposing candidate promised multiple times a day to "repeal and replace Obamacare on day one," or the 42 or more votes which failed to get rid of the ACA don't matter. The country voted to re-elect the President by over 5 million votes and an electoral college landslide.
Doesn't matter to the 30-45 hard right terroists who are making the rest of the GOP jump like lemmings inot the abyss. But the lemming jump is not enough. They are wearing suicide vests and their fingers are gleefully thumbing the detonator.
Ther is no way for it to be resolved tonight. And the lesson of the 1996 shutdown is lost on these idiots. The government was shutdown for 21 days. They don't know the consequences. They will learn the impact of this ideological purity test. And I hope and pray that the fools of the Tea Party will all be voted out of congress. There is no room in governing for people who want to burn down the government.
It would be awesome if recall petitions were started in every state and congressional district of every GOP member who votes in this destructive and reckless way.
But this is just the preamble. The real crazy shit may happen when the debt ceiling limit comes to a vote.
Right now, about 15 minutes ago, the midnight deadline for a government shutdown passed. Which is the stupidest thing that could possibly happen. But the Tea Party is not very bright. They think they can force the Affordable Care Act to go away just by throwing a temper tantrum. The thing they don't seem to get is that this idea of healthcare reform had been vetted with the country since it had been signed into law in 2010.
They seem to think that the vote in both houses of congress, the signing by the President, the litigation upheld by the Supreme Court, a Presidential election where the opposing candidate promised multiple times a day to "repeal and replace Obamacare on day one," or the 42 or more votes which failed to get rid of the ACA don't matter. The country voted to re-elect the President by over 5 million votes and an electoral college landslide.
Doesn't matter to the 30-45 hard right terroists who are making the rest of the GOP jump like lemmings inot the abyss. But the lemming jump is not enough. They are wearing suicide vests and their fingers are gleefully thumbing the detonator.
Ther is no way for it to be resolved tonight. And the lesson of the 1996 shutdown is lost on these idiots. The government was shutdown for 21 days. They don't know the consequences. They will learn the impact of this ideological purity test. And I hope and pray that the fools of the Tea Party will all be voted out of congress. There is no room in governing for people who want to burn down the government.
It would be awesome if recall petitions were started in every state and congressional district of every GOP member who votes in this destructive and reckless way.
But this is just the preamble. The real crazy shit may happen when the debt ceiling limit comes to a vote.
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Parenting Thoughts
Yeah. I have no kids. But I have strong opinions about parenting.
I was talking to a woman who has a 2 year old child and said I wouldn't do certain things. Thins she had done with her child. She put her hands on her hips and gave me a, "Really?" Which was not subtle code for, "You have no fucking children, why are you judging me?"
I have friends with kids and have seen different parenting styles from cajoling to guilt trips to begging to threats and intimidation. They may be the thing that that specific child needs. But in all the parenting styles I have watched I have to admit that I think the woman with hands on hips kind of got it all wrong.
The child is 2 and still breast feeds. Not because he needs the food or they live in sub Saharan Africa and there is no other source of protein for the child, it's because she wanted to breast feed for a long time. And now, at 2, it's hard to break the kid from the routine. Also, breastfeeding is now a security blanket for the child. If he bumps his head, he gets a boob. If he ever is sad, he gets a boob. I'm over 18. It would be fucking awesome to get a boob at the end of a bad day.
The child co-sleeps with them and has the entire time. The child had never slept in it's own bed until recently. It was more for her than the child. Um, have a crib near the bed to facilitate middle of the night feedings for the first 3-4 months, but you could roll over and hurt the child! That's just fucking dangerous. It's only recently the child has been sleeping in his own bed.
The parents told of how difficult it is to get the child to stop breast feeding and to sleep in it's own bed. Who's fault is that for not creating a routine? The kid is a precious glass unicorn that has never had a bad day. They are talking about home schooling. I don't buy that home schooled kids are at the same developmental stages as kids who go to public or private schools.
In school you learn things. Socialization. You learn your strengths and weaknesses. You learn that there are people in the world that are assholes and you won't like them. And they won't like you. You learn to play tag and dodgeball at recess and you run around. I doubt that home schooled kids get sent outside to run around. And prom is going to suck
You learn deadlines in school. You have to have work in by a certain time to get a grade. How do grades work for home schooled kids? How does Harvard look at a home schooled kid and say that they have a commensurate educational experience as the kids who went to public or private schools? For what is school training you for? A JOB. Yup, all the things you learned in school like sitting behind a desk and accomplishing a task, that is a precursor to having a job where you sit at a desk and get shit done. I'm not being Dickensian, but if a home schooled kid is only "working" for 3 hours because it is the same as 7 hours at a public school, then he will be shocked at how long a work day really is.
When the parents admonished the child for pushing another child, the mother said, "It makes Mommy feel bad when you do that." The dad also said, "Daddy doesn't like it when you do that." Um, in the world there are things you should do. Tell a child "No" and stick with it is one of the things. You can explain why, but what does the child learn being guilt tripped about an action the parents don't like? How do you explain to the child the stove is hot? "It burns Mommy when you stick your hand on the burner?" IT'S FUCKING DANGEROUS! Certain things in the world are dangerous and you need to tell the kid "NO." Don't run into the street. Don't jump off the roof. Don't stab Mommy. The justification of "it makes Mommy sad" is bullshit.
Generally, I think that these parents are raising a bright, lovely child who will have a universe filled with rainbows and butterflies... And be totally unprepared for how the world really works. This kid will be consoled if he fails. And you get a trophy for showing up.
But, really, don't you learn more from your failures than you successes? Anybody can win, but how do you deal with a loss? Does the loss drive you to do better or give up on doing that thing again? Feeling bad is part of being human. If you never learn how to cope, are you going to be looking for Mom's boob when you are 35 and didn't get a promotion at work?
Don't you learn more from the people who don't like you than the ones who like you and put up with your shit because they are your friend? My friends put up with my crap. But the ones who won't are the people I work for and the people who don't like me. They call my attention to the things I do that others let slide.
But then what do I know? I'm just some asshole who has no children.
I was talking to a woman who has a 2 year old child and said I wouldn't do certain things. Thins she had done with her child. She put her hands on her hips and gave me a, "Really?" Which was not subtle code for, "You have no fucking children, why are you judging me?"
I have friends with kids and have seen different parenting styles from cajoling to guilt trips to begging to threats and intimidation. They may be the thing that that specific child needs. But in all the parenting styles I have watched I have to admit that I think the woman with hands on hips kind of got it all wrong.
The child is 2 and still breast feeds. Not because he needs the food or they live in sub Saharan Africa and there is no other source of protein for the child, it's because she wanted to breast feed for a long time. And now, at 2, it's hard to break the kid from the routine. Also, breastfeeding is now a security blanket for the child. If he bumps his head, he gets a boob. If he ever is sad, he gets a boob. I'm over 18. It would be fucking awesome to get a boob at the end of a bad day.
The child co-sleeps with them and has the entire time. The child had never slept in it's own bed until recently. It was more for her than the child. Um, have a crib near the bed to facilitate middle of the night feedings for the first 3-4 months, but you could roll over and hurt the child! That's just fucking dangerous. It's only recently the child has been sleeping in his own bed.
The parents told of how difficult it is to get the child to stop breast feeding and to sleep in it's own bed. Who's fault is that for not creating a routine? The kid is a precious glass unicorn that has never had a bad day. They are talking about home schooling. I don't buy that home schooled kids are at the same developmental stages as kids who go to public or private schools.
In school you learn things. Socialization. You learn your strengths and weaknesses. You learn that there are people in the world that are assholes and you won't like them. And they won't like you. You learn to play tag and dodgeball at recess and you run around. I doubt that home schooled kids get sent outside to run around. And prom is going to suck
You learn deadlines in school. You have to have work in by a certain time to get a grade. How do grades work for home schooled kids? How does Harvard look at a home schooled kid and say that they have a commensurate educational experience as the kids who went to public or private schools? For what is school training you for? A JOB. Yup, all the things you learned in school like sitting behind a desk and accomplishing a task, that is a precursor to having a job where you sit at a desk and get shit done. I'm not being Dickensian, but if a home schooled kid is only "working" for 3 hours because it is the same as 7 hours at a public school, then he will be shocked at how long a work day really is.
