My Journey

Changing Times

2012-01-21T20:38:00.000-08:00

I don't know how much things really change, however, enjoy Los Tiempos Van Cambiando...

The US Government declared that the Arellano Felix Cartel had been destroyed, because they were weary of an 18 year investigation and had to show something for their efforts -- but it's still there. The same is true of La Familia Michoacan, reported destroyed in the summer of 2011, but now still alive, and calling itself Los Caballeros Templario.

The key to success is not lying to yourself about your success or lack thereof.

For every narco who falls, like the heads of the hydra, two more sprout.

So much for the war on drugs...

The War in Afghanistan

2012-01-13T03:02:00.000-08:00

I am not saying, "I told you so," to anyone. However, the problem outlined by CBS News in the report (above) is indicative of the inevitable results we will see from US intervention in Afghanistan. And it should give us pause when we decide to ask people to risk their lives in causes that will only result in pyhrric victories. (see Roman Army vs King Phyrrus of Epirus - Asculum 279BC)

The quote that is attributed to King Phyrrus by Plutarch goes something like this, "If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined."

The Greeks under Alexander, the British in successive Afghan Wars and more recently, the Soviet Union, occupied Afghanistan, and in each successive the occupiers found what we in our hubris, failed to learn. You can hold the place with enough soldiers and treasure - but when you leave, the place resorts to its previous condition.

What would it take to get me to into church?

2012-01-11T09:10:00.000-08:00

I know that none of you have given this much more thought than I did, but consider this: A church for reformed strippers where strippers come to get a dose of religion. What a concept! If you want men to go to church, this has to be the perfect inducement.

This lady dated arms dealers, spies and rogues -- before she found religion. Now she's on a quest to get sexually addicted women into church. (I think that marrying a nerd metrosexual hairdresser is what really messed her up.)

However, if you want to 'sell' 'faith', why not invite strippers to church? I suspect that the donations from men would go through the roof. I don't think that it would be much different than any of the other, shallow, 'entertainment-based faith' that tries to pass itself off as sincere religion.

While on other fronts, strippers and churches seem to be at odds with each other. (LINK)

The 30-year-old married mother of six said she has danced at the Foxhole for a decade and holds the title of "house mom." That means that even though she still dances, she also watches out for the six other women who work there.

She said she makes $2,000 a week.

"These church people say horrible things about us," Hughes said. "They say we're homewreckers and whores. The fact of the matter is, we're working to keep our own homes together, to give our kids what they need."

Dunfee said it's not that simple. He said he consistently offers the women help, a chance at redemption.

"I tell them, 'I will put a roof over your heads, and your bills will be paid, and your children's bellies will be full,'" he said. Yet they don't come inside.

The first few weeks, Dunfee piped the sermon outside. But that "agitated" them, he said, and made them dance in the streets.

He said their presence has united his church members and reinvigorated their mission to shut down the club.

"They have now seen the evil firsthand," Dunfee said. "This has just made us stronger."
George laughed at that notion.

"They're just mad," he said, "because their wives won't let them come to my club."

And the world still spins -- until the end, of course, and that's coming.

The Mayan Calendar in a wheat field...a portent of times to come.

Tue(ne)sday Review

2012-01-10T08:07:00.000-08:00

Two-fer Tunes Tuesday.

The first entry comes under the rubric:

admit nothing
deny everything
demand proof
find a scapegoat
make counter allegations

I'm not one.

******

The next one is dedicated to the concept of rough sex as being something that can up the game.

However, I'm not a whore.

Planning for 2012

2012-01-02T22:25:00.000-08:00

Being an Evil Overlord seems to be a good career choice. It pays well, there are all sorts of perks and you can set your own hours. However every Evil Overlord I've read about in books or seen in movies invariably gets overthrown and destroyed in the end. I've noticed that no matter whether they are barbarian lords, deranged wizards, mad scientists or alien invaders, they always seem to make the same basic mistakes every single time. With that in mind, allow me to present...

The Top 100 Things I'll do this year when I become an Evil Overlord

My Legions of Terror will have helmets with clear plexiglass visors, not face-concealing ones.
My ventilation ducts will be too small to crawl through.
My noble half-brother whose throne I usurped will be killed, not kept anonymously imprisoned in a forgotten cell of my dungeon.
Shooting is not too good for my enemies.
The artifact which is the source of my power will not be kept on the Mountain of Despair beyond the River of Fire guarded by the Dragons of Eternity. It will be in my safe-deposit box. The same applies to the object which is my one weakness.
I will not gloat over my enemies' predicament before killing them.
When I've captured my adversary and he says, "Look, before you kill me, will you at least tell me what this is all about?" I'll say, "No." and shoot him. No, on second thought I'll shoot him then say "No."
After I kidnap the beautiful princess, we will be married immediately in a quiet civil ceremony, not a lavish spectacle in three weeks' time during which the final phase of my plan will be carried out.
I will not include a self-destruct mechanism unless absolutely necessary. If it is necessary, it will not be a large red button labelled "Danger: Do Not Push". The big red button marked "Do Not Push" will instead trigger a spray of bullets on anyone stupid enough to disregard it. Similarly, the ON/OFF switch will not clearly be labelled as such.
I will not interrogate my enemies in the inner sanctum -- a small hotel well outside my borders will work just as well.
I will be secure in my superiority. Therefore, I will feel no need to prove it by leaving clues in the form of riddles or leaving my weaker enemies alive to show they pose no threat.
One of my advisors will be an average five-year-old child. Any flaws in my plan that he is able to spot will be corrected before implementation.
All slain enemies will be cremated, or at least have several rounds of ammunition emptied into them, not left for dead at the bottom of the cliff. The announcement of their deaths, as well as any accompanying celebration, will be deferred until after the aforementioned disposal.
The hero is not entitled to a last kiss, a last cigarette, or any other form of last request.
I will never employ any device with a digital countdown. If I find that such a device is absolutely unavoidable, I will set it to activate when the counter reaches 117 and the hero is just putting his plan into operation.
I will never utter the sentence "But before I kill you, there's just one thing I want to know."
When I employ people as advisors, I will occasionally listen to their advice.

I will not have a son. Although his laughably under-planned attempt to usurp power would easily fail, it would provide a fatal distraction at a crucial point in time.
I will not have a daughter. She would be as beautiful as she was evil, but one look at the hero's rugged countenance and she'd betray her own father.
Despite its proven stress-relieving effect, I will not indulge in maniacal laughter. When so occupied, it's too easy to miss unexpected developments that a more attentive individual could adjust to accordingly.

I will hire a talented fashion designer to create original uniforms for my Legions of Terror, as opposed to some cheap knock-offs that make them look like Nazi stormtroopers, Roman footsoldiers, or savage Mongol hordes. All were eventually defeated and I want my troops to have a more positive mind-set.
No matter how tempted I am with the prospect of unlimited power, I will not consume any energy field bigger than my head.
I will keep a special cache of low-tech weapons and train my troops in their use. That way -- even if the heroes manage to neutralize my power generator and/or render the standard-issue energy weapons useless -- my troops will not be overrun by a handful of savages armed with spears and rocks.
I will maintain a realistic assessment of my strengths and weaknesses. Even though this takes some of the fun out of the job, at least I will never utter the line "No, this cannot be! I AM INVINCIBLE!!!" (After that, death is usually instantaneous.)
No matter how well it would perform, I will never construct any sort of machinery which is completely indestructible except for one small and virtually inaccessible vulnerable spot.
No matter how attractive certain members of the rebellion are, there is probably someone just as attractive who is not desperate to kill me. Therefore, I will think twice before ordering a prisoner sent to my bedchamber.
I will never build only one of anything important. All important systems will have redundant control panels and power supplies. For the same reason I will always carry at least two fully loaded weapons at all times.
My pet monster will be kept in a secure cage from which it cannot escape and into which I could not accidentally stumble.

I will dress in bright and cheery colors, and so throw my enemies into confusion.

All bumbling conjurers, clumsy squires, no-talent bards, and cowardly thieves in the land will be preemptively put to death. My foes will surely give up and abandon their quest if they have no source of comic relief.
All naive, busty tavern wenches in my realm will be replaced with surly, world-weary waitresses who will provide no unexpected reinforcement and/or romantic subplot for the hero or his sidekick.
I will not fly into a rage and kill a messenger who brings me bad news just to illustrate how evil I really am. Good messengers are hard to come by.
I won't require high-ranking female members of my organization to wear a stainless-steel bustier. Morale is better with a more casual dress-code. Similarly, outfits made entirely from black leather will be reserved for formal occasions.
I will not turn into a snake. It never helps.
I will not grow a goatee. In the old days they made you look diabolic. Now they just make you look like a disaffected member of Generation X.

I will not imprison members of the same party in the same cell block, let alone the same cell. If they are important prisoners, I will keep the only key to the cell door on my person instead of handing out copies to every bottom-rung guard in the prison.
If my trusted lieutenant tells me my Legions of Terror are losing a battle, I will believe him. After all, he's my trusted lieutenant.
If an enemy I have just killed has a younger sibling or offspring anywhere, I will find them and have them killed immediately, instead of waiting for them to grow up harboring feelings of vengeance towards me in my old age.
If I absolutely must ride into battle, I will certainly not ride at the forefront of my Legions of Terror, nor will I seek out my opposite number among his army.
I will be neither chivalrous nor sporting. If I have an unstoppable superweapon, I will use it as early and as often as possible instead of keeping it in reserve.
Once my power is secure, I will destroy all those pesky time-travel devices.
When I capture the hero, I will make sure I also get his dog, monkey, ferret, or whatever sickeningly cute little animal capable of untying ropes and filching keys happens to follow him around.
I will maintain a healthy amount of skepticism when I capture the beautiful rebel and she claims she is attracted to my power and good looks and will gladly betray her companions if I just let her in on my plans.
I will only employ bounty hunters who work for money. Those who work for the pleasure of the hunt tend to do dumb things like even the odds to give the other guy a sporting chance.
I will make sure I have a clear understanding of who is responsible for what in my organization. For example, if my general screws up I will not draw my weapon, point it at him, say "And here is the price for failure," then suddenly turn and kill some random underling.
If an advisor says to me "My liege, he is but one man. What can one man possibly do?", I will reply "This." and kill the advisor.
If I learn that a callow youth has begun a quest to destroy me, I will slay him while he is still a callow youth instead of waiting for him to mature.
I will treat any beast which I control through magic or technology with respect and kindness. Thus if the control is ever broken, it will not immediately come after me for revenge.
If I learn the whereabouts of the one artifact which can destroy me, I will not send all my troops out to seize it. Instead I will send them out to seize something else and quietly put a Want-Ad in the local paper.
My main computers will have their own special operating system that will be completely incompatible with standard IBM and Macintosh powerbooks.
If one of my dungeon guards begins expressing concern over the conditions in the beautiful princess' cell, I will immediately transfer him to a less people-oriented position.
I will hire a team of board-certified architects and surveyors to examine my castle and inform me of any secret passages and abandoned tunnels that I might not know about.
If the beautiful princess that I capture says "I'll never marry you! Never, do you hear me, NEVER!!!", I will say "Oh well" and kill her.
I will not strike a bargain with a demonic being then attempt to double-cross it simply because I feel like being contrary.
The deformed mutants and odd-ball psychotics will have their place in my Legions of Terror. However before I send them out on important covert missions that require tact and subtlety, I will first see if there is anyone else equally qualified who would attract less attention.
My Legions of Terror will be trained in basic marksmanship. Any who cannot learn to hit a man-sized target at 10 meters will be used for target practice.
Before employing any captured artifacts or machinery, I will carefully read the owner's manual.
If it becomes necessary to escape, I will never stop to pose dramatically and toss off a one-liner.
I will never build a sentient computer smarter than I am.
My five-year-old child advisor will also be asked to decipher any code I am thinking of using. If he breaks the code in under 30 seconds, it will not be used. Note: this also applies to passwords.
If my advisors ask "Why are you risking everything on such a mad scheme?", I will not proceed until I have a response that satisfies them.
I will design fortress hallways with no alcoves or protruding structural supports which intruders could use for cover in a firefight.
Bulk trash will be disposed of in incinerators, not compactors. And they will be kept hot, with none of that nonsense about flames going through accessible tunnels at predictable intervals.
I will see a competent psychiatrist and get cured of all extremely unusual phobias and bizarre compulsive habits which could prove to be a disadvantage.
If I must have computer systems with publically available terminals, the maps they display of my complex will have a room clearly marked as the Main Control Room. That room will be the Execution Chamber. The actual main control room will be marked as Sewage Overflow Containment.
My security keypad will actually be a fingerprint scanner. Anyone who watches someone press a sequence of buttons or dusts the pad for fingerprints then subsequently tries to enter by repeating that sequence will trigger the alarm system.
No matter how many shorts we have in the system, my guards will be instructed to treat every surveillance camera malfunction as a full-scale emergency.
I will spare someone who saved my life sometime in the past. This is only reasonable as it encourages others to do so. However, the offer is good one time only. If they want me to spare them again, they'd better save my life again.
All midwives will be banned from the realm. All babies will be delivered at state-approved hospitals. Orphans will be placed in foster-homes, not abandoned in the woods to be raised by creatures of the wild.
When my guards split up to search for intruders, they will always travel in groups of at least two. They will be trained so that if one of them disappears mysteriously while on patrol, the other will immediately initiate an alert and call for backup, instead of quizzically peering around a corner.
If I decide to test a lieutenant's loyalty and see if he/she should be made a trusted lieutenant, I will have a crack squad of marksmen standing by in case the answer is no.
If all the heroes are standing together around a strange device and begin to taunt me, I will pull out a conventional weapon instead of using my unstoppable superweapon on them.
I will not agree to let the heroes go free if they win a rigged contest, even though my advisors assure me it is impossible for them to win.
When I create a multimedia presentation of my plan designed so that my five-year-old advisor can easily understand the details, I will not label the disk "Project Overlord" and leave it lying on top of my desk.
I will instruct my Legions of Terror to attack the hero en masse, instead of standing around waiting while members break off and attack one or two at a time.
If the hero runs up to my roof, I will not run up after him and struggle with him in an attempt to push him over the edge. I will also not engage him at the edge of a cliff. (In the middle of a rope-bridge over a river of molten lava is not even worth considering.)
If I have a fit of temporary insanity and decide to give the hero the chance to reject a job as my trusted lieutentant, I will retain enough sanity to wait until my current trusted lieutenant is out of earshot before making the offer.
I will not tell my Legions of Terror "And he must be taken alive!" The command will be "And try to take him alive if it is reasonably practical."
If my doomsday device happens to come with a reverse switch, as soon as it has been employed it will be melted down and made into limited-edition commemorative coins.
If my weakest troops fail to eliminate a hero, I will send out my best troops instead of wasting time with progressively stronger ones as he gets closer and closer to my fortress.
If I am fighting with the hero atop a moving platform, have disarmed him, and am about to finish him off and he glances behind me and drops flat, I too will drop flat instead of quizzically turning around to find out what he saw.
I will not shoot at any of my enemies if they are standing in front of the crucial support beam to a heavy, dangerous, unbalanced structure.
If I'm eating dinner with the hero, put poison in his goblet, then have to leave the table for any reason, I will order new drinks for both of us instead of trying to decide whether or not to switch with him.
I will not have captives of one sex guarded by members of the opposite sex.
I will not use any plan in which the final step is horribly complicated, e.g. "Align the 12 Stones of Power on the sacred altar then activate the medallion at the moment of total eclipse." Instead it will be more along the lines of "Push the button."
I will make sure that my doomsday device is up to code and properly grounded.
My vats of hazardous chemicals will be covered when not in use. Also, I will not construct walkways above them.
If a group of henchmen fail miserably at a task, I will not berate them for incompetence then send the same group out to try the task again.
After I captures the hero's superweapon, I will not immediately disband my legions and relax my guard because I believe whoever holds the weapon is unstoppable. After all, the hero held the weapon and I took it from him.
I will not design my Main Control Room so that every workstation is facing away from the door.
I will not ignore the messenger that stumbles in exhausted and obviously agitated until my personal grooming or current entertainment is finished. It might actually be important.
If I ever talk to the hero on the phone, I will not taunt him. Instead I will say this his dogged perseverance has given me new insight on the futility of my evil ways and that if he leaves me alone for a few months of quiet contemplation I will likely return to the path of righteousness. (Heroes are incredibly gullible in this regard.)
If I decide to hold a double execution of the hero and an underling who failed or betrayed me, I will see to it that the hero is scheduled to go first.
When arresting prisoners, my guards will not allow them to stop and grab a useless trinket of purely sentimental value.
My dungeon will have its own qualified medical staff complete with bodyguards. That way if a prisoner becomes sick and his cellmate tells the guard it's an emergency, the guard will fetch a trauma team instead of opening up the cell for a look.
My door mechanisms will be designed so that blasting the control panel on the outside seals the door and blasting the control panel on the inside opens the door, not vice versa.
My dungeon cells will not be furnished with objects that contain reflective surfaces or anything that can be unravelled.
If an attractive young couple enters my realm, I will carefully monitor their activities. If I find they are happy and affectionate, I will ignore them. However if circumstance have forced them together against their will and they spend all their time bickering and criticizing each other except during the intermittent occasions when they are saving each others' lives at which point there are hints of sexual tension, I will immediately order their execution.
Any data file of crucial importance will be padded to 1.45Mb in size.
Finally, to keep my subjects permanently locked in a mindless trance, I will provide each of them with free unlimited Internet access.

