Coming back from celebrating a graduation with Melanie's family we got stuck in a construction delay for a few minutes. It gave me time to take this panorama. This is just at the beginning of the down slope outside of Blowing Rock, NC. There is some serious widening going on here. It needs it. This spot can be tricky with the old two lane road. This is a continuation of major work done on 321 over the last several years.
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Saturday, May 03, 2014
A Panorama of Freedom Park
I went for a bike ride on the greenway Thursday. The ride took me through Freedom Park and I took this panorama from my favorite spot.
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Park Road Park
Right down the street from us is the oddly named Park Road Park. Mainly because the road was called Park Road before the park was put in. The Department of Redundancy Department put as little effort as possible into coming up with a name for the park. Still, it's a nice park. It has a pond with turtles, as you may have seen in an earlier post. Below is a picture I took today while we were turtle stalking.
Friday, April 25, 2014
Race and Cliven Bundy
Most likely you are familiar with Cliven Bundy and his views on race. Just is case you're not here are his comments on "the negro" from the New York Times article.
"I want to tell you one more thing I know about the Negro,” he said. Mr. Bundy recalled driving past a public-housing project in North Las Vegas, “and in front of that government house the door was usually open and the older people and the kids — and there is always at least a half a dozen people sitting on the porch — they didn’t have nothing to do.
I want to tell you one more thing I know about the Negro,” he said. Mr. Bundy recalled driving past a public-housing project in North Las Vegas, “and in front of that government house the door was usually open and the older people and the kids — and there is always at least a half a dozen people sitting on the porch — they didn’t have nothing to do. They didn’t have nothing for their kids to do. They didn’t have nothing for their young girls to do.
“And because they were basically on government subsidy, so now what do they do?” he asked. “They abort their young children, they put their young men in jail, because they never learned how to pick cotton. And I’ve often wondered, are they better off as slaves, picking cotton and having a family life and doing things, or are they better off under government subsidy? They didn’t get no more freedom. They got less freedom.”
Yeah, ill informed and just plain wrong. Racist, if you will.
But today Talking Points Memo has a story about comments he made about Mexicans and the comments are surprisingly sympathetic. He said,
"I understand that they come over here against our Constitution and cross our borders," he says. "But they're here and they're people. I worked side-by-side a lot of them. Don't tell me they don't work, and don't tell me they don't pay taxes. And don't tell me they don't have better family structures than most of us white people.
When you see those Mexican families, they're together. They picnic together. They're spending their time together," he said. "I'll tell you, in my way of thinking, they're awful nice people. We need to have those people join us and be with us."
You really couldn't ask for a better example of how prejudice works when you look at these two statements. His take on African Americans is solely based on driving through a neighborhood in North Las Vegas. He witnesses life in a lower income area in the city. He sees people loitering, which you often do in a depressed neighborhood. He makes incorrect assumptions because he has no real knowledge of what life is like for the people in this neighborhood he is hurrying through. To him they aren't people, to him they are a problem that needs a solution and his solution comes from ignorance.
His take on Mexican immigrants is a complete 180. He sees them as human and sympathizes with their situation. Why? Because he works, eats and lives with them. They become more than a problem created by the 24 hour news cycle.
It's such a simple lesson here, so obvious. What is unfortunate is that these disconnects like he displays with his backwards ideas about African Americans are probably getting worse overall in our country. Our cities are more divided between the haves and have nots than they have been in a long time. There is a push to re-segregate schools and a move away from affirmative action. As we get further apart attitudes like Clive Bundy's will only become more common.
"I want to tell you one more thing I know about the Negro,” he said. Mr. Bundy recalled driving past a public-housing project in North Las Vegas, “and in front of that government house the door was usually open and the older people and the kids — and there is always at least a half a dozen people sitting on the porch — they didn’t have nothing to do.
I want to tell you one more thing I know about the Negro,” he said. Mr. Bundy recalled driving past a public-housing project in North Las Vegas, “and in front of that government house the door was usually open and the older people and the kids — and there is always at least a half a dozen people sitting on the porch — they didn’t have nothing to do. They didn’t have nothing for their kids to do. They didn’t have nothing for their young girls to do.
“And because they were basically on government subsidy, so now what do they do?” he asked. “They abort their young children, they put their young men in jail, because they never learned how to pick cotton. And I’ve often wondered, are they better off as slaves, picking cotton and having a family life and doing things, or are they better off under government subsidy? They didn’t get no more freedom. They got less freedom.”