When the parents admonished the child for pushing another child, the mother said, "It makes Mommy feel bad when you do that." The dad also said, "Daddy doesn't like it when you do that." Um, in the world there are things you should do. Tell a child "No" and stick with it is one of the things. You can explain why, but what does the child learn being guilt tripped about an action the parents don't like? How do you explain to the child the stove is hot? "It burns Mommy when you stick your hand on the burner?" IT'S FUCKING DANGEROUS! Certain things in the world are dangerous and you need to tell the kid "NO." Don't run into the street. Don't jump off the roof. Don't stab Mommy. The justification of "it makes Mommy sad" is bullshit.
Generally, I think that these parents are raising a bright, lovely child who will have a universe filled with rainbows and butterflies... And be totally unprepared for how the world really works. This kid will be consoled if he fails. And you get a trophy for showing up.
But, really, don't you learn more from your failures than you successes? Anybody can win, but how do you deal with a loss? Does the loss drive you to do better or give up on doing that thing again? Feeling bad is part of being human. If you never learn how to cope, are you going to be looking for Mom's boob when you are 35 and didn't get a promotion at work?
Don't you learn more from the people who don't like you than the ones who like you and put up with your shit because they are your friend? My friends put up with my crap. But the ones who won't are the people I work for and the people who don't like me. They call my attention to the things I do that others let slide.
But then what do I know? I'm just some asshole who has no children.
Friday, September 13, 2013
San Diego Comic Con Day 4
So on Saturday as I was in the car with Zack and Joanna going to their hotel in the marina area, we passed by the Midway aircraft carrier. I mentioned that I wanted to go on the ship. Zack pulled out his phone and made a call. His dad had been in the Navy and the Master Chief on the Midway used to work for his dad. So Zack left a message and the next morning we met when the ship opened and got a private tour of the aircraft carrier from the Master Chief. It was really cool to see the ship. Something like that boggles my mind a bit. The engineering it takes to create a floating city is simply astounding. We toured the ship fro a couple hours then went for lunch.
At the convention center in the afternoon we walked around. For me, this was unusual. I generally cut out in the early to mid afternoon and go back to Los Angeles. But I had made arrangements to stay with Bill and his family again. I wanted to take a little more time rather than rush back.
I said good-bye to Zack and Joanna and went to meet an old girlfriend for dinner. I hadn't seen her since the mid 90's at some convention. I don't remember which one. I had only recently had contact with her thru her mom and Christmas cards. So the dinner idea was weird to me. Whatever happened between us hadn't ended well. But time made the whole thing pretty inconsequential.
She happened to live with her husband on the way to Bill's house so I wasn't going the completely opposite direction. When I pulled up to her house she was outside across the street chatting with the neighbors. My arrival time was kind of a guess, but dinner was going to be chicken on the barbeque so there would not be a lot of cooking time.
She is on her second marriage so they have a blended family. The kids were with the other parents for the weekend so I didn't meet any of them. We hung out and chatted; catching up on more than 15 years. It was odd but nice. She still knew me, kinda, because she knew me then, but I'm different in some ways. And exactly the same in others.
I left their house and arrived at Bill's. His kids got me to promise I'd watch cartoons with them until they had to go to sleep. So I sat on the couch with tow little kids snuggled into me watching cartoons.
They all had to get up early to go to work, so bedtime was way before I normally go to sleep, but I didn't want to be wandering around while they are sleeping so I went to the guest room downstairs. In the morning the door opened up and the kids came in to get the cat's food so they could eat. A little face came very close to the bed and asked if I was asleep. I said, "kinda." They snuck out and let me sleep. When they left for the day they visited one last time. I thanked them for letting me stay the night.
I woke, showered and packed my stuff. I had to set the alarm when I left. That was kind of nerve wracking. I couldn't make any mistakes and leave something behind. Also it's a loud arming system. Kind of scared the shit out of me. There was a voice announcing I had 30 seconds to get out and then a loud beeping. Ahhhh!
I left and met up with the girl's mom. She was supposed to have come to dinner last night but didn't so I met them and one of the kids at a school garden. Previous years I would swing by and visit with her mom when I was in town for the con. I hadn't done it in a few years because of scheduling. We chatted for 30 minutes. Judy, the mom, would always shoot straight from the hip. One year I was visiting she told me I didn't look as gaunt as I used to. Thanks. This time she said I seemed comfortable with who I was.
That's not a bad thing, really.
At the convention center in the afternoon we walked around. For me, this was unusual. I generally cut out in the early to mid afternoon and go back to Los Angeles. But I had made arrangements to stay with Bill and his family again. I wanted to take a little more time rather than rush back.
I said good-bye to Zack and Joanna and went to meet an old girlfriend for dinner. I hadn't seen her since the mid 90's at some convention. I don't remember which one. I had only recently had contact with her thru her mom and Christmas cards. So the dinner idea was weird to me. Whatever happened between us hadn't ended well. But time made the whole thing pretty inconsequential.
She happened to live with her husband on the way to Bill's house so I wasn't going the completely opposite direction. When I pulled up to her house she was outside across the street chatting with the neighbors. My arrival time was kind of a guess, but dinner was going to be chicken on the barbeque so there would not be a lot of cooking time.
She is on her second marriage so they have a blended family. The kids were with the other parents for the weekend so I didn't meet any of them. We hung out and chatted; catching up on more than 15 years. It was odd but nice. She still knew me, kinda, because she knew me then, but I'm different in some ways. And exactly the same in others.
I left their house and arrived at Bill's. His kids got me to promise I'd watch cartoons with them until they had to go to sleep. So I sat on the couch with tow little kids snuggled into me watching cartoons.
They all had to get up early to go to work, so bedtime was way before I normally go to sleep, but I didn't want to be wandering around while they are sleeping so I went to the guest room downstairs. In the morning the door opened up and the kids came in to get the cat's food so they could eat. A little face came very close to the bed and asked if I was asleep. I said, "kinda." They snuck out and let me sleep. When they left for the day they visited one last time. I thanked them for letting me stay the night.
I woke, showered and packed my stuff. I had to set the alarm when I left. That was kind of nerve wracking. I couldn't make any mistakes and leave something behind. Also it's a loud arming system. Kind of scared the shit out of me. There was a voice announcing I had 30 seconds to get out and then a loud beeping. Ahhhh!
I left and met up with the girl's mom. She was supposed to have come to dinner last night but didn't so I met them and one of the kids at a school garden. Previous years I would swing by and visit with her mom when I was in town for the con. I hadn't done it in a few years because of scheduling. We chatted for 30 minutes. Judy, the mom, would always shoot straight from the hip. One year I was visiting she told me I didn't look as gaunt as I used to. Thanks. This time she said I seemed comfortable with who I was.
That's not a bad thing, really.
San Diego Comic Con Day 3
This was the day I had been waiting for. The whole reason I was there. This was Film School day 3 where Sean has a group of actors onstage talking about low budget filming. A number of the people from last year were on the panel and then there were 2 new people. # of the previous year's panel were not there.
I always get a little freaked out when talking in front of large groups. It sounds silly coming from an actor, but if I'm in a play or on set, I'm technically not me. Since there was only an hour we had limited things we could cover. It was cool to hear from the 2 new pwople on the panel because I'd heard some of the stories previous years. Though, my stories hadn't changed much from last year either.
We finished the panel and hung out in the hallway chatting with people who were in the audience. They usually want to chat, ask questions, etc. It's nice to hang out. After 30-45 minutes I left and wandered around. Zack was busy with work commitments and I wandered amilessly.
Now at Comic con there are booth babes. These are hot women hired by the dealers to catch the eye of the males in the crowd and draw them into the booth to talk about products or things for sale. As I was walking from one side to the other side a girl working a booth caught my eye. She was very cute and reminded me of a friend of mine. I was looking at her as I was fighting my way thru the crowd. She was also looking at me. it was an interesting connection with a stranger. Like 2 animals checking each other out. Because I was going to meet someone I couldn't stop and chat her up. But we kept eye contact for a good 100 feet. Which is tough to do. The next day when I was free I tried to find her and the booth she was at. But like a mirage in the desert she wasn't to be found and I couldn't be sure exactly where I saw her. None of the booths looked like the one she was at.
Anyway.
In the afternoon I put on another costume. The Scarlet Spider from Spider-man's clone saga from 1995 or so. It's a costume I've had since it was used in a masquerade in 1995. It's tight lycra and it still fits me. I wandered back to the convention hall from the hotel. Again people took my picture and little kids had their pictures taken with me. It was fun. People are generally polite and ask if they can get my picture. I ask when I want a picture of someone too. But wouldn't I be just the biggest asshole if someone asked if they could get my picture and I said, "No."
