What a world. I'm listening to a news program on radio Japan when a story comes up about Japan's general economic free fall. Apparently they have the highest public debt of any industrialized nation in the free world. This has lead to an increase in suicides and as the business year comes to a close they expect a rash of further suicides as their economic situation is expected to get more serious. Their government is currently trying to drum up interest by offering bonds to foreign countries, but the amount of interest in them depend on whether or not the Japanese government can convince foreign investors that they will be the key to solving Japan's economic crisis.
The report also claimed that last year there was something around 36,000 suicides (don't hold me to that. I believe it's what they said) which is up from around 33,000 in 2008. I looked it up and last year America reported around 33,000 suicides. Consider that their population is less than half the size of ours and you get the general idea of how serious the problem is. Currently their government is running an add campaign that includes TV spots and billboards to help stem the expected tide of fresh suicides. Kind of shocking.
So I opened on a downer and now I'll segue into this. I praise God for helping our family out right on time and just how we needed it. First off my uncle is doing much better. He will probably be in the hospital for another week, but he is in much less pain and will be back to eating solid food soon enough.
Then the Lord blessed us financially. We did not know how we were going to pay this month's rent as we were several hundred dollars shorts. On top of that unemployment had some sort of processing error with my payments and I was unable to receive a dime of benefits for nearly two months so things have been more tight than usual. Well today just before our rent came due nearly eight hundred dollars was deposited into my account giving us what we needed to pay out rent. As if that isn't enough I am getting nearly 400 dollars back on my tax return and will get to keep a hundred dollars of it so drinks are on me when the money comes in.
Now all I need is a place that will actually hire me.
As those that follow me on Facebook might have caught I'm thinking that learning Morse code is kind of like having some one stab you in the brain with a stick. Without the radio to sort of filter out most of the harshness of beeping it can get on your nerves to sit down for 10 minutes at a time listening to random beeps. Well more to come. Just thought I would share my good news with ya'll.
My 5 year old niece wrote and directed this with my help.
It's been an interesting week of ups and down. To begin with my uncle nearly died. His appendix ruptured and infection spread through out his entire intestinal area. He was held over night before being operated on and is very lucky to still be alive. We went to visit him in the hospital and it was a heartbreaking thing to witness. My uncle is mentally ill and didn't seem to have a real grasp on what was going on. It was sad to see him there with tubes running all around his body, but he did keep calling the nurses "waitress" so I suppose there's a little humor to be found in everything. He'll be there for a week for two depending on how well he recovers.
Most of the last week was spent outside of the house and in the southern tip of Florida. We went to Holiday Park which is an RV park where you can watch alligator wrestling and camp over night. A herd of peacocks lives in the park and you can see them wandering around the tourists or perched on the railings above the picnic tables crowing at each other. Hearing the sound of a peacock's cry when you're walking through the reeds and swamp ground can be oddly unnerving.
Twice we went to Everglades National Park which is one of the large national parks like Yosemite or Yellow Stone. The place is massive and can take hours to drive around. I liked this place the most out of all the destination's I've visited recently. There's all kind of paths and detours that seem somehow separate from each other. There's Flamingo Key where you can sit by the docks and watch Crocodiles sunbath. You could take a tour down an elevated walkway that cuts through a half mile of swamp land filled with alligators. I saw dozens and dozens of them laying asleep on the shore. Tourists from around the world come here. I heard English, German, Japanese, Chinese, and Australian accents to name a few. But then in the midst of all that you can drive down an empty dirt road tucked away in a side path, and end up by a small lake that casts a blue tint on the canopy above and nothing moves. Even the wind seems to hang in the air. A place like that makes you feel like you're the only person left in the world.
