Wrap the Shuttle in Duct Tape!

I was listening to this morning's Washington Journal program over the Internet tonight. It only took 20 minutes to get to the "call of the day". The topic of discussion was the space shuttle and what to do with it.

A caller from Millersville, MD suggested a fix:

"... once they spray or paint or whatever they do to that foam, wrap that entire tank in duct tape, that holds a lot of things, that's just might hold that foam in place."

Will you miss me when I'm gone?

Sometimes I'm just drawn to a book by the title.

I saw this book at my Mom's apartment when I was visting for the 4th of July and started it reading it.

Will you miss me when I'm gone

I had not even heard of the Original Carter Family though I knew of June Carter Cash.

I read the book which led to another I-Tunes purchase.

Carter Family RCA Legends

Usually you listen to some music then you read about the group. Here I did the opposite.

Once again, on the IndyScribe tip

Here's a comment I posted to a recent submission

I guess I'm a "reacter" or is it "reactor"

I can't do anything until I see something I have to respond to.

If only I could get this strategy to get me to finish my short story.


Indy Scribe

"I know the wall well. It's not that far from my house.

One of my favorite quotes was "Don't Fall, Prey."

The College Ave "mini-riot" you refer to occurred duing the summer of '95. I remember the date because it was the same year a disturbance broke out at Deer Creek when deadheads stormed the fences at the concert facility when they couldn't get tickets. Jerry Garcia died about a month later.

The whole deal was weird. The Spring before the riot, I remember reading about the agressive tactics of the Indianapolis Police Department in the New York Times. Not a word of this program was mentioned in the Star. Once the disturbance happened the intense police presence was brought to light here locally.

so much for zero tolerance policies..."

i read it on Indy scribe

Carmel, a city on the Schmooze

here were my comments

I laughed, I cried. The article was one of the funniest pieces I've read on the Internet in some time.

Does Carmel have a slogan. Downtown Indy's has to be one of the worst "Amazingly Always New". What does that mean anyway? Is the downtown area torn down every night and re-built before sunrise the next day?

Actually I'd rather have a downtown that's "Modestly Sometimes Old". Isn't that part of the attraction of going downtown? To see something historic, buildings that have withstood the test of time.


Also, what is Indy's "Wholesale District"? Are they planning to put in a Sam's Club or Costco down there. I've been downtown many times since the mall opened and yet I've never engaged in any "wholesaling" whilst in the "Wholesale District". How does one participate in said activity?

I wonder how much was paid to whatever marketing/PR firm that came up with "Amazingly Always New"?

Paul Klee makes it a major news item on the Yahoo Home Page

Paul Klee

What the article does not mention that he became a Swiss citizen after his death. Apparently the Swiss did not want to claim him in life, but wanted his legacy after his death. Though he was born in the capital, Bern he was not Swiss. As his father was German and mother was Swiss, he had to take German citizenship. Were the roles reserved he would have become Swiss the day he was born.

He does hold the time honored distinction of being kicked out of Germany by the Nazis. Had he been allowed to stay it's hard to say what is legacy would have been.

BERN, Switzerland - When Paul Klee applied for Swiss nationality after fleeing Nazi Germany, his request was refused because it was feared that if his art should "take root in Switzerland, it would insult real art and cause good taste to deteriorate."


Sixty-six years later, the work of the painter — now considered one of the greatest modern artists — has found a permanent home in Bern, the Swiss capital that finally accepted him. The Zentrum Paul Klee, which opens Monday, will house over 4,000 pieces of Klee's creations — one of the world's largest collections from a single artist.

Paul Klee

I am an Internet genius!!!

no, not really

but 14 months after creating this site and 12 years in the Information Technology industry, the last 5 with a dot com, I actually have a site that can be googled.

I was looking at one of my traffic reports listing a Whopping 247 vistors since December 11,2004 and saw google as one of my referers.

Someone one at the Italian version of Google (http://www.google.it/search) (Cerca con Google) had done on search on "Clint Eastwood LAUREL" and my site popped up and they went to it.

can't get enough of the "Span"!!!!

