week, what week?

Boy, that was a busy week. I'm glad it's over. There were a few good moments. One of the more entertaining experiences (which happened on Wednesday) was during Scout summer camp, where I was helping out. During the lunch break I had the great fortune to be standing with a bunch of other helpers. Now, i should point out that this was at our local range, of which I am also a member. I think it's a rule that when 3 or more shooters and gun enthusiasts gather together, that they have to talk rabidly about Hillary Clinton and now Obama. So, I was standing there, the only one who didn't agree with every single phrase they said. I found myself sometimes smothering a chuckle and had to occasionally turn around and look at a fire helicopter, that was conveniently and frequently dipping into the local reservoir to probably tackle some serious blaze going on just over the hill. So, the thought that was repeatedly spinning round my confused and bamboozled head was, "Wow, these guys really need to get out more. Where am I, the deep south?" They were suggesting things such as Obama was a muslim plant, that a national healthcare system was just a step away from global government and other such fun sound bites. I'm just glad I'm not in my 20's anymore as, otherwise I'd have probably wanted to argue with them about it all. The experience though, highlights a big problem in US politics....Everyone is so wrapped up in their own opinion that very few seem to listen to the alternative. And therefore no progress is made. I heard a long diatribe attacking democratic policies. So what would you guys prefer, a single party state? If you don't, accept the fact that you could be wrong about somethings, that someone else might be right and that the majority rule exists in a democracy....then that's what you'll have. Perhaps it's the fault of the media who seem to be more interested in ratings rather than actually reporting what's going on in the world.

Life is better with a dog

I was sat at the laptop at the kitchen table and I heard the familiar sound of my dog in full 'love of life' mode. She was on her bed, legs in the air, twisting back and forth, mouth and eyes open and making occasional light grunting sounds; as happy as anyone could want to be. This isn't bad for an old girl. I've had dogs most of my life and have concluded that life is very much better with them in it. It's a double edged sword of course, as you have to train them well and make sure they know you're top dog, pardon the phrase. Many people treat them like a baby and forget that they're pack oriented. They need to look up to you all as higher ranking pack members or will want to dominate you instead. Once that little task is completed, you've got the best buddy you could ever wish for. 

Dogs never lie. You know exactly where you stand with them at all times. They're always happy to see you, eat like it's their last meal and love it and sometimes just want to play, for the fun of it. They are happy with the most simple of things, such as a walk or a belly rub. When we take them out, or when they snuggle up to us, we feel better too. Perhaps there's something to that? And they love to just hang out with you, regardless of your hair, clothes or mood....which can't stay bad for long with them by your side. We lost her biological littermate brother, Hey Go (Black Dog), 3 years ago to cancer. It was devastating and as tough to go through as loosing a human relative. It's shocking how vital they become, and in such a short time. That's something you have to put to the back of your mind though, and just enjoy every moment with them, exactly as they do, for the brief 10-14 years we have them. Everyone calls my dog my "little wife", as she's always by my side and always wants to know where I am (unless there's fresh food in her bowl, then I'm temporarily forgotten). She's 12 and is a large dog, so she's getting up there. For now, I get to see her enjoying herself, having a good sniff, chasing lizards and birds round the garden, greeting people at the door she knows, barking at those she doesn't know yet, and bounding around with her other doggie friends, Brandy, Maddie and Clinton. Life is definitely better with a dog in it. We could learn a lot from them....just not the communal ass sniffing or peeing against lamp posts. Everything else I can accept.

"Is it 'ot in 'ere?"

Yup, it's the typical July stinky heat. It's dry, unpleasant and ridiculously warm. Everyone, except lizards and snakes, is bad tempered and smelly. But this happens every year here. In other parts of the world, it rains in the summer. Here, its hot and dry. Yet every year it seems to take us by surprise, as individuals and governments. Apparently, a few records have been beaten by a degree or so this year. Of course the media is all over this and the end of the world is coming. May be you've heard that. Maybe it is, but our viewpoint on this subject is a tad short and dimensionally limited so really, how can we tell? Well, I'm not sure we can. We are definitely spewing out billions of tons of carbon dioxide and toxins into the atmosphere. It goes without saying that this chemical change has to have an impact on the climate. Will it happen in our lifetime? Well, that's anybody's guess. The problem is that the subject has become so politically charged now that both main sides have dug their heals in and are not budging one inch. Is THAT good for us and the planet? Definitely not. Nothing gets done and everyone is shouting about their own opinions.......opinions don't count and don't change a thing....including my own. Get over yourselves, as a good friend of mine says, and shut the hell up. If the governments really wanted to make a difference, it would have happened already (regardless of who's buying them off this year.) 100 miles per gallon is definitely possible. Cheap solar power and wind power would be in every home, taking the strain off the electricity grid. We'd be carbon neutral, to coin the omnipresent current phrase. Every year we here in California are told that the power grid is on the verge of being overloaded. Why is that? It'll take 10 years to build enough power plants to rectify this? Well, why wasn't this planned 10 years ago then you morons? I go past the forrest of wind turbines near us. More often than not, they are not turning. This was also the case during the Enron scandal a few years back. Now, with the oil scandal being in full fling, I'm betting that in a year or 2 a major oil company will go bust and the money, those monstrous profits, will disappear, just like with Enron and other such disasters before it. (that or a major bank that's holding those lovely funds). It's the way of reaping money by over pricing, then magically making it disappear.