herding cats

2011-12-29T23:12:00.000-08:00

It's not unlike herding cats.

This brief video, taken from my i-Phone, illustrates how three grandsons can be completely uncooperative, while giving the appearance of participating in a brief group video.

The occasion was a birthday party (for me) and Emilie (youngest and childless but holding her nephew in the video - right) gave me an Arkansas Toothpick for my birthday because presumably I needed one. The Romans would have called it a gladius...

But I digress. Listen to the cooing and strange noises coming from composed adults, all in the effort to elicit a smile from a child.

Latin Rock

2011-12-26T19:18:00.000-08:00

One of the things that I asked for this Christmas was music to complete my collection of the work of Santana. Carlo Santana is an old favorite of mine. Fortunately for me, the Christmas elves delivered. (Thank you Amanda)

Your Mexican Get-Away

2011-12-18T07:55:00.000-08:00

This Mexican Police Training Video demonstrates graphically how they extract information from those that they arrest. The first portion is sort of strange, showing a guy who threw up on himself, but then it moves toward their operational procedures. Like it, don't like it. Watch it, don't watch it. It can be disturbing, however it's part of every-day police and military operations in Mexico. No scars, marks or bruising results from using a bottle of soda water and a dirty rag.

For those of us who work in Mexico, this is something that you see, and it's something that is done. It might be disturbing to those who are safe at home in a peaceful country that is not at war.

It's just another day in Tijuana.

Lost

2011-12-08T13:57:00.000-08:00

I've been viewing episodes of the popular television series, Lost, on Netflix. When it was on prime time, I didn't have the time or inclination to watch it and wait for the next in a sequence of episodes. As with many series programs, if you aren't tuning in from the beginning, there are things that simply don't make sense. It's much like beginning a 500 page novel in the beginning.

The first season begins with a plane crash that strands the surviving passengers of Oceanic Airlines flight 815 on what seems to be adeserted tropical island. Their survival is threatened throughout the season by a number of mysterious entities, including polar bears, an unseen creature that roams the jungle (the "Smoke Monster"), and the island's malevolent, and largely unseen, inhabitants known as "the Others". They encounter a French woman named Danielle Rousseau who was shipwrecked on the island 16 years prior to their crash. They also find a mysterious metal hatch buried in the ground. While two characters try to force their way into the hatch, four other survivors attempt to leave the island on a raft that they have constructed. Meanwhile, flashbacks centered on individual survivors detail their lives prior to the plane crash.

The second season follows the growing conflict between the survivors and the Others, and continues the theme of the clash between faith and science, while resolving old mysteries and posing new ones. A power struggle between Jack and John over control of the guns and medicine in the hatch develops, resolved in "The Long Con" by the machinations of Sawyer when he gains control of them. New characters are introduced, including the tail-section survivors (the "Tailies") and other island inhabitants. The hatch is revealed to be a research station built by the Dharma Initiative, a scientific research project that was conducting experiments on the island decades earlier. A man namedDesmond Hume has been living in the hatch for 3 years, pushing a button every 108 minutes to prevent a catastrophic event from occurring. As the truth about the mysterious Others begins to unfold, one of the crash survivors betrays the other castaways, and the cause of the plane crash is revealed. And that's where I am, with four more seasons of programming to view.

I became interested in the show because I hung out in the area where it was filmed on Oahu when I was there this past month.

For you Lost fans, these snapshots of landscape should look familiar.

And these snapshots from the set of Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (link)

It should be released in February 2012 and I don't know whether or not it will be a good film. I can tell you that I visited the mysterious temple and showed my Sampson-like strength.

The Mysterious Temple ruins on the Mysterious Island (below)

This was filmed in the same place where they filmed Godzilla, Lost, Jurassic Park and a number of other Hollywood classics.

California History

2011-11-30T16:12:00.000-08:00

In 1850

California became a state.

The people had no electricity, the state had no money. Almost everyone spoke Spanish. There were gunfights in the street. Chinese were considered second-class citizens and congregated into their own neighborhoods where everyone who didn't speak Spanish, spoke Chinese.

Nothing has changed except then the women had real breasts and the men didn't hold hands.

h/t WoFat

Just for the sake of cultural exchange

2011-11-17T08:09:00.000-08:00

WoFat suggested this blog offering. So I share it, for what it's worth.

Seriously, if you plan to go 'down under', this might be worth knowing...

Yes, and when an Aussie Shiela tells you, "I could go a fag", that does not mean that she is a lesbian and wants to find a 'new friend'. It means that she wants one of your cigarettes.

Ye Olde Halloween Pumpkin Patch Adventure

2011-10-31T18:04:00.000-07:00

I partnered up with my girls for a trip to the local pumpkin patch.

My granddaughter, Alyssa is clearly the ORIGINAL Snow White.

They're all mine.

Liam's first pumpkin

Everyone is a winner on the Midway

And then there's the Pony Ride.

I haven't blogged much because work has been very intense lately, but no so intense that I can't spend a little quality time at the Pumpkin Patch.

Halloween Prep

2011-10-25T17:16:00.000-07:00

My grandson, Liam, at 2 months (in a bunny suit, if you can't tell). I don't know how much trick-or-treating will be accomplished on Halloween with Liam. More of a photo op at this age.

Liam's Mother, Heather, is living with us while her husband is deployed to Afghanistan. Therefore Liam is a regular, where other grandchildren simply visit.

What does he do for a living?

2011-10-22T10:54:00.000-07:00

I wonder what my blog readers can draw from a face and perhaps from an 'attitude'? This man is known to at least one of you (so no spoilers).

He is:

Hated by many.
Admired by a few.

But WHAT do you think that he does for a living?

The Dome of Heaven

2011-10-20T19:26:00.000-07:00

When I heard the Learn’d Astronomer

Walt Whitman first published this in, Leaves of Grass.

WHEN I heard the learn’d astronomer;
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me;
When I was shown the charts and the diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them;
When I, sitting, heard the astronomer, where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room,
How soon, unaccountable, I became tired and sick;
Till rising and gliding out, I wander’d off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars.

I live in a city where the 'light pollution' blanks out much of the night sky. You can only see the brightest stars. However in the desert, or in the high mountains where the air is dry and clear, the Milky Way bursts brilliantly overhead. And sometimes it seems that you can reach out and touch heaven.

###

Hey - Dude!

2011-10-19T15:09:00.000-07:00

For those of you who know me personally, my idea of a great vacation (because most people don't share my interests in this department) is driving across the mountains or deserts in the most desolate place I can find. Because the best place on Earth to be is in the middle of nowhere.

It's why I turned a perfectly good Toyota FJ Cruiser into THE SCORPION (a very capable Toyota FJ).

A friend of mine from the East Coast (of the US) recently invited me to go to a dude ranch with him and some of his buddies. They're in the computer software business. While software engineers aren't all 'soft', the name "Rancho de los Caballeros" (Ranch of the horseback riders) struck me as odd, even for a dude ranch. I asked him where it was. He said, "Wickenburg, Arizona". I've been through Wickenburg before and it's a wide patch of desert, about half an hour outside of Phoenix, on State Route 93 (a major drug trafficking route).

I asked him what 'we' would be doing. He said that everyone was planning a 'spa day', a golf day (I golf poorly), a morning riding on (local nag) genuine cow ponies (elderly, saddle weary, sway backed, flea bitten horses) and a genuine old west cookout. http://youtu.be/R6dm9rN6oTs

He had offered to pay for everything, which was very generous when you consider that the room alone is over $500 a night (for a joint outside Phoenix, nowhere near NOWHERE).

He referred to himself and his buddies as "the Three Amigos". I could be the fourth amigo if only I joined them. But somehow, I don't think it would work out.

While I was flattered to be asked, I declined once I checked my schedule.

A Portable Island Vacation

2011-10-17T08:35:00.000-07:00

Are you thinking far enough out of the box when it comes to the concept of an island vacation? On what is coming to be known as a 'traditional island', you're stuck in one place. If the diving isn't up to your expectations, you can walk around to the other side of the island, but that ends it. There is also the matter of tourist trash and flotsam washed up on the shore. What do you do about these problems when you're on an island vacation? THIS may be your answer.

This is part of the company's promo:

The design as you can see is inspired by tropical islands, with huts, a pool and to top of that, a whole volcano that is sure not to erupt. Since this is a yacht, it comes packed with special VIP rooms, arcades, gym, lounges, spas and even a helipad. The volcano adds a lot of beauty to the whole look of the yacht, it also happens to have water flowing out of it onto the pool creating this amazing river complementing the whole tropical look.

The back of the yacht has a retractable beach deck where structures float on the sea making the sea accessible to swim in and of course allow access to various water activities such as wake boarding and jet-skis. The whole concept is pure genius and the result looks even better.

This may be the ultimate in 'plastic', canned vacations where you can lounge on your simulated island, be served an umbrella drink by a hostess clad in a skimpy outfit and eat frozen food from the ship's galley without ever having to risk the 'danger' inherent in a genuine land mass.

I don't know how the swimming pool on the bow would handle heavy seas. I suspect that you could be sloshed overboard and might end up swimming for a 'real island'. (oh, the horror)

The RIGHT (?) to student loans??

2011-10-13T21:33:00.000-07:00

Why would anyone feel as if they have a right to steal from me? Yes, socialists have that as the hallmark of their political philosophy and the younger generation are confident that they are entitled to -- everything (money for nothing, chicks for free [LINK to Dire Straits])

The Occupy Wall Street crowd typify what is wrong with America:

And my rant today focuses on people who make really dumb choices and feel as if the general public should band together and set things right financially for them.

The national policy to award student loans for people, who, based upon their educational decisions, can not possibly pay them back is WRONG. A friend of mine's brother was placed into this decision. The guy had been in a bad auto accident and it left him in a bad way. The lenders gave him a lot of money in student loans and the poor guy was one of those souls who had difficulty maintaining part time work. He was not destined to be a captain of industry or a rocket scientist. The accident took that potential from him. Yet still the loans flowed.

People don't have a RIGHT to money for nothing.

And they should be protected against themselves when we offer them massive debt for an education that is unlikely to help them repay it.

Football Scouts - Start Here

2011-10-13T09:15:00.000-07:00

I'll admit that C. Larry doesn't look like a first round draft pick at the moment, but by 2030, this kid will be in high demand.

And the girls will be swooning from here to Dallas - presuming that the Cowboys are smart enough to pick up his contract. I'll allow him to date the Cowboy's cheerleader of his choice.

One of the best things about being a grandfather is the opportunity to armchair quarterback your grandchildren's lives. Will the grandchildren do what you suggest? Doubtful. However, much like fantasy football, you're able to enjoy the game without having to get any 'skin' in it.

I don't think that being a grandfather is better than being a father. One is simply an extension of the other, except that I think you appreciate the fleeting moments more.

Is Jazz Dead?

2011-10-12T08:44:00.000-07:00

I think not!

There are still audiences for toe-tapping Dixieland Jazz.

Occupy Wall Street

2011-10-10T08:02:00.000-07:00

There is a group of people who have decided to 'occupy Wall Street'. They're unhappy that some people are making more money than they are, but that's about as far as it goes from a philosophical standpoint. Some are there protesting whaling, or advocating legalization of narcotics others pine for a return to the 1960's which they missed as an accident of birth timing.

I think that's about a far as it goes.

UPDATE: Commentator WoFat suggests that the woman in the front must be a government plant because she shaves under her arms. Neither WoFat nor I have ever seen a radical woman with shaved armpits. HOWEVER, if you look closely, somebody photoshopped the photo (not me) to white out the hairy pits and make the photo more appealing.

Reflection and Action

2011-10-08T02:14:00.000-07:00

Atonement and repentance are the theme of Yom Kippur (today). It's also a day when the Jewish people ask for forgiveness from people they may have slighted. The concept of approaching people sincerely and forthrightly and setting things right to the extent that you are able is the first step in atonement and repentance. One must do the same with God.