The blogging continues

Yes, I'm probably one of the few people out there who will actually pay to download author interviews from C-Span. But I've found a gold mine in the I-Tunes "Music Store".

Just do a search on "Brian Lamb" and you will see 104 "songs" in the search results. Yet, these are not songs of a musical nature but the product of the genius that is known as Brian Lamb.

After my near miss (at least I think I was close) at the Jeopardy try-outs in Chicago I spent a lot of time studying US Presidents. So I downloaded author interviews Mr Lamb had made with Presidential scholars. At 1 hour a piece, it's a quicker way to assimilate info then to read the whole book. So I did learn a good deal about McKinley, Teddy Roosevelt, James K Polk, Warren Harding, Franklin Pierce.

I highly recommend these "songs".

My latest foray has been into 20th century Soviet history. Of course there is a limitless supply of literature on Stalin. C-Span was kind enough to record not one but two hours of interview with the author of this book:

The Court of the Red Tsar

I checked out the book from the library ( I need to save some money after all those I-Tunes downloads). It's pretty interesting but the infinite cast of characters, intriguing and subterfuge makes "Anna Karenina" look like a nursery rhyme.

Stay tuned.

It was almost over 20 years ago today...

I graduated from the Columbus Alternative High School (CAHS)

It was a city-wide high school drawing attendance from all corners of the Columbus Public School district which at that time had around 80,000 students.

My high school experiences were probably no different than most they we did have a few quirks at CAHS

# No regular classes on Wednesdays. Instead we had Co-Curricular day which allowed us to have internships at various government agencies, the Ohio State University or any business that would sponsor us. One of my friends got an internship at a record store on campus. My internships were usually involving computers so there was some educational aspect to them.

# No sports teams. If you wanted to play sports you had to do that at your "home" school. I knew few people who did that as our school did not attract many athletic types and transportation to and from schools would be problematic.

Cryin' Joe Ryan

I don't know why I recall this suddenly today but I thought of some old elementary school memories from Westgate School.

We had a real large school yard, most of it grass. We'd play all sorts of games out there, most of them I can't recall. We did have some games of touch football that would devolve into tackle if none of the teachers were around.

One kid I'll always remember was Joe Ryan. He was one of the shorter kids at school, had a huge mole about 1 inch west of his lip and usually wore a winter hat regardless of the weather. No matter what game we played by the end of recess Joe would be in tears complaining that someone had cheated him or hurt him on the field. Next the teachers would get involved and whatever game we had played would be banned indefinitely.

About 5 years later in high school my friend Quinton and I would toss the frisbee back in forth in my side yard after shoool. It was a favorite after school past time and all the events, tragedies and comedies of the day would be hashed out between throws. One day our "primary" frisbee got stuck in a huge pine tree and I had to head back into the garage to retrieve an older frisbee I had stuck in the box long ago. I pulled out the faded red disc tattered along the edges and pitched back out to my friend.

After a few rounds of back and forth my friend asked me "Who is Joe Ryan?". He tossed the frisbee back to me and flipped it over. On the back in indelible magic marker was printed "Joe Ryan". I hadn't thought about him in years. I have no idea how I came into posession of his frisbee, I don't think he'd ever been to my house. I hadn't seem him since elementary school and had no idea where he'd gone.

I just hoped he wouldn't be upset with me if he knew I had his frisbee.

people moving

My Mom is moving to Westminster Terrace in Columbus next week. We are heading there this weekend to pick up some furniture.

In the yard next door to us is a large construction dumpster. Apparently renovations are under way. Last night I could hear a !clunk! about every two minutes or so. According to Michael down the street the house needs a new roof and a multitude of other improvements.

the weekend that was

I went to Pilates class on Saturday. It was pretty intense, I don't know if Pilates is that demanding or I'm that out of shape.

I started reading "The Broom of the System" by David Foster Wallace. I haven't read any fiction for a while. The last book I read was "The Kite Runner" which was also a book club selection.