Because the costume has a mask I'm completely unknown. And sometimes they take a picture and I say, "Do it again, I blinked." That gets a laugh. While in costume I ran into my fellow panelist Valerie Perez. She's an actress and well known cosplayer. She is one of the best Wonder Woman cosplays you ever see. We walked around a bit together until I had to go change for dinner. Zack and his wife and friends of theirs, we were all going to dinner at this Mexican place in Old Town.
Dinner was fun. There was 10-12 of us. One of the people there had a son that was interested in acting. So I chatted with him about acting. What to do, what not to do, what is a rip off, what to look out for. His dad was listening but not saying anything. I told him the truth. I didn't try to discourage him, but I didn't sugar coat just how tough of a business it is.
After dinner I was dropped off at home. The plan was to meet in the morning and go to the Midway museum.
I always get a little freaked out when talking in front of large groups. It sounds silly coming from an actor, but if I'm in a play or on set, I'm technically not me. Since there was only an hour we had limited things we could cover. It was cool to hear from the 2 new pwople on the panel because I'd heard some of the stories previous years. Though, my stories hadn't changed much from last year either.
We finished the panel and hung out in the hallway chatting with people who were in the audience. They usually want to chat, ask questions, etc. It's nice to hang out. After 30-45 minutes I left and wandered around. Zack was busy with work commitments and I wandered amilessly.
Now at Comic con there are booth babes. These are hot women hired by the dealers to catch the eye of the males in the crowd and draw them into the booth to talk about products or things for sale. As I was walking from one side to the other side a girl working a booth caught my eye. She was very cute and reminded me of a friend of mine. I was looking at her as I was fighting my way thru the crowd. She was also looking at me. it was an interesting connection with a stranger. Like 2 animals checking each other out. Because I was going to meet someone I couldn't stop and chat her up. But we kept eye contact for a good 100 feet. Which is tough to do. The next day when I was free I tried to find her and the booth she was at. But like a mirage in the desert she wasn't to be found and I couldn't be sure exactly where I saw her. None of the booths looked like the one she was at.
Anyway.
In the afternoon I put on another costume. The Scarlet Spider from Spider-man's clone saga from 1995 or so. It's a costume I've had since it was used in a masquerade in 1995. It's tight lycra and it still fits me. I wandered back to the convention hall from the hotel. Again people took my picture and little kids had their pictures taken with me. It was fun. People are generally polite and ask if they can get my picture. I ask when I want a picture of someone too. But wouldn't I be just the biggest asshole if someone asked if they could get my picture and I said, "No."
Because the costume has a mask I'm completely unknown. And sometimes they take a picture and I say, "Do it again, I blinked." That gets a laugh. While in costume I ran into my fellow panelist Valerie Perez. She's an actress and well known cosplayer. She is one of the best Wonder Woman cosplays you ever see. We walked around a bit together until I had to go change for dinner. Zack and his wife and friends of theirs, we were all going to dinner at this Mexican place in Old Town.
Dinner was fun. There was 10-12 of us. One of the people there had a son that was interested in acting. So I chatted with him about acting. What to do, what not to do, what is a rip off, what to look out for. His dad was listening but not saying anything. I told him the truth. I didn't try to discourage him, but I didn't sugar coat just how tough of a business it is.
After dinner I was dropped off at home. The plan was to meet in the morning and go to the Midway museum.
Monday, August 19, 2013
Comic Con Day 2
I woke Friday morning and prepared to meet my friend. Bill was coming to SDCC as my guest. I put on the costume du jour, Captain John Hart from Torchwood. It's a series that spun off of Doctor Who back in 2006. Bill has a spot on Captain Jack Harkness, and I made a Captain John that even the actor who played the part was impressed with when he saw it0 at Comic Con 2 years ago.
I waited for Bill to call me and tell me where to meet him. He had to park first and during Comic Con that isn't easy. At Comic Con something happens. A $100 hotel room goes up to $300. Shocking? Price gouging at something that gets 150,000 people.
I met Bill and we went to get his badge. We wandered around looking at stuff and having our picture taken by Torchwood fans. When I wore the same costume last year I did not get the same reaction. Why? Because without Captain Jack, most people don't make the connection to Torchwood. So I just get mistaken for Adam Ant during his Ant Rock days. Side by side you can see what I mean.
I think it's the jacket. The buttons and braiding confuse people. I don't have a stripe across my face nor do I have dangly bits in my hair. I also have 2 guns and a sword but I left the Samurai sword in LA. Try to move thru the convention floor with a full size katana.
People kept stopping us and telling me what I already knew. John Barrowman the actor who played Captain Jack was signing at a table. I wanted to go by. Not to get him to sign something for me, but to have him look at the costumes and say they are awesome. Yep. I wanted validation. The first time we swung by the table the line was huge and there was no easy way to get his attention. So we wandered a bit more and then went by his table again. He saw the costumes and said, "Those are great!" He chatted with us briefly and said he was at Dragon Con again this year.
So I got validation from Barrowman and Marsters on the costume. Which is nice. Yeah. When you costume you think something is good and rarely ever get the people who wore the costume to look at it and say, "Good job."
As for specifi c things that happened, well, that was maybe the highlight of the day. It was cool to hang out with my friend and chat. We see each other about twice a year. So it's good to catch up on his life and what he's doing.
After he left around 6 pm I went and changed into civilian clothes and met up with Zack and Joanna again. We went looking for dinner. On the way we ran into Neville Page. He's one of the judges on Face Off . We stopped him just to say we like the show, but then he hung out and chatted for about 5 minutes. Which for someone who is well know to take the time out is very cool. He was interested in us and what we were doing at the con.
After dinner Zack there was a party from one of the comic companies he works with. It was down the street from the restaurant. Problem was the party ended at 10 pm. We got there about 10:15. We were still allowed in, but there was virtually no one left. Zack talked with the owner of the company and we had a drink. It was fun, but we didn't stay long. The bar was being broken down and the employees were wrapping things up.
I left them and went back to the hotel to go to bed. The panel for Film School was the next day. I need to be sharp.
I waited for Bill to call me and tell me where to meet him. He had to park first and during Comic Con that isn't easy. At Comic Con something happens. A $100 hotel room goes up to $300. Shocking? Price gouging at something that gets 150,000 people.
I met Bill and we went to get his badge. We wandered around looking at stuff and having our picture taken by Torchwood fans. When I wore the same costume last year I did not get the same reaction. Why? Because without Captain Jack, most people don't make the connection to Torchwood. So I just get mistaken for Adam Ant during his Ant Rock days. Side by side you can see what I mean.
I think it's the jacket. The buttons and braiding confuse people. I don't have a stripe across my face nor do I have dangly bits in my hair. I also have 2 guns and a sword but I left the Samurai sword in LA. Try to move thru the convention floor with a full size katana.
People kept stopping us and telling me what I already knew. John Barrowman the actor who played Captain Jack was signing at a table. I wanted to go by. Not to get him to sign something for me, but to have him look at the costumes and say they are awesome. Yep. I wanted validation. The first time we swung by the table the line was huge and there was no easy way to get his attention. So we wandered a bit more and then went by his table again. He saw the costumes and said, "Those are great!" He chatted with us briefly and said he was at Dragon Con again this year.
So I got validation from Barrowman and Marsters on the costume. Which is nice. Yeah. When you costume you think something is good and rarely ever get the people who wore the costume to look at it and say, "Good job."
As for specifi c things that happened, well, that was maybe the highlight of the day. It was cool to hang out with my friend and chat. We see each other about twice a year. So it's good to catch up on his life and what he's doing.
After he left around 6 pm I went and changed into civilian clothes and met up with Zack and Joanna again. We went looking for dinner. On the way we ran into Neville Page. He's one of the judges on Face Off . We stopped him just to say we like the show, but then he hung out and chatted for about 5 minutes. Which for someone who is well know to take the time out is very cool. He was interested in us and what we were doing at the con.
After dinner Zack there was a party from one of the comic companies he works with. It was down the street from the restaurant. Problem was the party ended at 10 pm. We got there about 10:15. We were still allowed in, but there was virtually no one left. Zack talked with the owner of the company and we had a drink. It was fun, but we didn't stay long. The bar was being broken down and the employees were wrapping things up.
I left them and went back to the hotel to go to bed. The panel for Film School was the next day. I need to be sharp.
