This is pretty typical for Richland Center. I would probably been outside protesting if I still lived there. Probably got a visit from the FBI before the presidential visit just to warn me to be good. They always did that yearly for me, just because I was the editor of the campus newspaper years ago. I would like to get my gov file sometime to see what they wrote about me. I remember telling an FBI agent to go fuck himself once when he came to visit. I was a bit worried they would shot me. The guy turned beet red, but then he left.....
Published on Thursday, October 28, 2004 by the Capital Times / Madison, Wisconsin
King George Abuses 1st Amendment
by John Nichols
The true American revolutionaries - Tom Jefferson, Tom Paine and their kind - always argued that the rebellion against King George III was unfinished business. Jefferson went so far as to suggest that the tree of liberty would need to be watered every 20 years or so with the blood of patriots.
When another King George brought his royal tour to southwestern Wisconsin Tuesday, high school students in Richland Center got a powerful lesson regarding the difficulty of stamping out the regal impulse in the lesser leaders of our age.
The Bush-Cheney campaign rented the local high school and applied the divine right of kings - or at least one ill-prepared and inarticulate boy king - to what had been a public school. Richland Center students were informed that they could attend the audience with His Highness only if they donned approved apparel: a Bush for President T-shirt or so-called "neutral clothing." What they could not wear was any clothing that promoted the cause of any dissenter to the rule of King George.
If they showed up dressed inappropriately, students were warned, they would be removed from what was perhaps the biggest-ever event at their school.
What could justify such an abuse of the First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and assembly? The principal of Richland Center High School - whose boss, the superintendent of schools for the city, is the wife of Republican congressional candidate Dale Schultz - had no problem eliminating a few basic liberties because, as he put it, students were being given a rare opportunity to spend time in the presence of their king, er, president. The principal needs to review a few American history books.
The American Revolution was fought, in Paine's words, to "establish a new social order." Central to that new order's philosophy of being was the notion that every American must be endowed, as Jefferson explained, with "the free right to the unbounded exercise of reason and freedom of opinion."
That right was denied in Richland Center by the Bush campaign and school officials who do not understand or respect the ideals that inspired the American revolution against King George - who Paine dismissed as the "Royal Brute" - and against the warped values that claimed God wanted power to pass from a wealthy and privileged father to a wealthy and privileged son.
Unfortunately, this was not the first time that the Bill of Rights was torn up to make way for a royal visit to Wisconsin by the current King George. During previous regal tours of Wisconsin, a man who held up an anti-Bush sign as His Highness passed was arrested in Platteville, peaceful demonstrators were denied access to a space they had reserved in La Crosse because there was an outside chance that their objections might momentarily be seen or heard by the visiting king, and an Outagamie County official was hustled out of a royal rally in Ashwaubenon because he was wearing a T-shirt that mentioned the name of a foe of the boy king.
This King George is no more open to dissent than the previous King George.
What to do?
The last Royal Brute's excesses inspired Tom Jefferson to argue "that whenever any form of government becomes destructive to (the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness), it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government ..."
In light of the current Royal Brute's excesses, it would seem only appropriate Tuesday to water the tree of liberty with - if not the blood of patriots - then certainly their votes.
Somehow, I feel like I am becoming a geezer. After my bike accident, I have used a cane. I feel like poking a young whipersnapper...
Friday, October 29, 2004
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
More Richland Center
I know Jim Greeley.
Bush makes up for slight of small Wisconsin town
RICHLAND CENTER, Wis. — Sometimes running for president means giving serious speeches to cheering crowds at big rallies. Sometimes it means hanging out in a fragrant barn and visiting a tiny town to atone for a slight.
President Bush had the second sort of day Tuesday.
He rode a bus across Wisconsin and into Iowa, gave three speeches, talked about his economic policies and attacked Sen. John Kerry. But his quest for Wisconsin's 10 Electoral College votes also provided some moments that were unusual in the final week of a presidential campaign.
The first came in early morning, when his cavalcade stopped nearby at the side of County Road EE, where a few dozen supporters were gathered at John and Connie Turgasen's dairy farm. Bush made the obligatory tour of the Turgasens' white barn, where Holsteins were on duty in their stanchions, before posing for photos with four generations of Turgasens.
It wasn't merely a social call. Photos and video footage of Bush looking comfortable in the workaday milieu were designed to signal to Wisconsin voters that the president is attuned to their lives and concerns.
Later, Bush found an opening to ingratiate himself with the state's football fans and remind them that Kerry had referred to the Green Bay Packers' stadium as "Lambert Field" during an August visit.
Jim Greeley, who was supposed to talk with Bush about his sign company during a discussion of Bush's tax cuts, asked the president, "Did you see the Packer-Dallas game?" The Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys 41-20 on Sunday.
"I saw that, and I know the Wisconsin Badgers are undefeated," Bush said. "And let me tell you what else I know. I know the Packers beat Dallas at Lambeau Field."
The Bush campaign is running a new radio ad in Wisconsin that hammers home the message. The ad, which says Kerry's dairy policies would cost Wisconsin farmers money, starts with one man saying to another, "That John Kerry just doesn't get it." His friend replies, "Oh, the Packer thing."
Bush's next stop was in Cuba City, whose 2,174 residents were miffed last May when they got decked out in hopes of a presidential stop only to watch Bush's bus sail right through town. The snub was no small matter for Cuba City, the self-anointed "City of Presidents." Its lampposts bear signs that feature every U.S. president's silhouette, years of service and home state. Until Tuesday, though, no president had visited.
Kerry made matters worse for Bush in August, when his bus tour made a detour so he could stop in Cuba City.
Bush didn't apologize Tuesday, but he tried to smooth things over. "A few months ago, I was the first sitting president to pass through Cuba City," he said. "Today, I'm the first sitting president to stop in and give a speech. And I'm looking forward to signing my name to the shield of the 43rd president."
Mayor Richard Davis said all was forgiven. Having a president pass through town twice in a year is "a one-in-a-million chance," he said.
Deadly serious electoral calculations lie behind Bush's lighthearted moments. Bush lost Wisconsin by 5,708 votes in 2000. This year, the state's electoral votes are part of his back-up plan in case he loses Ohio, a state he carried in 2000 but where concerns about the economy have given Kerry momentum.
In the Electoral College, Bush must get 270 votes to be elected. Ohio has 20. If he loses it, he hopes to compensate by winning states Democrat Al Gore won in 2000: Wisconsin's 10 votes, seven more in Iowa, and maybe New Hampshire's four or Minnesota's 10.
It's a strategy with little margin for error, and it's the underpinning of Bush's itinerary for the final days of the campaign. He'll be in New Hampshire on Friday. He'll be in Minnesota and back in Wisconsin on Saturday.
Bush makes up for slight of small Wisconsin town
RICHLAND CENTER, Wis. — Sometimes running for president means giving serious speeches to cheering crowds at big rallies. Sometimes it means hanging out in a fragrant barn and visiting a tiny town to atone for a slight.
President Bush had the second sort of day Tuesday.
He rode a bus across Wisconsin and into Iowa, gave three speeches, talked about his economic policies and attacked Sen. John Kerry. But his quest for Wisconsin's 10 Electoral College votes also provided some moments that were unusual in the final week of a presidential campaign.
The first came in early morning, when his cavalcade stopped nearby at the side of County Road EE, where a few dozen supporters were gathered at John and Connie Turgasen's dairy farm. Bush made the obligatory tour of the Turgasens' white barn, where Holsteins were on duty in their stanchions, before posing for photos with four generations of Turgasens.
It wasn't merely a social call. Photos and video footage of Bush looking comfortable in the workaday milieu were designed to signal to Wisconsin voters that the president is attuned to their lives and concerns.
Later, Bush found an opening to ingratiate himself with the state's football fans and remind them that Kerry had referred to the Green Bay Packers' stadium as "Lambert Field" during an August visit.
Jim Greeley, who was supposed to talk with Bush about his sign company during a discussion of Bush's tax cuts, asked the president, "Did you see the Packer-Dallas game?" The Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys 41-20 on Sunday.
"I saw that, and I know the Wisconsin Badgers are undefeated," Bush said. "And let me tell you what else I know. I know the Packers beat Dallas at Lambeau Field."
The Bush campaign is running a new radio ad in Wisconsin that hammers home the message. The ad, which says Kerry's dairy policies would cost Wisconsin farmers money, starts with one man saying to another, "That John Kerry just doesn't get it." His friend replies, "Oh, the Packer thing."
Bush's next stop was in Cuba City, whose 2,174 residents were miffed last May when they got decked out in hopes of a presidential stop only to watch Bush's bus sail right through town. The snub was no small matter for Cuba City, the self-anointed "City of Presidents." Its lampposts bear signs that feature every U.S. president's silhouette, years of service and home state. Until Tuesday, though, no president had visited.
Kerry made matters worse for Bush in August, when his bus tour made a detour so he could stop in Cuba City.
Bush didn't apologize Tuesday, but he tried to smooth things over. "A few months ago, I was the first sitting president to pass through Cuba City," he said. "Today, I'm the first sitting president to stop in and give a speech. And I'm looking forward to signing my name to the shield of the 43rd president."
Mayor Richard Davis said all was forgiven. Having a president pass through town twice in a year is "a one-in-a-million chance," he said.
Deadly serious electoral calculations lie behind Bush's lighthearted moments. Bush lost Wisconsin by 5,708 votes in 2000. This year, the state's electoral votes are part of his back-up plan in case he loses Ohio, a state he carried in 2000 but where concerns about the economy have given Kerry momentum.
In the Electoral College, Bush must get 270 votes to be elected. Ohio has 20. If he loses it, he hopes to compensate by winning states Democrat Al Gore won in 2000: Wisconsin's 10 votes, seven more in Iowa, and maybe New Hampshire's four or Minnesota's 10.
