What Next....

To add another rule to the list, "No apologizing for time lapses between blog posts". Yea it's been a week or so, but I was on vacation, and even if I wasn't I'm not going to be sorry for having my time taken up with... well you know.

There are quite a few things that I want to write about, but I can't quite decide which will be first. In an effort to procrastinate and mull over in my mind what will be next, here are some topics to watch out for in the next... well who knows how long it will take to get them posted, but I won't apologize if it takes while.

"Top 5 ROCK! albums of all time." Probably already done a million times over but I've got my take on it too

"The English language SUCKS!" Fairly self explanatory I think.

"A new scooter in more ways than one." My next two wheel project. New (to me) scoot, and new (to me) kind of scoot (Lambretta!)

"To eat meat or not to eat meat?"

"Digital TV for all, Healthcare for some"

"I heart CD's"

That is what is looming out there on the radar, so keep your interweb travels poised for developments.

Go Get a Scooter!

Yea two posts in one day is crazy, but I'm unpredictable.

Someone on a local scooter forum posted a link to this add from Piaggio (parent company to Vespa). I'm not a huge fan of modern scooters, aka Tupperware scooters, but they have their place on the road. The deal is you put 10% down on a new scoot, finance the rest over 36 months, and after 12 months if you think the scooter is too cool for you and you can't handle it you can just simply return it. So you are out the 10% and 12 payments, it's not like they are giving them away, but it might be the thing someone needs to convince them to give a two wheel a try.

Hot Button Topic Ahead!

How about abortion? Controversial enough for you? 

      The discussion about abortion and it's legality and morality frustrates me. Not because of which side of the pro-choice / pro-life struggle I find myself on, but rather because of how the war is waged. This issue has struck me with the recent the murder of a doctor who provided abortions in Wichita Kansas. 

      Brian's issue #1. If pro-lifers think taking a life is wrong than why is it alright to kill a man while he greets people at his church? The entire abortion debate is littered with inconsistencies. I almost can't hold back when I hear someone in public, (and why people feel the need to be publicly outspoken about such matters to strangers boggles my mind and will be a later post) demonize abortions and then advocate for the death penalty. And don't get me started on the willingness of people to use science and medicine to get pregnant against natures will, but unwilling to recognize a place for science to end pregnancy against natures will. Pro-choicers are guilty here too. The stance that abortions should be cheap, easy and readily available doesn't fly with me. Should we also have cheap, easy and readily available angioplasty, hip replacements and neurosurgery? Medicine is not a drive through industry.

     Brian's issue #2. Abortion is not the only end to the situation of an unwanted pregnancy. Why is there not more attention given to adoption? Why does the public discussion center around "keep the baby or have an abortion"? Having seen a few people go through the process it seems as though there are lots of people willing to adopt but fewer babies available (at least in the US, not to mention the hard reality that many parents want racially similar babies to themselves leaving minority adoptees unclaimed). 

     Brian's issue #3. Isn't the discussion about abortion a band-aid discussion? The issue is unwanted pregnancy, so lets discuss that! Prevention and education has it's own land mines, but also has a place for everyone to advocate as opposed to lashing out at the wrongness of the other side. Proponents of abstinence education may not agree with contraception availability to teens, but one does not necessitate undermining the other to further their stance. Abstinence encouragement, sex-ed in schools and contraceptive availability all get to the same end.... less unwanted buns in the oven. 

     It angers me that abortion has become a black and white political platform, when, like most of science and medicine, it is very grey. NPR's, Talk of the Nation, (click "listen to tuesdays shows" and select the 3rd section labeled Health Care) had an interesting discussion on the topic after the announcement by George Tiller's family that his clinic will close permanently. The pro-choice commentator discussed the standard talking points, but also mentioned that she has never seen a women come into her clinic with a flippant casual attitude towards getting an abortion. The pro-life commentator also espoused the talking points of their stance, and then clearly recognized the medical need for abortions, but that those circumstances are not clearly defined. Too often I think the persona of trollops using abortion as birth control, and the stance that all conceived embryos should be carried to birth skews these discussions.

      I can't help but think that when people are forced by society to align as pro-choice or pro-life that they are over polarizing them selves, and more tragically and artificially move farther away from the grey of the argument where most of us are, and where I think, the resolution can be found.

Two Wheel

  I'm not sure if anyone else uses the term "two wheel" to refer to their Vespa, but that is what makes sense to me. I purchased my first one from a coworker in 2006 and never looked back. I love old cars and just after Laura and I got married, I wanted to get a project car to work on. Quickly I realized I didn't have the space, money, tools or realistically the knowledge to take on a car. Somehow I came across scooters and mopeds and when my friend at work offered to sell me his old Vespa, I jumped. 

So why do I love Vespas? I could tell you all about the elegant design of not only the body and esthetics, but the engine and transmission. I could tout the fuel efficiency in our age of rising fuel cost (60-100 mpg depending on engine and riding style). Using a scooter for normal life requires efficient grocery lists, traveling sans freeways ands forces you to make the most of every mile on the road. How about the less waste from tires (two small ones opposed to 4 big ones), engine oil (a quart will last you all year), spark plugs (1 vs. 8), and so on. More scooters and less cars equals less traffic gridlock. The engines are so basic that they are roadside repairable by even novice mechanics. All of these are great attributes of scooters and more specifically vintage Vespas, but most of all.... they are a blast to ride!

Given the state of our automobile industry, the rising cost of gas, and the realization that we must start conserving it (for the environment and because it will dry up) maybe we can learn a little from those goofy little two wheels I love so much. And in the process maybe people will enjoy their travels a little more. 

This video is about 3 minutes and tells the basic story of the Vespa. It's worth a watch.