Life is short, and we don't own the next second of breath. All we really have is those moments that have passed. Humanity is fallibility. So taking a moment to reflect on the past, on the future, on our relationships, on those around us and on our status with them and with God, is important.

This blog has its bawdy side, it's political side, and its personal side. And perhaps today, a moment of reflection is appropriate - maybe every day? The message of Yom Kippur is not merely to acknowledge the need for atonement and repentance but the need to take action in that regard. The first is much easier than the second.

At least that was Kurt Cobain's take on it - before his suicide.

Rules of Polite Behavior

2011-10-06T13:14:00.000-07:00

(1) Don't tug on superman's cape.

(2) Don't spit in the wind.

(3) Don't pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger.

A post by Race Bannon on his blog, Race for Justice, a few days back, got me thinking about the late, great Jim Croce. He was one of my favorites. His wife, Astrid, opened Croce's, a restaurant in the Gas Lamp District in San Diego and I go there for supper occasionally when I'm in town.

"Don't go hustling people strange to you even if you do have a two-piece custom made pool cue." (Croce)

"An armed society is a polite society." -- me.

March of Time

2011-09-30T16:55:00.000-07:00

Is it true that men age more quickly than women?

In the photo above, the man is showing the ravages of years

while his wife is not.

Maybe women simply have more fun?

Brothers

2011-09-18T15:58:00.000-07:00

My brother died in an automobile accident when he was 27 years old. Losing him nearly killed me. Saying that long farewell to my brother, 18 months younger, hurt deeply. More than words can express.

People talk about the connection between brothers - that bond that binds them together, forged by blood and by mutually shared experiences. I see it in my two grandsons, growing up together.

Bare Naked Ladies in Newport Beach

2011-09-17T23:56:00.000-07:00

I hit "A Taste of Newport", which is sort of a street fair where restaurants from Newport Beach, California showcase some of their food.

The Bare Naked Ladies played as the headliner. As you can see from this photo, the crowd was not particularly 'young'. But they rocked as best they could.

With the economy being down the way it has been the police were vigilant. Nobody wants a replay of the Lido Island food riots. The police closed down the bridge and nobody could get in to clean the bottoms of the yachts and the domestics weren't able to change the sheets with fresh linen. It was a crisis. (yes, I'm kidding)

There was no excuse to leave the party hungry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPo9ISQpzvM

Summer is over. A Taste of Newport reminds us that soon the cold will sweep down from the north and even though people will still be able to wear t-shirts and shorts at midnight without discomfort, shorter days will make it difficult to keep your tan at the precise shade you desire.

Attacking "AttackWatch"

2011-09-17T11:31:00.000-07:00

There have been several different versions of this sort of thing that the Obama Administration has put forward in an attempt to have people denounce their friends and neighbors to the government. The latest is Attack Watch at barackobama.com, the official website of the President of the United States. If you feel that somebody is saying something unfavorable about the narcissistic fool who occupies the White House, you should let him know, and this is the currently in-vogue method of doing it. The red, white and black color scheme harkens back to the days of the Third Reich. Now THEY knew how to turn in their neighbors. (Americans can be so pedantic)

I know (from reading the attack watch website) that it's somehow wrong to say anything unfavorable about the President's policies. Here is a trivial list of things that the current regime in the White House would prefer that you not speak about.

(1) Unemployment is as high as in America as it was during the Great Depression, it's only going higher and flawed government policies are exacerbating the situation. Just because it's true, doesn't mean that you should say it.

(2) Criticizing the Democratic Party's so-called "Stimulus Bills" is frowned upon. Yes, it's true that we've spent roughly a trillion dollars on 'stimulus' and it didn't do much but put large fortunes in the pockets of the Democratic Party faithful, but saying it is somehow 'wrong'.

(3) Denying that "Green Energy" programs are effective and desirable will get you reported to the government through Attack Watch. Never mind that the ones that the government funded (cronies of the President) seem to have all gone bankrupt to the tune of billions of dollars - "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, I am Oz the great and powerful."

(4) Expressing outrage that the US Government facilitated shipments of many thousands of firearms to drug cartels in Mexico (Operation Gunrunner) and concern that it goes all the way to President Barack Hussein Obama himself might get you denounced to the President, personally.

(5) Voicing concerns about the President's illegal alien relatives is bound to get you listed on Attack Watch. Aunt Zeituni Onyango, the famous welfare cheat and Onyango "Uncle Omar" Obama, the drunk driver who hit the police car recently, who was ordered to leave the United States as an undesirable alien a decade ago and went underground. When the police arrested Uncle Omar, he called the White House. I think that he called for bail money, not to turn in the police officers who arrested him as being "fishy". However, I have no first hand knowledge.

(6) Merely supporting a rival candidate for president may be enough to get you reported. The criteria are very vague, but be assured that the people you're reporting will be added to the enemies list and you will get credit for the denouncement. I'm sure that you get money for reporting these enemies of the state. Maybe payment comes in a small brown envelope, in cash? Money like that (free from the President himself) is bound to stimulate the economy.

(7) If you watch Fox News, do you qualify to be denounced? I suggest that it likely the case, but since the list of people who denounce and the criteria for that denouncement is secret, I don't know. Just to be on the safe side, you're better off watching an organ of the state such as MSNBC.

(8) Since it's not Vice President Joe Biden's 'rat point', I don't know if you can list people there who voice concerns that poor old Joe (Slow Joe) might be senile. However, when in doubt, denounce!

Hitler has the last word on the subject.

(as usual)

Watch here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZPwDRZ6pTM

Changing with the Seasons

2011-09-13T15:31:00.001-07:00

No, my daughter Emilie didn't make the video, but she could have...

Bring Back "Old Sparky"?

2011-09-07T21:41:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know, Old Sparky is an electric chair used to execute criminals in the State of Florida. Since I am pro-death penalty, you can imagine that I agreed with Presidential candidate Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) and his approach to the solution Texas pursues.

Timely and Timeless

2011-09-01T13:45:00.000-07:00

A Few Timeless Sentiments from Thomas Paine

"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it." -

"To say that any people are not fit for freedom, is to make poverty their choice, and to say they had rather be loaded with taxes than not."

"When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon."

"When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary."

"A thing moderately good is not so good as it ought to be. Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice."

If you have friends who are 'progressives',

they won't understand any of this.

How did you spend your twenties?

2011-08-29T22:58:00.000-07:00

I don't know whether or not the next US Presidential election will be between Governor Rick Perry (R-TX) and President Barack Obama or not. If character counts, the Zig Zag Man won't be re-elected.

(h/t WoFat)

Life Goes On (report from the West Coast)

2011-08-27T09:45:00.000-07:00

The Eastern Seaboard (US) is preparing to be swept out to sea by Hurricane Irene and it's dominating the news. Christian media reports that it's God's wrath. Al Gore says that it's an inconvenient truth.

Meanwhile, on the West Coast, we're preparing for another perfect day to BBQ and maybe head down to the beach to surf or watch the surfers, whatever your preference. It's supposed to be over 100 (F) today, which means very little, because it's August.

So, while people on the East Coast crowd into markets to buy up all of the bottled water and canned food that they can find...

We're making do as best we can, throwing shrimp on the BBQ and just hanging out.

Missing Cat (?)

2011-08-23T14:51:00.000-07:00

Submitted from Southern California for your information. If your cat is missing, they found him somewhere on Sunset Blvd. (in Los Angeles)...

Environmentally Incorrect

2011-08-19T15:56:00.000-07:00

Submitted for your consideration:

Hail Baby

2011-08-14T14:59:00.000-07:00

There's a baby living in my house. You read it on previous blogging. The greatest sin in a home with a baby present is: Waking up the baby!

Babies wield tremendous influence, disproportionate to their size. I recalled a Married with Children episode where the actors all 'did their hail baby' and thought that it might serve as a blog about the condition of people with a new baby in the house.

TRANSCRIPT: Married With Children

0605 (110)

LOOKING FOR A DESK IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES

Regular Cast:

Al Bundy...................Ed O'Neill

Peg Bundy..................Katey Sagal

Marcy D'Arcy...............Amanda Bearse

Kelly Bundy................Christina Applegate

Bud Bundy..................David Faustino

ACT ONE SCENE ONE A "baby meeting" in the kitchen Closeup on Peggy

PEGGY Hear-he, hear-he. I am now officially opening the weekly Bundy baby meeting, which we all look forward to so much. [chuckles] We see that the other three Bundys are asleep with their heads on the kitchen table.

PEGGY [calling out] Dinner time! Al and Bud wake with a start.

PEGGY Just kidding. [laughs]

AL I love you, Peg.

PEGGY Aw.

AL Just kidding.

PEGGY That was your daddy. I know he doesn't sound like much, but ooh, he brings in the big bucks. [to others] Now we shall begin with the traditional salutation. Al and Bud get up.

AL & BUD [with a complete lack of enthusiasm] Hail baby. They sit back down.

BUD [sarcastically] I'm truly honored. Bud takes Kelly's notepad and gets up.

BUD Hail baby. [reading out loud] "I can no longer write down the insane bellowing of what used to be my mother". [becoming interested] "This baby is a curse to us all. Wait, I'm supposed to rise and give a 'hail baby'. There, I've done it. I feel cheaper than I've ever felt, and that's saying something". Peggy snatches the notebook from Bud's hands and hits Kelly in the head with it. Kelly wakes up.

PEGGY And now we will hear from the treasurer. Al clears his throat and gets up.

AL According to my research, it takes $780,000 to raise a baby from birth to college. Thankfully, since I sold a shoe last week, I am proud to anounce that we're now just short $780,000. Thank you very much. Al sits down, then gets up again.

AL Hail baby.

Swimming Pools (an evaluation)

2011-08-12T09:48:00.000-07:00

I've never been a huge fan of swimming pools mainly because they're expensive to build, expensive to maintain and because I always end up paying the bills and doing a lot of the work. Yes, I know that makes me sound cheap and lazy. These days, I have the work done. (making me sound even lazier)

However there is an up-side to swimming pools. It draws the kids and the grandchildren to the house to hang out and play. Like the cheese in a trap. Add some BBQ hamburgers and it's a near certain thing that they'll come by.

I installed a removable pool fence (in background) for the sake of safety. The two-year olds can be crazy when water is near. Alyssa, like most children, is drawn to water and mud. Fortunately the pool doesn't have muddy water in it.

In the final analysis, the pool is worth it all.

Stork - down gear, down flaps, cut power, deploy drogue chute!

2011-08-10T20:31:00.000-07:00

Baby Liam James Markee arrived in the usual way with love, fanfare and family. He weighs in at 7 lbs 10 oz, 20 in. and is very healthy.

Everybody took turns holding him (and hogging the baby), but that's ok. Babies can't get too much love. Emilie (above) seemed to bond to Liam right away as he found his thumb and sucked it.

Aunt Tania (notorious baby hog) made Liam cry... at least that's my story. And it provided an opportunity for me to get the baby back for myself for a few minutes.

It's very neat to be a grandpa (for the fourth time).

Stork in a Landing Pattern

2011-08-08T22:04:00.000-07:00

We're on a two-day count down to the stork bringing Liam James Markee into the world. My daughter, Heather, is living with me while her husband, James, is serving his country in Afghanistan. We are going to video stream the newborn to him as soon as Heather is out of recovery and back to her room in the hospital maternity ward.

Half Life II

2011-08-03T16:29:00.000-07:00

Half Life

The best thing about dreams is that fleeting moment, when you are between sleep and wakefulness when you can’t quite tell the difference between fantasy and reality. Just for one brief moment, you feel with your entire soul that the dream is real and that it really happened.

What if it really happened, but it wasn’t merely your dream? What if you dreamed someone else’s reality? And they dreamed yours? And what if you felt as if you couldn't live without them - and if they couldn't live without you?

And what if you were part of an invasion fleet headed for their world with orders to kill that person?

(Morgan asked for more plot and conflict)

The whole plot with story arcs is well laid out, I just don't want to put it on the Internet before I've completed the work.

Halflife

2011-07-29T09:07:00.000-07:00

‘Either you think,

or else others have to think for you and take power from you,

pervert and discipline your natural tastes,

civilize and sterilize you.’

--F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tender is the Night

I haven't done much with science fiction as a writer, preferring to focus on near-real novels set in the here and now. However, I've been toying with a sci-fi concept for some time and the more I think about it, the better that I like it.

73% of the stars in the Milky Way Galaxy are red dwarfs, emitting light in the red and infrared spectrum. The nearest 'Earthlike' planet found is Gliese 581d, orbiting Gliese 581, 20 light years from our solar system. Gliese 581 is a red dwarf. The novel isn't set there, but I've thought about that planet, orbiting its tiny star from a fraction of the distance we are from the Sun, basking in its weak heat and red light. What if it was a binary system with two red dwarf stars?

(Science Fiction is made up of a lot of 'what ifs')

The novel Half Life, set in the distant future explores how humans might change if they lived on a distant Earthlike planet where the red light from the star cast everything in gray tones. And how they might remain the same. Welcome to Libra. And what if they decided that they no longer wanted to be affiliated with their home planet? And what if...

We'll see whether or not I can write that sort of story.

The Roof of the World

2011-07-24T19:13:00.000-07:00

On the Roof

Engineer Pass 12,800 ft.

At the top of the mountain (behind), 13,400 ft.

The landscape in the very high country consists of "arctic tundra". This is one of the very few places in the USA where you see vast expanses of tundra. Even in the summer, temps are brisk.

Cinnamon Pass 12,640 Feet

(as you'll note from the mountains behind, it's the pass but not near the summit)

Ice Lake (formed from melting ice) - with ice still on it. I dared other to swim in it to demonstrate their manhood - and would have dared WoFat if he had been along for the ride. None of them took me up on the bet. (wimps)

At the End of the day, the Ouray, CO Fire Department took out a fire hose and washed the FJ Cruisers off. They all needed it.

###

The Rocky Mountains

2011-07-22T19:05:00.000-07:00

On the road in Colorado

Corkscrew Pass, so named for the steep, winding mining road that takes you up the "staircase" to the pass, still had a lot of snow at the end of July.

California Pass - 12930 feet.

Some of the other rigs.

This hill is called "Red Mountain".

At this point we're at somewhere around 12,000 ft per the map terrain lines.

Azra: You need to persuade the guys to take you along on runs like this!!

WoFat: It's fun!

The Good Earth

2011-07-21T16:31:00.000-07:00

On the Road in Colorado

I'm attending the fifth annual FJ Cruiser Summit in Ouray, CO. And I'm in bandwidth hell in terms of uploading. So you get what I am able to post.

Black Bear Pass was closed from

the Summit down into Telluride.

A sign suggesting that the road may be too

difficult to attempt is simply an invitation.