It's a strategy with little margin for error, and it's the underpinning of Bush's itinerary for the final days of the campaign. He'll be in New Hampshire on Friday. He'll be in Minnesota and back in Wisconsin on Saturday.
Bush in Richland Center
I used to live in Richland Center. It is one of the poorest counties in Wisconsin. It now may be the poorest in Wisconsin due to the Casinos for the tribes. 2400 people would be about half the population of the town which is around 5000. Very hilly, very rural feeling and very poor prospects for people that want to accomplish much. Many of the old farmers paid for their farms by growing hemp before and during WWII for the federal government. Used it to make ropes for the ships.
Many of the farmers had their farms stolen during the 70's when the banks gave out money on high land prices and called their loans when the land prices fell. Many, many farmers lost their farms. Big corporate farmers took over the good land. The industries are low paying jobs in assembly of stuff. Many of those jobs are going overseas. If you are lucky, you teach. If you are really lucky, you have a job in Madison with the State which is about 60 miles away.
Lots of die hard republicans that I guess vote republican for the security. During Vietnam, if you were drafted out of Richland County, you were a draftee Marine. Draftee Marines were expendable....
Not a bad place to live if you get your money from somewhere else. Nice small town atmosphere. But a real dead end town. Why would Bush waste his time here?
Dee J. Hall Wisconsin State JournalOctober 27, 2004RICHLAND CENTER - During his swing Tuesday through western Wisconsin, President Bush held up four examples of how his economic policies have helped average Americans, including two area business owners who said Bush's policies give them more money to invest in their companies.
Bush, in shirt sleeves, was animated and jovial during the talk before 2,400 people at Richland Center High School gymnasium. He focused on the economy but also touched on the war on terrorism, health care, education and a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.
Bush's daylong bus tour through western Wisconsin began with a 5,000-person rally in Onalaska in the morning, a stop at a dairy farm near Bosstown, the talk in Richland Center at mid-day and a 1,500- person rally in Cuba City. Bush then headed to Dubuque in Iowa, another Midwestern swing state.
At each stop, the president trumpeted his multibillion- dollar tax cuts, which he said have boosted the economy. Much of the region, except for Richland County, went to Democrat Al Gore in 2000, who won the state by 5,700 votes. Recent polls say this year's race in Wisconsin is too close to call.
During his hour-long talk in Richland Center, Bush struck back at challenger Sen. John Kerry's proposal to repeal his tax cut for those earning $200,000 or more, saying raising taxes on the top two tax brackets would harm the small businesses that create 70 percent of new jobs.
"About 90 percent of small businesses pay individual income taxes," Bush said. "The truth is they're talking about taxing about 900,000 to a million small businesses."
Bush was seeking to shore up support for his domestic policies among Wisconsin's voters, who tend to trust Kerry more when it comes to handling such issues, according to a recent Wisconsin Public Radio/St. Norbert College Survey Center poll. It found that 56 percent of voters thought Kerry would do better on the economy, compared to 38 percent for Bush.
The Bush campaign also announced that the president plans to return Friday for a rally in Ashwaubenon, near Green Bay.
Bush said Tuesday the economy has done well despite "obstacles" he faced when he took office.
"The stock market was in serious decline six months prior to our arrival in Washington, D.C.," Bush said. "And then we had a recession . . . and then we got attacked. And that attack of September 11th cost us nearly 1 million jobs in the three months after the attack.
"But we acted. The tax relief we passed is working. The tax relief we passed has got this economy going again."
Although the overall number of jobs is down since Bush took office - a point Kerry has hammered on in nearly every campaign appearance - the president said 1.9 million jobs have been added in the last 13 months.
"We're moving forward, and we're not going to go back to the days of tax and spend," Bush said, taking a swipe at Kerry, whom he called a "Massachusetts liberal" on the "far left bank" of American politics.
Among those whose story was highlighted Tuesday in Richland Center was Eric Sauey, president of Seats Inc. of Reedsburg, a seat- manufacturing firm with $45 million in annual sales. Sauey said lower taxes allow him to invest in his company, which he hopes to expand to Richland Center.
"My opponent always says he's planning to tax the rich," Bush said. "You're looking at the rich. You're looking at a man who says, 'We may come to Richland Center. We may hire new people.'"
Bush supporter Melinda Jones of Richland Center said the main reason she plans to vote for the president is not his economic policies but because of "the way he handled the 9-11 attacks. He took control and he remained calm."
As for the economy, Jones said, "I know it's been tough for a lot of people. I know it's improving. I just hope it can improve more and create more jobs."
Many of the farmers had their farms stolen during the 70's when the banks gave out money on high land prices and called their loans when the land prices fell. Many, many farmers lost their farms. Big corporate farmers took over the good land. The industries are low paying jobs in assembly of stuff. Many of those jobs are going overseas. If you are lucky, you teach. If you are really lucky, you have a job in Madison with the State which is about 60 miles away.
Lots of die hard republicans that I guess vote republican for the security. During Vietnam, if you were drafted out of Richland County, you were a draftee Marine. Draftee Marines were expendable....
Not a bad place to live if you get your money from somewhere else. Nice small town atmosphere. But a real dead end town. Why would Bush waste his time here?
Dee J. Hall Wisconsin State JournalOctober 27, 2004RICHLAND CENTER - During his swing Tuesday through western Wisconsin, President Bush held up four examples of how his economic policies have helped average Americans, including two area business owners who said Bush's policies give them more money to invest in their companies.
Bush, in shirt sleeves, was animated and jovial during the talk before 2,400 people at Richland Center High School gymnasium. He focused on the economy but also touched on the war on terrorism, health care, education and a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.
Bush's daylong bus tour through western Wisconsin began with a 5,000-person rally in Onalaska in the morning, a stop at a dairy farm near Bosstown, the talk in Richland Center at mid-day and a 1,500- person rally in Cuba City. Bush then headed to Dubuque in Iowa, another Midwestern swing state.
At each stop, the president trumpeted his multibillion- dollar tax cuts, which he said have boosted the economy. Much of the region, except for Richland County, went to Democrat Al Gore in 2000, who won the state by 5,700 votes. Recent polls say this year's race in Wisconsin is too close to call.
During his hour-long talk in Richland Center, Bush struck back at challenger Sen. John Kerry's proposal to repeal his tax cut for those earning $200,000 or more, saying raising taxes on the top two tax brackets would harm the small businesses that create 70 percent of new jobs.
"About 90 percent of small businesses pay individual income taxes," Bush said. "The truth is they're talking about taxing about 900,000 to a million small businesses."
Bush was seeking to shore up support for his domestic policies among Wisconsin's voters, who tend to trust Kerry more when it comes to handling such issues, according to a recent Wisconsin Public Radio/St. Norbert College Survey Center poll. It found that 56 percent of voters thought Kerry would do better on the economy, compared to 38 percent for Bush.
The Bush campaign also announced that the president plans to return Friday for a rally in Ashwaubenon, near Green Bay.
Bush said Tuesday the economy has done well despite "obstacles" he faced when he took office.
"The stock market was in serious decline six months prior to our arrival in Washington, D.C.," Bush said. "And then we had a recession . . . and then we got attacked. And that attack of September 11th cost us nearly 1 million jobs in the three months after the attack.
"But we acted. The tax relief we passed is working. The tax relief we passed has got this economy going again."
Although the overall number of jobs is down since Bush took office - a point Kerry has hammered on in nearly every campaign appearance - the president said 1.9 million jobs have been added in the last 13 months.
"We're moving forward, and we're not going to go back to the days of tax and spend," Bush said, taking a swipe at Kerry, whom he called a "Massachusetts liberal" on the "far left bank" of American politics.
Among those whose story was highlighted Tuesday in Richland Center was Eric Sauey, president of Seats Inc. of Reedsburg, a seat- manufacturing firm with $45 million in annual sales. Sauey said lower taxes allow him to invest in his company, which he hopes to expand to Richland Center.
"My opponent always says he's planning to tax the rich," Bush said. "You're looking at the rich. You're looking at a man who says, 'We may come to Richland Center. We may hire new people.'"
Bush supporter Melinda Jones of Richland Center said the main reason she plans to vote for the president is not his economic policies but because of "the way he handled the 9-11 attacks. He took control and he remained calm."
As for the economy, Jones said, "I know it's been tough for a lot of people. I know it's improving. I just hope it can improve more and create more jobs."
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Really drive a clutch
At least with a car with a manual transmission, you have to REALLY drive the car. With an automatic, it is point and go, no skill necessary. The feel of automatics is not there. Now, real clutch drivers don't need no syncro gear box!
By DAVE ADDIS, The Virginian-Pilot October 24, 2004 My learned colleagues on the editorial page wrote an early obituary yesterday for the manual transmission in modern automobiles.
Their premise was correct: Well-publicized news stories through the week documented that standard-shift cars and trucks are disappearing from the marketplace.
But their argument, in spots, calls for rebuttal.
Such as the description of manual transmissions as “finicky” devices that had “bedeviled drivers for decades.”
Properly approached, a standard-shift lever in an automobile is about as finicky as a spoon or a fork.
“Bedeviled”? By what? The light on the modern automobile dashboard that tells you when to shift?
Anybody who is “bedeviled” by the prospect of coordinating a left foot with a right hand probably should not attempt even to waltz, let alone maneuver 2 tons of ferrous metals at highway speeds approaching that of a light aircraft.
Further, my colleagues advised that only two classes of drivers could possibly desire a stick-shift nowadays: the poverty-stricken, as standard transmissions are cheaper; and the wealth-stricken, who yearn to drop a wad of their tax-cut windfalls on a Maserati or a Porsche.
Thus, they harrumphed, the standard-shift vehicle “will remain the choice for those who can’t afford anything else, and for those who can afford everything else.”
Many of us don’t fit neatly into either of those classes but still love a standard-shift car. I own two.
