While examining what was missing in my life, the most obvious answer came to me: MUSIC. Other than the vast collection of tunes I have collected over the years, I find myself listening to the NOISE of talk radio and cable television these days. I just don’t have the patience to sift through all of the garbage in today’s music scene to find the “good stuff”.
In order to bring back some JOY in my life, I am taking a look at some of the music that has brought me to where I am today, the memories they have triggered, and looking for suggestions from YOU, of current music that may eventually may mean something to me. I fear that ten years from now, I may look back on my life and all I will hear is NOISE. I don’t want that.
I mention a number a songs, and reference them with links to a video (opening in a new window); just in case you don’t know what I am talking about (and if you are interested). Please come back and finish reading my post, as this journey starts out in 1967, and hopefully gets better.
The first concert I ever went to was “The Cowsills“, a short lived family band and the inspiration for “The Partridge Family”. I was 12 years old, and went to the concert with my Grandmother. The Grandmother part wasn’t very memorable, in fact it was embarrassing. But the song “The Rain, the Park, and Other Things” was one of those songs I couldn’t get out my head. I was just beginning to develop an interest in girls and the imagery invoked in that song provided a good fantasy, one that never happened.
Another fantasy song was “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond. I played that 45 vinyl record over and over until it drove my parents crazy. I had no idea who Caroline was, but she sounded so sweet. It wasn’t until recently that Neil Diamond revealed that he was talking about Caroline Kennedy. Caroline and I are about the same age; and that fantasy never came true either. If Caroline and I ever got together, who knows what my political leaning would be (or hers).
American Pie by Don McLean is a classic. I love long, story telling music. There was a lot of talk back then about all of the symbolism and hidden meanings to that song. To this day, Don says that he dedicated it to the memory of Buddy Holly, but the rest is for us to figure out. I had a newspaper route at the time, and listened to my AM transistor radio with an earphone while walking my route. I was always grateful for a long song, that I liked, to help the time pass. This stanza from American Pie always kept me going:
February made me shiver
With every paper I’d deliver,
Bad news on the doorstep…
I couldn’t take one more step.
I can’t remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside,
The day the music died.
Don McLean’s only job besides being a full-time singer-songwriter
was being a paperboy, and that passage referred to Buddy Holly’s death in the plane crash.
At the time, I didn’t know anything about Buddy Holly, but I couldn’t let the music die, yet.
Years later I finally found a song that fulfilled my fantasies - “The Year of the Cat” by Al Stewart. The short version of that song was overplayed on the radio, but the long (album) version told a story, a story that I lived.
On a morning from a Bogart movie
In a country where they turn back time
You go strolling through the crowd like Peter Lorre
Contemplating a crime
She comes out of the sun in a silk dress running
Like a watercolour in the rain
Don’t bother asking for explanations
She’ll just tell you that she came
In the year of the cat.
I didn’t spend a whole year with “the Cat”, it was a landslide that brought us down. But the time we did spend together was very memorable, and whenever we were apart, I would play that song, over and over. I lived alone, so it didn’t drive anyone crazy, except maybe myself.
Fast Forward: I am in the middle of the Pacific Ocean (this is the story I originally set out to tell in this blog, and WILL do eventually).
We are sailing a 54 foot ketch, “Maranatha” en route from Yokohama, Japan to San Diego. We had a cassette tape player that we named “Muncher” as it would routinely eat our tapes. We were out of touch of any intelligible radio broadcast for 48 days and had to rely on Muncher. Among our favorites were the Eagles’ “Hotel California“ ( our destination), Jackson Browne’s “The Pretender” and “Rosie” (palm) a song that we never knew was meant for us five horny sailors. And of course, there was “The Year of the Cat”.
Cellophane tape could only go so far to save our music. Muncher was as hungry as we were, and our music collection was eventually reduced to static… NOISE; and once again, the music died.
On the night of August 17, 1977, we were able to receive our first radio broadcast from the United States, and found out that the music had once again died; in the name of Elvis Presley. With a dead stereo, and now a dead Elvis, we had to make our own music; and it wasn’t pretty.
A few days later we came ashore in San Diego. There was new music to discover.
