Jack's Guide (the Renaissance Person's Guide to Survival in a Shaky Economy)

Today's sermon

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow...etc."  (No, I do not pretend to be the meanest sumbitch in the valley....)  But I will deign today to wax sermonic. (That word, I was surprised to discover, actually exists- thank you, thesaurus.com).  Don't worry, I'll try to keep it light and relatively brief.

As yesterday was a slow Saturday, and since I had no musical gig or other plans, I plopped my ever-expanding posterior down in front of the tube for an evening of enlightenment.  I had recently watched the film Good Night and Good Luck (which I'll recommend highly), wherein the theme of responsible television programming was thoughtfully explored.  So I decided to forego the latest installment of Swamp Loggers (just kidding- I've never laid eyes on it- but you get my point, I hope), and decided instead to peruse the National Geographic Channel.  I might as well have been watching a disaster flick.  The two programs I perused, both of which proved quite sobering (and I haven't had a drink in eleven years), consisted of the stories of the March earthquake that devastated parts of Japan, and of the spate of tornados that recently ripped through the South and midwest United States.  I had just witnessed firsthand some of the destruction wrought by the latter, having driven through part of Alabama on my recent sojourn there.  I saw acres of flattened forests adjacent to seemingly untouched areas, as well as neatly stacked roadside piles of debris that had clearly recently been homes, warehouses, churches and/or the like.  You couldn't really tell.

The two shows seemed to have one common theme, besides the obvious hedonistic fascination with destruction that we have, until it happens to us.  The first feature pointedly demonstrated that in the past year there have been three major seismic events around the Pacific "Ring of Fire"- way more than usual. Heck, I think they said that one a decade is more the usual frequency.  All I can say is that I'm thankful I don't live in Seattle.  And apparently the outbreak of storms in the South (which so far seem to have eschewed their regular diet of trailer parks- and in Alabama, yet) is something, so they said, that might happen once every twenty years.

Now, I don't subscribe to alarmist, end-of-days predictions.  But the whole 2012 phenomenon and forecasts of global-warming-spawned weather events have got me thinking.  On a personal level, none of us has any guarantee of continuation beyond the next five minutes, let alone the winter solstice of next year.  I'm not saying that I always act like it, but I do believe that all I have is today.  If I waste time dwelling on past unfortunate events or worrying about the wreckage of my future, I am missing the whole point.  I think we were put here (by a universe or a higher power with an insidious sense of humor) to experience joy in and of ourselves and each other.  I had a tornado jump over my home a couple of years ago, but it didn't make me recognize this truth the way a television show did.  Edward R. Murrow was right when he said, "The obscure we see eventually. The completely obvious, it seems, takes longer. "

Good night and good luck.

Home Repair and Remodeling site, Film review

I lately have fielded more than a few inquiries regarding my recent move.  One might think of that issue as "relatively painless", as I was in essence going just next door.  However, the process took a solid two months and is, as any discriminating homeowner will know, an evolving, on-going affair.   That said, I am well-settled in the new space and quite comfy, so that my answer to the above-referenced inquiries is that I am adjusting quite well in my new man cave, thanks very much.  It occurred to me, too, that I have posted few pix of the new place, so if I can figure out a way to....ah, yes, there it is....(keyboard sounds and random snorts of satisfaction).......  Okay, you should now be able to find a photo album in the right-hand sidebar, labeled 2011 Renovation, where I have put for your perusal a few pictures of my new digs. Here's the place from the street:

These photos are really quite lame, as my faithful old HP750 finally bit the dust, and I guess I'll have to go out and buy one of those credit-card sized digital cameras.  I've got a mind to duct-tape it to my old Nikon FM SLR, to at least make it feel like a real camera.  Anyway, pardon the pictures, taken with my iPhone.  I'll replace them whenever I get some higher-res photos.

One of the compelling reasons for doing this is to convince folks that I am fine.  Going back to those questions from concerned friends and family, from clients and co-workers; I do appreciate the sentiment, but I feel in truth that I have nothing that could justify allowing myself the dubious luxury of wallowing in self-pity.  

The other excuse for bringing up the relocation/renovation project is that it makes a perfect segue into another story: that of a website that I actually got paid to beta-test several months ago. It wasn't so much the site I was paid to evaluate, as it was the whole process of posting and participating on the site, and it ultimately paid several hundred bucks, which was worth the effort.  Anyway, when they quit paying me, I lost interest (funny how that works), and forgot about it until I got some feedback about one of my posted projects- one of six home fix-up affairs I initially posted on the website.  I noticed their name/address had changed, so I felt it appropriate here to give them another shout-out, as well as updating their info on the right-hand sidebar (close to the bottom, if not at it).  Their new name is hometalk.com , and I like their new format enough to look into once again posting there, and to recommend checking them out, if you are a fix-it type person and are internet-savvy at all.