The fundamental fault with the editorial, however, lies in its acceptance of the premise that what occurs on the highways of Tidewater every day can be called “driving,” and that the people involved are by definition “drivers.”
If you are eating an Egg McMuffin while chatting on the telephone, fiddling with the CD player as the kids in back fight over which DVD to watch on the multiple built-in television screens, and peeking occasionally at your satellite-enabled LED display to figure out where you are going or if you have gotten there yet, you are not really driving.
What you are doing is pushing a mobile living room across a concrete landscape. What you are doing could be charitably described as “steering.” But please don’t call it driving.
I taught myself to drive a standard-shift on a beat-up 1959 MGA roadster that I bought for a song just after college. Its four-speed transmission was what we called a “crash box” – that is, the gear mechanisms were not neatly synchronized to the engine speed, as they are today.
No light on the dashboard told you when to shift.
In fact, the only gauge on that dashboard that actually worked was the oil-pressure gauge, and it gave constant bad-news updates on the state of my piston rings.
“Driving” today involves just one sense: sight.
Driving a clapped-out ’59 MG required every sense. The driver selected the proper gear on a combination of sight, the engine’s sound, and the feel of the machine through the shifter, the pedals and the seat of his pants, which was planted about 14 inches above the roadway.
(Those pedants who believe I’ve left out two senses – smell and taste – have never driven an ancient British sports car. Those who have became taste-and-smell connoisseurs of blue clouds of oil smoke. It was actually possible, at times, to detect an MG’s engine distress by the smells inside the cockpit.)
This is not meant to be one of those weepy-geezer paeans to the “good old days.” Geezers used to moan about automobiles, “They don’t build ’em like they used to,” to which I would always answer, “Thank God.” Cars today are better, all around, than ever. Even the geezers know that.
But that doesn’t mean the drivers are better. Too many are too brain-dead even to master a simple side-door mirror, let alone a clutch. It frightens me to see how many people will twist their neck and stare backward over their shoulder while plunging forward at 70 mph into a wall of merging traffic.
(Why is it that the same people who trust what they see in their makeup mirror can never seem to trust what they see in their rear-view mirror? I don’t understand that.)
My editorial colleagues are absolutely right in one respect: For the sort of motoring involved in most of Tidewater’s commutes, an automatic transmission is the better choice. Stop-and-go, crawl-and-scoot driving on a manual transmission will leave your left leg looking like Popeye’s right arm, and it’s just as bad on the machine.
My wife and I – she’s a country girl who’s at home with a clutch – stuck with our manual shifters for years, but finally went “automatic” on the cars we use to commute around town. A couple of vehicles that we maintain in wilder locales still require a flexible left leg.
Anybody who has lived outside this cozy Southeast Virginia cocoon of flat earth and mild weather understands why. The value of four-on-the-floor cannot be overestimated when trapped in a sand pit, a snowbank, a mudhole, or a ditch that came into play after hitting a patch of black ice on a midnight mountain road.
Drivers who grew up on these flat, unfrozen local byways probably have never heard of the concept of “rocking” an automobile out of such traps – a perilous cause without a clutch to guide your wheel speed, but the best way of rescuing yourself without resorting to a $100 call to the guy with the hook.
Is the clutch pedal dead? Or the sole province of those who inhabit the opposite societal poles of poverty and wealth?
I dunno. As I said, we own vehicles that have one and vehicles that don’t. But to steal from a line on those bumper stickers that I read while stalled in Tidewater traffic, “I’ll give up my clutch when they pry my cold, dead toes from around it.”
By DAVE ADDIS, The Virginian-Pilot October 24, 2004 My learned colleagues on the editorial page wrote an early obituary yesterday for the manual transmission in modern automobiles.
Their premise was correct: Well-publicized news stories through the week documented that standard-shift cars and trucks are disappearing from the marketplace.
But their argument, in spots, calls for rebuttal.
Such as the description of manual transmissions as “finicky” devices that had “bedeviled drivers for decades.”
Properly approached, a standard-shift lever in an automobile is about as finicky as a spoon or a fork.
“Bedeviled”? By what? The light on the modern automobile dashboard that tells you when to shift?
Anybody who is “bedeviled” by the prospect of coordinating a left foot with a right hand probably should not attempt even to waltz, let alone maneuver 2 tons of ferrous metals at highway speeds approaching that of a light aircraft.
Further, my colleagues advised that only two classes of drivers could possibly desire a stick-shift nowadays: the poverty-stricken, as standard transmissions are cheaper; and the wealth-stricken, who yearn to drop a wad of their tax-cut windfalls on a Maserati or a Porsche.
Thus, they harrumphed, the standard-shift vehicle “will remain the choice for those who can’t afford anything else, and for those who can afford everything else.”
Many of us don’t fit neatly into either of those classes but still love a standard-shift car. I own two.
The fundamental fault with the editorial, however, lies in its acceptance of the premise that what occurs on the highways of Tidewater every day can be called “driving,” and that the people involved are by definition “drivers.”
If you are eating an Egg McMuffin while chatting on the telephone, fiddling with the CD player as the kids in back fight over which DVD to watch on the multiple built-in television screens, and peeking occasionally at your satellite-enabled LED display to figure out where you are going or if you have gotten there yet, you are not really driving.
What you are doing is pushing a mobile living room across a concrete landscape. What you are doing could be charitably described as “steering.” But please don’t call it driving.
I taught myself to drive a standard-shift on a beat-up 1959 MGA roadster that I bought for a song just after college. Its four-speed transmission was what we called a “crash box” – that is, the gear mechanisms were not neatly synchronized to the engine speed, as they are today.
No light on the dashboard told you when to shift.
In fact, the only gauge on that dashboard that actually worked was the oil-pressure gauge, and it gave constant bad-news updates on the state of my piston rings.
“Driving” today involves just one sense: sight.
Driving a clapped-out ’59 MG required every sense. The driver selected the proper gear on a combination of sight, the engine’s sound, and the feel of the machine through the shifter, the pedals and the seat of his pants, which was planted about 14 inches above the roadway.
(Those pedants who believe I’ve left out two senses – smell and taste – have never driven an ancient British sports car. Those who have became taste-and-smell connoisseurs of blue clouds of oil smoke. It was actually possible, at times, to detect an MG’s engine distress by the smells inside the cockpit.)
This is not meant to be one of those weepy-geezer paeans to the “good old days.” Geezers used to moan about automobiles, “They don’t build ’em like they used to,” to which I would always answer, “Thank God.” Cars today are better, all around, than ever. Even the geezers know that.
But that doesn’t mean the drivers are better. Too many are too brain-dead even to master a simple side-door mirror, let alone a clutch. It frightens me to see how many people will twist their neck and stare backward over their shoulder while plunging forward at 70 mph into a wall of merging traffic.
(Why is it that the same people who trust what they see in their makeup mirror can never seem to trust what they see in their rear-view mirror? I don’t understand that.)
My editorial colleagues are absolutely right in one respect: For the sort of motoring involved in most of Tidewater’s commutes, an automatic transmission is the better choice. Stop-and-go, crawl-and-scoot driving on a manual transmission will leave your left leg looking like Popeye’s right arm, and it’s just as bad on the machine.
My wife and I – she’s a country girl who’s at home with a clutch – stuck with our manual shifters for years, but finally went “automatic” on the cars we use to commute around town. A couple of vehicles that we maintain in wilder locales still require a flexible left leg.
Anybody who has lived outside this cozy Southeast Virginia cocoon of flat earth and mild weather understands why. The value of four-on-the-floor cannot be overestimated when trapped in a sand pit, a snowbank, a mudhole, or a ditch that came into play after hitting a patch of black ice on a midnight mountain road.
Drivers who grew up on these flat, unfrozen local byways probably have never heard of the concept of “rocking” an automobile out of such traps – a perilous cause without a clutch to guide your wheel speed, but the best way of rescuing yourself without resorting to a $100 call to the guy with the hook.
Is the clutch pedal dead? Or the sole province of those who inhabit the opposite societal poles of poverty and wealth?
I dunno. As I said, we own vehicles that have one and vehicles that don’t. But to steal from a line on those bumper stickers that I read while stalled in Tidewater traffic, “I’ll give up my clutch when they pry my cold, dead toes from around it.”
John Peel, RIP
A lot of you probably do not know who this guy is, but he discovered a lot of acts that have changed music over the years. I always liked him because he had such a broad like of music. Much like me. Us old geezers are slowly kicking it.....
John Peel, BBC Radio 1's longest-serving DJ, has died aged 65 while on holiday.
John Peel gave big breaks to more bands than anyone else in the UK music industry.
From Pulp and The Smiths to The Undertones and The White Stripes, he discovered some of the most popular and influential acts of the last few decades.
With extremely broad tastes, he championed all forms of alternative music and was one of the first to give punk, reggae, hip-hop, techno and drum 'n' bass exposure.
Almost every notable band - and hundreds more that have never quite reached notable status - have recorded a Peel Session, a live performance for his show.
Some, such as Blur, even performed at his home, Peel Acres, where he took to recording his shows.
U2, Nirvana, The Velvet Underground, Roxy Music, Rod Stewart, Pink Floyd, The Sex Pistols and T-Rex are among the others he helped introduce to the public.
But his achievement was not just to give new bands a leg-up - he provided a soundtrack for the lives of several generations of listeners.
When he began broadcasting in the mid-1960s, the hippy era was in full swing and his Radio London show The Perfumed Garden was essential listening.
His playlist included The Doors, Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix, and he got the first play of The Beatles' Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
He joined Radio 1 as the host of Top Gear, continuing to showcase his eclectic and intuitive tastes - despite the fact he said station managers hated him and wanted him to play pop.
Peel said the early 1970s were "kinda boring" - except for Roxy Music - before punk exploded at the end of the decade and he became a hero for another scene.