In today’s vernacular, the Summer of ‘77 and that voyage was a “Game Changer”. I threw my previous life “Under the Bus”. And I probably was “In the Tank” for Stevie Nicks (of Fleetwood Mac). Stevie’s classic song “Landslide” became my theme song for the experience, in an abstract sort of way. I never really knew why, there were no mountains, no snow covered hills, no real love; although the question “What is love” was certainly pertinent.
I will admit that I did use the “Landslide” as an excuse to end my relationship with a woman who was “in love” with me (The Cat).
“Well, I’ve been afraid of changing
’cause I’ve built my life around you…”
meaning I was afraid I’d never get laid again. The “Year of the Cat” was over. So it goes… I have always been a dog person anyway.
There certainly was a “mirror in the sky”
And the questions…
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?
I don’t know…
Well, after more than thirty years, I guess I would have to say YES, I have survived, but did I answer those questions and make the most of them?
I don’t know…
That was ten years of my life, the formative years… in music. In many ways, the music has died again, at least for me. That is, until I came across this video last week. I displayed it in my last post: “Education - It’s the Teacher Stupid“, but I just can’t get enough of it.
Maybe… the Landslide will bring the music back!
…and any suggestions you may have to bring music back into my life would be appreciated.
And in many cases it is the stupid teacher. How one learns life’s lessons is subjective and it is really hard to distinguish what works for one individual, but doesn’t work for another. A lot of criticism has been levied against our education system and how it is failing our youth. I will jump on the bandwagon, but put the blame on organizations like the NEA for Dumbing Down American Education.
Labor unions have their purpose and usually start out with good intentions. But quite often the organization quashes the individual, and that is where they lose their way. Unions are made up of individuals, and people that choose to go into the teaching profession obviously are doing it for a desire to shape the future of our society; certainly not for the money. Effective teachers typically connect with a select few, those that want to learn. The rest slide by or slip through the cracks. The NEA’s philosophy is “No Child Left Behind“. It’s not about education; it’s about MONEY!
This post was inspired by a couple of coincidences that happened today that point towards individual teachers exhibiting good behavior (questionable at the time) and making a difference.
Last night, I was commenting on a blog about young William graduating from Kindergarten. At first, I thought that it was ridiculous to have a ceremony for getting out of Kindergarten. But after reading the article, I realized that his teacher had done a great thing for those kids. I went on to tell my story about how I got an ‘F’ in Art in the 8th grade for making a kite that didn’t fly. And how that ‘F’ made me a better artist, kite flyer and kite builder. I don’t think I have related that story to anyone, ever, since the forty years that it happened.
This morning, I got a call from a close friend, somewhat distraught, she said: “K—-- got her report card today, and got an ‘F’ in Art! (sixth grade)”
“All Right!” I exclaimed, much to my friend’s chagrin. I know that K—-- is a good artist, and a failing grade is just what she needs to inspire her to be the best that she can be. I have no idea why K—-- got an ‘F’, but it will be something she will think about and no doubt will make her a better person.
Below is a drawing K—-- made of my dog, Chocolate Farleigh four or five years ago. Can anyone make the argument that she isn’t a great artist?
Criticism is a part of life, people are different, and if you don’t draw any criticism, you aren’t making an impact; good or bad. The good teacher will guide the student to follow their heart and be the best they can be. They should also teach to them to take that criticism with a grain of salt, and use that grain to try to prove their point. When it comes to Art; nobody is right… nobody is wrong.
The other coincidence came from a discussion in a private forum about “Bringing Music Back Into My Life”. Essentially, we were talking about the influence certain songs or pieces of music have had on our lives, and the memories that they trigger.
A biggie for me is the song “Landslide” by Stevie Nicks (Fleetwood Mac). I have a whole post about this song coming in the near future. But I came upon this video that is an excellent example of a good teacher behaving properly. Gregg Breinberg is a music teacher in Staten Island, New York. Gregg directs the PS22 Chorus, a group of about 60 students that has taken YouTube by storm with over 4 million views of their videos. They have the rest of the world in their sights.