This is the Ophir Pass Summit. There were some

kids in our small group of FJ's on this particular run

and they immediately headed for it. It called them in

much the same way as a mud puddle would!

Colorado in an FJ Cruiser

2011-07-16T00:48:00.000-07:00

I'm looking forward to a week driving the trails between Ouray, Silverton and Telluride, Colorado next week. In years past Poughkeepsie Trail has claimed a couple of rigs:

You'll note that both of these incidents took place at night. In both cases, it had been raining and there's a rock wall on Poughkeepsie Trail that you need to winch over.

The driver put a lot of effort into customizing his Toyota FJ Cruiser. You can see him trying to assess the damage. He came off the mountain that night with somebody else.

That's what it looked like after we tipped it right-side up the next morning, early.

My rig, winching up the wall at Poughkeepsie Trail. You can make it without a winch line if the rocks are dry. However, they seldom are up there. The rigs that rolled (top of page) tried it at night, in the rain, without a winch.

I may make the night run on Poughkeepsie again this year. It depends on whether or not it's raining - and whether or not people call me a wimp if I don't do it. See how easily I cave to peer group pressure?

This year I'm leading three trail runs at the Toyota FJ Cruiser Summit event :
Thursday - Black Bear Pass to Ophir Pass
Friday - California Pass and Corkscrew Gulch
Saturday - The Alpine Loop (Engineer and Cinnamon Passes)

None of those runs are particularly difficult. I'm told that Black Bear Pass is closed from the Summit down the switch-backs, so we'll just run up over Ophir Pass (about 13,000 ft) and pause for the cause at the Black Bear Summit and check out Bridal Veil Falls.

The road to Yankee Boy Basin is not difficult, but it's cut out of living rock. I've been told that it's closed toward the top due to heavy snow. I've been there summers when the snow is still deep and others when you can get to the top (there's a snow lake up there) and can drive around the lake.

Escaping the Hen Party

2011-07-09T11:17:00.000-07:00

My daughter, Heather, will soon deliver a bouncing baby grandson for me to play with. However, before that happens, there is the inevitable baby shower going on today. I'm about to make myself scarce around the house as the women do their woman thing.

In fact, men are not usually wanted around during this sort of festivity. It's almost like an exorcism where the women shout GET OUT (of the house).

I've been thinking about Sammy Hagar...

Because when I leave, I won't be driving 55 in my German car, designed for the Autobahn. That's the problem with a car that feels like you're sitting in park until it's somewhere above 140 mph...

Should American Liberals Celebrate on July 4?

2011-07-02T10:30:00.000-07:00

Independence Day is one of the BIG days of the year at my house. We celebrate it in the same way (more or less) every year. Some years past had a block party with all of the neighbors pitching in. Some years have been more private until the march to the City Park to watch fireworks.

I don't think that everyone shares my enthusiasm for Fourth of July Celebrations. I have often wondered whether 'progressives' felt it was beneath them to wear a red-white-and-blue hat and shoot off fireworks. It seems that they'd rather eat apple-free pie, cook turkey hot dogs on a solar grill and substitute potato salad with raw arugula.

I read this posting on yahoo, and thought I'd share it in the spirit of the day, because I think that it answers my question.

To: politicaltalk@yahoogroups.com

Subject: [politicaltalk] Harvard: 4th of July Celebrations is For Right-Wingers

Harvard: July 4th Parades Are Right-Wing

By Paul Bedard

June 30, 2011

Democratic political candidates can skip this weekend's July 4th parades. A new Harvard University study finds that July 4th parades energize only Republicans, turn kids into Republicans, and help to boost the GOP turnout of adults on Election Day.

"Fourth of July celebrations in the United States shape the nation's political landscape by forming beliefs and increasing participation, primarily in favor of the Republican Party," said the report from Harvard.

"The political right has been more successful in appropriating American patriotism and its symbols during the 20th century. Survey evidence also confirms that Republicans consider themselves more patriotic than Democrats. According to this interpretation, there is a political congruence between the patriotism promoted on Fourth of July and the values associated with the Republican Party. Fourth of July celebrations in Republican dominated counties may thus be more politically biased events that socialize children into Republicans," write Harvard Kennedy School Assistant Professor David Yanagizawa-Drott and Bocconi University Assistant Professor Andreas Madestam.

They also suggest that Democrats gain nothing from July 4th parades, likely a shocking result for all the Democratic politicians who march in them.

"There is no evidence of an increased likelihood of identifying as a Democrat, indicating that Fourth of July shifts preferences to the right rather than increasing political polarization," the two wrote.

The three key findings of those attending July 4th celebrations:

When done before the age of 18, it increases the likelihood of a youth identifying as a Republican by at least 2 percent.
It raises the likelihood that parade watchers will vote for a Republican candidate by 4 percent.
It boosts the likelihood a reveler will vote by about 1 percent and increases the chances they'll make a political contribution by 3 percent.
What's more, the impact isn't fleeting. "Surprisingly, the estimates show that the impact on political preferences is permanent, with no evidence of the effects depreciating as individuals become older,"said the Harvard report.

Finally, the report suggests that if people are looking for a super-patriotic July 4th, though should head to Republican towns. "Republican adults celebrate Fourth of July more intensively in the first place."

Then again, do Americans know why they are getting Monday off work?

Grandfatherhood

2011-06-29T15:34:00.000-07:00

It's a very strange thing for a guy to be a grandfather. It's strange enough to be a dad. When your children begin to have children, the circle of life becomes more abundantly clear.

My daughter, Heather, will have her baby son, Liam, in about six weeks. My daughter, Amanda, took these photos of Heather (and Liam) earlier in the week.

Heather's husband is serving with US Forces in Afghanistan and she's living with me until he returns from the war. They'll allow him home on leave at Christmas time and he'll see his little son for the first time then.

It's not a sin!

2011-06-24T13:45:00.000-07:00

I like pistachio nuts. I just do.

I liked them before the recent commercials - which might mean that I'm a trend setter...

I'm nearly certain that I liked them before the television commercial producers who made these were born.

But I'm NO WHERE near as old as Louis Black.

###

WHO is The Old Whore?

2011-06-20T15:59:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is more shameless self-promotion of my work. Some of the preliminary reviews from editors and even a couple big-name reviewers are promising. For those of you who read my novels, thanks. For those of you who dodged the bullet -- well, there's still time for you to catch the wave.

I had not intended to write this book in this order, but a number of people were kind enough to ask/beg for another book in the Cartel Wars Series. Thus, the genesis of The Old Whore: A Novel of Cartel Wars.

It's true that there's not that much good fiction set in Mexico because the reality of the situation down there is bizarre enough to keep you reading non-fiction. The Old Whore should be available sometime in August. If you want to know who the old whore is, you need to buy the book - available at the best book stores, on amazon.com, Kindle, e-books and if it's not at your local lending library.

Publisher's Entry: Back of the Book

Here is the second volume in Larry B. Lambert’s magnificent cycle of novels that includes Bloody Mexico and The Old Whore. As a whole, this series comprises a genuine masterpiece of modern, all too real, dramatic fiction, espionage, intrigue, romance and adventure. The story transports us to modern Mexico, where the absence of a just and moral government has led to a vacuum where evil runs virtually unchecked. Already heralded as a classic, Larry B. Lambert’s stunning series provides a with an image of what may be, as Mexican society festers and an underground empire rules a land in self-destruct mode.

The cult of Holy Death threatens to unleash unthinkable horror, through their ‘Dead Saint’s’ thirst for blood. An American intelligence failure requires a cover-up. Argentine and Macedonian hit squads miss the mark. A murder in Paraguay sends a bereaved widow on a quest for justice and retired CIA case officer Gary Granger is called on to manage a deniable solution to the American President’s problem.

I continue to work in Mexico dealing with cartel-related issues, and depending on how you define success, I've been successful of late. While the novel is a complete work of fiction, I hope that as you turn the pages that you feel the vibe and some of the roller coaster ride that the Cartel Wars provides to those who dip their cracker into the soup.

No, I don't have anything to do with ATF. Operation Fast and Furious was ill conceived and reflects badly on the US Government and is an embarrassment to the American people.

###

Kids and Water

2011-06-18T14:41:00.000-07:00

My granddaughter Alyssa came to visit today as a prelude to Father's Day. We went and had lunch and then went to the park down the street from where I live. There is a water park incorporated into the recreation area that was donated by a fast-food business in town in an effort to give back to the community, so it was NOT constructed at public expense. Those of you who understand my preference for private money going toward these things will understand my feelings that this is an example of how it should work. (hat tip to Miguel Vasquez and family, owner of Miguel's Jr. Restaurant)

Spraying water tastes good even if it's infused with chlorine...

Trying to catch the water can take

the entire day when you're a kid.

Wet is better than dry.

And when you're done playing, Mommy (Kelly)

is there to cuttle you in a warm towel.

###

Why is my Hair White?

2011-06-15T16:55:00.000-07:00

Some might suggest that it's because I am the father of four daughters...because before them, it was black as a raven's wing. I don't know that it's in any way scientific, but it make sense to anyone who has raised female children.

ScienceDaily (June 14, 2011) — A new study by researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center has shown that, for the first time, Wnt signaling, already known to control many biological processes, between hair follicles and melanocyte stem cells can dictate hair pigmentation.

The research was led by Mayumi Ito, PhD, assistant professor in the Ronald O. Pereleman Department of Dermatology at NYU Langone. "We have known for decades that hair follicle stem cells and pigment-producing melanocycte cells collaborate to produce colored hair, but the underlying reasons were unknown," said Dr. Ito. "We discovered Wnt signaling is essential for coordinated actions of these two stem cell lineages and critical for hair pigmentation." The study suggests the manipulation of Wnt signaling may be a novel strategy for targeting pigmentation such as graying hair. The research study also illustrates a model for tissue regeneration.

"The human body has many types of stem cells that have the potential to regenerate other organs," said Dr. Ito. "The methods behind communication between stem cells of hair and color during hair replacement may give us important clues to regenerate complex organs containing many different types of cells."

Using genetic mouse models, researchers were able to examine how Wnt signaling pathways enabled both hair follicle stem cells and melanocyte stem cells to work together to generate hair growth and produce hair color. Research also showed the depletion (or inhibition or abnormal) Wnt signaling in hair follicle stem cells not only inhibits hair re-growth but also prevents melanocytes stem cell activation required for producing hair color. The lack of Wnt activation in melanocyte stem cells leads to depigmented or gray hair.

The study didn't suggest how I could naturally turn back the hands of time and grow black hair again... they seem to be caught up in the selfish pursuit of 'pure science'.

JP LRP-07

2011-06-12T17:03:00.000-07:00

This is an endorsement of JP Arms (LINK) in general and their Long Range Precision 07 rifle.

The LRP-07™ was designed as a .308 platform to cure the shortcomings of existing rifles and still handle like an AR-15. The felt recoil impulse on the LRP-07™ is also nothing short of amazing as it was designed from the magazine well up to use their Low Mass Operating System (LMOS™).

When you add a Schmidt and Bender Police Marksman II LP (5-25 x 56) rifle scope (LINK), you have a very effective combination.

It all comes down to the skill of the person pulling the trigger, but the rounds go where aimed.

In the United States, many civilians own and fire rifles and pistols regularly to improve their skill and their eye-hand coordination. This is proven by the point of impact on a target.

Úytaahkoo

2011-06-03T05:48:00.000-07:00

The Indians called it that (Úytaahkoo), but today we call it Mt. Shasta. I've been hanging here for the past week, being cool, working on the next book, visiting and so forth in Northern California, at the foot of the Cascades. The big volcano (Mt. Shasta) is actually four smaller volcanoes, but you see the big one as it juts out of rolling hills. Over the last 10,000 years, the volcano has erupted about every 800 years. The last eruption was about 200 years ago so I felt safe in that I have roughly 600 years to go before the next big bang.

A number of lakes circle Mt. Shasta (all seem to have fish in them. I visited Whiskeytown Lake yesterday. When people asked if I'd been to Whiskeytown, I thought that it might be a place where many of my friends would be right at home. Imagine my surprise to find a lake there. Apparently there was a gold mining town called Whiskeytown...but it's 200 feet underwater with a lake on top of it.

Sullivan Ballou's Letter to Sarah

2011-05-30T15:33:00.000-07:00

Sullivan Ballou was active in public service. Shortly after graduation from the National Law School in 1953, he was admitted to the bar. A year later he was elected to the Rhode Island House of Representatives, where he served as a clerk, and later as the speaker.

When the Civil War war broke out, Ballou immediately left what appeared to be a promising political career and volunteered for military service with the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry.

Sullivan Ballou married Sarah Hunt Shumway on October 15, 1855. They had two sons, Edgar and William. In his letter to his wife, Ballou attempted to crystallize the emotions he was feeling: worry, fear, guilt, sadness and, most importantly, the pull between his love for her and his sense of duty.

July the 14th, 1861

Washington D.C.

My very dear Sarah:

The indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days—perhaps tomorrow. Lest I should not be able to write you again, I feel impelled to write lines that may fall under your eye when I shall be no more.

Our movement may be one of a few days duration and full of pleasure—and it may be one of severe conflict and death to me. Not my will, but thine O God, be done. If it is necessary that I should fall on the battlefield for my country, I am ready. I have no misgivings about, or lack of confidence in, the cause in which I am engaged, and my courage does not halt or falter. I know how strongly American Civilization now leans upon the triumph of the Government, and how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood and suffering of the Revolution. And I am willing—perfectly willing—to lay down all my joys in this life, to help maintain this Government, and to pay that debt.

But, my dear wife, when I know that with my own joys I lay down nearly all of yours, and replace them in this life with cares and sorrows—when, after having eaten for long years the bitter fruit of orphanage myself, I must offer it as their only sustenance to my dear little children—is it weak or dishonorable, while the banner of my purpose floats calmly and proudly in the breeze, that my unbounded love for you, my darling wife and children, should struggle in fierce, though useless, contest with my love of country.

Sarah, my love for you is deathless, it seems to bind me to you with mighty cables that nothing but Omnipotence could break; and yet my love of Country comes over me like a strong wind and bears me irresistibly on with all these chains to the battlefield.

The memories of the blissful moments I have spent with you come creeping over me, and I feel most gratified to God and to you that I have enjoyed them so long. And hard it is for me to give them up and burn to ashes the hopes of future years, when God willing, we might still have lived and loved together and seen our sons grow up to honorable manhood around us. I have, I know, but few and small claims upon Divine Providence, but something whispers to me—perhaps it is the wafted prayer of my little Edgar—that I shall return to my loved ones unharmed. If I do not, my dear Sarah, never forget how much I love you, and when my last breath escapes me on the battlefield, it will whisper your name.