We went Friday and then back again on Sunday because we missed the tour of the Nike Missile Silo. It's a decommissioned nuclear launch sight that was build during the Cold War should we have needed to launch missiles at Cuba. We were informed by the guide that the missiles formerly housed there were of the 40 kiloton variety. That figure may sound abstract, but consider that the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were only 15 kilotons and you get the idea. The nature of sin is a funny thing. You have this tiny island that gets taken over by greedy men with silly ideas and decades later this tiny little island threatens to cause a nuclear war. Had we had to bomb them most of the southern tip of Florida would have had to be evacuated due to the fall out drifting back towards us, and most of the animal life in the glades could have been killed. All in the name of socialism.
After we took the tour my parents went back to the alligator pit and I went off by myself down the Gumbo Limbo nature trail. The whole mile long or so stretch runs under a canopy of fern trees and thick strands of hanging moss. I was mostly alone there, passing only a few older couples going in the opposite direction. The place was sort of incredible. It was strangely cool there. Not the dull sort of cold that of everywhere else, but an unusual cold that seemed to have a tinge if warmth hidden it, and there was no breeze so the woods remained still and silent. It was kind of like walking through some enchanted forest in a movie. It was all very haunting in a sort of way.
Speaking of haunting I was going through some emails last night when some kind of suggestion thing popped up on the right hand side along with a name. In my owned buzzed sense of interest I went over to Facebook, popped in the name, and there was that pair of equally haunting eyes. That marked my second sentimental intrusion involving a woman that day. I sat for a long while and just looked into her eyes and traced her features with mine. She never seemed to like the way she looked, but I always thought she was stunning. If or when she reads this she'll probably be angry. I've always found that despite women's constant attempts to intrude into a man's emotional center they always seem to find sentimentality in a man repulsive. At least my every attempt at the emotion has always been treated with a certain contempt as if the act of thought was intentionally perverse. I toyed with the idea of sending a friend request, but everything I just wrote slowly began to occur to me, and I decided not to. That person decided to stop speaking to me, and I may never know exactly why, but then maybe she doesn't either. It's just funny how something as simple as a pop up in your email box can lead to a rush of conflicting emotions. Still I wonder at times when I'm alone and I get just a little sad. I'm not sure how this sounds to any one else, but it's a compliment in a way. A person makes a certain kind of impression on you, a very unique one in fact, and sometimes things just linger in the back of your mind. Like those eyes.
Beyond this I seem to be sort of between hobbies. I've been doing a lot of reading lately, playing games sporadically here and there, working on music and movie reviews, and using my shortwave radio. I brought the radio with me out to the park where there would be little interference. I had a little luck the first time, but on the second trip I pulled it out by a small lake and got signals from all around the world. Parts of Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Canada, and I even found an English language station coming out of India. I go home and bookmark these sights after I find them. Many of the international stations have live streaming as well as audio on demand. It's fascinating how something I spent ten dollars on has opened up my world so much. I've learned about famous Ukrainian citizens, heard aboriginal Cuban music, listened to readings of Italian short stories, and of course it's always interesting to hear a foreign perspective on American news. For instance no one in Germany seems to understand why Barack Obama hasn't been able to accomplish most of his pre election agenda or why he hasn't started walking on water yet.
It goes to show you that even though things in the United States seem fairly silly at times the rest of the world is just as, if not more so, silly. Try looking up the Chinese peoples concern over the red envelopes children receive during the spring festival. As funny news items go apparently thanks to the recession Florida has seen a decrease in annual shark attacks. Less money means less people at the beach and less people at the beach means less people to be attacked by sharks. I suppose it makes sense.
On a different note as far as my new movie reviews are concerned I should have a half dozen up by the end of the day. Like I mentioned I've decided to write something like short hand reviews so none of them will be more than two paragraphs for the most park. I'm also trying to teach myself Morse Code! I downloaded a program for it. Who would have thought? Now if only we can survive this month.
Don't worry I have more short films and reviews coming I'm just trying to get one whole day to myself so I can get everything done at once. That day should be tomorrow so watch out.