Ironically, it was Perez Hilton who has helped this group of talented children reach their star status. Perez, who appeared so full of hate at the Miss USA pageant last month, obviously has a softer side. I would like to think that a great teacher like Gregg Breinberg can inspire and influence adults too
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older
And I’m getting older too.”- Stevie Nicks
As an exercise in further establishing the purpose of this blog, my existence, and the meaning of life in general, I took on the assignment of trying to answer the following question, what is…
Just Like Breathing?
What is so natural to you that it is like breathing? What aspect of yourself, which behavior, skill, activity, talent, is so part of you that you could not imagine yourself without it?”
This is from blogger extraordinaire Chris Garrett and evolved from the post It’s Like Breathing by Terry Starbucker. Chris goes on to say:
“Answer this question and you could make yourself so much happier and successful, ignore it and you could be making yourself and those around you miserable.”
Answering that question proved a lot harder than I thought it would be. I need to decide is just what comes naturally, and go with the flow. My passions run the gamut from my family, my dog, my art, travel, sailing, and kite flying.
The last two are the most like breathing, using the breath of God; and when the conditions are right, there is nothing more natural than controlling the wind.
Currently, in my life, there are two major limiting factors: time and money. Obviously, my family (dog included) comes first and will not be limited by anything. My art suffers from lack of time and everything else suffers from lack of time and money.
The only thing left that I can THINK of that is as natural as breathing and doesn’t have any limiting factors is… THINKING. And thinking about thinking has lead to this!
Thirty years ago, I used a technique of pre-visualization for my photography and art: “Seeing with the Mind’s Eye”. It was a simple (meditative) concept, solving a single problem at a time. Life was a lot simpler then.
But these days, I no longer have a “Mind’s Eye”, I have a “Mind’s Browser”, and that browser has so many open tabs, it makes it really hard to focus. Just like my computer, day after day, I keep opening new tabs about interests I want to pursue, answers to questions that bother me, questions that go unanswered, and the elusive solution that will fix everything. After a number of days the computer starts to slow down, and so does my thought process; both are over loaded. So I bookmark my thoughts, shut down and start over. Within an hour, I’ve got another ten open tabs and I am well on my way to another overload.
The current economic situation has hit me hard. The businesses that were my bread and butter have either gone under or cut back drastically and all I see is a tunnel, with no light at the end of it. I have had to resort to doing manual labor to get by. There is nothing wrong with that, I’m doing things that need to be done, and I take pride in my work, but it just gives me more time to THINK and less time to pursue my passions; which are…
… Another question. I don’t think thinking is a passion, it just happens, like breathing. I enjoy writing, so I guess I will define that as my passion. And to further refine my passion, I am writing about thinking and pursuing the truth..
I know that I really need a “noise filter” to help keep me from suffocating, but I can’t help but take it all in. I have already filtered out new music; as I scan the FM dial all I hear is noise that I can’t understand. I have a few thousand songs on my MP3 player that soothe me, but nothing new has been added in years. Sifting through the chatter on AM radio and cable news contribute to my “brain clutter”; I can’t shut if off because I don’t want to miss anything, as amongst all that noise, the truth is hidden in there somewhere.
As I look at the world, there is so much going wrong, and I can’t ignore it. The main stream media filters news to conform to their own agenda. Too many people get their news from late night comedy shows. The White House has their own YouTube channel, and feeds us what they want us to see. Common sense is not very common anymore.
I want to encourage people to think for themselves, and not just “go with the flow” and accept ideas and opinions that sound good, but make no common sense. A nation of sheep will end up in a corral, with the same freedoms as sheep in a corral.
Our future as a free nation depends on it.
P.S. If you have any tips on sifting through the noise and the clutter to help focus my thinking, please leave a comment here; it would be most appreciated.
I got up Sunday morning thinking I would take my camera and head over to Notre Dame to see what all the fuss was about Barack Obama’s appearance. I couldn’t get anywhere near the campus without risking arrest, and since Alan Keyes had bonded out of jail the night before, I had no desire to go there. What I found was a rent-a-mob spread out for about a mile on the main drag heading into campus. At each end of the line there were people holding a large sign:
…and they were graphic! And big! Most of the photographs were at least four feet tall or larger. I decided against taking any photographs, as they would only have been images of disturbing images, and that isn’t the point of this post. I’ll just have to rely on these words.