Forgive my many faults, and the many pains I have caused you. How thoughtless and foolish I have often been! How gladly would I wash out with my tears every little spot upon your happiness, and struggle with all the misfortune of this world, to shield you and my children from harm. But I cannot. I must watch you from the spirit land and hover near you, while you buffet the storms with your precious little freight, and wait with sad patience till we meet to part no more.

But, O Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you; in the brightest day and in the darkest night—amidst your happiest scenes and gloomiest hours—always, always; and if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek, it shall be my breath; or the cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by.

Sarah, do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait for me, for we shall meet again.

As for my little boys, they will grow as I have done, and never know a father's love and care. Little Willie is too young to remember me long, and my blue-eyed Edgar will keep my frolics with him among the dimmest memories of his childhood. Sarah, I have unlimited confidence in your maternal care and your development of their characters. Tell my two mothers his and hers I call God's blessing upon them. O Sarah, I wait for you there! Come to me, and lead thither my children.

Sullivan

The letter may never have been mailed; it was found in Ballou's trunk after he died.

Ballou and 93 of his men were mortally wounded at Bull Run. In an attempt to better direct his men, Ballou took a horse mounted position in front of his regiment, when a 6-pounder solid shot from Confederate artillery tore off his right leg and simultaneously killed his horse. The badly injured Major was then carried off the field and the remainder of his leg was amputated. Ballou died from his wound a week after that Union defeat and was buried in the yard of nearby Sudley Church.

His wife, Sarah, never remarried. She later moved to New Jersey to live out her life with a son, William. She died in 1917 and is buried next to her husband.

It is a fitting benediction to this day of remembrance, this Memorial Day 2011.

###

Remembrance

2011-05-28T06:14:00.000-07:00

There are things that I want to recall, and there are other things I'd rather not remember.

Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May (May 30 in 2011). Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates men and women who died while inmilitary service to the United States. First enacted to honor Union and Confederate soldiers following the American Civil War, it was extended after World War I to honor Americans who have died in all wars.

The only criteria for war I have been able to establish that could serve as justification, is a situation so dire that I would send my beloved children - knowing that they would surely die. That's not what nations do, though. And most politicians rarely send their children in harm's way, which should leave you very suspicious as to the validity of 'the war' that we simply have to fight.

However suspicious we need to remain of political imperatives, we also need to remember those who have placed so much of themselves on the altar of freedom.

After the Crash!

2011-05-26T10:40:00.000-07:00

When the Apocalypse hits -- as has been predicted by others as set forth in posts immediately prior to this one, I've been wondering what will be left? Who will survive?

(No, I'm not blogging about the Highlander film and television franchise.)

Now I think we have an answer:

Only Toyota FJ Cruiser owners driving silver or gray rigs will survive to rule (what's left of) the planet.

I know that some of you who are more devout religious scholars will say that the righteous will be caught up into heaven, leaving the wicked behind.... hmm.

More Rapture News

2011-05-22T16:19:00.000-07:00

You get it all here on My Journey and while I frankly don't have a horse in this race, Harold Camping has not explained himself yet (link).

Reverend Harold Camping of Camping's Family Radio International Ministry

Yes, Rev. Camping's pasty face might be a bit red around the gills for his missed prediction, but how would you like to be Robert Fitzpatrick, a New York resident who put his money where his faith is. According to ABC News, The 60-year-old retiree spent $140,000 -- almost everything he had -- on hundreds of billboards proclaiming the Armagedon that Camping predicted.

Apparently Camping put a lot of billboard and radio ads out proclaiming that Jesus Christ would return yesterday and wipe out all of the sinners, while holding his own to his bosom.

(ABC News) Camping's wife described him as being "somewhat bewildered" and "mystified" that events did not unfold on May 21 as Camping had predicted, Evans said Evans said his personal position is that the public is owed an apology and he wants the board -- and Camping -- to meet on Tuesday to figure out what to say and do next.

Camping, 89, had pinpointed May 21, at 5:59 p.m. as the exact time the Rapture would occur, when those chosen by God would ascend to heaven while cataclysmic earthquakes would begin to rock earth. He spread the word on billboards, posters, fliers and digital bus displays across the country.

I'm always bothered when people of faith delight in the concept of PUNISHMENT for others. They live for the end of the world when everyone (it seems) but they and their closest associates are burned, squashed in earthquakes, torn limb-from-limb in tornadoes, or drowned in tsunamis. They find joy and rejoicing in the I-told-you-so superiority of the bigoted righteous.

A lot of people make a lot of money on fear-based faith. My reading of the Bible and other religious teachings indicates that "LOVE" was the doctrine of God. I must be missing something.

Ruptured Rapture

2011-05-21T21:57:00.000-07:00

>> WARNING: IRREVERENT <<

It didn't happen today.

The initial prediction was for Jesus Christ to return at 3:00 pm in the Eastern (US) Time Zone. As that time came and went and people weren't being whisked into heaven in the so-called 'Rapture' predicted by Harold Camping and his Family Radio ministry moved the time back to midnight.. but apparently even that optimistic prediction didn't make the grade either.

Don't worry about Harold Camping. I'm sure he'll be back in business tomorrow (Sunday) with a new date in mind.

I didn't find one of these (above) notices on my door, so there is a possibility that I'm not on the naughty list -- though why I'd fail to make the bad list eludes me...

Movie Review: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES

2011-05-21T06:26:00.000-07:00

I planned to be out of town on business but things change and I found myself wanting for entertainment and decided to battle the crowds to view the new Hollywood blockbuster. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is a 2011 American adventure fantasy film and the fourth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean series. In the film, Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is joined by Angelica (Spanish Actress Penélope Cruz) in his search for the Fountain of Youth, confronting the infamous, real-life, legendary pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane). There are traditional and 3D formats. Being traditional by nature, I chose not to watch the film in 3D.

When vacationing in Hawaii, I saw the ship Queen Anne's Revenge at anchor in Oahu (Koolina) when they were filming the movie last year and even though it looked very little like the Black Pearl, it was obviously a Disney ship. I thought that Blackbeard the pirate sailed on the Witch of Endor, but perhaps Disney wanted to make the legendary murderer seem just a bit less Satanic.

The infamous Captain Jack Sparrow encounters historical figures, mermaids and a more or less mundane (for those who have seen the first three installments of Pirates of the Caribbean) march toward the Fountain of Youth. The plot of On Stranger Tides seemed to be a bit strained, as if the writers were trying to push the formula without allowing the story to flow. Maybe there were simply too many characters?

Yes, I'm a sucker for a pretty face and I thought that the mermaid, Syrena (25 year old Spanish actress Astrid Berges-Frisbey) stole the movie for hotness. Tamara, the mermaid queen (24 year old Australian actress and model Gemma Ward) was a close second. Penelope Cruz played Penelope Cruz and I thought that her acting was very two-dimensional. That may have been the script's fault more than Cruz's.

If you like these movies, based on the Disneyland ride -- and I do, you won't want to miss this one. Movie Insider estimated the budget for this feature film at $200,000,000. It looked expensive to make and nothing seemed to be spared on sets or talent but even at that, it only rates a solid 6 out of 10 to me.

The Endeavour

2011-05-18T09:54:00.000-07:00

The Space Shuttle Endeavour on its final Mission brings a sense of sadness, and of inevitability because I don't like ends nearly as well as beginnings. As a bit of a science nerd, I enjoyed the shuttle missions and seeing the horizons of mankind expand. It doesn't seem that we're going to be invested in space in the coming years as completely as we were in those preceding.

On Thursday, the two orbiting crews will attach the $2 billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the space station. The instrument will seek out invisible dark matter as well as antimatter; whether any of this is found or not, the results will help explain what the universe is made of and how it formed.

It is the 12th and final visit by Endeavour to the space station. After this mission, Endeavour will be de-commissioned and sent to the California Science Center.

Endeavour docked at the Space Station

Diabetic? Blame Mom!

2011-05-16T09:46:00.000-07:00

Being a diabetic sucks. It just does. And as a result of my condition, I watch the current news that portends cures with great interest. Of course, I hope that they come before I go impotent, blind and my limbs are cut off one-by-one (common results of diabetes).

A team of researchers, led by King's College London and the University of Oxford, have found that a gene linked to type 2 diabetes and cholesterol levels is in fact a 'master regulator' gene, which controls the behaviour of other genes found within fat in the body. (LINK HERE)

As fat plays a key role in susceptibility to metabolic diseases such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes, this study highlights the regulatory gene as a possible target for future treatments to fight these diseases.

The researchers examined over 20,000 genes in subcutaneous fat biopsies from 800 UK female twin volunteers. They found an association between the KLF14 gene and the expression levels of multiple distant genes found in fat tissue, which means it acts as a master switch to control these genes. This was then confirmed in a further independent sample of 600 subcutaneous fat biopsies from Icelandic subjects.

These other genes found to be controlled by KLF14 are in fact linked to a range of metabolic traits, including body-mass index (obesity), cholesterol, insulin and glucose levels, highlighting the interconnectedness of metabolic traits.

The KLF14 gene is special in that its activity is inherited from the mother. Each person inherits a set of all genes from both parents. But in this case, the copy of KLF14 from the father is switched off, meaning that the copy from the mother is the active gene -- a process called imprinting. Moreover, the ability of KLF14 to control other genes was entirely dependent on the copy of KLF14 inherited from the mother -- the copy inherited from the father had no effect.

(thanks Mom)

Sunday Morning Commentary

2011-05-15T07:19:00.000-07:00

h/t WoFat

National Healthcare options - for travelers.

Movie Review: PRIEST

2011-05-14T19:53:00.000-07:00

In a future where the war between humans and vampires has devastated the world, the Church created a secret society of Priests to fight the creatures. Once they were seemingly destroyed and the remains of the human race were reunited in a city contained within a dome in the desert, the Priests were left on their own.

Priest is a 2011 American supernatural action film starring Paul Bettany as the title character. The film, directed by Scott Stewart, is based on the Korean comic of the same name. In analternate world, humanity and vampires have warred for centuries.

After the last Vampire War, the veteran Warrior Priest (Bettany) lives in obscurity with other humans inside one of the Church's walled cities. When the Priest's niece (Lily Collins) is kidnapped by vampires, the Priest breaks his vows to hunt them down. He is accompanied by the niece's boyfriend (Cam Gigandet), who is a wasteland sheriff. Priest goes against the wishes of Monsignor Orelas, the leader of the Church, and sets to rescue Lucy alongside Hicks. Orelas then sends a group of four Priests led by Priestess to capture him and bring him back, dead or alive.

If you thought that Waterworld was a great movie, you may like Priest. However, I didn't think that Waterworld was worth the price of admission and sadly, neither is Priest. Out of a possible 10, I give it a generous 2. Pluto Nash was a worse sci-fi movie, but you have to go a long way to find a movie as bad as Priest.

The plot was predictable and the screenplay didn't give the actors (who I like) much to work with. They tried to save it with special effects, but it simply didn't work.

El Vitral Restaurant - San Diego (a review)

2011-05-13T22:39:00.000-07:00

I'm not one to review fine dining but I'm going to make an exception. El Vitral wins 10 out of a possible 10 points for a great place to eat. The restaurant is located at 815 J Street, San Diego, California -- it backs up to Petco Park where the San Diego Padres baseball team plays. Reservations are required when the Padres are playing and they're advisable anytime.

Everything about this place is outstanding but the food is simply to die for. It oozes quality. For a full meal, plan for $20-$30 per person, but you definitely won't regret it.

Emergency Clown Nose

2011-05-11T09:13:00.000-07:00

Is the conversation getting just a little heavy? Does somebody need a lift for their life at the moment? There is only one solution:

The Emergency Clown Nose

(LINK)

I am now carrying one in my car at all times. AND yes it's a threat -- if you won't smile, I will break out the Emergency Clown Nose.

It's not a joke. It's serious medicine!

Growing up Male

2011-05-08T04:40:00.000-07:00

It's Mother's Day and I'm blogging from the nation's capital where I am for work for the next couple of days. I could always post a traditional, somewhat sentimental Mother's Day blog, but what fun would there be in that.

Our 'progressive' society has fostered the disintegration of the nuclear family and all too often, it has fallen to mothers to raise boys. I'm not blaming women (or men) for this situation, but when men are raised by feminist mothers, they grow up learning the value of sensitivity, gentleness, thoughtfulness and the inappropriateness of aggression. In order to remain 'nice boys', they have forsaken those aggressive aspects of themselves in order to retain the primary source of love and admiration: the mother. The result is an unhappy, if polite, man with no fierceness who doesn't know what he wants.

Barbara Rogoff (2003) researched cross-cultural themes of human development. Her work found that in societies where boys have low contact with male role models, such as when children are raised with the women and men living in separate dwelling and there are none of the 'rites of male passage' that are common in father-son interaction that there are two likely results: (1) Young men are likely to gang together and create initiation experiences of their own through gang activity. (2) Males identify with female qualities and activities. "Interestingl, absence of fathers and initiation, high gang activity and high risk behavior and an increase in feminine or 'soft' males are all widely observed in modern American culture.

William Pollack wrote, "Indeed, we live in a time of fallen heroes. The monuments built of men, by men and for men are tumbling...even men's virtues are now suspect as vices: Power has turned out to be oppression, strength [to be] rigidity, and self-sufficiency [to be] an inability to be emotionally close...It is a difficult time to be proud of being a man. In fact it is a confusing time in which to understand what being a man really is (Wm. Pollack - study, 1995, pp. 62-63)

This persisting cultural disorientation is accompanied by distressing demographic trends. Research shows that boys are performing less well in school than they have in the past and depression and suicide among boys is rising rapidly (Pollack 2006). Boys account for 80%-90% of the ADHD diagnosis in the country (APA 2000). Though it's not politically correct to bring gender into the mix these days, it seems to me that a great deal of what is considered to be ADHD might have to do with boys needing to be men and having it repressed at home and at school.

Progressive and liberal culture has taught modern men that fierceness is wrong, as is winning (we're ALL winners) and that the traditional male role as protector/killer/hunter/provider is (and from the liberal mindset always was) wrong. However I argue that self-actualization for men can only come when they are allowed to be men - allowed to be protector and provider. When you remove that part of the equation, you end up with a dysfunctional society -- like the one we are proudly building.

The Ortega Highway

2011-05-05T12:59:00.000-07:00

My daughter, Emilie and I decided that owning a new car that cornered as if it was on rails and ran like a bat out of hell would be wasted if we didn't make a drive down the Ortega Highway (California) from Elisnore to San Juan Capistrano. It's a winding road where people in fast cars and hot motorcycles test their nerve and the capability of their rides. Adding additional insurance, I put my credentials in the glove compartment next to the car insurance certificate...

The first stop on the journey was The Lookout. It's had several names over the years and I've made this scenic drive more than once. It's perched on the summit overlooking Lake Elsinore.