I've also started memorizing the list of Presidents. I can go from William Henry Harrison to G.W Bush.

Mary has been working on painting the bedroom and I've helped here and there.

Jeopardy Tryout, Chicago,IL April 2005

Went to the Jeopardy tryout at Navy Pier last Saturday morning.
I left home around 7:45 and had parked the car right off Lake Shore Drive by 11 am.
There were about 60 people trying out and only 5 made the cut.
I'll try again next year.

I'm been listening to some Booknotes interview from Brian Lamb of C-Span. So far I've gotten through interviews regarding T Roosevelt, McKinley and Harding. The Harding interview was entertaining. I think Lamb knew more about the subject than the author, John Dean of Watergate fame. At times Lamb would ask questions about Harding, Dean would stumble and stammer and then Brian Lamb would provide the answer to his own question.



changes in the neighborhood

We have a new neighbor at last, Hooray.
She's not moving in until June after some repairs are done on the house. It's been vacant since Mr Stuey split last October. The "for sale" sign is still in front and the realtors lock remains on the door. She owns a dog that looks like Rex and she seems a bit friendlier that the past residents. My strongest memories of Mr Stuey are the sounds of multiple motorcycles being revved up at all hours of the night. It wasn't that bad but every now and then we'd be treated to a burst of Motomayhem from the garage next door. I'm glad those days are over.

Ogden Nash seyz

From "Lines in Praise of a Date Made Praiseworthy Solely by Something Very Nice That Happened to It", by Ogden Nash:

"As through the calendar I delve
I pause to rejoice in April twelve.
Yea, be I in sickness or be I in health
My favorite date is April twealth. "

Tomorrow, April 12th is my birthday and I have no idea why Ogden Nash favors it for he was born on August 19th 1902.

The only two things I remember about April 12th is that
1) FDR died on this day in 1945
2) It's also David Letterman's birthday who was born 20 years before me and grew up in a house not far from where I live in the Broad Ripple area of Indianapolis

12 years in Indianapolis

On March 29, 1993 I started working for MSE Corporation at 941 North Meridian Street as a Digital Conversion Technician. I had moved here from Columbus, OH the Friday before. It's interesting to consider what has changed in the workplace in those 12 years. I had barely heard of the Internet and there were probably two people out of 300 at MSE who had access to the .Net. I had no email, no voice mail, no MP3s and my first work computer was a UNIX based machine that ran Intergraph Workstation.

Worst song ever; I'm so happy!

Driving into work today I heard Starship's "We built this city"

Hands down, this is the worst song ever created in the history of mankind.

I'm so grateful to WKLU 101.9 here in Indy for rolling out this stinky turd of a tune.

It represents the worst of the 80's, cheesy keyboards, inane lyrics and over powered bass line that I find personally offensive.

All the worst lyrics ever:

Someone's always playing corporation games
Who cares they're always changing corporation names

Isn't this band Starship itself a corporation living off past 60's glory cranking out schlocky Corporate rock and chaning its name: Jefferon Airplane >> Jefferson Starship >> Starship.

Listening to this song is like watching "Death Part III", it's soooo bad you can't help listening to it.

I just found this link which confirms my opinions.

Worst Songs ever

another day, another blog

It's gotten cold again here in Indianapolis. This Sunday was pleasant except we had to replace our dryer vent. Typical comedy of errors involved when I pick up a toolbox. the list of casualties: broke a window in the basement trying to get into the crawlspace, smashed wife's fingers while she was in said crawl space and I was on opposite side of the wall trying to will the vent attachement into its place. No I wasn't kicking the attachment in, I never force anything. I would do no such thing.

During the last repair miss-adventure I almost fell through the drywall in the garage trying to inspect a leak on the roof. Fortunately I only bent the ceiling out of shape and did not crash onto my '92 Saturn parked below.