I have lived in the shadow of the Golden Dome for most of my life and I have never really been impressed. In fact, I find Notre Dame to be mostly an irritation. The traffic jams around football games and other major sporting events make it impossible to navigate across town on Game Day. The fervor of the local media over the “Fighting Irish” is almost sickening, especially when they are winning.
While Notre Dame is one of the most prestigious Catholic universities in the nation, I find the students to be just normal, rambunctious kids, especially when in a crowd. In my younger days I drove taxis and delivered pizzas and Notre Dame was always a good destination because they were better than average tippers, especially the women. But on Friday or Saturday nights, I saw no signs of purity.
There is no doubt that Notre Dame is one of the top universities in America, but I believe “Catholic” is just an adjective or tag, and doesn’t really mean that much other than an excuse to inflate tuition and other fees.
I am pro-life, but I am not Catholic. A majority of the people I know are Catholic, but like Notre Dame, they don’t impress me with their beliefs. My naive view of Catholicism comes from my youth. I used to get beat up regularly by a Catholic bully. He felt no guilt, because he would go to confession every week and be absolved of his sins. I had no such relief of any guilt that I might have, and he knew it. I was just his whipping post.
Throughout my life, I have witnessed many “Good Catholics” exhibiting bad behavior knowing that they can confess their sins, and everything would be okay. I think the same can be said for the University of Notre Dame. The university will take the flack while enjoying the publicity and suppressing it’s guilt until it has a chance to have it’s confession heard.
Will it be the Pope that hears the University’s confession?
The new graduates are now free to pursue their own lives with their own thoughts. Being the brightest and the smartest, hopefully it will not take them too long to recover from their indoctrination. B.O.’s power in securing his election victory came largely from the youth. Young people who were living an idyllic life on campuses across the country who voted on the notion of change (we can believe in?) In the real world they will soon learn that Obama’s idea of change is not “Chump Change”, and is change we cannot afford.
It’s the degree, Stupid!
Nobody should deny the student body of Notre Dame the privilege and the honor of having the President of the United States speak at their commencement ceremony. It is a great honor, and certainly a most memorable occasion for those present.
Arizona State University had it right when they said Obama hasn’t done anything yet… to deserve an honorary degree.
Notre Dame says:
The University of Notre Dame Confers the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, on the 44th president of the United States…
…he is inspiring this nation to heal its divisions of religion, culture, race and politics in the audacious hope for a brighter tomorrow.”
The abortion issue is black and white; and I am not talking race. No other issue divides religion, culture, race and politics. The audacity of Notre Dame to state that Obama is “inspiring this nation to heal its divisions…” is in itself audacious, if not ludicrous.
The President, with the help of TOTUS, gave a masterful speech using his mastery of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). The problem I have is the difference between what the President says, and what he DOES.
This President has done more to divide this country than any President in recent history, and I see very little inspiration; just a smugness among his believers and outrage among his detractors. The only “healing” B.O. has done is to assuage the guilt of his recently converted and brainwashed flock.
In his own words, Obama said that the differences between the pro-life and pro-choice camps were irreconcilable. B.O.’s solution is not to do anything to fix the conflict, but to dazzle us with bulls**t and confuse the lexicon to make us all feel good about it.
The University of Notre Dame has lost its way, and has a lot of confessing to do. Not for the invitation, but for the lies stated in the honorary doctorate degree. I give the graduates a pass, for they are innocent victims of the Messiah, and are now free to think their own thoughts. It wouldn’t surprise me if the grads, once they recover from their Obama hangover, make their way to the confessional to be forgiven for succumbing to the mortal sin of the Idol Worship of Barack Obama.
Air Farce One Buzzing Manhattan
The Barack Obama administration performed an act of terrorism on the people of lower Manhattan by having Air Farce One and a couple of air force fighter jets buzz the Statue of Liberty at an altitude of about 1,000 feet for the purpose of a photo-op! B.O. claimed to know nothing about it and feigned outrage; but I find it hard to believe that the White House was not in on it. The photo-op was set up by the White House, and if B.O. can’t manage his own house, how can he effectively manage the country?
He can’t. and he doesn’t! Barack Obama’s approach to his new job is as if he has won a four year pass to his own theme park: “Barack World”. He does whatever he wants, whenever he wants, without regard as to how it affects his constituency, the American People.