For those of you who find yourselves with time to spend watching television and/or films, I wish to file a review.  Years ago, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Ken Follett's wonderful novel of medieval England, Pillars of the Earth.  The story has since been serialized and produced for tv, reduced somewhat in scope, but still broad enough to flesh out eight hour-long episodes.  This must have happened during the period several years ago when I put myself on a tv-free regimen, as I was surprised when it turned up on the shelves at my local Blockbuster.  Normally I don't bother to compare films to the books from which they are derived- the two media are so different that, for me, at least, there's no comparing.  I have seen movies that I enjoyed more than their cinematic counterpart, and vice versa.  Pillars of the Earth, the series, is well worth watching.  I am venturing this opinion despite the fact that I am only half-way through it.  (Critics put waaaay too much stock in endings, I think, happy or otherwise, where all loose ends are tied up and all live happily ever after- not so much like real life.)  So there, for what it's worth, is my opinion and recommendation. 

Miscellany: Elephant Seals, Good Plan, Book and Movie reviews

I forget which one of the photographic magazines it was that always included on the last page a feature entitled Miscellany.  It was one of the popular bastions of photo-journalism that proliferated when I was coming of age. (No, it wasn't National Geographics, and I'm not talking about not that kind of maturing...)  Maybe it was Life, or Saturday Evening Post- somebody help me out here........ The word had no formal definition for me, but I understood its meaning, deriving from the content of that regular page.  I recall always finding it very interesting, perhaps in part because I never knew what to expect.  Then again, maybe it was just my propensity to be all over the map in my circles of interest.  I still like having what might be wisely considered an overabundance of focii (or is it more correctly, "focuses"?), leading sometimes to a dilution of my energies, if I'm not very careful.  Judicious use of my time is not always my strong suit, but we work within the allowances of our shortcomings, making the best of things despite them- if we're lucky.  And I like to think I am.

I was thoroughly whipped after Sunday's capitalistic endeavor, and after that enthusiastic plunge into the universe of yard sales, I hope to atone for the lack of a post yesterday, by today posting about a whole slew of various stuff, all still related (perhaps somewhat loosely) to creativity and productivity.  The event, by the way, was mildly profitable and quite interesting.  It proved to be a successful networking effort, as much as anything, and was a pleasant, if exhausting, way to spend an afternoon.

I keep going on about the importance of being imaginative when it comes to making a living with our productive efforts, and this little brief, which was sent to me by my friend Terry, is a perfect example, if not one I would highly recommend.  It also points out a scenario only made possible by typical bureaucratic bumbling and  oversights.  You gotta applaud the cohones of the guy.  From the London Times:

     

"Outside England 's Bristol Zoo there is a parking lot for 150 cars and 8 buses. For 25 years,its parking fees were managed by a very pleasant attendant. The fees were for cars (£1.40),for buses (about £7).

Then, one day, after 25 solid years of never missing a day of work, he just didn't show up; so the Zoo Management called the City Council and asked it to send them another parking agent. 

The Council did some research and replied that the parking lot was the Zoo's own responsibility. 

The Zoo advised the Council that the attendant was a City employee. The City Council responded that the lot attendant had never been on the City payroll.

Meanwhile, sitting in his villa somewhere on the coast of Spain or France or Italy ...  is a man who'd apparently had a ticket machine installed completely on his own and then had simply begun to show up every day, commencing to collect and keep the parking fees, estimated at about £560 per day -- for 25 years. 
Assuming 7 days a week, this amounts to just over 7 million pounds ... and no one even knows his name."

Bravo, sir, for your creative appropriation of the system.  

I recently realized that I have not posted the slightest jot about films.  Well, there was that one slight thing about the Eames Brother's film, Powers of Ten, but that was a short film. Aaaand, there's the posting in the sidebar about the documentary Art of the Steal... okay, I've posted a jot or two.  So sue me.   I watched one over the weekend that I feel deserves mention, a feature-length film called City Island, directed by Raymond De Felitta.  I'm not dropping names here-  I know little about obscure directors, but having seen and enjoyed this one, I'm going back to check out  some of his previous three films, none of which I'd ever heard of.  The cast includes Andy Garcia in a kinda predictable role for him, but he's good in it; Juliana Margulies, and Emily Mortimer, who I think is great.  If they ever do a remake of Breakfast at Tiffany's (or have they already? I can't keep up...), she's Audrey Hepburn all the way.  Anyway, he's a prison guard who wants to be an actor, and in concealing his passion from his wife (Margulies), he perpetuates an alienation that leads the whole family to deception and amusing revelations. There's a good deal of the off-beat, some of it not really germane to the plot,  that keeps things lively.  Kind of a morality play, I guess, about honesty and concealment, and the value of communication and pursuing one's bliss.  I liked it a lot, but maybe that's just because I watch so many stinkers, and put up with 'em.  I'm working on that......

I'm taking Gulag off my "What I'm Reading" list.  It ran me off with its brutal honesty.  You can probably surmise pretty handily what it relates the history of, and perhaps figure out why I'm done with it, at least for now.   Maybe I'll get back to it later, but I'm more in the mood for more entertaining, or hopeful-informative reading material.  I'm trying out Andrew Keene's Cult of the Amateur (see October 13th post)

And finally, thanks to my buddy Doug for sending me a cool little video that will be embraced by tree-huggers and, I think, corporate goons alike.  It warmed the cockles of this one's heart, for certain.  On viewing it, I'm not so sure I'd be as trusting as the heroine of the story, who seems to prove to the world that elephant seals need love, too.  (Get your mind out of that gutter- not that kinda love....)

Cuddling on the Beach