"Nothing just happens in politics. If something happens you can be sure it was planned that way." Franklin D. Rosevelt.

"The problem isn't a shortage of fuel: it's a surplus of government." Ronald Reagan.

"Politics, and the fate of mankind, are shaped by men without ideals and without greatness." Albert Camus.

"If you ever injected truth into politics you have no politics." Will Rogers.

SO, back to the heat. Yup it's hot. It's probably our fault and if we continue to head blindly into the future in the same way, then we probably deserve what we get. The only problem I have with that thought is that every single other living thing on the the planet will have to deal with our huge man made disaster as well. And those chest thumping religious folks think we're God's chosen species? Really? You think God, a God, any God, would like to watch his/her/it's creation being totally screwed over by a self indulgent and short sighted mammal such as ourselves? Well, when they've pulled their collective heads out of their asses and cleaned their teeth, perhaps we can discuss it in a civil, non religious manner......but then pigs would have to be flying out of my own ass for that to happen. And so we cook.

Celebrating independence

Today, July 4th, can be a bit confusing if you’re an immigrant. This is more so if your country of birth is England, Britain, or the UK, however you want to name it these days…I get confused over that naming protocol. Unlike most Americans, I am here by choice though. Also, I thoroughly like living here. To become an American you have to take a test and be put through the ringer and have your background checked out etc, etc….fun stuff like that. I realized when I was studying for this test that many Americans probably wouldn’t be able to pass it, but still have a patriotic feeling for their nation…despite these feelings not being based upon facts or knowing their own actual history. This country was set up a good while ago with an attempt to limit government power and corruption…..good luck with that one…..The original plans seem to be holding together despite the best efforts of politicians. However, it is under constant attack to varying degrees. I think this would be less so if Americans, the ones who are actually born here, really knew their own history. By that I mean not some condensed politically correct version of it or a version based off the latest movie. History isn’t really about society habits, such as cooking, and clothes. It’s all about conquest and who did what to whom. It’s bloody and unpleasant. All humans do bad things to each other, regardless of color, race or creed. Get over it. It’s written by whoever won or had control of the media of the day at least……that doesn’t make our understanding of it accurate, but it’s a common thread of acceptance at least.

I had an epiphany about countries and their collective habits, and this was before living in the US. I travel a great deal and sometimes to some rather bazaar countries. Some are good, some are not, but all are interesting in their own ways. I realized that a lot of nations have evolved over time. They have rich histories, the people just accept that as part of life and it helps put a few things in perspective, such as we’re just tiny pieces flowing through this. This is difficult to avoid when history is under every rock and on many streets. They get on with their daily routines and celebrate things from before, but don’t make a big deal out of it. Some nations, however, are created. A lot of these in the previous century. It seems to me that many of those nations seem to think that they have to justify their very existence, usually in some form of annual celebration and a constant reminder of who they are. This is a good thing of course, and often reminds people that here is a good place to live and actually, now is a great time to be alive. But when you come from an old country, especially one that fought with it’s offspring, it can be a little confusing, and somewhat amusing. I have wondered if these types of celebrations will still be going on in day 500 years time. I expect a lot of the actual history will be even more confused than it already is. I get asked a lot if I am upset by the July 4th celebrations. If I’m feeling nice I say something along the lines of “Not really. I’m an American after all. Besides, I wasn’t alive then.” If I’m feeling less social, I ask if Australia, Canada or New Zealand are pleasant places to live. Of course they are, and in some regards, can be more pleasant than many parts of the US. They didn’t go through a traumatic birth, and evolved in to the wonderful places they are peacefully and calmly. That usually ends the conversation. I haven’t had that conversation in the deep south or midwest though. I think I’d be a little less vocal there. But as was pointed out in graffiti in a base in Iraq, “Yeh hah isn’t a foreign policy.”