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Comic Con Thursday- Day 1
I woke at my friends house about 40 miles away from the convention center and proceeded to get on my way. Everyone works earlier than me so I showered, packed and set the alarm on their house and got on the road. I stopped at Vons and got a breakfast sandwich and some groceries. I drove to San Diego and went to the area my hotel was in. I stayed at the same hotel last year and know the few places you can park for free. I found a spot and took my stuff to the hotel. I couldn't check in, but I could drop the bags off and go on my way.
I went to the Marriott first. This was where the Film School was taking place. I have never actually seen the first day since I normally go down to SD on Thursday and arrive in the afternoon. So I sat and listened to Sean Rourke tell all about pre-production with the help of Jack Conway, Vera Vanguard, and Valerie Perez. I chatted with them a little bit then went off to find my friend Zack and his wife Joanne. Zack writes comics and had signings at the company publishing the comic he writes all 4 days.
We hung out and looked at stuff in the dealer hall. I left them around mid-afternoon and went back to the hotel. People had checked in and I was able to make a costume change. I made the new version of the Scarlet Spider recently and wanted to wear it. I like wearing costumes that make me anonymous. Spider-man or some derivation thereof is a great costume for being anonymous. But not great for seeing.
I wiggled into the costume and had the mask safety pinned to the body. In my haste I didn't quite get the finishing touches on it. Like snaps to hold the mask in place.
I called Zack and told him to meet me in a certain place in 30 minutes. I would not have a phone with me because, well, no pockets. And to carry a phone around ruins the costume. I did learn that the gloves were thick and I was not able to use the touch screen on the phone anyway. I went and wandered to the convention center. I waited around for Zack but he never showed up so I walked around. I could see well enough for when people wanted to take my picture. I would pose but I didn't go inot some of the typical spider-man type poses where your legs are around your ears or crouched on the floor. I'll let younger guys do that. Little kids were very excited to see spider-man. They knew the genre but not the character. Which is fine. I had my picture taken with lots of kids and some adults. After 3 hours or so I went back to the hotel to change. Funny thing about superhero costumes, how do they pee?
After I changed I caught up with Zack. He left messages on the phone I told him I would not have with me, but we met up for dinner. We went to a Mexican place. I don't know the name. The food was good. Margaritas worked. After that we went to a place that was having a industry party. I was the one with the invite this time. It was thru Jack who I do the panel with, he was my hook up. We got to the club. he was working the door. I go this attention and he gave us wrist bands to get in. I thought we would get in immediately as VIPs, but we were directed to a line. It took about 30 minutes to get in the Fire Marshall was a real stickler for capacity. When we got inside it looked like the pictures below.
There were hot girls dancing on platforms to super loud techno music. They were wearing costumes from a video game I didn't recognize. Some apocalyptic first person shooter. And they had bits of steel attached to the costumes. In their hands they had grinders painted silver, apply grinder to steel and you get a shower of sparks. It made for a interesting show. We found a place near the bar where we could watch the crowd and stayed there for an hour listening to the music and gyrating to the beat. Someone gave us glowsticks and we waved those around. Since we were not on acid the effect was lessened, but it was still fun to wave them ironically.
After midnight we left. I walked back to the hotel and crashed on the fold out bed in the front room. In the bedroom on 2 queen sized beds and an air mattress were 6 other people. 6. That kind of occupancy I had not put up with for years and years. We used to pack 6-8 people in a room and take turns sleeping ont the bed in some combination of people. Thank god I had the front room to myself.
I went to the Marriott first. This was where the Film School was taking place. I have never actually seen the first day since I normally go down to SD on Thursday and arrive in the afternoon. So I sat and listened to Sean Rourke tell all about pre-production with the help of Jack Conway, Vera Vanguard, and Valerie Perez. I chatted with them a little bit then went off to find my friend Zack and his wife Joanne. Zack writes comics and had signings at the company publishing the comic he writes all 4 days.
We hung out and looked at stuff in the dealer hall. I left them around mid-afternoon and went back to the hotel. People had checked in and I was able to make a costume change. I made the new version of the Scarlet Spider recently and wanted to wear it. I like wearing costumes that make me anonymous. Spider-man or some derivation thereof is a great costume for being anonymous. But not great for seeing.
I wiggled into the costume and had the mask safety pinned to the body. In my haste I didn't quite get the finishing touches on it. Like snaps to hold the mask in place.
After I changed I caught up with Zack. He left messages on the phone I told him I would not have with me, but we met up for dinner. We went to a Mexican place. I don't know the name. The food was good. Margaritas worked. After that we went to a place that was having a industry party. I was the one with the invite this time. It was thru Jack who I do the panel with, he was my hook up. We got to the club. he was working the door. I go this attention and he gave us wrist bands to get in. I thought we would get in immediately as VIPs, but we were directed to a line. It took about 30 minutes to get in the Fire Marshall was a real stickler for capacity. When we got inside it looked like the pictures below.
There were hot girls dancing on platforms to super loud techno music. They were wearing costumes from a video game I didn't recognize. Some apocalyptic first person shooter. And they had bits of steel attached to the costumes. In their hands they had grinders painted silver, apply grinder to steel and you get a shower of sparks. It made for a interesting show. We found a place near the bar where we could watch the crowd and stayed there for an hour listening to the music and gyrating to the beat. Someone gave us glowsticks and we waved those around. Since we were not on acid the effect was lessened, but it was still fun to wave them ironically.
Monday, August 12, 2013
Comic Con Preview Night
So I missed the entire month of July without posting. Oops.
I went to the San Diego Comic Con preview night. In the past this was an exclusive thing. It was meant for the pros and insiders and vendors. It was really exclusive.
Now, not so much.
I got there Wednesday afternoon. I got my badge and met up with friends. Because it was preview night and that started at 6 pm, there was milling about trying not to stand in one place for too long because security would come by and say, "You can't stand there." So we would move 30 feet and stand again. The LINE to enter was upstairs. Comic Con loves lines. Huge ponderous never ending lines where common sense would do something different.
We thought that they would open the doors at the front of the 1/2 mile long building and let people into the room. Nope. The line to get in is upstairs. And a mile long. So much for exclusive. Fine. "Can I cross over there 50 feet to go to the bathroom?" "No." "I can piss on your shoes."
So we had to go upstairs to the line that was longer than the length of Disneyland. Fuck lines. There are 50 door on the front of the building but we have to go thru a mile long line. As we were winding our way thru the stanchions, I noticed a guy behind me in line. He had ONE LEG and was going thru the line on crutches!
Are you fucking kidding me?!? This guy is obviously disabled and they make him go thru a long line? If I was him I would have gone to the security guards and said can I get in without going thru a mile long line? And when they said now I would call over their supervisor and ask if they ever heard of the Americans With Disabilities Act. If they said I had to go in the line I would pull out my phone and ask them to tell me that again, and ask if they cannot accommodate a one legged man. Then I would call a lawyer in front of them and sue their ass for 35 million dollars.
I am not litigious. I don't generally like lawyers and think a lot of things could be fixed with a fist fight, but this was a stupid situation. If I was a lawyer I would have given him my card and told him I'd represent him for free. Just to fuck over the ludicrous security at Comic Con.
When we got into the dealers hall we started looking around. I don't follow toys much and didn't know of anything that I might find cool that would be a limited edition thing. Zack did want something. But some of the rules to get things from the Hasbro booth were arcane. You had to stand in line to get a stamp on the back of your badge to then stand in line at the booth to maybe get the limited edition toy. Hell no. That was not going to happen.
I saw some cool things. But none were so cool I had to have them. There was only one thing that was remotely that cool to me. A Hulk statue from Sideshow Collectibles from World War Hulk. Brilliant. and 2 feet tall. I could put it next to my other 2 foot tall Hulk... But it was $600. And that made it uncool to my wallet.
After a bit I left and went to hang with a friend. I was staying at their house for one night. I had gotten 2 capes for his little girls. The bags from Comic Con all had capes in them advertising some project or another. I got the capes from 2 guys who were going to throw them away. Obviously because they are too cool to wear capes. The girls loved the capes and ran around in them until bed time.
My hosts went to bed and I followed suit. I'd see Bill on Friday because I was getting him in to the convention as my guest.
Day 1 tomorrow...
I went to the San Diego Comic Con preview night. In the past this was an exclusive thing. It was meant for the pros and insiders and vendors. It was really exclusive.
Now, not so much.
I got there Wednesday afternoon. I got my badge and met up with friends. Because it was preview night and that started at 6 pm, there was milling about trying not to stand in one place for too long because security would come by and say, "You can't stand there." So we would move 30 feet and stand again. The LINE to enter was upstairs. Comic Con loves lines. Huge ponderous never ending lines where common sense would do something different.