Peel is best-known for loving and championing The Undertones' song Teenage Kicks. He said he could not hear the punk anthem without bursting into tears.
Legend has it the band sent Peel a tape and he wrote back, signing his letter with a rubber stamp: "John Peel, The World's Most Boring Man."
When Peel played the song, an executive from the Sire label signed the group.
He once played the song twice in a row on Radio 1 because "it doesn't get any better than this".
And he said he would like the song's line "our teenage dreams so hard to beat" on his tombstone.
The Sex Pistols, The Ramones, The Buzzcocks and The Clash were among other bands featured on his shows, often mixed with reggae and other styles.
He also helped usher in the next generation of rock artists such Joy Division and their later incarnation New Order, plus The Fall - who recorded a total of 24 Peel Sessions.
At that time, Pulp were starting out and singer Jarvis Cocker handed their first demo tape to Peel on one of his roadshows.
Peel invited them in to record a session in 1981, giving them their first national airplay - although it would be another 13 years before they would get mainstream acclaim.
With his roadshows, he took his record collection and favourite bands to nightclubs and colleges around the country, often with promising unsigned local bands on the bill.
If he liked them, it is said, he would give his DJ fee to the local band - to the annoyance of his wife.
Three years after the first Pulp session, Peel said he fell in love with The Smiths because he could not work out what their influences were - something he always looked for in a band.
He championed their first single, Hand in Glove, in 1983, when they too recorded their first Peel Session - but the song failed to reach the chart.
More than 20 years later, The Smiths are regarded as a seminal British band.
He also gave an early session to Nirvana, in 1989, and a more recent discovery was The White Stripes. Peel was in a Dutch record shop when he saw their first CD on import and bought it on a hunch.
Pleasure
"People say, what's gonna be the next big thing?" Peel once said. "But the pleasure for me is in not knowing. I like to be taken by surprise myself."
He eschewed the overly populist or popular - Oasis were among the few bands that did not record a session, and not because the band did not want to.
He said he did not want to be applauded for playing new music because "I'm just doing what I'm paid to do".
"Bands discover themselves - they make the records, the records arrive," he said.
John Peel, BBC Radio 1's longest-serving DJ, has died aged 65 while on holiday.
John Peel gave big breaks to more bands than anyone else in the UK music industry.
From Pulp and The Smiths to The Undertones and The White Stripes, he discovered some of the most popular and influential acts of the last few decades.
With extremely broad tastes, he championed all forms of alternative music and was one of the first to give punk, reggae, hip-hop, techno and drum 'n' bass exposure.
Almost every notable band - and hundreds more that have never quite reached notable status - have recorded a Peel Session, a live performance for his show.
Some, such as Blur, even performed at his home, Peel Acres, where he took to recording his shows.
U2, Nirvana, The Velvet Underground, Roxy Music, Rod Stewart, Pink Floyd, The Sex Pistols and T-Rex are among the others he helped introduce to the public.
But his achievement was not just to give new bands a leg-up - he provided a soundtrack for the lives of several generations of listeners.
When he began broadcasting in the mid-1960s, the hippy era was in full swing and his Radio London show The Perfumed Garden was essential listening.
His playlist included The Doors, Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix, and he got the first play of The Beatles' Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
He joined Radio 1 as the host of Top Gear, continuing to showcase his eclectic and intuitive tastes - despite the fact he said station managers hated him and wanted him to play pop.
Peel said the early 1970s were "kinda boring" - except for Roxy Music - before punk exploded at the end of the decade and he became a hero for another scene.
Peel is best-known for loving and championing The Undertones' song Teenage Kicks. He said he could not hear the punk anthem without bursting into tears.
Legend has it the band sent Peel a tape and he wrote back, signing his letter with a rubber stamp: "John Peel, The World's Most Boring Man."
When Peel played the song, an executive from the Sire label signed the group.
He once played the song twice in a row on Radio 1 because "it doesn't get any better than this".
And he said he would like the song's line "our teenage dreams so hard to beat" on his tombstone.
The Sex Pistols, The Ramones, The Buzzcocks and The Clash were among other bands featured on his shows, often mixed with reggae and other styles.
He also helped usher in the next generation of rock artists such Joy Division and their later incarnation New Order, plus The Fall - who recorded a total of 24 Peel Sessions.
At that time, Pulp were starting out and singer Jarvis Cocker handed their first demo tape to Peel on one of his roadshows.
Peel invited them in to record a session in 1981, giving them their first national airplay - although it would be another 13 years before they would get mainstream acclaim.
With his roadshows, he took his record collection and favourite bands to nightclubs and colleges around the country, often with promising unsigned local bands on the bill.
If he liked them, it is said, he would give his DJ fee to the local band - to the annoyance of his wife.
Three years after the first Pulp session, Peel said he fell in love with The Smiths because he could not work out what their influences were - something he always looked for in a band.
He championed their first single, Hand in Glove, in 1983, when they too recorded their first Peel Session - but the song failed to reach the chart.
More than 20 years later, The Smiths are regarded as a seminal British band.
He also gave an early session to Nirvana, in 1989, and a more recent discovery was The White Stripes. Peel was in a Dutch record shop when he saw their first CD on import and bought it on a hunch.
Pleasure
"People say, what's gonna be the next big thing?" Peel once said. "But the pleasure for me is in not knowing. I like to be taken by surprise myself."
He eschewed the overly populist or popular - Oasis were among the few bands that did not record a session, and not because the band did not want to.
He said he did not want to be applauded for playing new music because "I'm just doing what I'm paid to do".
"Bands discover themselves - they make the records, the records arrive," he said.
Sunday, October 24, 2004
Ah, true geezers....
MIDCOAST (Oct 24, 2004): I am a lucky woman in many ways. One of these is that I married into a family of geezers. They know it and they're proud.
Webster's says a geezer is an old person, especially an eccentric old man. My man is not old yet. Eccentric, maybe. But he's a geezer for sure. A geezer is a family man through and through. There is no one more trustworthy, reliable or loyal. There is also no one more habitual and old-fashioned.
Here are my thoughts on geezerdom. See if you fit in. Women apply.
Geezers have to be dead not to go to work.
They are always right out straight. They may seem like they are sitting still, but they are still right out straight.
They use the same coffee cup every day and may even prefer the same spoon, if there is a special one in the drawer.
They have multiple tool boxes. One for the house and one for the garage, and maybe even one for each floor of the house.
They have multiple rolls of duct tape, definitely in gray, and most likely in other colors.
They have multiple chainsaws and sets of tire chains, too.
They like to sit and shoot the breeze in the garage or in the doorway where they can watch the cars go by. This is when they are especially right out straight.
Geezers bring their lunch to work every day. There is no food like what the wife fixes, especially those chocolate chip cookies you haven't made in a long time, dear.
You never have to ask a geezer to fix something twice. They either fix it right the first time or call for help.
Geezers can't, or won't, program a VCR. They're not ashamed of asking the wife to record the NASCAR race or the episode of "Monster Garage" they don't want to miss. They can't see it right away because they are right out straight working in the garage, mowing the lawn, stacking wood, or driving their pickup truck into town for a newspaper and a scratch ticket.
At work, the phone is a useful tool. At home, geezers would rather not talk on the phone unless it's to a family member. They won't talk into answering machines. They hate it when businesses have machines answering their phone calls. There is no place on their belt for a cell phone, but there is for a Leatherman.
Geezers do not navigate the Internet except to look for old car, truck or tractor parts, research the family tree, or be in touch with people who share their hobbies. Geezers will not pay bills online and don't think much of instant messaging. But they will ask the wife to tell them who's on the pole in that week's NASCAR race or check the football results Sunday evening.
Geezers like to watch "60 Minutes" as a way to wind down into Monday morning.
Geezers are early risers. They are dog people. And cat people. And they love farm animals...maybe even tend some themselves.
Geezers sit in the same spot on the couch each and every night. Their bowls cannot hold enough ice cream. Geezers eat the same lunch every Saturday and stop at the same place in the PBJ to refill their milk glasses. They like their old brands of cereal, toothpaste, soap, orange juice and (insert product here) just fine, thanks.
Geezers don't have comb-overs. But you never have to convince them it's time for a trip to the barbershop. They go willingly. Geezers do not have goatees, or funny little facial hair thingys, though they may have beards. Chances are if they have a beard, it's seasonal, and used only as insulation in the colder months. Hair gel? Only if it's good for use in the garage, not the bathroom.
Geezers do not have earrings and they do not have tattoos, unless they got them a long time ago.
Geezers are not fair-weather fans. They have rooted for the same driver, baseball team, football team or hockey team since they were boys. Basketball is not a geezer sport except when it comes to dooryard games with the children.
Do not tell a geezer he should wear aftershave unless he already does. If he does, it's a habit formed long ago. Geezers don't drive foreign pickup trucks. Unless they bought them used, with 100,000 miles already on them.
The geezer's favorite cloth is flannel. His underwear is boxers. His favorite designer is Carhartt. His colors are camouflage and blaze. He'd be happy to wear the same brand of socks until the day he dies. Please, buy him the brand of jeans he favors. He won't wear the other ones unless everything else is really dirty. Same goes for sneakers...and he has a pair for yard work and a pair for good.
Do not ask a geezer to go shopping, unless it's to the auto parts or hardware store. Big boxes are anti-geezer.
And don't forget the "Uncle Henry's."
Note: Think you are not a geezer because you have an earring or a tattoo, or too many of the above don't apply? If you have a brother or father who is a geezer, then you can consider yourself a geezer in training. Give yourself a few years.
Here is a recipe sure to please your favorite geezer:
Brown a pound or so of ground beef in a pan. Add some tomato sauce from a jar, for taste and color. Keep the mixture moist, but not wet. Add onion salt, garlic powder or other spices if you wish. Boil a pound of elbow macaroni. Drain. Mix the meat and pasta in a casserole dish coated with no-stick spray. Stir in shredded jack or American cheese, or a combination. You want the flavor of the cheese, but not lots of strings. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 20 minutes or until heated through. Call it dinner. Serve with carrot sticks and ranch dressing. Save some for lunch boxes the next day.