I just ordered 3 old Genesis CDs off of Amazon. I got tired of waiting for the tracks to appear on itunes. So soon I shall be in possesion of Nursery Cryme, Selling England by the Pound and Foxtrot. This is from the "tea and crumpets" phase of the band with Peter Gabriel doing the main vocals, Phil Collins (before he became an annoying pop star) on backing vocals and drums.

Some of my favorite films

I've been living in DVD land the past few weeks. My wife took a trip to Israel and had to attend a funeral in Los Angeles leaving me plenty of time to veg in front of the big screen TV. I've watched some old classics such as "Animal House" and "Easy Rider" and even checked out a a copy of "Home Alone" from the local library. My favorite retro-trip was "Midnight Cowboy". This movie rocks. Something about seeing New York City, 42nd street, alienation and good acting appeals to me. I saw the movie on my parents VCR about 10 years ago and it was interesting to see what I had remembered. In one scene, Ratso and Joe Buck are freezing in their decrepit dwelling dancing to the song "Orange Juice, on ice, it's nice..." It really captures the whole idea of being stuck in misery and finding the right tune, the right mood to propel you out of the yuckiness of life....

oh my

I have not made a blog entry since December 22nd 2004

It's been a while, almost two months.

I could have been done with my summer journal of 1978 rebroadcast by now.

My latest project is taking an online writing course at:

http://www.writersonlineworkshops.com/

It's gone well so far, I've gotten through three sessions and I enjoy what I'm doing.

Otherwise not much has transpired over the past 2 months. We still have the same 3 cats and dog. Sadly, Mary had to go to Los Angeles for a funeral last week. Her cousin Mark, who was only 46 years old died from a viral infection.

Life is fragile, keep writing, keep talking

regards

-- Joel

Monday July 24, 1978

Today I woke up at 7:00 at breakfast when we decided to go to the Schilthorn. We went down to the Train Station and took the train down to Zweiluetschinen and then got on another jam packed train to Lauterbrunnen. Then from Lauterbrunnen we took a very steep Bergbahn to Grutschalp. We then took a train from Grutschalp to Murren. We then took a Luftseilbahn up to Birg. Then we changed and went on another Luftseilbahn. We finally got to the Schilthorn at 9:15. The Schilthorn 9,748 ft above sea level the place of the "James Bond Movie Her Majesty's Secret Service." The weather up there was not as good as it was at Jungfraujoch. But everyplace else was clear. I took a lot of photos. I don't think it's as good as Jungfraujoch. Maybe its warmer and more comfortable at Schilthorn. It's not as spectacular. The feeling of being up at 11,333 feet is great. When I compare both views from each one they are about the same. We then got down to Murren where we looked at the Alps and ate. The Alps were beautiful down in Murren. It's better than Grindelwald. We then went to Lauterbrunnen where we looked at the falls. We got back to Zweilutschinen and got back to Grindelwald. I then goofed around until we ate at 5:30. After that I played Monopoly with Andrew and Dad and I lost again! The standings are Dad 6-4, Me 8-14, Andrew 8-14. That's my 9th straight loss. Darn it! I went to bed at 9:15.

Tuesday July 25, 1978

Today I woke up at 8:00. I went to get bread and then I ate. We then goofed around until 9:30 when we went down to the train to Interlaken. When we finally got down to Interlaken we met Grossmutter and Grossvater and David and Kathi. They came here at 10:45. We then ate in Interlaken. We then hiked around Interlaken. We went to an ice cream shop. After that we went down to the train station at 1:00 and took a ship down lake Thun. It was a nice 2 hour ride to Thun. We got there by 4:00. We then went to get something to drink in Thun. We then took a train back to Interlaken Ost. We waved good bye. We got back to Grindelwald, we got back to Grindelwald. We got up to the apartment at 6:00. We then ate at 6:30. I then goofed around and then washed the dishes. I then took a bath at 8:00. After I finished my bath I goofed around and looked at the Hiking map. I goofed around and went to bed at 9:38.