We thought that they would open the doors at the front of the 1/2 mile long building and let people into the room. Nope. The line to get in is upstairs. And a mile long. So much for exclusive. Fine. "Can I cross over there 50 feet to go to the bathroom?" "No." "I can piss on your shoes."
So we had to go upstairs to the line that was longer than the length of Disneyland. Fuck lines. There are 50 door on the front of the building but we have to go thru a mile long line. As we were winding our way thru the stanchions, I noticed a guy behind me in line. He had ONE LEG and was going thru the line on crutches!
Are you fucking kidding me?!? This guy is obviously disabled and they make him go thru a long line? If I was him I would have gone to the security guards and said can I get in without going thru a mile long line? And when they said now I would call over their supervisor and ask if they ever heard of the Americans With Disabilities Act. If they said I had to go in the line I would pull out my phone and ask them to tell me that again, and ask if they cannot accommodate a one legged man. Then I would call a lawyer in front of them and sue their ass for 35 million dollars.
I am not litigious. I don't generally like lawyers and think a lot of things could be fixed with a fist fight, but this was a stupid situation. If I was a lawyer I would have given him my card and told him I'd represent him for free. Just to fuck over the ludicrous security at Comic Con.
When we got into the dealers hall we started looking around. I don't follow toys much and didn't know of anything that I might find cool that would be a limited edition thing. Zack did want something. But some of the rules to get things from the Hasbro booth were arcane. You had to stand in line to get a stamp on the back of your badge to then stand in line at the booth to maybe get the limited edition toy. Hell no. That was not going to happen.
I saw some cool things. But none were so cool I had to have them. There was only one thing that was remotely that cool to me. A Hulk statue from Sideshow Collectibles from World War Hulk. Brilliant. and 2 feet tall. I could put it next to my other 2 foot tall Hulk... But it was $600. And that made it uncool to my wallet.
After a bit I left and went to hang with a friend. I was staying at their house for one night. I had gotten 2 capes for his little girls. The bags from Comic Con all had capes in them advertising some project or another. I got the capes from 2 guys who were going to throw them away. Obviously because they are too cool to wear capes. The girls loved the capes and ran around in them until bed time.
My hosts went to bed and I followed suit. I'd see Bill on Friday because I was getting him in to the convention as my guest.
Day 1 tomorrow...
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Texas Abortion Filibuster
I want to give a huge amount of admiration for Texas State Senator Wendy Davis. She did a filibuster old school style. She stood and talked for 11 hours to defeat an abortion bill that would close all but 5 clinics in Texas which provide abortions. That was only one of 4 things the bill would have done. This filibuster differs from a US Senate filibuster because you actually have to stand there and talk for the duration of the filibuster, and you have to stay on topic. You have 3 strikes, if your opponents think you have strayed of topic they take a vote. After 3 strikes your filibuster is over.
Wendy Davis did have 3 strikes the third coming at 15 minutes before the bill would die. Then the gallery did a citizen filibuster by creating such a clamor that the vote was unable to happen before the deadline. Well, the GOP also did some SHENANIGANS with the time on the bill saying it passed by lying, but the information went out on Twitter and they got caught.
Governor Rick "Oops" Perry called for another special session to get the bill passed and they won't be as stupid about the planning of passage. But still, what an asshole. It was defeated, the country knows what you are doing in your state to make women second class citizens. Texas needs healthcare for women. They have the 4th highest teen pregnancy rate in the nation. They teach abstinence to teenagers instead of teaching them the facts about sex. Hence the pregnancy rate. They defunded Planned Parenthood from the Texas budget.
Men, especially old white men can have a say about abortion when they can carry a child to term. Until then, shut your small minded pieholes!
Wendy Davis did have 3 strikes the third coming at 15 minutes before the bill would die. Then the gallery did a citizen filibuster by creating such a clamor that the vote was unable to happen before the deadline. Well, the GOP also did some SHENANIGANS with the time on the bill saying it passed by lying, but the information went out on Twitter and they got caught.
Governor Rick "Oops" Perry called for another special session to get the bill passed and they won't be as stupid about the planning of passage. But still, what an asshole. It was defeated, the country knows what you are doing in your state to make women second class citizens. Texas needs healthcare for women. They have the 4th highest teen pregnancy rate in the nation. They teach abstinence to teenagers instead of teaching them the facts about sex. Hence the pregnancy rate. They defunded Planned Parenthood from the Texas budget.
Men, especially old white men can have a say about abortion when they can carry a child to term. Until then, shut your small minded pieholes!
DOMA and Prop 8
These were struck down by SCOTUS this week. Not sweeping decisions impacting the entire country but a small step.
I do find the conservatives reactions funny. I think they were expecting earthquakes to immediately hit the USA. Nope no earthquakes. So for all the "Jesus Wept" tweets of Mike Huckabee former governor and FOX news gold huckster, all I got to say to you is "fuck off."
No gay marriage makes any straight marriage less legitimate. What does it do to Rick Santorum's marriage? Nothing. It might effect Michelle Bachmann's marriage because her gay husband can now marry the boyfriend he's probably hiding. But all in all it does nothing to harm anyone's marriage.
I think the problem conservatives have is gay sex. They think it's icky. Sodomy was only removed as being a crime in 2003. Lawrence v. Texas. I always wondered how the cops would enforce sodomy laws. Do you break into a house during "illegal" sex? How rude.
The only drawback I see to gay marriage is gay divorce lawyers. Anything that creates more lawyers is kinda suspect.
I do find the conservatives reactions funny. I think they were expecting earthquakes to immediately hit the USA. Nope no earthquakes. So for all the "Jesus Wept" tweets of Mike Huckabee former governor and FOX news gold huckster, all I got to say to you is "fuck off."
No gay marriage makes any straight marriage less legitimate. What does it do to Rick Santorum's marriage? Nothing. It might effect Michelle Bachmann's marriage because her gay husband can now marry the boyfriend he's probably hiding. But all in all it does nothing to harm anyone's marriage.
I think the problem conservatives have is gay sex. They think it's icky. Sodomy was only removed as being a crime in 2003. Lawrence v. Texas. I always wondered how the cops would enforce sodomy laws. Do you break into a house during "illegal" sex? How rude.
The only drawback I see to gay marriage is gay divorce lawyers. Anything that creates more lawyers is kinda suspect.
Saturday, June 22, 2013
An Old Letter Found in a Bible.
After my Grandma died in 1993 I found an old bible in the basement on the bookshelves which had old books. My grandpa collected The Hardy Boys and the Kamikaze Boys, Tarzan and others. I found this bible published in 1865 and among the pages was a very old letter on delicate paper with thin writing. I carefully transcribed into my computer.
What I found most interesting is that no one writes like this any more. It has a great vocabulary and poetry almost.
Clarkson. April 2nd, 1851
My dear Mrs. Gould
I will make one more attempt to write you and see if I shall
meet with as good success as when I wrote before. The letter alluded to, I
dropped in Mr. P’s overcoat jacket, I presume he pulled it out accidentally on
his way to Buffalo, but nevermind. I will write once more, hoping these few
lines may reach you. Let me first assure you that I was very happy indeed to
receive your kind letter, I must acknowledge it was rather unexpected, but
nonetheless gratefully received. I have had very much anxiety on account of
your health since I saw you last, and have felt that I must hear from
you. When Mr. P. has been leaving for Buffalo, I have charged him to be sure
and call upon Mrs. G. At the time, he would feel confident that he should call,
but on his return he would plead an excuse, want of time. You know my husband
is always in a great hurry—his business always drives.
After remaining in ignorance so long of your condition, you would infer that I
must be gratified to learn that you were so much better, also that your family
had enjoyed such uninterrupted health. May the blessings on health be long
continued to you, may you be spared to train your children physically, morally,
and religiously, that through the blessing of God whom your instructions, and
holy example, you may have the happiness of seeing them bright and shining
lights in this dark and dreary world, and ornaments in the church of Christ.