I doubt B.O. has been reading this blog, as it is brand new. But if he was reading it, he must have taken it to heart, and wanted to create a dramatic photo depicting his favorite toy flying by the Statue of Liberty. Using the talents of someone like me to PhotoShop the image wouldn’t do, because everyone knows the Big One doesn’t lie. But now, he is refusing to release the photos!
This PO’d The Photo Finisher and sent him in to action. I discovered that Obama had one of his Air Force One 747s repainted for his own gratification, and ordered the photo shoot as a benefit of his free pass to Barack World. The Photo Finisher has recovered footage from various cameras throughout New York City, as well as one of the fighter planes. I present that composite video below.
Click Here for a larger video.
These images were never meant to be seen by the public, they were just for Barack’s private amusement. He had the plane repainted the next day at a cost of another $75,000.
You’d think he could have chosen a quiet Sunday morning to perform this farcical stunt.
We made a mistake…”
--Barack Obama
…and thus will most likely be the legacy of B.O.
Photo Notes: The images depicted in this post are most likely fabricated, but they didn’t cost me anything other than time; I already had the software. But I think it is a good illustration of how reckless our President is; he should make do with what he has, and quit spending OUR money.
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My name is Chocolate Farleigh, I belong to The Photo Finisher. My human is in a funk right now with all of political turmoil going on. The Photo Finisher wants to make this blog upbeat and positive, but he just can’t find the words right now, and so he decided to turn it over to me.
My first assignment is to talk about “Bo”, the new first dog. I am happy to oblige; I have been working on my typing skills and I think I can handle it. But first, I want to tell you a little about myself. I think it is important for this blog to have an opposing point of view… |
I love a dog. He does nothing for political reasons.”
–Will Rogers
This cartoon gives us dogs a bad rap but Will Rogers has it partially right; let me explain. I am very LIBERAL! My human is okay with that, he thinks it gives him power. I have been under his control since I was eight weeks old, and have relied on him for almost everything. I like being a Liberal because I get everything I need, I don’t need to work, and I am being cared for from “cradle to the gra…”, wait, I don’t want to go there yet. If I don’t get everything I want, I can look sad or wag my tail, and some human, if not The Photo Finisher, will give me a handout. It’s the way it works with Liberalism, and I like it! One big difference between dogs and humans… we wag our tails, and not our tongues, and that makes it safer for us to be Liberal.
Money will buy a pretty good dog,
but it won’t buy the wag of his tail.”
–Josh Billings
I have no concept of the value of money. Like most Liberals, economics isn’t my strong suit; I rely on Other People’s Money (OPM). My only requirements are some touchy-feely love, a bowl of food everyday, some treats now and then, and someone to clean up after me. If someone throws me a bone, I’ll take it!
I am a Bearded Collie, commonly called a “Beardie”. I was bred to herd sheep, and I have done that, If I were forced to have a job, that is what I would do. It was great fun, but a very dirty job. While I myself have no problem with dirt, it is the bathing afterward that I hate.
I made it miserable for The Photo Finisher to bathe me, so my career as a sheep herder was short-lived. That’s kind of the way liberalism works: if doing what I want isn’t convenient to the powers that be, then I will be assigned some other task… or no task at all. I just take what I can get.
I don’t know how many times I have heard the phrase “poor Farleigh”; and then someone gives me something good to eat. Most of us dogs are liberal, it is the way it was meant to be. It is best to leave sleeping dogs lie.
Of course there are some right wing extremist dogs… like police dogs, sniffer dogs and McGruff the Crime Dog, who don’t spend their time sleeping. These dogs share my species, and serve a purpose; but since they don’t sleep much, they don’t lie. Instead, they lie, er… tell untruths; the English language is so confusing.. At least that is what my liberal indoctrination has taught me.
AoxoMoxoA: Farleigh, I would be careful about injecting opinions like that, The Photo Finisher might want to wash your mouth out with soap (lye), which is much worse than a bath.
That’s what is good about sleeping dogs, they can’t lie (tell untruths), because they’re asleep.
AoxoMoxoA: The Photo Finisher would say the same thing about Liberals. That… and they don’t think either!