Wednesday July 26, 1978

A month ago we were on the plane to Zurich. I woke up at 7:30 today and got bread with Dad. Mom and Andrew were still asleep when we ate breakfast. We then went down to the Firstbahn where the line there was a mile long. We finally got on the Firstbahn. We went through the stations Oberhaus, Bort, Egg. We hiked to First to Bachalpsee. In pictures of the place it has 100% water. When we were there it was about all ice. We then to a difficult hike. Coming down on one place was very dangerous the descent was steep and had a lot of slippery gravel. But we made it. It was even worse than the hike to Stieregg on Thursday July 20. We then went down through Allenfluh and went back to Grindelwald. Dad and I then went downtown. I got some colored matches and some film. I'm really spending a lot of money on photography. I then went up and goofed around until I ate at about 5:30. I then goofed around and set up the Monopoly game while Andrew and Dad washed the dishes. I won at last! Ending a nine game losing streak. I'm now confident of winning seeing that I have won for the first time since Monday the 17th. Dad and I plan to go to Kleine Schidegg by foot tomorrow or Friday. I went to bed at 8:30.

Thursday July 27, 1978

Today I woke up at 7:30 and got six gipfelis. I then ate. We then went on a rough hike across the face of the Eiger. The path had stairs and ladders but that was no problem. It was a beautiful hike. There were hardly any people on the path. We could have made it Alpigen in an hour and a half but we had to wait for slow mother. We drank some water from the glacier it was delicous. It really wasn't a hard hike but it looks like one. The beginning of the hike is hard and rough but after that it's easy as pie. When we got to down to Alpigen at 1:30 we went down to Grindelwald. We got down there by 2:30. We then wen to the Co-Op to get ice cream and Citro. We then went to the Sport Center and gome some posters. Their pretty cheap for 3 francs. Andrew got one of the Eiger. I got 2. One of the Schilthorn and one of the Jungfraujoch. I'm really spending money. I use to have 80 francs and now I have 50. I then went back up. I was really sweating. It's hot as anything. I then drunk Citro and took a nice nap. I got up at 5:15 when I ate. My legs and shoulders have been stiff all day. I then washed dished with Dad. I broke one glass. I then played Monopoly with Andrew and Dad. Andrew won again. Dad is now on Dad's third straight loss. I took a nice warm bath but my legs and shoulders are still stiff. I went to bed at 9:15.

Wednesday July 19, 1978

Today I woke up at 7:00. I goofed around until Dad woke up. We went to get bread but again they didn't have and gipfelis. It's been cloudy and rainy all day. But we reserved six gipfelis for tomorrow. We then ate breakfast. Dad and I went in the rain downtown, we mailed our postcards. Yesterday I wrote postcards to Joe, Brad and Bobby. We then got the Herald Tribune. We went to the Sport Center. We got a visitors card. We then hiked back up when I played Monopoly with Andrew. Andrew had a great Monopoly but I beat him. I had a cheap Monopoly. I then ate lunch. After lunch I read and tried to sleep. I couldn't sleep. I then played Monopoly with Dad and Andrew. Dad won but Andrew lost for the 7th straight time unofficialy. I then goofed around and read. Today's been a rather boring day because of the thick clouds and rain. I then hked up Terrassenweg with Mom and Dad. We returned at 5:00 when I read and ate at 6:00. Dad and I then washed the dishes. After that I read my book. I'm almost done with it. I went to be at 9:15.