Yes, and may you live to see your dear husband come out from this wicked world,
and join himself with the people of God. Then the burthen of your soul would be
removed. Then would you rejoice to depart and be with Christ. Do not we too
lightly prize the riches of the Grace of God, and are we not groping our way through
the dark, on account of our unbelief, when it is our privilege to live in the
full liberty of the gospel—as children of the light and not of darkness. Why
should we live so far from our Heavenly Father? Is not the Bible full of
promises to those who would live “Godly in Christ Jesus?” How much encouragement and consolation to the
true believer is the whole of the New Testament. Is there not comfort and peace
to be found in the reading of the Scriptures, and in communion with Christ that
is to be found in no other source whatever. I think I can at times approach
near unto my Heavenly Father, and find great consolations in the promises of
God. But let me blush to say, that he world, the flesh, and the devil, too
often prevent my enjoyment and very much retard my onward course. Oh, for an
abiding faith to overcome at all times. The Lord has in his infinite mercy
visited Zion in various places, and is still visiting, still reviving the dying,
drooping graces of the people, and in many instances calling sinners
“out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
Oh, how precious are these showers! Brockport has been very much
blessed, the three churches, Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist, have shared and
are still sharing largely in the outpouring of God’s Spirit. There have been
more than 80 hopeful conversions among the Presbyterian and Baptist
congregations, and as many in proportion in the Methodist, there is very much a
union of feeling among the ministers, also our minister share the same feeling
and shares frequently with the other ministers. We have very interesting prayer
meetings here, some of the brethren seem very much engaged, and there is much
tenderness of feeling among the impenitent, there have been 2 or 3 hopeful
conversions. I trust my niece has passed from death unto life. It seems as
though God was waiting to be gracious unto His people—The cloud of mercy is
hovering over us, but we are not ready to receive it as a church. There seems
to be something in the way clogging the chariot wheels of salvation. Oh, that
every stumbling block might speedily be removed. I am sorry to hear that
Buffalo has been so “gay” the past winter, if that has been the case, has not
the love of many almost expired, and are not many at ease in Zion? What a
delusive world is this and how busy is the enemy of all righteousness deceiving
the very elect. But God be praised such shall be received even if they have to
pass through fiery trials.
I think the journey you anticipate east may be beneficial to
your health, I shall be very happy to see you, and your husband and children
should they accompany you. Please let us know by sending a note at what time
you will visit us. I hope Mrs. Hotchkiss will not disappoint us, Mr. P. said
she dreaded the idea of taking the packet, should it be healthy, it will only
be tedious till she gets here, or between Buffalo and Brockport. Then, I
presume we will be so situated that we can take her to Bergen or Rochester.
Should either or both of you call on your return, you would only be obliged to change
from R.R. to packet at Rochester. There is a daily packet running from
Rochester to Holley. It leaves R. at 3 o’clock pm that would put neither of you
to much extra trouble. At all events you must both try to come. Do you know we
are expecting Grandma Duffy and Kate in June?
Much love to dear Mrs. Hotchkiss and other friends who may
inquire. My kindest regards to Mr. Gould, and love to the children. Our
children unite in sending much love to you and your little ones. Mary says tell
Mrs. G. she must bring Julia. Will you not write soon.
Ever believe me your ___, though unworthy friend,
Juliebell Pinney
Thursday, June 20, 2013
In Services
There has been a lot of talk lately on the news about letting women into combat in the military. Including the forces of Seals and Rangers.
I've read books on what Seal training is like and as I was reading about it I was thinking to myself I would not survive. I would wash out. Don't know if the physical would break me or the mental. At some point I would collapse and fail. Something like 80-87% wash out of Seal training. It's not the physical training alone it's brutal mentally. You either survive or you break. Most people break.
I have friends in the military. They really don't care much about gender, sexual orientation or that stuff. What they care about is can the individual do their job. If you are in combat you have to know that the person next to you will do their job and keep you and the unit alive. Seals have even tougher training. They train for a month or longer to do a certain objective. That objective is things like going after Osama bin Laden. They also train all the time for things that come up like saving the captain of a tanker who was in a small boat with Somali hijackers. The Seals are the ones who were able to target and kill the hijackers on choppy seas. That's thousands of hours on a shooting range to be snipers.
On a talk show I heard pundits talking about the subject of women as Seals. One was saying "what about Serena Williams?" as an example of a woman who is in shape. The training has more to do with just being fit. She would probably be able to do the physical stuff. But would she be able to be immersed in cold sea water for long periods of time, sleep deprived, hungry, doing physical training? It is meant to break people and only the toughest ones survive. All the elite military forces are like that. Most people can't do the job. Which is why they are the elite forces. The ones who do impossible tasks in dangerous circumstances.
So what am I trying to say? Keep women out of combat? No. They serve in other armed forces all over the world. But to put someone who didn't make the cut in a Seal unit for diversity sake is wrong. They need to make the team like the few who survive training and become Seals. Male or female, they have to be able to do the job.
I've read books on what Seal training is like and as I was reading about it I was thinking to myself I would not survive. I would wash out. Don't know if the physical would break me or the mental. At some point I would collapse and fail. Something like 80-87% wash out of Seal training. It's not the physical training alone it's brutal mentally. You either survive or you break. Most people break.
I have friends in the military. They really don't care much about gender, sexual orientation or that stuff. What they care about is can the individual do their job. If you are in combat you have to know that the person next to you will do their job and keep you and the unit alive. Seals have even tougher training. They train for a month or longer to do a certain objective. That objective is things like going after Osama bin Laden. They also train all the time for things that come up like saving the captain of a tanker who was in a small boat with Somali hijackers. The Seals are the ones who were able to target and kill the hijackers on choppy seas. That's thousands of hours on a shooting range to be snipers.
On a talk show I heard pundits talking about the subject of women as Seals. One was saying "what about Serena Williams?" as an example of a woman who is in shape. The training has more to do with just being fit. She would probably be able to do the physical stuff. But would she be able to be immersed in cold sea water for long periods of time, sleep deprived, hungry, doing physical training? It is meant to break people and only the toughest ones survive. All the elite military forces are like that. Most people can't do the job. Which is why they are the elite forces. The ones who do impossible tasks in dangerous circumstances.
So what am I trying to say? Keep women out of combat? No. They serve in other armed forces all over the world. But to put someone who didn't make the cut in a Seal unit for diversity sake is wrong. They need to make the team like the few who survive training and become Seals. Male or female, they have to be able to do the job.
Monday, June 10, 2013
Inconvenient
I've been noticing a lot of marketing of products is based on something being inconvenient.
Pain relief. There is a product that is 2 pills a day to relieve your pain. In the commercial they have a guy complaining about a competitors product because to use it you have to take 4 pills in a day. Oh my god! How inconvenient!!! 4 pills instead of 2! 4 pills is 100% more pills and pill taking uses up sooo much time. Like maybe 30 seconds. So every 4-6 hours your life loses 30 seconds so you can take a pill. Wow, wish we only had to do that 2 times a day instead of 4 times.
I have measured out my life in pain pills...
Another ad from the radio was for something having to do with sight. I don't remember the product but it mentioned pulling out "awkward reading glasses." They are glasses. They are small enough to perch on your nose so you can see. The ad makes it seem like you have to first come up with the idea of glasses, invent them and put them on your face.
So basically with all the time saving products out in the world everyone's life should be easy and inconvenience free. But it's not. It's marketing. These little inconveniences are part of everyday life. They are as inconvenient or not as the person makes them.
Does the average person just want to give up on life because they have to take a fucking pill? Well, stop being a big pussy. Life only stops being inconvenient on some level when you are dead.
Pain relief. There is a product that is 2 pills a day to relieve your pain. In the commercial they have a guy complaining about a competitors product because to use it you have to take 4 pills in a day. Oh my god! How inconvenient!!! 4 pills instead of 2! 4 pills is 100% more pills and pill taking uses up sooo much time. Like maybe 30 seconds. So every 4-6 hours your life loses 30 seconds so you can take a pill. Wow, wish we only had to do that 2 times a day instead of 4 times.
I have measured out my life in pain pills...
Another ad from the radio was for something having to do with sight. I don't remember the product but it mentioned pulling out "awkward reading glasses." They are glasses. They are small enough to perch on your nose so you can see. The ad makes it seem like you have to first come up with the idea of glasses, invent them and put them on your face.
So basically with all the time saving products out in the world everyone's life should be easy and inconvenience free. But it's not. It's marketing. These little inconveniences are part of everyday life. They are as inconvenient or not as the person makes them.
Does the average person just want to give up on life because they have to take a fucking pill? Well, stop being a big pussy. Life only stops being inconvenient on some level when you are dead.
Friday, May 24, 2013
Anthropocene Era
I heard a new term the other day. In the eras of the Earth there are names for the vast expanses of time. Jurassic, Cretaceous, Mesozoic. These are huge expanses of time to describe the way the Earth is during that time. Mesozoic Era is 252-65 million BC. That boggles the mind. That one era covers 187,000,000 years.