Webster's says a geezer is an old person, especially an eccentric old man. My man is not old yet. Eccentric, maybe. But he's a geezer for sure. A geezer is a family man through and through. There is no one more trustworthy, reliable or loyal. There is also no one more habitual and old-fashioned.
Here are my thoughts on geezerdom. See if you fit in. Women apply.
Geezers have to be dead not to go to work.
They are always right out straight. They may seem like they are sitting still, but they are still right out straight.
They use the same coffee cup every day and may even prefer the same spoon, if there is a special one in the drawer.
They have multiple tool boxes. One for the house and one for the garage, and maybe even one for each floor of the house.
They have multiple rolls of duct tape, definitely in gray, and most likely in other colors.
They have multiple chainsaws and sets of tire chains, too.
They like to sit and shoot the breeze in the garage or in the doorway where they can watch the cars go by. This is when they are especially right out straight.
Geezers bring their lunch to work every day. There is no food like what the wife fixes, especially those chocolate chip cookies you haven't made in a long time, dear.
You never have to ask a geezer to fix something twice. They either fix it right the first time or call for help.
Geezers can't, or won't, program a VCR. They're not ashamed of asking the wife to record the NASCAR race or the episode of "Monster Garage" they don't want to miss. They can't see it right away because they are right out straight working in the garage, mowing the lawn, stacking wood, or driving their pickup truck into town for a newspaper and a scratch ticket.
At work, the phone is a useful tool. At home, geezers would rather not talk on the phone unless it's to a family member. They won't talk into answering machines. They hate it when businesses have machines answering their phone calls. There is no place on their belt for a cell phone, but there is for a Leatherman.
Geezers do not navigate the Internet except to look for old car, truck or tractor parts, research the family tree, or be in touch with people who share their hobbies. Geezers will not pay bills online and don't think much of instant messaging. But they will ask the wife to tell them who's on the pole in that week's NASCAR race or check the football results Sunday evening.
Geezers like to watch "60 Minutes" as a way to wind down into Monday morning.
Geezers are early risers. They are dog people. And cat people. And they love farm animals...maybe even tend some themselves.
Geezers sit in the same spot on the couch each and every night. Their bowls cannot hold enough ice cream. Geezers eat the same lunch every Saturday and stop at the same place in the PBJ to refill their milk glasses. They like their old brands of cereal, toothpaste, soap, orange juice and (insert product here) just fine, thanks.
Geezers don't have comb-overs. But you never have to convince them it's time for a trip to the barbershop. They go willingly. Geezers do not have goatees, or funny little facial hair thingys, though they may have beards. Chances are if they have a beard, it's seasonal, and used only as insulation in the colder months. Hair gel? Only if it's good for use in the garage, not the bathroom.
Geezers do not have earrings and they do not have tattoos, unless they got them a long time ago.
Geezers are not fair-weather fans. They have rooted for the same driver, baseball team, football team or hockey team since they were boys. Basketball is not a geezer sport except when it comes to dooryard games with the children.
Do not tell a geezer he should wear aftershave unless he already does. If he does, it's a habit formed long ago. Geezers don't drive foreign pickup trucks. Unless they bought them used, with 100,000 miles already on them.
The geezer's favorite cloth is flannel. His underwear is boxers. His favorite designer is Carhartt. His colors are camouflage and blaze. He'd be happy to wear the same brand of socks until the day he dies. Please, buy him the brand of jeans he favors. He won't wear the other ones unless everything else is really dirty. Same goes for sneakers...and he has a pair for yard work and a pair for good.
Do not ask a geezer to go shopping, unless it's to the auto parts or hardware store. Big boxes are anti-geezer.
And don't forget the "Uncle Henry's."
Note: Think you are not a geezer because you have an earring or a tattoo, or too many of the above don't apply? If you have a brother or father who is a geezer, then you can consider yourself a geezer in training. Give yourself a few years.
Here is a recipe sure to please your favorite geezer:
Brown a pound or so of ground beef in a pan. Add some tomato sauce from a jar, for taste and color. Keep the mixture moist, but not wet. Add onion salt, garlic powder or other spices if you wish. Boil a pound of elbow macaroni. Drain. Mix the meat and pasta in a casserole dish coated with no-stick spray. Stir in shredded jack or American cheese, or a combination. You want the flavor of the cheese, but not lots of strings. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 20 minutes or until heated through. Call it dinner. Serve with carrot sticks and ranch dressing. Save some for lunch boxes the next day.
Saturday, October 23, 2004
Has Been is Awesome
He records probably the best record of the year in "Has Been". If you have not heard it, listen, it is a great record about men living their lives in quiet desperation. There is something in it that will make you laugh, cry, and just calm your spirt.
On the other hand, this proves, he just has too much money. He couldn't have taken the Captain Kirk thing seriously? Why, oh, why does he want his wings?
"Star Trek" star William Shatner, the former Captain of the USS Enterprise is willing to pay US$210,000 for a seat on one of Virgin Group's first proposed commercial space flights.
Virgin's chief, Richard Branson indicated more than 7000 people have expressed interest in paying the $210,000 fare for chance to be blasted 70 miles above the Earth.
Branson, 54, has committed more than $100 million for spaceships and ground infrastructure. He is also spending more than $20 million to licence the rights to SpaceShipOne's technology.
Branson hopes to launch the first commercial space flight by 2008. He also said he would go on the first flight, along with his family.
Sir Richard Branson, born July 18, 1950, is best known for his widely successful Virgin Group brand, a variety of business organizations, including, music, travel, electronics and more.
On the other hand, this proves, he just has too much money. He couldn't have taken the Captain Kirk thing seriously? Why, oh, why does he want his wings?
"Star Trek" star William Shatner, the former Captain of the USS Enterprise is willing to pay US$210,000 for a seat on one of Virgin Group's first proposed commercial space flights.
Virgin's chief, Richard Branson indicated more than 7000 people have expressed interest in paying the $210,000 fare for chance to be blasted 70 miles above the Earth.
Branson, 54, has committed more than $100 million for spaceships and ground infrastructure. He is also spending more than $20 million to licence the rights to SpaceShipOne's technology.
Branson hopes to launch the first commercial space flight by 2008. He also said he would go on the first flight, along with his family.
Sir Richard Branson, born July 18, 1950, is best known for his widely successful Virgin Group brand, a variety of business organizations, including, music, travel, electronics and more.
Wednesday, October 06, 2004
Gotta love getting old
It’s official. Two days ago, while visiting San Francisco, I entered the world of professional geezerhood. Whudda thunk I’d ever make it to 65?
Many friends — all seem to fancy themselves years away from three score and five — warned me of personality changes soon to possess both body and mind, a result of being the over-the-hill gang’s newest initiate. According to those professing to be “in the know,” my wardrobe was about to change. Come Oct. 4 it would be all jump suits, all the time. Blue would be the favorite color in my jumpsuit ensemble but orange, yellow, pink and puce would also become favorites.
Concurrent to a jumpsuit wardrobe comes the irresistible urge to buy a big, honking motor home complete with a Sam’s Club sticker on the rear bumper. The motor home, I was further informed, would not be completely outfitted unless it contained a weepy-eyed miniature poodle whose designated role was to either roam back and forth across the dashboard or to sit in my lap while I captained the vessel at a steady 48-mph pace in the left lane on I-70. The poodle would be specifically trained to continually yip at the 75-mph traffic passing on the right.
Other personality changes arriving with the 65th birthday would also include becoming an expert on every all-you-can-eat, senior-citizen discount buffet between the Nebraska-based Baseman’s Truck Stop on I-80 and Whiskey Pete’s just off I-15 where Nevada shares a border with California.
The conversation moved on to men 65 being required to be in bed by seven every Friday evening as one had to be well rested when rising before dawn on Saturday. Why up and at ’em so early on a weekend?
When the discussion turned to the competitive thrills unique to Bingo, it became apparent my friends were going to make turning 65 just as difficult as possible. Who says misery loves company? I opted to head for Baghdad by the Bay.
The daughter of an old friend from the Midwest was married this past weekend, an event offering the perfect excuse for a San Francisco birthday. Plus, I owed myself a visit to the city where I lived 42 years ago, a time so distant it preceded hippies, Haight-Ashbury and the Jefferson Airplane. Upon turning 23, I found myself out of work, out of money and seemingly out of hope. The special lady in my life thought our relationship much too serious and decided it best to go separate ways.
On that Oct. 4 decades ago, a party of one was in order so I jumped on a Hyde Street cable car and rumbled down Russian Hill to the end of the line. The brakeman yelled, “All out for the turnaround.” I headed across the street and wandered into the Buena Vista. At a table for one back in the corner I treated myself to scrambled eggs, sourdough toast and Irish coffee. Sitting there, feeling as sorry for myself as only a 23-year-old can, I wondered if, and/or when, life would improve.
Well, the special lady and I worked things out. Two days ago we visited the Buena Vista, sat by the window and ordered scrambled eggs with sourdough toast. While waiting for our meal to arrive we toasted the blessings of our life together the past 40 years with steaming mugs of Irish coffee.
She asked what I wanted for my birthday. I told her a blue jump suit and a Chihuahua.
Many friends — all seem to fancy themselves years away from three score and five — warned me of personality changes soon to possess both body and mind, a result of being the over-the-hill gang’s newest initiate. According to those professing to be “in the know,” my wardrobe was about to change. Come Oct. 4 it would be all jump suits, all the time. Blue would be the favorite color in my jumpsuit ensemble but orange, yellow, pink and puce would also become favorites.