Thursday July 20, 1978

Uncle Bill moved to Florida today

It's been five weeks since I started writing this journal. I woke up at 7:00 today. I then woke up Dad 7:10. The sky in the morning was so-so. We then got gipfelis. We saw fireworks. I can just wait. I'm going to spend a lot of money on fireworks. Then we went back and ate breakfast. We decided to go to Ober Gletcher, Pfingstegg. We decided not to go to Ober Gletcher. We started out at 10:00. We then hiked to Pfingstegg after hiking part of the Ober Gletcher. We then decided to go to Stieregg 1,000 feet above Pfingstegg. It was a rough climb. The path was marked and dotted red meaning only experienced mountain hikers and people that wear the right kind of shoe should go there. Going up just about one slip would be fatal. It was a dangerous hike. But we made it. Wehn we got there at 1:30 we had a little bit to eat and then came back down that was even worse and hard. We then hiked down to Grindelwald. We got there at 3:00. That was a good 5 hour hike. We then got 4 bottles of Citro and went back up to the apartment. I then rested. I then ate at 5:30. It's being to get all clouded up now. I doubt we will hike tomorrow but you can never tell. I was reading an article on the Russians. There has been great disagreement. The Americans and Russians have a war of the mouths. There like babies. If the Soviets do something the Americans don't like the Americans do something that the Russians don't like. Someday someone will press a red button and that will be it. I then set up the Monopoly game while Andrew and Dad washed the dishes. We played and Dad won again. He's just lucky. Andrew lost his 8th straight game. I went to bed at 9:30.

Friday July 21, 1978

Today I woke up at 8:00. Outside it was an ugly looking day. Dad and I went to the store and got bread. We then ate breakfast. After that we played Monopoly. Dad won again. Andrew was in last place. Andrew and I went to the little store. We went shopping around for fireworks. We wrote a list of what we wanted to get. When we added up the prices the cost was very high. About 65 francs. We then went back when Andrew and I played Monopoly. We had to have a stalemate deadline we had so much money. So before the deadline I traded. I think that was a mistake. I could have had more money. Meaning that I would have won. I then ate lunch in the middle of the game. Andrew set a new record for money with 230,000 Francs. We then went swimming at the sport center. They didn't have any badminton courts. But we went swimming. They have the weirdest system you have ever saw. We then came back at four while it was raining. It's too bad that we haven't had good weather lately. We hope to got to First tomorrow. I then read the patper and ate. After eating I washed the dishes and then played Monopoly. I lost because I made a stupid mistake. The game is 99% luck. But when it came to skill today I stunk. The standings are now Dad 5-4 at No 1. Andrew and 5-13 ending his 10 game losing streak. Me 8-10 losing 5 straight. I went to bed at 9:01.

Saturday July 22, 1978

Today I woke up at 7:15 and then got gipfelis with Dad. We ate at 8:00. We then took the chairlift to First. It was pretty cloudy up there. The ride takes 30 minutes. We then hiked to Gross Shidegg. It was an hour and a half hike. It was fairly easy. We then went to a lake in the middle of nowhere. We couldn't find the way in there. We finally did. We had even more trouble when we couldn't find the way out of that stupid example of a labyrinth. We then had to walk on cowpaths. It was not a path but if it was a path it was a heck of a path. We really were in a farmers pasture trying to get out. It was muddy. It was terrible. We finally found the way out. We came to a civilized path. We finally got on the right path and got to the apartment. We then hiked downtown where we got Citro and hiked back up. I then read the Herald Tribune. After that I played Monopoly with Andrew he won again. After that we ate. Andrew and Dad played Monopoly with me. Dad won, that's my sixth straight loss. I went to bed at 9:00.

Sunday July 23, 1978

Today I woke up at 6:10 and then woke up Dad we started hiking at 6:30. We went through Oberhaus to Bort. We saw the stationmaster go up to the station. We rested there until 7:45 when we hiked back down. We got back at 8:10. When we ate breakfast. Dad then went to church when Andrew and I played Monopoly. Andrew won again. When you lose a lot like I am you feel that it is not possible to win. I then went downtown to myself. I asked for a 126-20 film in German. However the guy at the counter knew that I spoke English. He said that he could understand what I said in German. I then went back up. I then ate a little lunch and I took a nap. I slept for two hours. I woke up at 4:00 when Mom and Dad came back from their little hike. I then looked at the Eiger to see if anyone was climbing. Last night Mom and Dad saw a light from the Eiger but it could possibly be the train light. I then ate at 6:00. After that I washed the dished took a bath and went to bed at 8:35.