Aoxo… whatever! I am thinking really hard right now! What are you, the thought police? No one told me I would be censored!
AoxoMoxoA: I am not censoring you, I am just pointing out that The Photo Finisher is searching for the truth. You are entitled to your opinions, and The Photo Finisher respects your opinions as long as you are his subservient dog; but don’t press your luck.
The Photo Finisher: Give her a break, AoxoMoxoA! This is Farleigh’s first post; I can always edit it if I need to. Farleigh has been my faithful companion for almost twelve years and I want to give her a chance. Hopefully I won’t have to give her a bath afterwards. And it doesn’t hurt to stay “Fair and Balanced”.
I apologize… My whole train of thought has been derailed. I need to bone up on my English syntax: lie, lay, lye, layed, laid… it has me so confused. Up until now, all I had to do was lie; and by that I mean… sleep.
I’m going to take a nap right now. When I return, I will take on my first assignment and properly introduce “Bo, the First Dog of the United States“. G’night.
I went to my first “Tea Party” today on the courthouse steps in South Bend, Indiana. It was an extraordinary event. Every day people and lots of signs, very peaceful, very moving. As the crowd spilled out into Main Street, reducing four lanes to two, horns honked and the crowd cheered.
One couldn’t help but think their voices were being heard… for once! It was the first time I have ever attended a protest, and it was actually rather moving.
AoxoMoxoA: Excuse me, but didn’t you attend an “Impeach Nixon” rally back in 1974?
Oh, yeah, but that was in my youth, when I thought it was cool to be a Liberal.
There were probably about 300 people gathered while I was there. A fraction of 1% of the 150,000 or so that live in this predominantly democratic community. But I was heartened with the turnout, because every where I go, living my life, I find that most people just don’t care. More to the point, most people around here just don’t pay attention to what is going on around them. I really think this is a good start, and hopefully just the beginning.
The “T.E.A.” Party, supposedly stands for “Taxed Enough Already”, but that really isn’t the point. The point is, out of control SPENDING. If spending isn’t controlled, then the inevitable rampant taxation will have to occur.
The speakers made a point of not being partisan, blaming Bush for starting the uncontrolled spending, and apologizing for using a quote from Rahm Emanuel:
You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.”
Our Tea Party was tiny compared those in bigger cities and venues across the country. It wasn’t well publicized; I found out about just the night before on Craigslist. The media portrayed us as bunch of right wing loons, funded by Fox News or some other sponsor with deep pockets. That could be nothing further from the truth. This was purely grass roots. The signs were all home made. There were no big name speakers, just plain folks who care, and who THINK! There was a sense of civility, unity and purpose, and I can tell you that it isn’t people like us who are dividing the nation.
Hopefully these “Tea Parties’ will make difference, to let the government and the elite media know that we are “Mad as Hell and NOT going to take it anymore!”
Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.”
I’ve always wondered what exactly that phrase meant. It came from the song “Me and Bobby McGee”, written by Kris Kristofferson, and made most famous by Janis Joplin who recorded it just days before her death in 1970.
I guess I just figured that when one hits bottom and lost everything, they no longer had any responsibilities as they no longer had any resources to work with; so they are FREE!. That’s not the kind of freedom I wish to pursue, but I fear that is what the government has in mind for us.
Well, at least we haven’t lost our Freedom of Speech… yet.
It was a good start!
Photo Notes: The photos on this page were taken by me and not retouched. This is one instance where “a picture says a thousand words”. But then again, these are largely pictures of words.
It has been a most disappointing Lenten season. Not being Catholic, I don’t give anything up, other than those things that this poor economy has forced me to give up. I did go a couple of weeks without beer, but that was purely an economic decision and I don’t think Jesus would have cared one way or the other.
I have always looked forward to Lent, in order to take advantage of the good deals on the substitutes for those who give up meat; specifically FISH!
McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish has always been a “comfort food” in a junk food sort of way. During Lent, they have always had a twofer. Two for $2 is not a distant memory, but this year it was Two for $3.49. A year or two ago, I noticed that the Filet-O-Fish only had a half of a slice of cheese (or less), and I thought “What’s up with that?” That half slice of cheese was never in the center of the sandwich, but hanging off to one side. In fact the parts of the sandwich were never centered on the bun. One would have to bite off a hunk of fish, turn the sandwich to bite off some bread, and turn again to get some cheese, in order to get a full bite of what should be a sandwich. But it usually tasted pretty good, so I overlooked these imperfections.