Yeah, ill informed and just plain wrong. Racist, if you will.
But today Talking Points Memo has a story about comments he made about Mexicans and the comments are surprisingly sympathetic. He said,
"I understand that they come over here against our Constitution and cross our borders," he says. "But they're here and they're people. I worked side-by-side a lot of them. Don't tell me they don't work, and don't tell me they don't pay taxes. And don't tell me they don't have better family structures than most of us white people.
When you see those Mexican families, they're together. They picnic together. They're spending their time together," he said. "I'll tell you, in my way of thinking, they're awful nice people. We need to have those people join us and be with us."
You really couldn't ask for a better example of how prejudice works when you look at these two statements. His take on African Americans is solely based on driving through a neighborhood in North Las Vegas. He witnesses life in a lower income area in the city. He sees people loitering, which you often do in a depressed neighborhood. He makes incorrect assumptions because he has no real knowledge of what life is like for the people in this neighborhood he is hurrying through. To him they aren't people, to him they are a problem that needs a solution and his solution comes from ignorance.
His take on Mexican immigrants is a complete 180. He sees them as human and sympathizes with their situation. Why? Because he works, eats and lives with them. They become more than a problem created by the 24 hour news cycle.
It's such a simple lesson here, so obvious. What is unfortunate is that these disconnects like he displays with his backwards ideas about African Americans are probably getting worse overall in our country. Our cities are more divided between the haves and have nots than they have been in a long time. There is a push to re-segregate schools and a move away from affirmative action. As we get further apart attitudes like Clive Bundy's will only become more common.
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Turtles and Great Blue Heron at the Park
In the last couple of weeks we have noticed that the pond at Park Road Park is chock full of turtles. I think they are painted turtles. The other day we saw about thirty, honest. Thirty turtles. How about a few pictures?
There is also a beautiful blue heron that hangs out at the pond sometimes. Its wingspan was a good five to six feet.
There is also a beautiful blue heron that hangs out at the pond sometimes. Its wingspan was a good five to six feet.
Thursday, April 03, 2014
Favorite Movie Lines
I am going to steal another blog idea from Troy. My three favorite lines from movies.
The first one is easy. I love deadpan delivery of funny lines and Blazing Saddles is one of my favorite movies. This is the scene where our two heroes discover the villain is up to no good. They need to get closer! What better way than to prey on the weak minded members of the KKK? I just love, love the way Cleavon Little says, "Where the white women at?"
One of joys of Young Frankenstein is the surreal and self aware performance by Marty Feldman. The line about his old man and the bathroom gets me every time.
There are a lot of instances of John Goodman saying "Shut the Fuck Up, Donny" in Big Lebowski. The one that makes me laugh every time I see it is the one where he swallows his rage during the dance recital by the Dude's landlord. The only time I have seen choking on rage like this was when Moe played poker with Homer.
Video here
Bonus: Moe choking on his own rage.
The first one is easy. I love deadpan delivery of funny lines and Blazing Saddles is one of my favorite movies. This is the scene where our two heroes discover the villain is up to no good. They need to get closer! What better way than to prey on the weak minded members of the KKK? I just love, love the way Cleavon Little says, "Where the white women at?"
One of joys of Young Frankenstein is the surreal and self aware performance by Marty Feldman. The line about his old man and the bathroom gets me every time.
There are a lot of instances of John Goodman saying "Shut the Fuck Up, Donny" in Big Lebowski. The one that makes me laugh every time I see it is the one where he swallows his rage during the dance recital by the Dude's landlord. The only time I have seen choking on rage like this was when Moe played poker with Homer.
Video here
Bonus: Moe choking on his own rage.
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Bill Hicks
Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of the passing of Bill Hicks. I first discovered him when the Comedy Channel broadcast a documentary called "It's Just a Ride." I remember watching this comedian say amazing things. He said things that really grabbed me and, not only that, but he was hilarious. His worldview was one I really identified with but once you get beyond that you quickly see that his writing and presentation were on par with the great ones. He was as funny and intelligent as Carlin and Pryor with the timing of Steve Martin. He was brilliant and I was hooked. I had found a new great comedian. I had found a new Carlin or Pryor! How many times in your life do you come across an artist like Bill Hicks? I was ecstatic.