It’s a good place to live and it’s a great time to be alive. We’re here anyway, so stop your wining and enjoy it anyway.

Interesting Headlines

This was going to be a jolly entry. But then I just read this headline:

"The White House said Thursday that dangerous detainees at Gitmo could end up walking Main Street USA as a result of last month's Supreme Court ruling about detainee's rights."

Why is that exactly Mr. President? Giving them rights, should I say 'human' rights is one thing. Why would that result in releasing them onto the US main street? No longer being allowed to hold them indefinitely without trial is hardly going to allow them to spill out of their cages in bright orange suits, shackled at the ankles and swim across the ocean to Florida is it? Only an idiotic government would allow that to happen. (That said, I wouldn't put it past Georgie Boy to have that done purely out of spite.....he's not going to be in power to pick up the pieces after all is he.) But only an even bigger idiot or scared very old person, would believe that statement....ie most Fox news viewers. The Islamic nut jobs are off shore, there are no direct flights to the US from Cuba, they have no passports and are completely there at the discretion of the President.

Some lyrics spring to mind when reading this obvious attempt at fear mongering.

"They say there are strangers who threaten us 

In our immigrants and infidels

They say there are strangers too dangerous

In our theaters and bookstore shelves

Those who know what's best for us

Must rise and save us from ourselves

Quick to judge

Quick to anger

Slow to understand

Ignorance and prejudice

And fear walk hand in hand."

If that doesn't sum up the current administration's approach to governing, I don't know what does.

As Cheney would say...."BOO!"

So where do you actually start?

How do you actually start something like this? It's a rhetorical question of course, but it's still a quandary. You can either come across as being a complete idiot, akin to the vapid George Bush but with out thousands of people dying as a result, being full of yourself, have your head up your ass (but there I go about Bush again) or being so full of anger that you really need to pay someone for your therapy instead of subjecting lots of innocent people to read it instead....."lots of people"....OK, so already I have to pull my head out of my ass and be real. See, it's difficult to get this baby moving.

So, you get a particular stage in life, far quicker than you ever thought possible and wonder how did it go by so fast. Who'd have thought your parents were correct with that advice! Ah, but we knew better at 18 didn't we. Anyway,  yesterday was the 13th anniversary of meeting my wife. 13 years. Bloody hell that went fast. You take a lot for granted in your 20's and maybe even in your 30's too. Then you hit 40 and your body decides it's payback time for taking it for granted for soooo long. You find yourself having to work out harder to stay in shape and hurt more and for longer in the process. The benefit of this is that most people my age don't have the time or inclination to work out at all, let alone hard....so many become the flabby girly men with those fat wobbling asses we love to watch so much in the supermarkets and on TV reports ...that are reporting how fat we are becoming. So, working out, for all it's pain, is a good thing. And with my instructors too, it's quite an entertaining experience. Bonus! Then you get a food allergy, or if you're lucky like me, 2 for the price of 1. My wife's theory is that the majority of us have them, but they go undiagnosed and it's the cause of lots of illnesses. After my allergy to eggs and milk (great combination eh. No more cakes or chocolate!) was discovered and I started to skip those foods completely, I dropped 18 pounds with little effort, although there was a great deal of grumbling going on of course at my cold turkey on chocolate. I feel better, certainly look better, but still do get occasional acid reflux if I'm exposed to too much of either. Now that really sucks. Your body, once relieved of the constant stress of being exposed to these nasty substances, gets fussy and throws a temper tantrum at even the slightest exposure. Now that just isn't fair! Come on stomach, give me a break here. I'm praying my esophagus can hang in there another 50 years + while I'm having so much fun otherwise. My wife has recently, meaning 18 months ago, discovered yoga. She's in far better shape than she's ever been, but has yet to reap the rewards of increased energy. She says doing yoga takes it all out of her. Huh, I never thought of that one. I've got my fingers crossed that those benefits appear sometime before we're 90. 

So there are some of my thoughts on the unfortunate by product of living: aging. However, life has turned out to be pretty damn good and you may as well look trim and feel fit while enjoying it. The bonus is increasing your chances of living a little longer too. That can't be bad.

what the hell

I was persuaded by several friends, (OK, 2) and inspired by a few others, to create a kind of blog. I say kind of blog, as of right now, I'm not really sure how this is going to pan out. It may become an entertaining way for me to rant in public, result in who ever reads it to roll their eyes, or bear testament to me having a chuckle at the world, from my slightly skewed mid life, but quite fortunate, perspective. As the king John said in 'Robin Hood, Men in Tights': "We'll have a wedding or a hanging. Either way, it's going to be a lot of fun eh."