I Love and Hate Craigslist

Did you ever post anything in the "freebie" adds in your local news paper? I seem to remember doing that but couldn't tell you what I sold. I have a love hate relationship with the current, cyber version of the Freebie adds. Craigslist. 

What I love. 1) It's FREE! As my dad says... "if it's free, it's for me". 2) You can find just about anything on it. 3) Craigslist allows you to search local and far away (although purchasing far away can be difficult). 4) You get a glimpse into the lives of a very wide spectrum of people through their adds/answers.

What I hate. 1)Flakes! Why people answer adds or post adds and then disappear still boggles my mind. 2) Bartering/Low-ballers/Tire Kickers. No I won't trade my scooter for your old hospital urinals and no I won't take payments unless you want to pick up the scooter after you made the last one. 3)You get a glimpse into the lives of a very wide spectrum of people through their adds/answers (no that was not a typo). 

I go through phases of selling things on CL. Now is one of them. I've got a couple of scoots for sale (Vespa  Honda), and of course I have already experienced, the flake, and the low-baller. But pleasantly, I have also come across the genuinely interested college kid trying to build an electric scooter, the person who realized they were getting in over their head and very politely declined to purchase, and a genuine Italian man who wants to purchase my cherished Italian scooter.

I have never posted anything other than in "For Sale" but I do like to peruse the other postings of rants, and such. Here are some great posts from the "Best Of Craigslist" 

Tips for selling cars.  

$50 per hour job!  

Political Justice

Honest Trade

Free Soap

Mobile Army Surgical Hospital

M*A*S*H

Although I can't say I remember watching original episodes of MASH, I can remember hearing my dad laughing out loud in the family room while watching, as I lay in my bed trying to go to sleep in our first family home in Vacaville. I discovered the show for myself in 2003 while I was living with my Sister and Brother In-Law during Paramedic school.

I think the show is brilliant, and I know there are plenty of others out there who agree with me, but maybe not many my age. It's got potty humor, intellectual humor, social commentary, political commentary, discussions about faith and genuine human emotions. MASH tackled topics like homosexuals in the military way before "don't ask don't tell". Not to mention that this is still a topic that is unresolved in modern day discussions. So now that I've spewed my affection for this oldie but goodie, here are some fun facts about the show...

-MASH ran for 11 seasons from 1972-1982 (251 episodes)

-MASH was based on a movie by the same name, based on a book with the same name (the movie is good too. I haven't read the book)

-The MASH finale (Goodbye, Farewell and Amen) was the most watched primetime telecast in of all time (50.15 million households,)

-Harry Morgan (Col. Potter) made his first appearance on the show as the insane General Bartford Hamilton Steele. A one time roll of a character not related to the one he would play for the next 8 seasons. MASH often reused actors for multiple/unrelated roles. It can be confusing if you watch them in sequence

-Gary Burghoff (radar O-Reilly) was the only actor to star in the movie and TV series (two other actors from the movie made appearances, but did not have long term roles)

-In the Movie and the TV series there was an African American character named "spear chucker" ! How un-PC can you get?

-Klinger, Hawkeye, and BJ all actually served in the military. Jamie Farr (Klinger) wears his actual dog tags in the show. BJ was a Marine and Hawk and Max served in the Army in... you guessed it, Korea!

-Hawkeye was the nick name of Benjamin Franklin Pierce which he claims was given to him by his father after reading the book, The Last Of The Mohicans.

-There were two spinoffs of MASH. W*A*L*T*E*R which focused on Radar returning home and joining a police department, and  AfterMASH which featured a few of the characters post-war in a midwestern hospital.

-The reaction that Radar gave when finding out that Henry Blake died was real! The producers never told him about the death of the character until moments before shooting the scene where radar gets the bad news (one of the saddest scenes in the entire series).

-MASH was the first prime time show to use the term "son of a bitch" on the air

MASH still runs on quite a few channels everyday. Set your TiVo or DVR and check out a few episodes. And don't worry... it's OK to laugh out loud.

B

Here's the straight poop!

As this is my blog, I would like to get a few things clear. Not only are these the rules for the blog (which really only applies to me as I am producing it) but also general guidelines by which I live. Keep these in mind...

 

1. The english language is insane and thus correct spelling is not required nor expected. If you get confused as to what I am saying "just sound it out!" (this also goes for punctuation and grammar) 

2. Swearing is acceptable, but only as "bad words" can be accurate descriptors. It is probably always better to not swear, and most of the time swearing is not a very creative way of expressing your self, but really... curse words are just words after all.

3. Making a point for making a points purpose is useless. If something does not really matter to you, but would make you cool for saying it, you should keep your mouth shut. Don't say it if you don't really mean it.

4. When ever possible, use the metric system. Lets face it, millimeters, centimeters, meters and kilometers make a lot more sense than inches, feet, yards and miles. Plus all those crazy Italian two wheels I've got came completely in metric. 

5. Old stuff is generally better. Better than what? Who knows? I'm probably not old enough to say this but.... they don't make things like they used to! 

6. Technology is great! What ever I know I just wrote rule #5 but I like tech stuff too.

7. There are no stupid questions, just stupid people. This one is not really true. There ARE stupid questions AND stupid people, and we all are guilty of having asked them and been them at some time.

8. Art is the mastery of a medium that evokes an emotional response. (someone else said this and it made a lot of sense to me)

9. Don't be scared to be idealistic. If there is nothing to strive for, why step forward at all.

10. Try to think before you type. I find that typing is good for this where as things sometimes fly out of my mouth as I try to grab them and stuff them back in. Typing always offers the opportunity to hit the delete button. Be smart... use the button every now and then

I think that those are the basic parameters in which I will work and you should interpret. I'll probably add to the list but this is a good start. You don't need to sign a form stating you recieved the rules, but know that you have been warned.

B