Title of this entry is a lyric from a funky song - and it still kicks ass to this day. Even the video still kicks ass.
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Last night I chatted with a girl from Russia who will be visiting Florida either in December or later. We talked about a lot of stuff, but the one thing that hit me like a ton of bricks is that prior to 1991, we wouldn’t have even been able to have a conversation.
Things like that throw you for a loop or two.
From the history I’m aware of between the then-USSR and the USA, the entire reason we didn’t blow each other up to smithereens and end the world as we know it is simply because..
It was wrong and we both knew it.
That’s why the red button was never pushed.
That’s why we’re all still alive.
I am very happy that we are friends with Russia. Instead of worrying about whether they’ll blow us up, I now chat with beautiful girls there, where questions like What time is it there? and What’s the temperature over there? really are interesting. :-)
You’ve heard me gripe about parking before. Well, the management who runs the apartment complex is finally doing something about it, as evidenced by the above photo.
A nastygram was sent to all residents not so long ago that warned that all of the following is subject to your car getting towed:
- Expired registration (like the above)
- Flat tire(s)
- Disabled vehicle
- Non-resident “extended” stays
- Parking on grass
..and a few others I can’t remember.
I remember seeing apartment complexes back in Connecticut where disabled vehicles would sit in parking spots and stay there for months on end. Here in Tampa, not a chance. You get a one day warning. After that, bye-bye car - at your expense. :-)
If you couldn’t tell, I was very happy to see the sticker on that moron’s car. :-)
I don’t know if it’s just because I’m older or the fact I’m living in Florida (or maybe both), but cops here seem to be much easier to talk to. For some reason I could never get in a normal conversation with a Connecticut cop, but the officers down this way are way more approachable. If you asked one for directions, the guy would actually help you out instead of being annoyed you even asked.
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Screenplay
I actually (gasp) worked on my screenplay yesterday. Didn’t do much with it, but the fact I worked on it is a big deal. It could be I’m finally finding the inspiration to get off my lazy ass and finish it. Maybe. :-) There’s still a lot of work to do.
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Twang
I have a new album of tunes on the horizon. It’s not finished just yet, but it’s getting there.
Aside from the whole production bit, this time ’round I’m going to do the web site/press/marketing thing. But before I do that, I have to sit down, develop a plan with a time line, project costs with figures, and write out all the other annoying (but necessary) corporate stuff that goes along with it. Yeah, it’s tedious, but necessary.
I figure if I’m going to do this, I might as well do it right.
My Dell Inspiron 6000’s DVD+RW drive finally bit the dust; it will no longer read or write any DVD put into it. Actually, I’m surprised it lasted as long as it did considering the laptop’s age and how much I use it. I’ve had it since March ‘05. And being that laptops have an average lifespan of two to three years, I think I’m doing pretty good. If I get past March ‘07 and this thing still works, I’ll be a happy guy.
Even though I prefer laptops, I’m seriously entertaining getting another regular ol’ desktop PC. Even though they are huge, bulky and outright annoying sometimes, they are reliable and every single part can be replaced on the cheap.
Case in point: If I were to buy a brand new DVD+RW drive for a desktop it’s thirty bucks. For a laptop, it’s seventy or more. Yeah. Unfortunately that’s the nature of the beast.
The problem is that if I go desktop again, I’ll need a new LCD monitor. And if there’s one thing that never goes down in price, it’s monitors. I mean, sure, you could go buy a new 17-inch CRT for $100 but then you get those dull headaches after staring at one for a while. LCD’s don’t have that problem. ;-)
I’m probably better off just replacing the laptop’s DVD+RW when I get around to it.
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“Battle” plan(s)
I still have to write out the plan for my upcoming music ventures. I have the whole thing planned out in my head, but that’s not enough. If it’s not on paper, it doesn’t exist. Tonight I’m forcing myself to write one up, even if it sucks.
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Announcement from the “no one gives a shit” dept.
You can now get to this site with a www and it will not redirect. Previously if you typed in www.menga.net, it would redirect to menga.net. Now it does not. See? I knew you wouldn’t give a shit. :-)
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Nine years old but still true
I stumbled upon this article called The Myth Of The Paperless Office. And yes, it’s a myth. As long as there are offices, there will be things written and printed on paper. There’s just no way around it.
The funniest part of the article is that e-mail is the most printed item in the office. Why is it funny? Because e-mail was designed to not use paper. :-)
Another announcement from the “no one gives a shit” dept.
My MySpace page is now public again. I made it private originally because MySpace was pissing me off. No, not the users. MySpace itself. Actually, MS still pisses me off, but whatever. :-)
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Planning
As I wrote about just recently, I did write up a “battle plan” for my music if you can believe it. Yep. So far there are twenty-one items on The Big List. Seven of them are completed. I did the easy internet stuff first.