So yesterday I broke some kind of worlds record for shortest time having held down a job. I go to this call center to apply for a sales position (IRT). Well the normal course of action is that they have you take a couple of tests and then you do a short interview, but they were so jazzed by credentials (not to mention I give a great interview. Ladies you would be so turned on by how sexy my interview skills are) they booted me through the second interview, had me take a drug test there on the spot, and then told me I was hired.
The job didn't pay all that well. Nine dollars an hour plus a bonus couple of bucks for schedule adherence, and incentives of a dollar or two for sales. So I figure as long as I'm on time, and I sold a product or two an hour I could easily make around 14 or 15 dollars an hour. I even did a roleplaying exercise, and aced it so hard that they decided (since the job didn't pay all that well) that they would go ahead and assign me a monday through friday 9 to 5 schedule once I get out of training! Only vets get those kinds of hours. They did everything except carry me out of the office on their shoulders.
Well I get home and take a nap. Mid nap I get a call from the company saying, "Oops we forgot to do a background check on you, and since you have a misdemeanor charge from two years ago we can't hire you."
Looks like my camping trip has been canceled. That's two for two. The last I was supposed to go camping when I was a little kid and it got rained out. I was so disappointed and now I feel that shame for a second time.
On a lighter note I will get back to updating my film blog. I've decided to try and sum films up in a two paragraph maximum. Keeps things short and easy to read. Lets face it if you're looking for a review on an old film then you most likely know what the film is about. So two knew reviews will be coming very soon.
I've also decided to start an animated series of videos called "Conversations I've Actually Had" and will be featuring it on YouTube as well as my blog. Believe it or not it's centered around conversations I've actually had. Here's the first one and don't forget to check my blog post below for my previous animation.
Ironic expression seems to be this generations primary currency. We ironically reference things over and over to the point where we end up ironically referencing ironic references. Where would shows like Family Guy be if they didn't constantly fall back on ironic referencing. The funny thing is that at times we ironically reference things that annoy us, and before we know it those things become a part of who we are. Consider terms like "fail" or LOL speak. Even I find myself gradually beginning to work these things into my regular vocabulary when my original intent was to make an ironic joke by using them. We have become the thing we hate most.
Speaking of Family Guy I wouldn't mind weighing in on the whole Sarah Palin thing. Personally I find Seth McFarlane to be a coward. He made a joke that was intended to be offensive, and offensive especially to a specific individual, and claiming that she has no sense of humor is just a total cop out. It's like some little kid who makes loud noises to intentionally irritate any one within ear shot, and when some one finally does get mad they skulk around and wonder why every one is being mean.
If he had just said "too bad," and stuck by the fact that he intended to offend her then I would at least give him credit for that. He made an intentionally offensive joke, and some one got offended. So claiming that she has no sense of humor is no better than the kid making loud noises. I can't think of a parent alive who wouldn't at least be irked by a retarded joke aimed at their kid. Let alone one on national television. So point in fact Seth McFarlane is a coward. Who would have guessed?
It's all apart of this generations shallow quest to find meaning in facile grabs for attention. If you get plugs in your ear, tons of piercing on your face, and a sleeve of tattoos don't act indigent when some people (rightfully) look at you funny. And why is it that people who dress like freaks always say, "This is who I am." So the infinite complexity of nature and environment, the never ending cycle of growth and discovery, life and death, knowledge, and emotion is some how distilled down to a tattoo of a coy fish with an astrological sign on its forehead leaping out of a pot leaf that's being held by a flaming clown with boom boxes for feet? Are you kidding me? That's who you are? But I suppose that's how some people might choose to express themselves when they have no talent or anything of meaning to say. Just admit that your dyed your hair purple because you wanted the attention, and we can call it a day. You know that the truth is floating around somewhere in the back of that empty head of yours.
I speak to no one in particular by the way. Just ranting. After all I have three tattoos and I'm honest about my motives so I know what I'm talking about.