Of course you can guess what happened next. After a few minutes more of watching the documentary I realized that those talking about him were memorializing him. Bill Hicks was dead! I had discovered and lost my new favorite comedian in the span of ten minutes. I was crushed.
I have wondered a lot how I had no idea Bill Hicks existed. I love stand up comedy. Especially comedy like his. He appeared on Letterman a lot in the 80s. In the 80s I used to record Letterman on our home VCR. You know what I used to do? I would watch the first twenty or thirty minutes of each Late Show. I did that because I loved how Dave would screw around for the first two commercial breaks and once the guests came on I would lost interest. I wonder if any of those shows I recorded had a Bill Hicks appearance at the end? He would have perfectly augmented my tastes back then. He would have fit in perfectly with Tom Waits, Was (Not Was), Bill Cosby, Jimi Hendrix and Neil Young. If only!
I also wonder if Bill Hicks played the Comedy Zone in Charlotte in the early 90s? At that point I was going there occasionally and I saw some good comedy. You know what, though. If Bill Hicks did play the Comedy Zone while I was in Charlotte I really don't want to know. That would really bum me out. If I had caught him early in the week there would have been a good chance I would have been there every night for a week.
Of course you can guess what happened next. After a few minutes more of watching the documentary I realized that those talking about him were memorializing him. Bill Hicks was dead! I had discovered and lost my new favorite comedian in the span of ten minutes. I was crushed.
I have wondered a lot how I had no idea Bill Hicks existed. I love stand up comedy. Especially comedy like his. He appeared on Letterman a lot in the 80s. In the 80s I used to record Letterman on our home VCR. You know what I used to do? I would watch the first twenty or thirty minutes of each Late Show. I did that because I loved how Dave would screw around for the first two commercial breaks and once the guests came on I would lost interest. I wonder if any of those shows I recorded had a Bill Hicks appearance at the end? He would have perfectly augmented my tastes back then. He would have fit in perfectly with Tom Waits, Was (Not Was), Bill Cosby, Jimi Hendrix and Neil Young. If only!
I also wonder if Bill Hicks played the Comedy Zone in Charlotte in the early 90s? At that point I was going there occasionally and I saw some good comedy. You know what, though. If Bill Hicks did play the Comedy Zone while I was in Charlotte I really don't want to know. That would really bum me out. If I had caught him early in the week there would have been a good chance I would have been there every night for a week.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Siskel and Ebert on the 1989 Batman Movie
As I think back there were two things I had that talked seriously about art when I was growing up. Rolling Stone magazine and Siskel and Ebert. I can directly attribute my love of Was (Not Was) to a review from Rolling Stone.
I was first attracted to Siskle and Ebert because of their supposed arguing, and they did argue. But to me they were a revelation, They were my first example of two adults discuss seriously the merits of a piece of art. I bet their show created a billion new little critics and here we are clogging the intertubes with our shit.
I just found their review of the 1989 Batman movie and I find myself agreeing with both of them in a way. That is another aspect of their show that I loved, they could completely disagree on a movie but both would have a valid reason why they felt that way. That was a revelation to me. Often when that happened they would compromise like they do at the end of this review, showing that compromise isn't a weakness but a strength.
I was first attracted to Siskle and Ebert because of their supposed arguing, and they did argue. But to me they were a revelation, They were my first example of two adults discuss seriously the merits of a piece of art. I bet their show created a billion new little critics and here we are clogging the intertubes with our shit.
I just found their review of the 1989 Batman movie and I find myself agreeing with both of them in a way. That is another aspect of their show that I loved, they could completely disagree on a movie but both would have a valid reason why they felt that way. That was a revelation to me. Often when that happened they would compromise like they do at the end of this review, showing that compromise isn't a weakness but a strength.
Monday, February 03, 2014
New Cat
A couple of weeks ago this big beautiful gray cat showed up on our back porch. Being suckers we fed him. He started coming by every morning and night for food. One morning he was even sitting in our bedroom window mewing to be fed. When it started to get colder than normal we put a pet carrier outside on the porch with some towels inside to keep him warm. He slept in there a couple of days, coming out when it was time to eat. A few days after that it started to get really cold, the temperature was getting down into the teens. We then put him in our laundry room. This last Friday I took him to the vet to get checked out and then we introduced him to the other two cats. We call him Mongo.
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