Concurrent to a jumpsuit wardrobe comes the irresistible urge to buy a big, honking motor home complete with a Sam’s Club sticker on the rear bumper. The motor home, I was further informed, would not be completely outfitted unless it contained a weepy-eyed miniature poodle whose designated role was to either roam back and forth across the dashboard or to sit in my lap while I captained the vessel at a steady 48-mph pace in the left lane on I-70. The poodle would be specifically trained to continually yip at the 75-mph traffic passing on the right.
Other personality changes arriving with the 65th birthday would also include becoming an expert on every all-you-can-eat, senior-citizen discount buffet between the Nebraska-based Baseman’s Truck Stop on I-80 and Whiskey Pete’s just off I-15 where Nevada shares a border with California.
The conversation moved on to men 65 being required to be in bed by seven every Friday evening as one had to be well rested when rising before dawn on Saturday. Why up and at ’em so early on a weekend?
When the discussion turned to the competitive thrills unique to Bingo, it became apparent my friends were going to make turning 65 just as difficult as possible. Who says misery loves company? I opted to head for Baghdad by the Bay.
The daughter of an old friend from the Midwest was married this past weekend, an event offering the perfect excuse for a San Francisco birthday. Plus, I owed myself a visit to the city where I lived 42 years ago, a time so distant it preceded hippies, Haight-Ashbury and the Jefferson Airplane. Upon turning 23, I found myself out of work, out of money and seemingly out of hope. The special lady in my life thought our relationship much too serious and decided it best to go separate ways.
On that Oct. 4 decades ago, a party of one was in order so I jumped on a Hyde Street cable car and rumbled down Russian Hill to the end of the line. The brakeman yelled, “All out for the turnaround.” I headed across the street and wandered into the Buena Vista. At a table for one back in the corner I treated myself to scrambled eggs, sourdough toast and Irish coffee. Sitting there, feeling as sorry for myself as only a 23-year-old can, I wondered if, and/or when, life would improve.
Well, the special lady and I worked things out. Two days ago we visited the Buena Vista, sat by the window and ordered scrambled eggs with sourdough toast. While waiting for our meal to arrive we toasted the blessings of our life together the past 40 years with steaming mugs of Irish coffee.
She asked what I wanted for my birthday. I told her a blue jump suit and a Chihuahua.
Great quote
“It’s just crazy — the laws are the laws,” Mr. Pearce said. “While America is burning, while America is being destroyed, they pander.”
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
Vice Prez debate
Sadly, Dick C did not use the f-word or have a heart attack. A couple of things did surprize me though. How come the VP has never met John E before? The Senate only has 100 members. The VP is suppose to oversee the Senate and has voted to break ties. Wouldn[t you think the VP would try to meet all the Senators? I would. Just so you have a chance to evaluate the people you have to deal with. And, 100 is less than the people at an APLS convention. Within a weekend, you can easily talk to everyone.
I was surprised that Dick C did not use all his time. A good politician does that. He even thanked John E for standing up for his gay daughter. Dick C said he was surprised that he and John E had similar backgrounds.
Neither said much of substance, just more of the same garbage they have been repeating. Cheney did avoid answering some of the questions and went on spiels about other things. Both repeating their lines. Cheney seemed cold, but human. Edwards was folksy. Neither were right on their games.
I was surprised that Dick C did not use all his time. A good politician does that. He even thanked John E for standing up for his gay daughter. Dick C said he was surprised that he and John E had similar backgrounds.
Neither said much of substance, just more of the same garbage they have been repeating. Cheney did avoid answering some of the questions and went on spiels about other things. Both repeating their lines. Cheney seemed cold, but human. Edwards was folksy. Neither were right on their games.
geezer joke
A smile to start your day. After marrying a sweet young woman, a 90-year-old geezer tells his doctor they're expecting a baby.
"Let me tell you a story," says the doc. "An absent-minded fellow went hunting, but instead of a gun, he picked up an umbrella. Suddenly a bear charged him. Pointing his umbrella at the bear, he shot and killed it on the spot."
"Impossible!" the geezer exclaims. "Somebody else must have shot that bear."
"Exactly," replies the doctor.
"Let me tell you a story," says the doc. "An absent-minded fellow went hunting, but instead of a gun, he picked up an umbrella. Suddenly a bear charged him. Pointing his umbrella at the bear, he shot and killed it on the spot."
"Impossible!" the geezer exclaims. "Somebody else must have shot that bear."
"Exactly," replies the doctor.
Don't do this, even if the chicken is bad!
Man cut off his penis and fed it to dog
A Romanian man was rushed to hospital after he accidentally cut off his own penis and fed it to his dog.
Constantin Mocanu, 67, from Galati county, told doctors he couldn't sleep because of a noisy chicken.
He decided to kill the bird but claims he mistook his penis for the chicken's neck and chopped it off.
When he realised what he'd done, he says he threw the severed organ to the dog which ate it.
The man told National newspaper: "It was after midnight when the bloody cock was making such a trouble outside. I got very angry and went out to kill it.
"I don't know how I got my penis instead. I was so irritated I threw it to the dog before my wife called the ambulance. What could I do with a piece of penis."
The man is now in hospital at Galati where doctors are going to operate on him.
But surgeons say there is no chance of rebuilding his penis and say the best they can do is restore his ability to urinate.
Surgeon Nicolae Bacalbasa said he was not convinced by the man's story.
He said: "It's like the Bible says. If your right hand gives you trouble then cut it off. The man is 67 and he may have had reasons to punish his organ. I am personally more tolerant with these matters."
A Romanian man was rushed to hospital after he accidentally cut off his own penis and fed it to his dog.
Constantin Mocanu, 67, from Galati county, told doctors he couldn't sleep because of a noisy chicken.
He decided to kill the bird but claims he mistook his penis for the chicken's neck and chopped it off.
When he realised what he'd done, he says he threw the severed organ to the dog which ate it.
The man told National newspaper: "It was after midnight when the bloody cock was making such a trouble outside. I got very angry and went out to kill it.
"I don't know how I got my penis instead. I was so irritated I threw it to the dog before my wife called the ambulance. What could I do with a piece of penis."
The man is now in hospital at Galati where doctors are going to operate on him.
But surgeons say there is no chance of rebuilding his penis and say the best they can do is restore his ability to urinate.
Surgeon Nicolae Bacalbasa said he was not convinced by the man's story.
He said: "It's like the Bible says. If your right hand gives you trouble then cut it off. The man is 67 and he may have had reasons to punish his organ. I am personally more tolerant with these matters."
Sunday, October 03, 2004
Work till you drop....
As near as I can tell, the government is figuring that I will have to work until I die at my desk. By the time I will be ready to retire, the social security situation will be in complete disarray. Fortunately, I have been working on my own funds for retirement, but the question will still remain whether or not we have enough for our retirements.
As long as we are healthy, we should be able to make it. However, with the souring costs of health care and medicine, any injury or sickness will quickly eat away all funds for people. There is no way a normal person can afford the cost of a sickness.
I read that 40% of people do not have health insurance. Stay well or die is the price of that. There are wonderful medicines and procedures that can be used, but if you cannot afford them, are the docs going to give them to you pro bono? I doubt it. So, shortly, we will be down to the haves and the have nots. The haves can afford their lives. The rest of us will either live or die.
Actually, that will not last long. Once the poor get too big, it is a natural for revolution. The haves will not have enough flunkies to overcome the rest of us.
As long as we are healthy, we should be able to make it. However, with the souring costs of health care and medicine, any injury or sickness will quickly eat away all funds for people. There is no way a normal person can afford the cost of a sickness.
I read that 40% of people do not have health insurance. Stay well or die is the price of that. There are wonderful medicines and procedures that can be used, but if you cannot afford them, are the docs going to give them to you pro bono? I doubt it. So, shortly, we will be down to the haves and the have nots. The haves can afford their lives. The rest of us will either live or die.
Actually, that will not last long. Once the poor get too big, it is a natural for revolution. The haves will not have enough flunkies to overcome the rest of us.
Saturday, October 02, 2004
The solution for social security....
Retirement? "There's no sense in it. There's always going to be a role for a geezer."
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Jump and duck!
BOISE (AP) — A woman who was returning a rented minivan at the Boise Airport drove it through the terminal.
A "confused senior citizen," whose name and age were not released, followed an outside "terminal access" sign Tuesday as she bumped her vehicle through a set of automatic-opening double-doors on the west end, airport spokeswoman Larissa Stouffer said.
She drove through the terminal, past the baggage claim area before coming to a stop.
"The lucky thing is she didn't hit anything," Stouffer said.
There was no damage to the terminal building, no one was hurt and the out-of-town woman, who departed on a flight later Tuesday morning, was not cited.
Stouffer said the airport has had plans to install barriers to block the door
A "confused senior citizen," whose name and age were not released, followed an outside "terminal access" sign Tuesday as she bumped her vehicle through a set of automatic-opening double-doors on the west end, airport spokeswoman Larissa Stouffer said.
She drove through the terminal, past the baggage claim area before coming to a stop.
"The lucky thing is she didn't hit anything," Stouffer said.
There was no damage to the terminal building, no one was hurt and the out-of-town woman, who departed on a flight later Tuesday morning, was not cited.
Stouffer said the airport has had plans to install barriers to block the door
Monday, September 27, 2004
He might take it up with women too!
108-Year-Old Man Starts Smoking Again
GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) -- A 108-year-old man has taken up smoking again, encouraged by gifts of cigars from as far away as London.
Retired railroad worker Walter Breuning spoke at his birthday party Tuesday of how he reluctantly quit smoking cigars at the age of 99 because he couldn't afford them.
After his story was widely distributed, the Great Falls man heard from people like the English cigar fan who sent two Havanas.
"They were $12 cigars and they were good," Breuning said. "You can't get good Havana cigars like that out here."
He also got a birthday note and a few more cigars from a former Great Falls resident now living in Oregon.
"They were pretty good cigars, too," Breuning said.