In other news I should be going on a camping trip next week. Going to northern Georgia to hunt deer and crap in an outhouse. I'm not sure how I feel about all that to be honest, but why not? It's an adventure and too few of those come along these days. I figure it would be stupid to deprive myself. Besides I've been given back the chance to camp that God took from me when I was a kid. I'll be leaving Friday or Saturday and will be back Tuesday... I think.
Oh and I made a cartoon. Yes, I did make this so go to YouTube and give it a million stars and a bunch of nice comments.
Because at some point you might start getting into it, and the next day you'll wake up and have a horrible revelation that perhaps tens of millions of people spend most of their days getting high because that's the only explanation you can come up with for that woman's career. That and a hype machine so massive that nothing can escapes its orbit.
So where have I been? Well let me say I'm dead tired and being dead tired turns me into a fleshy mattress of hate so I ain't correcting or proof reading nothing! Around but not inspired to write. Lets face it the only person who reads this thing consistently doesn't live in the same country as most of us, and doesn't even speak to me. On the other hand lots of interesting things have been happening lately.
First of all there's this email I received today from one Trevon Fisher
How shrewd of Trevon to have guessed my love of not nudism in the plural, but a singular nudism. But it's not so much of a trick. Who doesn't love abstract nudism?
Then a few days ago two very interesting things happened. We went down to Miami and took a wrong turn. After ending up under and over pass we decided to get out and take some pictures. While milling around I noticed a rather expensive looking Chinese vase laying on its side on the rocks and part way into the ocean. I climbed down and pulled it out of the water to find all kinds of fancy sea shells inside as well as a bunch of bead necklaces and little statues of snakes and nautical things. Very odd.
A little later we beat it when some drunk teenagers showed up and starting fighting and made it to our original destination which was Virginia Key; a state park. I brought my shortwave radio with me because I wanted to see what I could pick up when I'm in a more secluded area amongst nature and not so many antennas. After taking a few pictures I finally settled down by the beach and pulled my radio out when it happened. Remember my long post about numbers stations? Well the whole thing is what drove me to get a shortwave radio, but up until then I hadn't found one. Well I sit down and literally the second station I pull up is this:
I made this little video when I got home so I would appreciate every one watching it.
So the rest of the week went on and I got a visit from an old friend, a reunion with an old band mate, and a lot of lounging under my belt. Then today we went to Bill Bag's State Park where I once again brought my camera and radio. I do have a lot of great pictures to post up so be patient.
The interesting thing about Bill Bag's is that it has an old lighthouse by the waters and you climb to the top and look out across the ocean.
My original plan was to climb to the top and whip out my radio, but about half up I discovered for the first time that I don't exactly like heights. The cast iron steps would sway a little when you walked up them, and all I could think about was crashing six stories down under a heap of metal. When I finally did reach the top I didn't dare pull out my precious radio if nothing for the fact that I kept thinking "God if I fall please kill me before I hit the ground!" So here's some math for you:
Lighthouses = Fuck You
The bright side is that my shortwave was jumping with world wide activity. I picked up stations from the Netherlands, Haiti, Cuba, France, the Middle East, and more. I even got the V2 numbers station again, and this time I brought my tape recorder with me. I was even lucky enough to capture the end of the broadcast, but found that a few minutes later the broadcast started playing again on a different frequency. I wonder if that's unusual. Spooky stuff.
That pretty much breaks down the more interesting parts of the last couple of weeks. I'll probably post another video of the V2. I'm also going to be working on some music with my old band mate, and beyond that it's life as usual. Well thank you all for reading this, and l hope you all keep sticking with me. My life has got to get more interesting sooner or later.
I got pretty wasted and tried to get Ed to do this at 3 o'clock in the morning.
These are my words. The photos are mine too. Please read and enjoy and don't forget to check out my Myspace music page which is linked below as well as twitter me. I do love recognition.
If you wish to contact me do so at angry_rant@yahoo.com
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