Making The Big List wasn’t as annoying as I thought it would be. It was actually fun to a degree. There will be more things put on this list as I continue to plan. Who knows, it may turn from twenty-one to seventy-five items. Or not. I don’t know that part yet. :-)
I would watch my English slang here but then my all my articles would read like an instruction manual. :-) I have several international visitors who read what I write here, and I honestly don’t know if they can understand a word of it (due to the fact my grammar is terrible most of the time).
But anyway, on to the matters at hand.
Wands, Swords, Pentacles and whatnot
Last week I ordered a tarot deck from Green Dragon Books. It arrived today. Nice set. It’s much better than I thought it would be. The artwork is incredible and this particular deck does not recognize “reversed” cards which I appreciate. What this means is that it’s much easier to do readings.
So, obviously, I did a reading. It was good even though my question was a bit vague. I guess this is a good sign I have a good deck.
I have a new appreciation for the 1974 Dodge Monaco
I bought The Blues Brothers on DVD. In my opinion, this movie has the best car chase ever put to film. And it’s funny. Very funny. John Landis is a master. :-)
In case you’re wondering, yes, the ‘74 Dodge Monaco is the original Bluesmobile.
I discovered a new web site that I think is pretty cool, dead malls. A mall is considered dead if there are almost no businesses left within it or if it’s just vacated entirely. There is a better explanation for those who want to know the details.
Growing up in the 80’s during my formative years, my favorite mall in the world was the Auburn Mall. I knew every single inch of that place. It was small but very well laid out. Right before I left New England I went there a few times but it’s just not the same anymore. Over time they’ve added things (like a Filene’s and a parking garage), completely changed the way you get in and out of the mall and so on.
Update: Someone actually wrote a really good article on the Auburn Mall. Check it out. The only thing I disagree with is that the author states the design of the mall "won’t win much praise". It should be stated as "won’t win much praise now" because before all the renovations it was ten times easier to get around in there.
The biggest difference I see today compared to yesteryear is that more national chains are preferring to go with freestanding buildings, purposely engineered to be islands unto themselves. Examples of this are Wal-Mart, Circuit City, Best Buy and so on. Normally you never see any of these as anchor stores in a mall. They might be in a plaza, but are not connected physically to any other building.
My biggest gripe about all these freestanding buildings is that no one seems to know how to develop a parking lot correctly. Like it or not, the best design in the world is straight slots with curbs in grid-style fashion.
NSEW is North, South, East, West. All traffic can go any direction. No, this is not a bad thing. It is designed just like an 4-way stop intersection at given points. This does work. The curbs exist so everyone has to follow the grid.
Lots of parking lots have this horrible design. No curbs are present. Between rows you are forced to go only one direction - and sure enough, some idiot will be going the "wrong way", causing potential (or literal) collisions. What’s supposed to happen is that everyone is supposed to park front-of-car first. That doesn’t happen because some people will park back-of-car first. When they do that, they have to go the "wrong way" to get out because there’s not enough turning room to go the "correct" way. And let’s not forget those who navigate parking lots like mazes, using empty parking spaces as go-betweens to get in or out.
Tons of malls had the proper grid-with-curbs parking lots. They were good. They worked. Then some fool decided to slant all the slots and force people to go a certain way, bashing into each other constantly.
All these freestanding building designers need to look at the way malls of yesteryear did it - because they did it right.
If seeing abandoned/dead malls isn’t creepy enough for you, check out the abandoned amusement park in Japan. That one will throw you for a loop or two.
The USA also has abandoned parks too. Check these out:
Unlike malls which can be torn down and replaced, many amusements parks cannot. Granted, there are exceptions to the rule (like Riverside turning into Six Flags New England), but more often than not a shut down park will stay there and rot for many years. The clean-up is just too costly to do anything with it, and the location of most of them isn’t good for anything but an amusement park.
What’s interesting to me is how people can let something like that just sit there. I’m sure there are collectors who would love to bring a big U-Haul truck and move the stuff that could be moved (like carousel horses). Ah well.. one of life’s mysteries, I suppose.
I found some dandy acoustic performances on YouTube recently. Check these out before they get taken off. :-)
Queensryche - “I Will Remember”
The thing that amazes me about Queensryche is that they sound exactly like they do in the studio in this song - a feat that can only be done by a select few.
KISS - “Beth”
Obviously an acoustic song from the get-go, but Peter Criss’ vocals on this one are spot on perfect. Gene’s bass is a bit overbearing, but forgivable.
Steve Miller - “The Joker”
The only musician in this one is Steve himself. Impressive. And sounds great.
Oasis - “Sunday Morning Call”
This one I’m putting here because of the YouTube comments. There are many that say “better than the album”. Makes you wonder if they should have done it this way to begin with? I love the wurly-style keyboard heard. Very 70’s sounding but very cool.
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