Fred Aimi, of Lolo, was reading newspaper stories to a group of blind neighbors when he came across an account of Breuning's birthday. "That hurt," Aimi said. "I like a good cigar myself."
Aimi said he sent a box of two dozen cigars on Friday to Breuning. "At 108, they can't do him much harm," he said.
GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) -- A 108-year-old man has taken up smoking again, encouraged by gifts of cigars from as far away as London.
Retired railroad worker Walter Breuning spoke at his birthday party Tuesday of how he reluctantly quit smoking cigars at the age of 99 because he couldn't afford them.
After his story was widely distributed, the Great Falls man heard from people like the English cigar fan who sent two Havanas.
"They were $12 cigars and they were good," Breuning said. "You can't get good Havana cigars like that out here."
He also got a birthday note and a few more cigars from a former Great Falls resident now living in Oregon.
"They were pretty good cigars, too," Breuning said.
Fred Aimi, of Lolo, was reading newspaper stories to a group of blind neighbors when he came across an account of Breuning's birthday. "That hurt," Aimi said. "I like a good cigar myself."
Aimi said he sent a box of two dozen cigars on Friday to Breuning. "At 108, they can't do him much harm," he said.
Friday, September 17, 2004
Rest in Peace Ramones....hope you ain't buried in the Pet Semitary
ohnny Ramone, the stone-faced guitarist of the punk band the Ramones, whose fast, buzz-saw blasts of noise laid the foundation for a school of rock guitar, died on Wednesday afternoon at his home in Los Angeles. He was 55.
The cause was prostate cancer, said Arturo Vega, the band's longtime artistic director and spokesman.
Mr. Ramone, born John Cummings, is the third member of the Ramones to die in a little over three years, following Joey (Jeffrey Hyman), the singer, who died of cancer in April 2001; and Dee Dee (Douglas Colvin), the bassist, who died of an apparent drug overdose in June 2002. Of the original band, only Tommy (Tom Erdelyi), the drummer, survives.
By stripping rock guitar of its ornamentation and playing almost every note in a violent, accelerated downstroke, Mr. Ramone helped create the punk sound. His style - fast, repetitive and aggressive, though always tuneful - influenced, directly or indirectly, almost every punk guitarist since, from the Sex Pistols' Steve Jones and the Clash's Joe Strummer to Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and contemporary players like Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day and Tom DeLonge of Blink-182.
"They influenced so many people," Eddie Vedder, the lead singer of Pearl Jam, said yesterday. Mr. Vedder introduced the Ramones when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. "They showed them that they too could do it. The simplicity showed them that they could end up on stage and play in that way."
The Ramones often cited as inspirations the hard rock of the Stooges and the primal power of the MC5, as well as the 1960's girl-group productions of Phil Spector, which they considered paragons of melody and brevity. But the band's sound had scant precedent when its first album was released in 1976. The songs were head-spinningly short and fast - the shortest, "Judy Is a Punk," was just 1 minute 32 seconds - and had a raw elegance that made many, like "Blitzkrieg Bop," "Beat on the Brat" and "I Wanna Be Sedated," punk-rock standards.
Mr. Ramone once described his guitar style as "pure, white rock 'n' roll, with no blues influence."
"I wanted our sound to be as original as possible,'' he said. "I stopped listening to everything."
Seldom lightening the scowl on his face, Mr. Ramone performed with a determination that mirrored his place in the band. Each member had a clearly defined role, musical and otherwise, and Johnny's was the taskmaster. He conducted the band's business affairs and led the group in details ranging from its sound to its mode of dress: in leather jackets, ripped jeans and scruffy sneakers, the band always presented a unified visual front of a punk army in uniform.
"He was the leader of the band," Danny Fields, the group's first manager, said. "He was the boss and you worked for him. He was very demanding, but very right."
After years holding a construction job - he tried college, but dropped out in a matter of days - Mr. Ramone formed the group in 1974 in Forest Hills, Queens, with Mr. Hyman, Mr. Colvin and Mr. Erdelyi. In the late 1960's he played bass in the Tangerine Puppets, a garage-rock band, but switched instruments early in 1974 when he bought a $50 Mosrite guitar on a trip to Manny's Music shop, on West 48th Street in Manhattan.
The new group took its name from a pseudonym that Paul McCartney had used while on the road with the Beatles, and began playing regular gigs at a Bowery dive called CBGB. A Ramones set rarely lasted more than 30 minutes, and the tunes were strung together in rapid succession. Their plan was to pause between songs just long enough for a member, usually Dee Dee, to shout "One-Two-Three-Four!" But in the early days that time was often spent bickering onstage about which song to play.
Their experience was from the start a mixture of success and frustration. When the Ramones first played in London, on July 4, 1976, they were met by adoring crowds, and were approached with fear and admiration by members of the Sex Pistols, the Clash and the Damned, all founding groups of the fruitful British punk scene. But when the Ramones returned home to New York they had trouble booking shows in Connecticut and New Jersey. In the band's early years, its members all crammed into Mr. Vega's loft space.
Though the band never had a major hit, it persisted for 22 years and more than a dozen studio albums, including its first record, "Ramones" (1976); "Leave Home" (1977); "Rocket to Russia" (1977); "End of the Century" (1980), recorded with Mr. Spector; and "Adios Amigos'' (1995), its last. Through the years the band kept a grueling touring schedule, and when on the road, Mr. Ramone carefully kept track of details from each concert. The band played its final gig, No. 2,263, on Aug. 6, 1996, at the Palace in Los Angeles.
That theater, now called the Avalon, was the site of a 30th-anniversary tribute to the Ramones on Sunday, with a roster that included Rob Zombie, Henry Rollins, X, Mr. Vedder and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It was, Mr. Vega said, "a veiled tribute to Johnny," and at the show Rob Zombie called Mr. Ramone from the stage so that the crowd could shout "Hey ho, let's go!," the band's rallying cry and the first words of its most famous song, "Blitzkrieg Bop."
Another anniversary concert is planned for New York on Oct. 8, which is the birthday of both Johnny and C. J. Ramone (Christopher John Ward), the bassist who replaced Dee Dee in 1989. The concert is booked at Spirit on West 27th Street in Chelsea, and is to feature Blondie and the Strokes, Mr. Vega said.
Mr. Fields, the group's first manager, said that after the band broke up Mr. Ramone did not work again. "Johnny's goal was to retire," he said. "All he wanted to do was to be able to stop working. He was proud of what he did, but he still wanted to stop. People would ask him, 'What are you going to do when there's no more band?' And he would say, 'Watch baseball and horror movies.' "
For much of the last year Mr. Ramone had been working on his memoirs with Steve Miller, a reporter for The Washington Times. Mr. Miller said yesterday that their interviews were complete.
Mr. Ramone was often at odds with the members of his band, over dress, politics and relationships. A staunch Republican, Mr. Ramone clashed with Joey over that singer's liberal causes, and when the band was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Mr. Ramone said, "God bless President Bush, and God bless America."
After Mr. Ramone began dating a woman who had been seeing Joey, the two men stopped talking to each other. On their tour bus, they kept silent company, often passing messages back and forth through an intermediary. Johnny Ramone later married the woman, now Linda Cummings, who survives him, along with his mother, Estelle Cummings.
Mr. Ramone's silence toward Joey continued even to his band mate's death. Interviewed in his home for the new documentary "End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones,'' surrounded by horror-movie posters from his extensive collection, Mr. Ramone was unflinching in his refusal to reconcile with Joey.
"I'm only going to be the way I'd want someone to react to me," he said in the film. "If I didn't like someone, I wouldn't want him calling me up when I was dying. I wouldn't want them having regrets that they didn't talk to me. I'm happy that they didn't talk to me. If I'm gone, that's how it goes."
The cause was prostate cancer, said Arturo Vega, the band's longtime artistic director and spokesman.
Mr. Ramone, born John Cummings, is the third member of the Ramones to die in a little over three years, following Joey (Jeffrey Hyman), the singer, who died of cancer in April 2001; and Dee Dee (Douglas Colvin), the bassist, who died of an apparent drug overdose in June 2002. Of the original band, only Tommy (Tom Erdelyi), the drummer, survives.
By stripping rock guitar of its ornamentation and playing almost every note in a violent, accelerated downstroke, Mr. Ramone helped create the punk sound. His style - fast, repetitive and aggressive, though always tuneful - influenced, directly or indirectly, almost every punk guitarist since, from the Sex Pistols' Steve Jones and the Clash's Joe Strummer to Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and contemporary players like Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day and Tom DeLonge of Blink-182.
"They influenced so many people," Eddie Vedder, the lead singer of Pearl Jam, said yesterday. Mr. Vedder introduced the Ramones when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. "They showed them that they too could do it. The simplicity showed them that they could end up on stage and play in that way."
The Ramones often cited as inspirations the hard rock of the Stooges and the primal power of the MC5, as well as the 1960's girl-group productions of Phil Spector, which they considered paragons of melody and brevity. But the band's sound had scant precedent when its first album was released in 1976. The songs were head-spinningly short and fast - the shortest, "Judy Is a Punk," was just 1 minute 32 seconds - and had a raw elegance that made many, like "Blitzkrieg Bop," "Beat on the Brat" and "I Wanna Be Sedated," punk-rock standards.
Mr. Ramone once described his guitar style as "pure, white rock 'n' roll, with no blues influence."
"I wanted our sound to be as original as possible,'' he said. "I stopped listening to everything."
Seldom lightening the scowl on his face, Mr. Ramone performed with a determination that mirrored his place in the band. Each member had a clearly defined role, musical and otherwise, and Johnny's was the taskmaster. He conducted the band's business affairs and led the group in details ranging from its sound to its mode of dress: in leather jackets, ripped jeans and scruffy sneakers, the band always presented a unified visual front of a punk army in uniform.