The Anthropocene Era was named recently. In 2011 if Wikipedia is to be trusted. It is the era where man's actions have effected the world's climate. This era has no precise start date, but some have placed it around the start of the industrial revolution which was the 1800s. Some link it to the rise of agriculture around 12,000 BC. So the era where man has impacted the planet to such a degree that we are changing the climate is as little as 200 years old or maybe as much as 14,000.
Um... Fuck. Let's just say that in 200 years we have thrown up so much CO2 into the atmosphere that the Earth is getting warmer. And despite what climate deniers say, it's warmer. I was in Norway a few years back and I was talking to a woman in her 60s. She told me that the weather is not as harsh in the winter time as it was when she was young. In Norway where they have crazy amounts of snow and cold, warming is probably more noticeable than in Los Angeles.
A climactic milestone was reached this month. 400 ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere. That is the supposed tipping point for climate change. There has not been a concentration in the atmosphere like this for millions of years. CO2 traps heat. So this could cause a chain reaction of hotter and hotter temperatures. It will be slow, but could have been reversed.
The Jurassic period was 56,000,000 years. Man changed the planet in a scant 200.
Go Man! To Mars. It's closest.
The Anthropocene Era was named recently. In 2011 if Wikipedia is to be trusted. It is the era where man's actions have effected the world's climate. This era has no precise start date, but some have placed it around the start of the industrial revolution which was the 1800s. Some link it to the rise of agriculture around 12,000 BC. So the era where man has impacted the planet to such a degree that we are changing the climate is as little as 200 years old or maybe as much as 14,000.
Um... Fuck. Let's just say that in 200 years we have thrown up so much CO2 into the atmosphere that the Earth is getting warmer. And despite what climate deniers say, it's warmer. I was in Norway a few years back and I was talking to a woman in her 60s. She told me that the weather is not as harsh in the winter time as it was when she was young. In Norway where they have crazy amounts of snow and cold, warming is probably more noticeable than in Los Angeles.
A climactic milestone was reached this month. 400 ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere. That is the supposed tipping point for climate change. There has not been a concentration in the atmosphere like this for millions of years. CO2 traps heat. So this could cause a chain reaction of hotter and hotter temperatures. It will be slow, but could have been reversed.
The Jurassic period was 56,000,000 years. Man changed the planet in a scant 200.
Go Man! To Mars. It's closest.
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Couldn't Do That If I Tried
There are occurrences which happen quite often I put in the category of "I couldn't do that if I tried." It is the little things. Not accidents per se, but the probability of being able to replicate the same thing on purpose would be difficult if not a huge waste of time.
Examples are: a paper tag from a tea bag falls off the string and lands perfectly perched on the handle of the kitchen drawer below it. Balanced freakishly but impossible to do again if you intended to do so.
Having a rope wrap around a chain as you pull up an chain motor in such a knot that you have to drop the motor back into the ground so someone can fix it. Granted most people don't end up on an I beam pulling up chain motors, but it has happened to me on occasion.
It's usually something small, the fall of a piece of paper, or the toss of an object which lands in some unlikely way. When it happens I always say to myself either out loud or in my head,
I couldn't have done that if I tried.
Examples are: a paper tag from a tea bag falls off the string and lands perfectly perched on the handle of the kitchen drawer below it. Balanced freakishly but impossible to do again if you intended to do so.
Having a rope wrap around a chain as you pull up an chain motor in such a knot that you have to drop the motor back into the ground so someone can fix it. Granted most people don't end up on an I beam pulling up chain motors, but it has happened to me on occasion.
It's usually something small, the fall of a piece of paper, or the toss of an object which lands in some unlikely way. When it happens I always say to myself either out loud or in my head,
I couldn't have done that if I tried.
Monday, May 13, 2013
DRIVE!!!
As I drive around LA I am paying attention to the task at hand. Driving safely.
When I'm behind someone I can tell when they are looking at the road and when they are looking at a device like a phone. It is obvious in the lag time between things they should be paying attention to and their reaction time to act. Their head is turned slightly to the side so they can look at a phone or pad. The number of people holding a phone to their heads is staggering. There's a law against it, but people don't care.
It pisses me off that people cannot put down the phone long enough to drive from place to place. When I was in Vegas last week, i kept having people run inot me because they were walking and looking at their phone. A woman who bumped into me said "Excuse you!" I replied. "I'm paying attention. You're the one not looking where you are going." She was shocked. But I was angry and she backed away.
Now imagine that disconnection with your surroundings and add a couple thousand pounds of steel and momentum.
Hands free doesn't mean holding the phone away from your head while driving. There should be a feature on the phone where it will not function if it is moving faster than walking speed without a bluetooth activated.
When I'm behind someone I can tell when they are looking at the road and when they are looking at a device like a phone. It is obvious in the lag time between things they should be paying attention to and their reaction time to act. Their head is turned slightly to the side so they can look at a phone or pad. The number of people holding a phone to their heads is staggering. There's a law against it, but people don't care.
It pisses me off that people cannot put down the phone long enough to drive from place to place. When I was in Vegas last week, i kept having people run inot me because they were walking and looking at their phone. A woman who bumped into me said "Excuse you!" I replied. "I'm paying attention. You're the one not looking where you are going." She was shocked. But I was angry and she backed away.
Now imagine that disconnection with your surroundings and add a couple thousand pounds of steel and momentum.
Hands free doesn't mean holding the phone away from your head while driving. There should be a feature on the phone where it will not function if it is moving faster than walking speed without a bluetooth activated.
Working in Las Vegas
I was working in Vegas recently and i find that place kind of fascinating. The people watching is amazing.
First off, America as a collective population is FAT. Super fat. I was at a cafe getting dinner one night after working a long day. Since I was sitting alone I looked around at the other people in the cafe. There was a table of 3 people a few feet away. All 3 people, 2 women and one man were morbidly obese. Fat to the point that there was one motorized chair to assist one of them to get around. But which one needed the chair? All were fat and probably have problems walking. But which one used the chair? Do they take turns?
Vegas gets a lot of tourists from all over the world. I could generally guess who was American by their girth. People from other countries are not, well, as fat as we Americans are.
I was working a gig in a big hotel and did a ton of walking. The first day I had a blood blister on one heel and 2 days later I had a regular blister behind a callous on my other foot. It made me slower as I walked from place to place.
The job had some panels. One was "The Future of the Republican Party." Reince Priebus was speaking. There was a sign at the front door which said, "Media not allowed." This was to stop, well, the truth from getting out. The election last year had an explosive "47%" tape get out to the media where Romney told what he really thought. God forbid a politician tell what they really think. I so wanted to go in with my smart phone and use a voice memo ap to tape the session. I stepped into the room for a moment to listen. I heard him say they need to connect with the ___________ ( I don't remember the exact verbage he used to describe the voters.) voters who don't normally vote GOP. I didn't think I would be able to sit quietly and listen to his line of shit. Sorry, the Frank Luntz talking points that seem to be emailed to all GOP politicians I find to be bullshit. I left. I had work to do and needed to earn my paycheck. GOP, you want to appeal to more voters? Stop being a bunch of Ayn Rand acolytes and hating people who aren't rich and white and male.
I stopped at a shop in the hotel to get nail clippers. I was chatting with the sales girl and the subject of hookers came up. I hadn't seen any. She said they don't dress like hookers anymore. But the way to spot them was 3 things. They are constantly on their phones checking for texts; they say "hey" to every guy who might look like they are in town for fun; and they are constantly scanning at the crowd to see who might be looking for them. with this knowledge I was leaving the hotel for the day and saw a number of working girls. Knowledge is power.
I really would like to go to Vegas when I can drink and carouse. After 6 straight days on my feet I was beat.
First off, America as a collective population is FAT. Super fat. I was at a cafe getting dinner one night after working a long day. Since I was sitting alone I looked around at the other people in the cafe. There was a table of 3 people a few feet away. All 3 people, 2 women and one man were morbidly obese. Fat to the point that there was one motorized chair to assist one of them to get around. But which one needed the chair? All were fat and probably have problems walking. But which one used the chair? Do they take turns?
Vegas gets a lot of tourists from all over the world. I could generally guess who was American by their girth. People from other countries are not, well, as fat as we Americans are.
I was working a gig in a big hotel and did a ton of walking. The first day I had a blood blister on one heel and 2 days later I had a regular blister behind a callous on my other foot. It made me slower as I walked from place to place.