This year, I spotted this billboard. I thought, well at least there IS some truth in advertising, as it showed only a half a slice of cheese, hanging off of one side. But knowing what I know about photography, the perspective of the shot almost implies there is a full slice of cheese if you don’t know what to look for. I give them a pass for this, because I really think there is only the half of a slice of cheese. However, I have yet to purchase a fish sandwich that looked like the billboard.
In the 40 days of Lent, I have purchased six of these Filet-0-Fishies to try to give me some comfort. It hasn’t been very comforting. The first two were atrocious, almost as bad as the grocery store fish. More meat, but it had an overly fishy taste; old oil. I didn’t have my camera with me so I can’t show you how ugly it was. If scratch-n-sniff technology was readily available on the internet, I wouldn’t use it as you would leave this page immediately.
The following two pictures show the BEST of the each of the twofers I purchased. I ate the ugliest sandwiches while they were warm, or slightly warm and photographed the remainders.
Notice the sliver of cheese is on the bottom, unlike the photo on the billboard. Not that it makes much difference when it ends up in your stomach, but most chefs will tell you that it makes a difference in the way a sandwich is piled up; from a gourmet point of view.
I realize McDonald’s is no gourmet restaurant, but is it too much to ask to have them make a somewhat symmetrical sandwich? A sandwich that you don’t have to rotate three times to get a bite of each of the ingredients? The parts of the sandwiches were glued together with tartar sauce and the melted sliver of cheese, so it was impossible to shape-shift the sandwich into anything resembling the picture on the billboard. The six Filet-O-Fish sandwiches that I purchased were so consistently lopsided that I am thinking the employees are trained to build them that way. If that is the case, can anyone explain why?
For the most part, McDonald’s is an entry level employer. They are training the future leaders of this country, and other countries as well, I suppose. Would it hurt to teach them to take a little pride and spend a few extra seconds to carefully build a sandwich that is somewhat appetizing? And how much extra would a full slice of cheese cost?
Just a Sign of the Times.
Photo Notes: I took the three photographs in this post and they were unretouched by me. The photo on the billboard is obviously a composite.
Apparently, they were only able to build one decent looking sandwich, so they had to use it twice. If they had to use one of the sandwiches I purchased, then there was an awful lot of photo manipulation going on.
When I started this blog, I didn’t know where to start. It wasn’t so much “writers block”, I have plenty to say. It was more of what should be the focus of my writing, and how to tie the vast diversity of topics together in a logical way.
I had set up my blog using the default “Kubrick” theme. One thing led to another and I thought of Stanley Kubrick’s movie “The Shining”. Jack Nicholson’s character had writer’s block and wrote hundreds of pages of:
“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”
This didn’t seem to be a very useful thought, as after all, Jack Torrence went mad! I needed to come up with something a little more positive. I remember the old typing exercises from my high school days. “The quick brown fox…” didn’t do it for me. But…
“Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party.”
Now this might be something I can work with. I typed this line a few dozen times, just to loosen up, and started to get some ideas. My goal, after all is to make a difference, to affect a positive change for our society.
AoxoMoxoA: There was a time in your younger days when you would have said it means: when you are at a party and you run out of beer, you should go and buy more for everyone.
Good point, Aoxo! Besides that, I am not sure I have a “party” anymore. I think it was JFK who changed the word “party” to “country”. That makes more sense (and with the period, it perfectly fills out a 70 character line).
“Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.”
I typed that phrase a few more times, and things began to flow and gel at the same time. After about thirty more iterations of “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.”, I realized that I had uncovered My Mission. It has become apparent to me that I talked myself into this mission by typing that phrase over and over; sort of like self-hypnosis.
The origin of that phrase goes back to about 1867 as a speed test for the recently invented typewriter. It may well have also been a “call for help” in the troubled times following the Civil War.
