Wednesday, October 31, 2007

happy halloween

Monday, October 22, 2007

Billy Bragg

Why is it that the limey guys are so good at writing these songs? A few hundred years of bitchin' about politics ahead of us I suppose...



I met Mr. Bragg some years ago, while KVC and I were living in Seattle. He played one of those lunch time shows at work. I think, maybe, a dozen folks showed up. Regardless, he played an amazing set. He talked about life between songs. I took him for a drink, afterwards. It seemed liked he deserved more then he got, for his efforts.

We talked about this and that. He seemed like a guy on the road. More able to talk about life while on a stage. Good guy, none the less.

Anyway, I am reading "Fiasco" at present. The story of the lead up to our most present and ongoing war in Iraq.

This song seemed like a good segway to my coming review...

Sunday, October 21, 2007

labels

I hadn't been applying any labels to my posts here, 'cause I am lazy about some things. I had some requests for easier navigation around here, which is somewhat shocking as it means people are actually reading the shite I post here.

So, over there on the right, by the profile stuff are some links for post labels (i.e. all the T posts link to T Blogging). I'll try to make 'em easy to understand.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

T Blogging - Fear

Usually, there are pictures associated with the T Blog installments. Not this time. This episode is all about Fear.

See, the big battle in this whole bit of me building a car is, well, I am building a whole fuckin' car. That is a big thing.
It's not like a drawing, or a painting, or a bowl of pasta - it is a few thousand pounds of danger and speed.
This shit could kill somebody. It could kill me.

That is some heavy shit to ponder.

It has hung in the back of my head, since this whole deal got real.

I have cheated injury on a skateboard. I have near missed our maker a few times on the back of a motorcycle.
I have skipped over those details in the process. As I modified motorcycles to loose some pounds or gain some performance, I was able to look past some of the included dangers packaged in the details.

Goin' ground up on this Model T sports car thing I am building, though, it is all on me. See, doubts add time. I question this weld, I look three times at that bolt. That shit all means something. It may mean life or death

Anyway, I was looking at things - again. I was listening to some Metallica (Where Ever I May Roam, if you must know).

I think I may have had a "moment of clarity" as the tipplers say.

It occured to me that the experiences I have had in the process of making things, of bolting bits together are the shit that people tell stories of. I am doing more than building a car. I am building a bit of my own history.

Maybe I wipe a cam. I might even crack the frame I built.

How many people get to say that?

Maybe I break it. Perhaps there are bits that could work better. Shit, the Sausage Creature (get on your HST reading if you don't know who the Sausage Creature is)might lurk at the end of highway some off ramp.

So, I think I have gotten on speaking terms with the Fear. The two of us will push through the stuff that needs to get done to build a car. We'll go on a drive together...




Go listen to DJ B Mellow, on KEXP. He is rockin' it tonight, and you are a cracker that could use some black and brown.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

not long ago...

not that long ago you could open up a catalog and order this-



I gotta say, it seems like we've gotten off track a bit. C'mon, shouldn't a guy be able to order one of these up? Doesn't everybody deserve the choice, at least?

Plus, I bet there would be a lot less road rage if'n you could get a bit of this action on the weekends.



The work week would be nicer after some seat time in your own dragster, too. I bet your ears would be ringing 'til Thursday.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Paper Planes

this song is stuck in my head...

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Are you Guilty?

Well, are you?

I am pretty sure that I am.
I am pretty upset about it too.
Cleary, I have not been paying attention to politics as closely as I should have been. I don't think I am alone, though, Congress has been doing a nice job of looking the other way as well.
So, I am feeling a bit pissed and a bit duped.

What the hell am I talking about?

Did you really look through the Military Commissions Act, that Congress passed through a year ago?
No, of course not. I didn't either, don't feel like I am judging you.

Do you realize that it gives the executive branch complete authority to circumvent the other branches of government, suspend habeus corpus, along with the rest of your Constitutional rights.

Well, it does.
The President just has to give the word and declare you an "enemy combatant."

Sure, you are thinking "Scott, the President isn't going to say I am some 'enemy combatant'."

I am just pointing out that he could. Maybe for something you say. Maybe for taking a picture of something you shouldn't. It has aleady happened to a lucky few citizens around the country.

Maybe (for some delusional moment I'll never understand) you are confident in your current President - and trust that would never happen to either one of us. What about the next chump we dump into the big White House? Are you sure you can trust that person? They might be from the other side of the aisle.
It could (technically) be Ralph Nader!
Now how do you like that?
I would reason that any damned moderate elephant backer might be considered an "enemy combatant" by Mr. Nader.


Anyway, I am all fired up because I just finished "End of America" by Naomi Wolf. It should be required fucking reading if you have a brain and are an American citizen.





You might be aware that I am a bit analytical. I usually will read a book two or three times, to make sure I didn't miss something. There is usually a gap of a few months between readings. I have gone through this book twice in a week, then found the 467 pages of the MCA on line and skimmed through them. Every page makes me more angry and more frightened by our present political landscape.

So what am I guilty of?
I am guilty of not looking at what my legislature is doing.
I am guilty of allowing my rights to be picked from my pocket.
I am guilty of letting this administration erode the foundations of my freedoms in the name of delivering freedom to the other side of the world.

Get on it, go read this book.

Monday, October 1, 2007

October?

Shit. It is October already?
I don't really have anything to post.
I am avoiding actually getting something done,
by sitting here, screwing around on the old computimator-interweb-machine.

KVC has new pics up, from her last Asia trip. My link doesn't work, from here.
I'll get the link fixed, so you can see some pics...


Note: I actually did fix the link to KVC's photo album thingy.