The M package provides for manual shifting with paddles on the steering wheel and you can really get into the drive.

Emilie at the Lookout with Lake Elsinore below and behind her.

The original plan called for lunch at the train station at Mission San Juan Capistrano - But Emilie saw french toast on the menu and even though it seemed to be a bit late for breakfast, they filled her order.

I decided on a hot dog and a Diet Coke in a frosty mug.

Smile for the camera, Emilie!

The Ortega Highway (State Route 74) takes you from the beach and palms, over the coastal range and pines and drops you down at Lake Elsinore between the cities of Corona and Temecula. Along the way we met international visitors from Sweden, Great Britain and states outside of the People's Socialist Republik of Kalifornia...

Half the fun is getting there...

2011-05-04T07:00:00.000-07:00

The medium gray 2011 BMW 535i with the "M" (sport and premium upgrade packages) does not say p#~~y magnet and it doesn't scream midlife crisis. It's not a red Porsche 911 bi-turbo.

Okay, the engine is turbo charged and it runs down the road like a banshee. If it had wings, it would fly like a homesick angel. But it's a luxury car that drives like a sports car. It's a BMW.

And the best part of the whole thing is that it's sitting on my driveway on run-flat 19" high performance tires, ready to go....wherever, because AT LEAST half the fun is getting there - maybe more than half the fun.

Movies for your Mind (part 3)

2011-05-02T22:07:00.000-07:00

I participated in a writing forum a couple of years ago and moderated the creative writing project. This is an example of one submission that I made to monthly contest. The object is to tell a story that engages within a narrow length guideline. In this case, the story had to take place within three paragraphs. You may like it - or not. It's not autobiographical.

The Truck

Oh, Christ, I feel ten years older today than I did yesterday. Was it the three-hour basketball marathon, drinking at the pub until I closed it down or the sex that lasted until the dawn’s morning light blasted like thunder through the windowpane? He stepped out of the row house that bordered the river and was happy to see that the pick-up truck was still there. There were a few dents and scrapes in the sheet metal hide, but the damned thing ran like a clock. The truck’s like me, he thought to himself. Well, except for today.

He’s confident, I’ll give him that, and he’s great in bed. She propped her head with one arm and watched him pull the razor over his face, shearing off the overnight stubble. Wide shoulders, narrow waist and the towel is dipping just so. It’s a pity I’m leaving him today. I’ll miss him. Ok, part of me will. He reminds me of that old truck he drives. Yeah it runs well, but it’s lost its appeal. It’s the same old truck. And it’s time for something new.

She loves me, but she has trouble with the rut I live in. I can’t stand those pretentious wine snobs and pseudo intellectuals she hangs with. I’ll buy the diamond today and she’ll think better of me. Commitment will bring her closer and things will all work out. Maybe if she comes out, plays basketball with me and gets sweaty on the boards instead of in the sack, she’ll like being with me again. At least she likes my truck.

Movies for your Mind (part 2)

2011-05-01T20:38:00.000-07:00

I participated in a writing forum a couple of years ago and moderated the creative writing project. This is an example of one submission that I made to monthly contest. The object is to tell a story that engages within a narrow length guideline. You may like it - or not. It's not autobiographical.

Loose Ends

(Laos Circa 1975)

The Communists were closing in. People were packing up, hoping for a government evacuation before the end came. Those who couldn’t get a flight out of Watay Airport packed their things and were crossing the Mekong River into Thailand. The scene was chaotic. The Royal Laotian Army was gone. All that were left were kids, armed with government rifles, riding Coca Cola trucks out to the front, now closer than ten miles away, to get killed.

I found Ming sitting in the bar at the Settha Palace Hotel. The staff hovered around him like attentive bees around their queen, knowing the hive would be smashed very soon. He was dipping a rice ball into papaya pok pok, a Thai sauce made up of a variety of ground up chili and papaya. Moving the rice ball expertly to his mouth with chopsticks, he chewed like a man eating a spam sandwich. There was no joy in the meal. A waiter delivered raw minced toad and spring onions as I gestured a greeting to the morose Mr. Ming, and sat across the table from him.

“I need a new girlfriend to take my mind off my wife.” Ming lamented.

I was in a hurry that night but Ming was in the depths of financial despair. Even though he was worth a few million US dollars.

A waitress arrived over my left shoulder to take my order but Ming beat me to it. “A Jamison’s whiskey for my friend and a double for me.”

The silence hung heavy in the humid monsoon air, no breeze, only a languid fan overhead, rotating slowly to dissipate the heat.

Water beaded on the barrel of my Karl Gustav submachine gun, laid across my thighs. I looked down at the oiled metal, hypnotized by the slow accumulation of moisture. Ming finally spoke and it made me look up.

“Living with a woman from Chouzhou is like living with a dragon that requires tributes of gold to keep her satiated.” Ming nipped at his drink, finishing it. Glancing furtively for the next one, the drink he ordered. “Love and suicide are just different sides of the same gold coin, which makes me think of an old school Japanese woman. They’re the most twisted creatures on the planet but one of those ladies would take my mind off my problems.” He popped a few fried grasshoppers into his mouth from a bowl that sat on the table between us.

“Until Mrs. Ming found out.” I offered.

“She’d slice my fragrant stem from my body while I slept. She’s a Chouzhou woman and she has a reputation to maintain.”

“I’m in a bind at the moment and I hate to impose.” Ming looked at me with pathetic blood shot eyes that gained some sense of purpose.

I smiled. “It would be no imposition to help. If I can.”

The Pathet Lao and their Vietnamese keepers pose no problem for me here in this place, but you need to leave and take your girlfriend with you tonight. She’s been spying on you. She’s my wife’s sister’s daughter. The problem is that she loves you and wants to get out of the trade and be your wife and bear your children.

It took a moment for me to connect the dots. “That’s complicated.”

“And in a sense it isn’t. The world is a small place and karma holds sway upon the whole of it.” Ming said sanguinely.

“So I have my hand upon an elephant’s tail and think I am holding a snake.” I said, reciting a proverb.

“Precisely.” Ming said, happy that I, though an American, could grasp the situation so completely.

Reading my mind, Ming said, “A masterpiece is rarely recognized in the day it is painted.”

She gave me a gold cormorant earlier in the week, fishing bird with a ring around its neck. I wore it from a thick, gold rope around my neck. I touched the gold cormorant; “And this? What does it mean?”

“It is a statement on the condition of a man who is not free. Understanding your karma is a gift. And once understood, you can live harmoniously with it. Choice is an illusion in the ultimate sense. Nothing in the universe stands outside karma’s domain. Even the concept of the independent, autonomous "I" we so dearly cherish is nothing but the product of karmic forces.”

I translated it to US Military English. “So you’re saying that my head is so far up my ass that I need a glass belly button to see out.”

Ming thought about that for a moment and then winked a ‘yes’.

I ate a few dried grasshoppers without the use of chopsticks.

“There are two types of karma. The first is the karma of effect. This addresses the age-old question of why our life is this way and not some other; it shows us that every aspect of our lives is the result of actions we have performed in past lives. It’s,” Ming struggled for the English word, “comprehensive. Think of your body, your parents and all other elements of your history, your relatives, your life situation and general state of mind. All of these come about because of specific actions that you have carried out in the past. They represent what is given in our lives and, as the fruition of past actions, stand beyond our ability to make them more or less than what they are.

“The second type is the karma of cause. This addresses the question of you or even whether you influence the future. It says that every action in the present is going to produce results of some kind further down the road.

“Everything you do affects the future in ever-widening ripples of cause and effect. If you are virtuous, then the karmic results will be positive, whereas if you are not virtuous, the results will be negative. Positive results include fortunate life circumstances, experiences and opportunities, while negative results include various forms of suffering, including poverty, sickness, oppressed circumstances, calamities and so forth.”

“You said our astrology was not compatible.” I grasped at elusive threads to justify what she had done to me and to understand why she wanted to stay with me.

Months earlier, Ming said that the woman I knew as Mai, born in the year of the Iron Dragon, and I, who was born in the year of the Earth Tiger, were both dynamic in astrological terms. He advised caution in such a relationship. But things had gone too far between us by that time. I didn’t like what I heard him say, which meant that I intended to disregard his warning. I asked if there wasn’t some sort of Buddhist magic available to modify my karma where Mai was concerned.

Ming said, “You may be quite attracted to one another. Both signs possess magnetic personalities but attraction will give way to irritation. The Dragon likes to be in charge of everything and the Tiger insists on autonomy. It’s like pouring kerosene from two cans into a jar and adding a match. The result is inevitable, its resulting karma unappealing.”

I ignored Ming back then.

“Just like a Tiger,” Ming told me.

However things were different then. Vientiane wasn’t in artillery range of the big NVA guns back then. I was in love, Ming urged caution but I wasn’t fighting Communists in Laos because I was a cautious man.

A waitress refreshed my drink and I was brought back to the present suddenly.

“I have decided to move to Bhutan.” Ming said abruptly.

“I thought you planned to stay on. The trade is profitable, you’re juiced in.”

“The King of Bhutan is my personal friend. In that country I will be treated like a living divinity and will want for nothing. When I go on a drunk, they will sit with ten scribes to take down every slurred word as if it were golden. When I get sick, they will send in doctors who don't need an x-ray to see inside, and give me medicines that won’t make me sick. If my rivals or my wife’s relatives come to visit the entire Bhutanese Secret Service Special Unit will swing into action: 12 black magicians and 1 skilled marksman who would rather throw their own children down deep wells than permit my tranquility to be disturbed will deal with the source of my discontent.”

“Did your wife’s family come to visit again?” Creed asked.

Ming frowned and said, “Yes and her shiftless Teochau aunts as well. They eat as much as four water buffalo. The only thing they do all day is eat, dung, and complain about me. They are having a private party now to welcome in the new regime.”

I brimmed with sanguinity. “You should stay in Vientiane and throw your wife’s family out into the river in weighted sacks.”

Ming drifted back to Bhutan, ignoring his fervent desire to follow my advice. “If I decide to embrace woodworking in Bhutan, a Royal Woodworking Shop will be established, and thereafter, as I walk through the town, dozens of men and women will shyly let it be known that they like woodworking too. If I later say, ‘fuck woodworking,’ there will be bonfires wherein tools are destroyed.”

I thought it was a joke. “Really?”

Ming was serious. “In a previous incarnation, I am credited with single-handedly saving Bhutan as a nation. That act cursed me for centuries, and is why Tibetan Buddhists understand my strange ways and curious lifestyle. Of course, relocation to Bhutan does have a downside. If there is a big storm, I will be expected to subdue it, or if one is required, I will be expected to produce it and I can’t do that in this incarnation.”

I drank my Jamison’s in one gulp. “Time for me to go. Mai’s fate is to remain in Laos.”

“You knew?” Ming wasn’t surprised. It was a statement as much as a question.

“The cormorant. It was a dead give-away.”

“If you understood that, you’ve been in Asia too long.”

I kicked the chair back and stood. As I did, I brought the muzzle of the Karl Gustav low and left and squeezed the trigger. Nine-millimeter slugs tore Ming from low and left to high and right, across his chest.

The Communists were coming and there were loose ends that needed to be cleaned up.

Movies for your Mind (part 1)

2011-04-30T22:43:00.000-07:00

Requiem

Viet Nam circa 1966

Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon them.

The pictures of his father that escaped his mother’s scissors showed a robust, smiling man who resembled him and portended what he would look like in middle age. His mother buried her anxiety in booze, pills and food.

Dues to Indian Guides had been paid by the American Legion Chapter, school lunch provided under the aegis of a government program for same, the Future Farmers of America rejected him because he expressed a disdain for agriculture and horticulture.

He managed average grades in high school, played baseball in the summer, football in the winter and wrestled on the team because anything that kept him from going home after school imparted sanity and clarity to the world he lived in.

Two girls almost became girlfriends. Both agreed to go to the movies with him. Both pretended to kiss him, both cruised with him up and down Main Street in the Buick he inherited when his grandfather died.

Without many prospects except the certainty of filling the military’s levy, he joined the United States Marine Corps soon after he walked to the podium and accepted his high school diploma.

We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the Name of the Lord.

He pitched hand grenades made of green fiberglass and fired his rifle at targets without a single wave of Maggie’s drawers. He marched and countermarched and when he’d marched enough and done enough push-ups, they allowed him to blouse his boots.

Wooden bleachers, painted green, in much the same way as nearly everything in his world had been painted green, provided a platform for instruction. Everything from hygienically wiping his ass after he shat to the proper method of lacing boots and how to slap a plastic bandage to a sucking chest wound rounded his training.

A brass band cheered him onto the airplane with the other replacements.

In the midst of life we are in death: of whom may we seek for succor, but of thee, O Lord, who for our sins art justly displeased? Yet, O Lord God most holy, O Lord most mighty, O holy and most merciful Savior, deliver us not into the bitter pains of eternal death.

Friends came and they went. Harlan Martin took a round through the nose from an unseen VC. Rock Ape stepped on a bouncing betty that popped up to dick height before releasing the ball bearings that turned him into a human sieve. The Jew contracted dysentery and a cobra bit him while he was taking dump. Slick Willy just died. Nobody ever figured out why. He wedged the dog tags between Slick Willy’s upper and lower teeth and tapped the bottom of his jaw hard with an entrenching tool to wedge it tight before they threw his body on the helicopter and flew it back to graves registration. Dow stepped into pungee sticks and had been medivac’d. Dow died in clean sheets back in the hospital.

Friends were not a great idea.

Man that is born of a woman hath but a short time to live, and is full of misery. He cometh up, and is cut down, like a flower; he fleeth as it were a shadow, and never continueth in one stay.

The Southern Cross shown down on him in the darkness on clear nights. Rain corroded ammunition and caused the straps from the pack to chafe deeper. Gnats bit, leaches slithered and sucked. The VC dropped mortar rounds, set traps and fired their Russian made rifles. Everything wanted his blood and after a while he didn’t care nearly as much as he did at first.

A second stripe provided the excuse to find a woman. It wouldn’t due for a corporal to die a virgin. A bottle of Ba Mui Ba, five dollars and sloppy seconds in the skivvie house ended up with a trip to the corpsman and treatment for the clap.

Boned by the second stripe: the Green Machine assigned him to recon north of Phu Bai, newly issued seven-eighty-two gear and an ambitious mustanger planning his career around zero-dark-thirty operations.

Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts; shut not thy merciful ears to our prayer; but spare us, Lord most holy, O God most mighty.

He had been thinking about that last bowl of cornflakes and a seabag drag to the airplane and the big bird home when it happened. They say you never hear the round that kills you.