It is my conjecture that this phrase may be one of the first uses of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) even though NLP, as we know it now, wasn’t invented until the 1970’s. NLP is a hypnosis-like technique often used by motivational speakers to improves the lives of their subjects. NLP is a very sophisticated mind programming technique. For simplicity, I will try to back up my premise that NLP has its roots in that simple typing exercise.
One main technique in NLP is to speak in short, 4 - 8 word phrases, that are mostly undeniably true. You then throw in whatever behavior your are trying to program; and since we believed the truth phrases, we are more inclined to accept the behavior phrase. Take our typing exercise as an example.
- Now is the time (true - no way to argue with that)
- for all good men (true - at least I think I am)
- to come to the aid of their country. (possibly - the desired programmed behavior)
Hey, it worked for me. I was a willing and accepting subject. By typing that sentence repeatedly, I programmed myself “to come to the aid of my country”. This is an overly simplistic example, but an example of using this technique for the for the good (hopefully).
Neuro Linguistic Programming can be very powerful and has many positive uses. Motivational speakers and sales people have made fortunes using these techniques. Bad habits have been broken and lives have been saved because of NLP. However, the motivations of some NLP practitioners seem somewhat suspect, if not nefarious.
Barack Obama is a mightily gifted practitioner of NLP. It is my firm belief that B.O. would never have been elected as President of the United States (POTUS) if it weren’t for his mesmerizing speeches (with the help of TOTUS). B.O.’s communication skills caused a majority of American voters to elect him to the office of the “Leader of the Free World”. Now, he is charming the Europeans and bowing to a Saudi King. He is trying to make EVERYONE love him, and that can’t be healthy.
Something to think about, more on this later.
Coming to the aid of my country…
You never get a second chance to make a first impression… so here goes.
I feel like Barack Obama… I have taken on this blogging venture and I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. I’m a somewhat accomplished photographer, web designer and writer. Everything you’d think you need to create a successful weblog. Or is it web log? Most call them blogs; but that sounds too much like blobs to me. So sue me, I really just want to get the words right.
This is really the beginning of the book I intended to start over thirty years ago, and hopefully will be the vehicle to get it done. Just like Barack, I have been preparing for this most of my adult life, and when I finally got here, I don’t know where to start.
I am concerned that I present a positive image. I don’t want to offend anybody. The topics of politics and religion are considered taboo when one wants to attempt a civil discussion in a public forum. It just happens that those topics are on my mind. Am I going start off on the wrong foot by bringing them up right away? I could start out with some of my other passions: sailing, dogs, kite flying or technology.
Unlike Obama, I know I can’t do it all at once, so I’ll try to mix it up. Unfortunately for the purpose of a civil discussion, politics is on my mind right now, so that is where I am going to start. Our world is in bad shape, and that condition is largely attributed to religious and political strife; so it can’t be ignored.
The difference between me and B.O. is… I want to get it right the first time. When I cook spaghetti, I can throw a strand up against the wall, and if it sticks, I know it is done. I usually throw a few more strands just to make sure. I have been cooking a lot of spaghetti lately (it’s cheap), so I know it works. That technique doesn’t work so well with words and deeds that can possibly affect the lives of millions.
I am certainly not in the position to affect the lives of millions… yet. But the big B.O. is! The policies that B.O. is attempting to invoke scare me. The concept of the “Photo Finish” that I conceived while sailing across the Pacific Ocean in 1977 at the impressionable age of 21, seems to be coming true. Are we spiraling towards the end of the world, or civilization as we have known it? At least the freedoms that Americans have known for over 200 years are being threatened by our new agent of change.
B.O. is throwing up so much stuff, so fast and so carelessly, at a moving wall, that something is bound to stick. The elite media will give him credit for whatever sticks. But we have to consider the damage done by the stuff that misses the wall completely, and splatters against our lives, and those of our children and grandchildren. Spaghetti Jimmy is cute, but I don’t think he is too happy about it.
Fortunately, we have TOTUS (Teleprompter Of The United States), Barack Obama’s Teleprompter, on hand as a correspondent to keep things in perspective. While TOTUS controls much of what B.O. says in public, it often has great insights as to what is really going on. TOTUS is a remarkable achievement in artificial intelligence, and our country would be in greater peril without it. Artificial Intelligence is better than no intelligence at all.