The job had some panels. One was "The Future of the Republican Party." Reince Priebus was speaking. There was a sign at the front door which said, "Media not allowed." This was to stop, well, the truth from getting out. The election last year had an explosive "47%" tape get out to the media where Romney told what he really thought. God forbid a politician tell what they really think. I so wanted to go in with my smart phone and use a voice memo ap to tape the session. I stepped into the room for a moment to listen. I heard him say they need to connect with the ___________ ( I don't remember the exact verbage he used to describe the voters.) voters who don't normally vote GOP. I didn't think I would be able to sit quietly and listen to his line of shit. Sorry, the Frank Luntz talking points that seem to be emailed to all GOP politicians I find to be bullshit. I left. I had work to do and needed to earn my paycheck. GOP, you want to appeal to more voters? Stop being a bunch of Ayn Rand acolytes and hating people who aren't rich and white and male.
I stopped at a shop in the hotel to get nail clippers. I was chatting with the sales girl and the subject of hookers came up. I hadn't seen any. She said they don't dress like hookers anymore. But the way to spot them was 3 things. They are constantly on their phones checking for texts; they say "hey" to every guy who might look like they are in town for fun; and they are constantly scanning at the crowd to see who might be looking for them. with this knowledge I was leaving the hotel for the day and saw a number of working girls. Knowledge is power.
I really would like to go to Vegas when I can drink and carouse. After 6 straight days on my feet I was beat.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Fight or Flight
When things like the Boston Marathon bombing which happened yesterday happens there are generally 2 reactions by the people around the tragedy. Fight or Flight.
When the bombs went off you could see people immediately running toward the blasts to aid those hurt. They were cops and firemen and medics. That's their job. They are paid to be in the way of danger and help people.
Then there were others who were running away from the blasts. Self preservation is a powerful thing. They are thinking about getting back to their families or their kids who would be left behind if they died. Concern for your loved ones is the thing that will put them between danger and the safety of their own.
With the world as fucked up as it seems to be with mass shooters and people blowing things up, I wonder how I would react in this situation. In Tucson the fucknuts who shot Gabby Giffords was stopped when he was changing clips. People got up off the ground and prevented him from doing any more harm. They were heroes but never intended to be. They were trying to survive and saw the chance to stop a madman.
I don't know which I would be. I generally keep a calm head in stupid situations and a gunman would probably make me angry. I think I would get on the ground and wait until he had to reload. I have been shooting for years and have a good idea how many rounds many guns hold. There is also a distinctive sound when a magazine is empty and the bolt locks back. It might take someone 5 seconds or a bit more to get the next clip and release the slide. The NRA says it takes a second to change mags. The video they show of someone doing it that fast is of someone who had shitloads of practice and wasn't in a situation where he was killing people.
I think I'd take the chance and rush him. There's lots of ways to stop someone quickly; eye gouging has always been a favorite of mine. Can't shoot if you can't see. If a shooter was distracted even for a moment, others might rise up and stop him.
Heroes are normal people in extraordinary situations. Anyone can be a hero in the right circumstance.
When the bombs went off you could see people immediately running toward the blasts to aid those hurt. They were cops and firemen and medics. That's their job. They are paid to be in the way of danger and help people.
Then there were others who were running away from the blasts. Self preservation is a powerful thing. They are thinking about getting back to their families or their kids who would be left behind if they died. Concern for your loved ones is the thing that will put them between danger and the safety of their own.
With the world as fucked up as it seems to be with mass shooters and people blowing things up, I wonder how I would react in this situation. In Tucson the fucknuts who shot Gabby Giffords was stopped when he was changing clips. People got up off the ground and prevented him from doing any more harm. They were heroes but never intended to be. They were trying to survive and saw the chance to stop a madman.
I don't know which I would be. I generally keep a calm head in stupid situations and a gunman would probably make me angry. I think I would get on the ground and wait until he had to reload. I have been shooting for years and have a good idea how many rounds many guns hold. There is also a distinctive sound when a magazine is empty and the bolt locks back. It might take someone 5 seconds or a bit more to get the next clip and release the slide. The NRA says it takes a second to change mags. The video they show of someone doing it that fast is of someone who had shitloads of practice and wasn't in a situation where he was killing people.
I think I'd take the chance and rush him. There's lots of ways to stop someone quickly; eye gouging has always been a favorite of mine. Can't shoot if you can't see. If a shooter was distracted even for a moment, others might rise up and stop him.
Heroes are normal people in extraordinary situations. Anyone can be a hero in the right circumstance.
Monday, April 8, 2013
Facebook Vagueness
Facebook is an odd thing. I get annoyed with people who are purposefully vague about their posts so that people respond to them and they can explain more.
For example: A "friend" on my FB feed had a status change and was in a "relationship" with "so and so."
Um, excuse me, but aren't you married to my college friend? Shouldn't you announce that you are separated or single and maybe there should be a post about, "I left my husband." Or maybe "My marriage is over." To go from "Married" to "in a relationship" with someone not your husband of 18 years is odd.
I saw her status change but since I'm not friends with my college friend on FB, I couldn't verify what I was reading. (I'm friends with him by phone and email rather than reading crap in my news feed.) I haven't called to ask what happened. I figured if he wanted to call, he would. Also I don't really know how to broach the subject. "So I see on FB you wife left you." That seems cold and mean.
So for the past 4-5 days her posts have been about forgiveness and maybe she could have been a better wife. I, and everyone else, has not engaged these posts to ask for clarification. I only met her a month ago when I was in Tucson for my friend's illness. The semi public wallowing on FB of "I suck" is odd to me. I wallow here, or in private writings, or in a bar over a drink. Call a friend if you need to talk, but sharing that on FB would never cross my mind.
Because when you click "like" or make a comment it shows up in all your friend's feeds on the side. Or at least it does on my FB page. I see all their activity on the side. It's like being a stalker into the minutiae of their online life.
Then there are other "friends" on FB. They do very vague and pseudo spiritual posts. "The Phoenix spreads her wings." Beautiful. Poetic. What does that mean? Something in your life changing for the better? Great. You could post "I'm having a great day today," or "Great things are happening to me." But the yogic double talk is confusing.
Then someone this past week, the same one who left her husband, announced, I'm not kidding, "I like cheese." Well, let me inform the media. If you are a foodie, and I have a good friend who posts about and works int he food industry, then posting about food makes sense. If you are suffering a pique of boredom and can't think of anything to write on FB, then don't write on FB.
For if someone were descending into madness and the only baseline for sanity was what was previously posted on social media, you wouldn't be able to tell when they lost it.
For example: A "friend" on my FB feed had a status change and was in a "relationship" with "so and so."
Um, excuse me, but aren't you married to my college friend? Shouldn't you announce that you are separated or single and maybe there should be a post about, "I left my husband." Or maybe "My marriage is over." To go from "Married" to "in a relationship" with someone not your husband of 18 years is odd.
I saw her status change but since I'm not friends with my college friend on FB, I couldn't verify what I was reading. (I'm friends with him by phone and email rather than reading crap in my news feed.) I haven't called to ask what happened. I figured if he wanted to call, he would. Also I don't really know how to broach the subject. "So I see on FB you wife left you." That seems cold and mean.
So for the past 4-5 days her posts have been about forgiveness and maybe she could have been a better wife. I, and everyone else, has not engaged these posts to ask for clarification. I only met her a month ago when I was in Tucson for my friend's illness. The semi public wallowing on FB of "I suck" is odd to me. I wallow here, or in private writings, or in a bar over a drink. Call a friend if you need to talk, but sharing that on FB would never cross my mind.
Because when you click "like" or make a comment it shows up in all your friend's feeds on the side. Or at least it does on my FB page. I see all their activity on the side. It's like being a stalker into the minutiae of their online life.
Then there are other "friends" on FB. They do very vague and pseudo spiritual posts. "The Phoenix spreads her wings." Beautiful. Poetic. What does that mean? Something in your life changing for the better? Great. You could post "I'm having a great day today," or "Great things are happening to me." But the yogic double talk is confusing.
Then someone this past week, the same one who left her husband, announced, I'm not kidding, "I like cheese." Well, let me inform the media. If you are a foodie, and I have a good friend who posts about and works int he food industry, then posting about food makes sense. If you are suffering a pique of boredom and can't think of anything to write on FB, then don't write on FB.
For if someone were descending into madness and the only baseline for sanity was what was previously posted on social media, you wouldn't be able to tell when they lost it.
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