Pop Culture

2011-04-29T13:16:00.000-07:00

Between the Royal Wedding (Prince marrying a commoner), American Idol results and the Desperate Housewives of Wherever -- well I really don't care.

I don't care that the Queen didn't invite President and Mrs. Obama to the Big Wedding because -- the Clintons didn't invite the Obamas either. Who would? (they're reputed to steal the silver flatware on the table or some such) But the shocking and damning thing is that the Queen didn't invite ME to the wedding. I know it's one of those parties where everyone whose anyone is invited. I've been waiting for the invitation, fearing that the postal service lost the letter in the mail.

Since I'm no longer a serving officer, I couldn't show up in a uniform and there may be the rub. Showing up as a civilian wouldn't have the impact...maybe that's why the invitation never arrived?

Candidly, I can no longer fit into my old dress white naval uniform, but I toyed over getting the old medals out and polishing them - including the British gong for unspecified gallantry in support of Her Majesty's Government...in the event that the invitation came late.

Alas, forgotten. I've missed the event of the year.

The Witch Doctor

2011-04-27T22:44:00.000-07:00

Those of you who follow this blog, know that I've written a couple of books. At present, I'm toiling to complete THE OLD WHORE: A Novel of Cartel Wars, sequel to Bloody Mexico. Today I had meetings in San Diego, CA and when they were over, I accepted an invitation from a witch doctor in the Santería faith to visit his office. He refers to himself as a witch doctor so I'm comfortable using the term. We had a nice meeting, I asked a lot of questions and took several pages of notes. One of the hallmarks of a good piece of writing is understanding the subject mater. I have experience with the Santa Muerte (or Holy Death) cult that is practiced by a lot of narcoterrorists in Mexico simply because you see it a lot when you deal with them. They worship Señora de las Sombras and at least some of those people I've encountered practice ritual human sacrifice. Really dark and wicked stuff. Then again, they are dark, wicked and troubled people.

Santería is typically white magic. It's black magic counterpart is voodoo. It's a system of belief that comes from Africa. African slaves brought it to the New World and the religion continues to flourish primarily in Latin America and in the Latin communities in the United States.

The man I spoke to today is called a Babalawo, or a father who knows secrets. He is also an Oba, which means that he initiates/trains people in the mysteries of the faith. We discussed that process in detail but I won't include it here. He is originally from Cuba and has practiced Santería from a young age. There are many orishas (gods) which often take the form of dryads. They need to be fed and they are best satiated by blood, therefore the tenants of the religion require animal sacrifice. Usually those sacrifices are chickens or ducks but different dryads/oriahas.

When you read my novels, understand that my characters may be fictional, but the work is well researched. In this case, there won't be much about Santería, but what little is woven into the fabric of the tome will be well researched.

It started with a large bear

2011-04-24T22:32:00.000-07:00

As with all things, there is a flow of events and I decided to start with a large bear.

When Griffin arrived today (Alyssa was with the other grandparents), he found a large 53" tall brown bear sitting in his favorite chair. At first he was a bit put off, but there was an Easter basket full of goodies sitting on the bear's lap that proved irresistible.

Soon, Griffin and the bear became best of friends. Griffin is roughly 1/2 as tall as the bear.

Though I don't know that Mommy (my daugher, Amanda) was all that happy about taking the 53" tall and roughly 36"(1 meter) wide bear home with her, she liked holding the bear just as much as Griffin did.

Activities in the game room shifted from holding the bear to throwing a squishy ball through the hole in the red inflatable ball at my daughter Emilie, inside - serving as a target and ball return device.

Following dinner my son-in-law took Griffin on his first Easter Egg hunt. Some of the plastic eggs held candy and others held money that goes into his piggy bank.

Success was measured one Easter Egg at a time...

Movie Review: Source Code

2011-04-23T18:13:00.000-07:00

What would you do if you only had a minute left to live?

Source Code is a science fiction mystery thriller film directed by Duncan Jones, written by Ben Ripley, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Wright.

I won't spoil the plot except to say that the source code turns out to work a lot better than anyone thinks that it will.

Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a decorated army helicopter pilot who finds himself on a mission to locate the maker of a bomb which exploded and destroyed a train headed into Chicago. Stevens is isolated inside a chamber, where Air Force officer Capt. Colleen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) explains to Stevens through a computer screen that he is inside the Source Code, a program that allows him to take over someone's body in his or her last eight minutes of life.

Stevens' mission is to locate the bomb, discover who built it, and report back to Goodwin before the bomber can detonate a second larger bomb, a dirty nuclear device, in downtown Chicago, which could cause the deaths of millions of people. Every time he is sent into the train he awakens as Sean Fentress, a history teacher, sitting across from a woman named Christina Warren (Michelle Monaghan). A series of events repeat each time with slight variations while he goes on searching for the terrorist and deepening his relationship with Christina, until the bomb that destroys the train goes off and Stevens (as Fentress) dies, sending him back to the chamber.

There weren't any new movies to see this Saturday afternoon that I hadn't seen before, so I took a shot at Source Code and was glad that I did. The film was well put together with a well developed plot that kept unfolding as the movie progressed. It touches on the possibility of multiple universes, but doesn't get bogged down in the concept and focuses on the relationships between the characters while the action segment of the film unfolds.

On the LL scale, it gets a SOLID 8 out of a possible 10. A film has to work hard for an 8 from me and this one deserved it.

A Thought for Friday Night

2011-04-22T20:29:00.000-07:00

In my craft or sullen art
Exercised in the still night when only the moon rages
And the lovers lie abed with all their griefs in their arms
I labour by singing light;
Not for ambition or bread
Or the strut and trade of charm upon the ivory stages
But for the common wages of their most secret heart.

Not for the proud man apart from the raging moon
I write on these spin drift pages
Nor for the towering dead with their nightingales and psalms,
But for the lovers
Their arms round the griefs of the ages
Who pay no praise or wages nor heed my art or craft.

--Dylan Thomas

Easily Amused

2011-04-21T16:41:00.000-07:00

Griffin likes to blow bubbles.

One could say that he mastered the art with little effort.

Here he is in the back yard, showing us his 'war face'.

The best part of bubbles is that it's soap and water...

But DO NOT tell the kids that.

The King goes free

2011-04-18T12:11:00.000-07:00

This is an after action report on the capture, captivity and release of Rex, the lizard. As it turns out, my two year old grandson wanted NO PART of the lizard. I asked him if he wanted to go into the mountains with me to release him and he said, "No, I'll stay with my brother, Cannon."

A photo of me holding Rex, king of the Great

Horned Lizards, prior to his release.

Slip-n-Slide

2011-04-17T07:30:00.000-07:00

One of the guys on the trip the other day sent me this picture of his truck. He high-centered on the snow (ice under) and had to be strapped out too. The reason I'm posting this is because you can see my tracks angling off to the right of his rig toward the edge of the cliff. When you're on ice, there's not much you can do except hang-on!

He came three or four trucks after mine in line and I had moved up the hill by the time he got stuck. The problem wasn't depth of snow. It was about three inches of ice under the snow that formed from the melt/freeze cycle.

In this picture, we're going down a steep logging road. My rig is right in front of the yellow Humvee. Another hundred meters ahead, the road was completely blocked by 7 or 8 really big trees that were washed out by the severe winter we had this year. They completely blocked the road. Time for chainsaw work and a bulldozer.

Some of the guys try to get to the bottom of the electrical fire.

It turned out to be a fried relay. I'm not sure what the relay controlled but the truck still ran and he made it out.

A Lizard Named Rex

2011-04-16T16:18:00.000-07:00

The Arizona guys will recognize this fellow. He's a great horned lizard that I found in the desert today when I was out in my truck prospecting, getting into mischief and generally running around on old trails.

Rex, the Great Horned Lizard.

My grandson, Griffin, is coming over for dinner on Sunday. He will have the opportunity to meet Rex (King of the Lizards because of his horned crown) and then we will go up into the hills and release him. They don't do well in long term captivity but they're kind of fun to play with. I lived in Arizona when I was a kid and I kept them and played with them. To feed them I put them near an ant hill and let the lizards go to it. They can eat a LOT of ants.

Rex is about 4 1/2 inches long and when he's puffing and making himself look bigger to the predator (me), he's about 2 1/2 inches wide. I found a water snake in a creek too, but didn't bring him home (this time). That might have been too much since the girls are none too fond of reptiles. Of the pantheon of reptiles, snakes are their least favorite.

Griffin, temporary reptile owner.

When Amanda, Griffin's mom, was a little girl, she had a pet rat named Whiskers. Now she vetoed the lizard as a constant companion for little Griffin, which is okay. I offered to corner a snake on my next trip to the desert and the offer was also rejected.

Safely caught and released, the Great Horned Lizard can run free and Griffin can enjoy the experience.

But maybe she'll say YES to a rat? I'm not talking about a harbor wharf rat - a rodent raised in captivity. What do you think? A boy and his lizard - a boy and his rat...it is part of being a BOY. (boys are made of snips and snails and puppy dog tails, my daughters suggested that also applies to grandfathers)

The Scorpion, a 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser.

H1's and a few FJ's

2011-04-15T16:56:00.000-07:00

I spent my day gainfully running around in the mountains near Big Bear Lake in Southern California, crushing rocks and possibly injuring federally protected rodents and splattering federally defended insects on my windshield!

The Psycho Hummer's Club invited a few of us on a run today. They have a sweet set-up in the mountains that includes a RARE private fishing lake for the kids. Camp Psycho is the home to these guys who drive $150K rigs with the only requirement for membership being, "If it looks as if it's impossible on the trail, you should try to do it!" Thus they are psychos and I fit right in.

Private Lake in the desert, stocked with Bluegill.

The vehicle line-up on top of the White Mountain grade.

The Scorpion FJ left all of those H1 drivers with Toyota envy!

A random shot of rigs on the trail.

The Hummer H1 weighs over double what a Toyota FJ weighs and they're powered by a turbo diesel engine where ours run on six cylinder gasoline engines. The FJ is smaller, more nimble and on the trail today, the carnage was more or less equally meted out between both types of rigs.

* I became stuck in a snow drift (no photo) higher on the mountain and had to be recovery-strapped out of the mess I was in.

* One of the H1's had an electrical fire under the hood. (the rig pictured above)

* One of the H1's had a computer failure that impacted the functionality of the traction control sensor.

* One of the FJ's (not mine) had a fuel malfunction that more or less righted itself.

We were the first rigs of the season along the moderate difficulty factor trails we drove today. But a good time was had by all. My daughter, Emilie, originally planned to attend but illness at the last minute kept her from the run.

Blade Blog Part 2

2011-04-15T02:30:00.000-07:00

Mark 3 Mod 0 Navy issue knife.

This knife is in general issue to the US Navy. In my time, many SEALs used them as camp tools. The blade is cheap and won't hold an edge but as a camp tool, they're not all that bad. As a general dive knife they're not bad either because while they do rust immediately when immersed in salt water, nobody cares if you loose one. The government pays about $9.00 each for them if memory serves. Divers always loose knives and divers all need knives - so as a training knife and camp tool, they're not a bad choice.

To protect these knifes from rusting in salt water, spray them liberally with motorcycle chain lube (it has bee's wax in it). Then spray it LIGHTLY with WD40 and wipe it down lightly. The wax and oil will remain on the blade and it won't rust. You need to apply it regularly but your gear will remain in relatively good shape until it's time to use it again.

Blade Blog -or- My Knife Journey

2011-04-13T11:32:00.000-07:00

MY JOURNEY with steel/titanium:

Everyone has their favorite knife -- if you own and keep knives, you'll have a favorite. If you don't this won't mean much to you. In the world of blades there are nearly endless options and uses. I think it's also true of chefs - because in the reality cooking shows I've seen, contestants are asked to pack their knifes and get off the set if they don't 'make the cut'.

This is how I came to select the knife I carry every day. I could start at the beginning of time - which began when I was born. But I won't bore you.

During Operation Desert Shield/Storm in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait (1990-1), I carried a very nice double edge knife when I served with SEAL Team 5 and SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 1.

I looked younger then (above/left) -- and I was younger then, but my hair was mostly gray.

The knife I settled (circa 90-91)on was a custom knife made by Rick Hill

Note D2 Steel, double edged with a sharp skull spike on the hilt of the knife.

This is a photo of the same knife in the jump-certified scabbard.

The rings are attached to a garrote wire that is kept in the pouch

on the outside of the knife for situations where it might be required.

At that time, the official SEAL knife was made by Buck Knives and was constructed of a titanium-beryllium alloy. Nobody liked to carry it because when you sharpened it, and microscopic pieces of metal lodged under your skin, they produced tumors.

In late 1991 or early 1992. Don't hold me to a date because it was 20 years ago, I was at NAVSPECWARGRUONE (Naval Special Warfare Group One, Coronado, CA). The Joint Special Warfare Command (McDill AFB, Tampa, FL) just stood up and an Army general took command. Since we were all subordinate to the US Army, there was money to spend - where the Navy was very parsimonious with the SEALS up to that point. The new funding allowed us to buy newer and presumably better knives than the models that caused us to develop cancerous tumors.

Original MPK - Note the distinctive mud-colored titanium alloy.

No, it's not rust. This knife will never corrode or rust. In the two

decades since that these knifes have been in service with the

Navy, not one has broken. The general issue knife has a gray

blade with attribution to the manufacturer. This one has no markings.

A knife competition (called a knife-off) was held and various manufacturers were invited to submit their knifes to Group 1 to be tortured and tested. A number of different knives were submitted and the only one to remotely meet the criteria was the Multi-Purpose Knife (MPK) entry from Mission Knives (then owned by Rick Schultz of Mission Viejo, CA). The SOG Seal knife, made of steel, scored well, but (a) it corroded because it was made of steel and (b) it had a magnetic profile (made of steel) that would set off a naval mine.

Time passed and Rick Schultz sold his knife company. The new manufacturer took input and suggestions from various United States Special Operations personnel. The MPK would remain the issued knife to SEALs, but maybe a light weight, high strength, non-magnetic, no-corrosive tool—a titanium bladed knife—with a more compact and thinner silhouette, and with a “higher speed and lower drag coefficient” could be made. Enter the Multi-Purpose Tactical Knife (MPT)

Note the grooved section on the blade’s spine, which gives a better non- slip surface when applying pressure to the blade with the thumb. The MPTs ergonomic hilt was specifically designed to feel comfortable in either hand, and, at the same time, can easily be shifter into any aggressive grip style needed to meet any challenge. The parrot’s beak shaped butt of the hilt allows the user maximum purchase when using the blade in either the standard (hammer) grip, fence’s (sideways) grip, or ice-pick (reverse)grip.

This is the knife that I've chosen to carry on a daily basis. It's great for trimming fingernails and opening mail.

I'm an older guy now, nearly helpless in my dotage (right). Somebody asked F. Scott Fitzgerald a question and he said that it was better to be rich than fascinating. I suspect that if you become a knife-blogger you may not end up as either one.

But I thought you all might enjoy reading about my knife journey.

Movie Review: LIMITLESS

2011-04-12T17:40:00.000-07:00

Limitless is a 2011 American techno-thriller film directed by Neil Burger and starring Bradley Cooper, Abbie Cornish, andRobert De Niro. It is based on the 2001 novel The Dark Fields by Alan Glynn with the screenplay by Leslie Dixon.

Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) is a writer who lives in New York City and has recently been dumped by his girlfriend Lindy (Abbie Cornish) in addition to failing to meet the deadline to turn in his new book, which he hasn't written yet. One day, Eddie comes across Vernon Gant (Johnny Whitworth), the brother of his ex-wife Melissa Gant (Anna Friel). Vernon is adrug dealer who offers Eddie a sample of a new drug, NZT-48. Eddie accepts, and, much to his surprise, the drug increases his intelligence and improves his focus.

Eddie asks Vernon for more of the drug, and Vernon agrees. When Eddie goes to Vernon's apartment, he finds Vernon dead. Eddie finds a stash of NZT hidden in the oven alongside a book with several names and some money, which he takes for his own personal gain. With Vernon's money and the NZT, Eddie creates a new image for himself and abandons writing to enter the stock market. He becomes rich at an incredibly fast pace and is soon employed by the powerful businessman Carl Van Loon (Robert DeNiro). Eddie also gets back together with Lindy. Meanwhile, he feels that he is being followed by a man in a tan coat (Tomas Arana). Soon, the side-effects of NZT appear.

I liked the film. It held me. I didn't once look at my watch to see how much time was left before it was over, a good sign. Out of a possible ten, it gets a solid EIGHT.

Movie Review: Hanna

2011-04-11T15:54:00.000-07:00

HANNA, (2011), Ardustry Entertainment, Marty Adelstein Productions, Studio Babelsberg, directed by Jon Wright, written by Seth Lochhead and David Farr, starring Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett, Eric Bana. 111 minutes run time, rated PG-13 for violence, action, some sexual material and language.

I usually go to movies such as this one by myself. The plot (from the trailer - no spoilers in this blog) indicates that Hanna (Sioirse Ronan) is a teenage girl being trained in a semi-arctic setting to survive in the wild. There is a connection between Hanna, her father (Eric Bana), a recruited CIA asset, and a rogue CIA case officer (Cate Blanchett). The plot is improbable in the extreme, tracing the genesis of Hanna to the MK Ultra Program. There are a lot of books and plots that do this, but none do it particularly well and it becomes incredible fiction rather than plausible fiction.

I didn't feel well this weekend and it may have tainted my viewing experience, however the movie struck me as a "European movie". My definition of a "European movie" is half a dozen Frenchmen sitting around, smoking, drinking and saying, "Life is shit" for two hours while the audience is bored. Hanna has implausible action complete with pseudo Nazi EuroTrash homosexual bad people, stereotypical British tourists in Morocco and weak and ineffective CIA people, none of whom can stand up to Hanna - and at times, to her father.

If you can make it past the "life is shit" theme, silly violence and a generally transparent plot, it's not all THAT bad. Out of a possible TEN, it gets a FOUR from me.

It did have entertaining moments, and was not a complete waste of time because there was nothing on TV, and I paid matinee prices.

Mexico Ensangrentado

2011-04-10T04:00:00.000-07:00

Mexico Ensangrentado, una Novela de las Guerras de los Carteles (Bloody Mexico, a Novel of Cartel Wars) will soon be released in its Spanish language version. There is no way to translate English to Spanish (or any other language for that matter) directly, but this is a faithful effort to tell the story in such a way for it to be available to a wider audience.

In progress, THE OLD WHORE: A Novel of Cartel Wars - sequel to Bloody Mexico.

What's On My Mind?

2011-04-08T08:37:00.000-07:00

Do any of you readers know

what I'm thinking about right now?

Ok, don't say "sex" because guessing that way with a man gives you an unfair advantage...but I digress.

As a father of four daughters I have found that to be one of the most aggravating traits of the Female of the Species. My dear daughter, Heather is expecting a boy on August 18th (my third grandson). Though Heather is incredibly dear to me as are all my girls, she has defaulted to the "but Dad, you should have known" scenario.

Take two days ago, when wearing her new pregnancy outfit, she asked me, "do I look pregnant?" I replied, automatically, "yes you do?"

"YOU SHOULD HAVE SAID, NO!"

"You shouldn't have asked."

"You should have KNOWN that I wanted you to lie."

"Sorry."

Guys get sucked into these things all the time, involuntarily, and with some rancor resulting from our ignorance of the proper response.

Emilie, my youngest daughter, has caught on. She sweeps into my office, disrupting my work, and asks, "Am I not the most beautiful girl you've ever seen?" I respond, "yes", knowing that is the desired response unless her clothing is TOTALLY in appropriate, in which case, there is a discussion where she reminds me that she's 19 years old and I remind her that I brought her into the world and can take her out again.

They Don't Make Women Like They Used To

2011-04-05T15:51:00.000-07:00

Are men and women looking more alike as time goes on?

(I'd make an ugly woman)

Research seems to indicate that it's true!

Researchers found that craniofacial differences between contemporary men and women are less pronounced than they were in the 16th century. The researchers also found that, while craniofacial features for both sexes in Spain have changed over time, the changes have been particularly significant in females. For example, the facial structure of modern Spanish females is much larger than the structure of 16th century females. This difference may stem from improved nutrition or other environmental factors.

BUT

It seems that our brains are still different. Functional magnetic resonance imaging of men and women under stress showed neuroscientists how their brains differed in response to stressful situations. In men, increased blood flow to the left orbitofrontal cortex suggested activation of the "fight or flight" response. In women, stress activated the limbic system, which is associated with emotional responses.

Two Troopers

2011-04-04T15:34:00.000-07:00

Griffin came over yesterday with his little brother, Cannon. When he saw me, he looked over and said, "That's my brother" with a definite sense of pride.

Being a Grandpa is something special.

Yoga

2011-03-31T11:54:00.000-07:00

I know people who do yoga every day. It seems to help them and to enrich their lives. Exercise is a good thing and we live in a sedentary society where you have to go out of your way to build muscle. If you do it long enough, you may end up looking like -

This guy (above) - your face here.

This is a practical approach to yoga. You may prefer the regionally adapted New England style of yoga to that practiced by Eastern mystics.

It Feels Like Spring

2011-03-30T23:43:00.000-07:00

MY top five signs that Spring is coming:

ONE - The Mercury rose to 89 F here today and it's predicted to be another scorcher with 90 F (32 C) tomorrow. Consecutive days with warm weather mean that it's springtime.

TWO - The surf report is looking good but there will be a high tide early in the morning and that's not good. Still, it feels like a typical spring surf.

THREE - The gardner may have to mow twice a week to keep the lawn just so.

FOUR - The roses are still in full bloom, the way they've been all winter - but I think we have a few more buds. Tulip season has passed, so it must be spring!

FIVE - I can wear shorts, sandals and a t-shirt all day and all night if I want to and I'm comfortable - and the women are dressing down too. It just feels like spring!

(h/t Darlin' for the idea for this post)

Writer's Block

2011-03-27T07:29:00.000-07:00

I'm not saying that I have writer's block today, but sometimes when I'm trying to pull an idea out of the ether, I feel a lot like this:

Over the last day or two I've been making some serious progress on Jackhammer (forthcoming novel) and I have been working up the pitch I'm going to give a potential publisher that I'm meeting in Washington DC in a couple of weeks.

People commonly say that artists are batshit crazy, but I think that goes double for authors. You have to look into the abyss to write well, and as Nietzsche said, "When you look too long into the abyss, the abyss also looks back into you."

Thoreau said that it's not worth going around the world just to count cats in Zanzibar. I'm hoping that my journeys amount to more than counting cats when applied to the books I've written and am working on now.

BUT when I can hear one hand clapping, it's time to take a break from writing - or a cold shower - or something.

Bundle of Joy

2011-03-25T20:20:00.000-07:00

My daughter took a photograph of her husband/my son-in-law holding their new baby, Cannon. I spent the day today with Cannon and his brother, Griffin. It's pretty cool -- being a grandpa.

Plans for the Week

2011-03-21T09:49:00.000-07:00

There is a far better even than par chance that I'll be flying to Washington DC and NY City for work this week. I thought it would be the perfect chance to pick up that good salsa that they make there.

Yes, there are things that they have in DC and NY/NY but good or even decent Mexican food is not one of them. However I'm holding out hope for the salsa...

Stork Report (cont'd)

2011-03-20T17:02:00.000-07:00

The two brothers meet for the first time (Griffin & Cannon)

Cannon is wearing camouflage because he needs to get used to it early. There is a family legacy of military service - and Special Forces, though at 6 lbs 10 ozs, Cannon has some growing to do before they'll let him into BUDS.

Dad, Cannon and Mom

Little Brother

The addition of a new baby to the family - another grandson for me - is a very special event. We had the whole band together today for a brief hello at my house to the new arrival. Now he's headed home with Mom, Dad and brother Griffin.

Stork Report

2011-03-19T15:46:00.000-07:00

My oldest daughter, Amanda, gave birth to a 6 lbs 10 oz baby boy yesterday. Cannon entered the world with a BANG!

Mom, Dad and Cannon

Cannon, allowing Aunt Emilie to hold him.

The star of the show, Baby Cannon

St. Patrick's Day - and war tunes

2011-03-17T00:02:00.000-07:00

As a former resident of Ireland (many years ago) during the troubles in the North, my contribution to the holiday may seem to be a bit unconventional.

Of all possible Irish tunes, I have always liked the 'war tunes' the best. It may seem odd since I fought on the crown side of the question, but it's not impossible to identify with the other side from time to time.

Character Development

2011-03-16T11:11:00.000-07:00

When writing a novel - or a portion thereof - I'm continually torn when writing female characters. Making them real, and making them interesting while not continually relying on sexual tension to carry the character is not easy.

I find men easier to portray without that dynamic, possibly because I'm a man and understand what makes them tick far more clearly. It's not easy being an author.

Self-Employed

2011-03-14T17:49:00.000-07:00

When you run a small company, you're essentially self-employed because success, failure or the blending of the two falls to -- YOU. In the US, the government is there to saddle you with taxes that 'other people' don't pay. After you're done paying your federal income tax, state income tax, your property tax, sales tax and various excise taxes, the Federal Government allows you to participate in the great self-employed adventure by slapping an additional 15.3% on your shoulders just to show you that they love you. (thanks)

Fortunately, because they want the 'little man' to prosper, they only tax the 15.3% on the first US$106,800 you earn each year. After you've paid the extra $16,300.00, for the honor of being self-employed, you don't have to pay anymore - until next year. That's on top of your regular tax rate.

But if you're not successful being self-employed, there is no unemployment safety net that "regular employed people" enjoy.

Self-employment means that you fail a lot. I run somewhere close to a 90% failure rate on landing any particular project I wish to undertake, so I'm in the market for that illusive 10% success - which will be taxed thoroughly with a 15.3% kicker on top.

Gallup ran a poll and found that 57% of Americans would rather be self-employed. Most of those people who responded were not self-employed. They simply thought it would be cool to work your own hours, in a place of your choosing with people you like. And while that's true, it's not all that it's cracked up to be.

Nuclear Plant Melt-Down (Japan)

2011-03-12T07:50:00.000-08:00

IWAKI, Japan (AP) — An explosion at a nuclear power station Saturday destroyed a building housing the reactor amid fears that it could melt down after being hit by a powerful earthquake and tsunami.

Large amounts of radiation were spewing out and the evacuation area around the plant was expanded but officials did not know how dangerous the leak was to people. Shinji Kinjo, a spokesman for the Japanese nuclear agency, could not say how much radiation was in the atmosphere or how hot the reactor was following the failure of its cooling system.

Smoke rising from the nuclear power facility at Onahoma, Japan

The initial report by the Associated Press sounded dire. Then the Japanese Government issued a statement urging everyone to 'remain calm'. The Great Tohoku Earthquake has been a disaster of epic proportions in Japan with nearly 90,000 people missing, many of them presumed dead. But what about the nuclear powerplant?

The BBC Reported that Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan declared a state of emergency at the Fukushima-Daiichi facility... however, the public was urged to remain calm. -- BUT they've evacuated people within 20 kilometers of the plant and the police have a cordon up 60 kilometers from the site. The Japanese are distributing iodine to residents to combat radiation sickness. Potassium Iodide (KI) or Potassium Iodate (KIO3) before exposure will saturate (fill up) a persons thyroid gland with safe stable iodine to where there is no room for later uptake of radioactive iodine. Once the thyroid is saturated, then any additional iodine (radioactive or stable) that is later inhaled or ingested is quickly eliminated via the kidneys.

The BBC report (above) suggests that "the explosion was most likely caused by melting (NUCLEAR) fuel coming into contact with water.

John Cooper's comments copied from GatewayPundit: "Nuclear reactors are not like a pot of water boiling on your kitchen stove. They continue to produce decay heat for weeks after the reactor is shut down due to the radioactive decay of fission by-products. Those megawatts of heat must continuously be removed using the Residual Heat Removal [RHR] system. Failing to cool the reactor after shutdown results in core heatup and possibly core meltdown. The RHR systems I’m familiar with use redundant 400HP vertical shaft centrifugal pumps driven by electric motors to circulate the hot water through heat exchangers to cool the water in the reactor.

When the reactor is shut down (“scrammed”), the plant depends upon offsite utility power to run the RHR pumps and other safety equipment. When the plant loses offsite power (as happened at Fukushima), there are three huge diesel generators that start up automatically to provide emergency backup power. At least that’s the theory.

At Fukushima, some dumb ass design engineer decided it was a good idea to locate the diesels where they could be flooded. No diesels means no electric power to run the emergency systems to cool the plant. Apparently they had the steam-powered auxiliary feedwater pumps for a while.

Now they’re totally fooked. It must be real dark in the control room at the moment.

“In a BBC report a nuclear physicist stated that if they use sea water to cool the reactor, they have written off the reactor for ever being used again. Too many contaminants in sea water, the reactor will be scrapped if they do this.”

That’s exactly correct. The chlorine in the salt water causes stress-corrosion cracking in the stainless steel piping. The plant will never operate again if exposed to sea water.

Also, if they’re desperate enough to pump sea water in there, I’m wondering what they are going to do with the radioactive runoff. Let it drain out to sea, probably. With no electricity, what else can they do?"

We all wait for more news from Japan, but sadly, there's not a lot of good news in the aftermath of the 8.9 earthquake.