"He was the leader of the band," Danny Fields, the group's first manager, said. "He was the boss and you worked for him. He was very demanding, but very right."
After years holding a construction job - he tried college, but dropped out in a matter of days - Mr. Ramone formed the group in 1974 in Forest Hills, Queens, with Mr. Hyman, Mr. Colvin and Mr. Erdelyi. In the late 1960's he played bass in the Tangerine Puppets, a garage-rock band, but switched instruments early in 1974 when he bought a $50 Mosrite guitar on a trip to Manny's Music shop, on West 48th Street in Manhattan.
The new group took its name from a pseudonym that Paul McCartney had used while on the road with the Beatles, and began playing regular gigs at a Bowery dive called CBGB. A Ramones set rarely lasted more than 30 minutes, and the tunes were strung together in rapid succession. Their plan was to pause between songs just long enough for a member, usually Dee Dee, to shout "One-Two-Three-Four!" But in the early days that time was often spent bickering onstage about which song to play.
Their experience was from the start a mixture of success and frustration. When the Ramones first played in London, on July 4, 1976, they were met by adoring crowds, and were approached with fear and admiration by members of the Sex Pistols, the Clash and the Damned, all founding groups of the fruitful British punk scene. But when the Ramones returned home to New York they had trouble booking shows in Connecticut and New Jersey. In the band's early years, its members all crammed into Mr. Vega's loft space.
Though the band never had a major hit, it persisted for 22 years and more than a dozen studio albums, including its first record, "Ramones" (1976); "Leave Home" (1977); "Rocket to Russia" (1977); "End of the Century" (1980), recorded with Mr. Spector; and "Adios Amigos'' (1995), its last. Through the years the band kept a grueling touring schedule, and when on the road, Mr. Ramone carefully kept track of details from each concert. The band played its final gig, No. 2,263, on Aug. 6, 1996, at the Palace in Los Angeles.
That theater, now called the Avalon, was the site of a 30th-anniversary tribute to the Ramones on Sunday, with a roster that included Rob Zombie, Henry Rollins, X, Mr. Vedder and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It was, Mr. Vega said, "a veiled tribute to Johnny," and at the show Rob Zombie called Mr. Ramone from the stage so that the crowd could shout "Hey ho, let's go!," the band's rallying cry and the first words of its most famous song, "Blitzkrieg Bop."
Another anniversary concert is planned for New York on Oct. 8, which is the birthday of both Johnny and C. J. Ramone (Christopher John Ward), the bassist who replaced Dee Dee in 1989. The concert is booked at Spirit on West 27th Street in Chelsea, and is to feature Blondie and the Strokes, Mr. Vega said.
Mr. Fields, the group's first manager, said that after the band broke up Mr. Ramone did not work again. "Johnny's goal was to retire," he said. "All he wanted to do was to be able to stop working. He was proud of what he did, but he still wanted to stop. People would ask him, 'What are you going to do when there's no more band?' And he would say, 'Watch baseball and horror movies.' "
For much of the last year Mr. Ramone had been working on his memoirs with Steve Miller, a reporter for The Washington Times. Mr. Miller said yesterday that their interviews were complete.
Mr. Ramone was often at odds with the members of his band, over dress, politics and relationships. A staunch Republican, Mr. Ramone clashed with Joey over that singer's liberal causes, and when the band was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Mr. Ramone said, "God bless President Bush, and God bless America."
After Mr. Ramone began dating a woman who had been seeing Joey, the two men stopped talking to each other. On their tour bus, they kept silent company, often passing messages back and forth through an intermediary. Johnny Ramone later married the woman, now Linda Cummings, who survives him, along with his mother, Estelle Cummings.
Mr. Ramone's silence toward Joey continued even to his band mate's death. Interviewed in his home for the new documentary "End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones,'' surrounded by horror-movie posters from his extensive collection, Mr. Ramone was unflinching in his refusal to reconcile with Joey.
"I'm only going to be the way I'd want someone to react to me," he said in the film. "If I didn't like someone, I wouldn't want him calling me up when I was dying. I wouldn't want them having regrets that they didn't talk to me. I'm happy that they didn't talk to me. If I'm gone, that's how it goes."
Friday, September 10, 2004
How not to be a geezer....
October is Put Old on Hold Month - Ten Tips to Look and Feel Younger in 30 Days
Anti-aging expert offers unique tips to help Boomers look and feel younger.
(PRWEB) September 9, 2004 -- Barbara Morris, anti-aging expert, pharmacist, and 75-year-old author of Put Old on Hold says 40 year olds can stay a “rock n’ roll” young for 25 years or more. She has designated October as Put Old on Hold Month and invites Boomers to begin to Put Old on Hold by following 10 of her stay young rules: 1.Donate donuts to the trash and don’t look back. In 30 days, you will have slimmer hips and flatter abs. 2.Know that you are an ageless god or goddess, so don’t ever call yourself an “old broad” or “old geezer.” You will be reported to Judge Judy who will sentence you to associate with real old broads and old geezers. It won’t be fun. You will regret having misrepresented yourself. 3.Be a juicy plum instead of a dried prune. Drink 8-10 glasses of water a day instead of coffee and sodas. Caffeine sucks water out of your body and makes your skin look and feel like crinkly crepe paper. 4.For men: Shave all the hair off your face so others can see and appreciate the good-looking guy you really are. Nothing ages an over-40 man more than facial hair and long locks. And one more thing: The “t” in tattoo stands for “trash” so don’t trash your body with permanent images. Think ahead: “I’m a stud” emblazoned across your biceps won’t impress caretakers when you are in diapers in a nursing home. 5.Instead of fast food, have homemade protein drinks. Keep them in a cooler in the car or office. Take a multiple vitamin at least once a day to boost energy and replace nutrients lost in processed foods. 6.Eat wild salmon at least twice a week. The Omega-3 fatty acids in salmon will brighten and firm your skin. 7.Switch to whole grain bread. It doesn’t clog your gut like pasty white bread. A clogged gut makes you look gray and feel old and cranky. 8.Walk at least 30 minutes a day. Get a treadmill and put it in front of the TV. Walk through your favorite programs while fat, flabby thighs tighten and tone.9.When asked, “How are you?” always respond “terrific” even if you feel lousy. At the end of the day, after ten “terrific” responses, you will look and feel better.10.Men and women: Work with an anti aging physician to get your hormones in balance with natural bio-identical hormone replacement. It will rejuvenate your love life and make you feel ten years younger in no time.
Anti-aging expert offers unique tips to help Boomers look and feel younger.
(PRWEB) September 9, 2004 -- Barbara Morris, anti-aging expert, pharmacist, and 75-year-old author of Put Old on Hold says 40 year olds can stay a “rock n’ roll” young for 25 years or more. She has designated October as Put Old on Hold Month and invites Boomers to begin to Put Old on Hold by following 10 of her stay young rules: 1.Donate donuts to the trash and don’t look back. In 30 days, you will have slimmer hips and flatter abs. 2.Know that you are an ageless god or goddess, so don’t ever call yourself an “old broad” or “old geezer.” You will be reported to Judge Judy who will sentence you to associate with real old broads and old geezers. It won’t be fun. You will regret having misrepresented yourself. 3.Be a juicy plum instead of a dried prune. Drink 8-10 glasses of water a day instead of coffee and sodas. Caffeine sucks water out of your body and makes your skin look and feel like crinkly crepe paper. 4.For men: Shave all the hair off your face so others can see and appreciate the good-looking guy you really are. Nothing ages an over-40 man more than facial hair and long locks. And one more thing: The “t” in tattoo stands for “trash” so don’t trash your body with permanent images. Think ahead: “I’m a stud” emblazoned across your biceps won’t impress caretakers when you are in diapers in a nursing home. 5.Instead of fast food, have homemade protein drinks. Keep them in a cooler in the car or office. Take a multiple vitamin at least once a day to boost energy and replace nutrients lost in processed foods. 6.Eat wild salmon at least twice a week. The Omega-3 fatty acids in salmon will brighten and firm your skin. 7.Switch to whole grain bread. It doesn’t clog your gut like pasty white bread. A clogged gut makes you look gray and feel old and cranky. 8.Walk at least 30 minutes a day. Get a treadmill and put it in front of the TV. Walk through your favorite programs while fat, flabby thighs tighten and tone.9.When asked, “How are you?” always respond “terrific” even if you feel lousy. At the end of the day, after ten “terrific” responses, you will look and feel better.10.Men and women: Work with an anti aging physician to get your hormones in balance with natural bio-identical hormone replacement. It will rejuvenate your love life and make you feel ten years younger in no time.
Wednesday, September 08, 2004
Be active, Geezers!
Inactivity a greater heart risk than obesity, study finds
Never mind what the bathroom scales are saying and take a brisk walk: That's the message that emerges from a new study that shows that, when it comes to heart health, it's more important to be active than thin.
The research, conducted exclusively on women, found that those who were fittest were least likely to have clogged arteries, had the fewest heart attacks and had far fewer risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The same associations did not hold true based on women's weight, or body mass index. (BMI is an approximation of body fat.)
"Lack of physical fitness is a stronger risk factor for developing heart disease than being overweight or obese," said Timothy Wessel, a cardiologist at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville, Fla.
He said the link between BMI and heart disease remains unclear, particularly in women. Dr. Wessel said the problem is that most obesity studies have not adequately measured physical activity and many studies of physical fitness have excluded women with known or suspected coronary heart disease.
The research, published in today's edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association, was conducted on 906 women who were prescribed a coronary angiography -- a test that measures blockages in the arteries of the heart. Practically speaking, that meant many already had a number of risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
The vast majority of the women in the study, 76 per cent, were overweight or obese and just over 70 per cent were virtually sedentary. Their average age was 58.
During the four-year study period, 68 of the women died and 455 suffered a heart attack or stroke.
When the data were analyzed by categories of weight and activity, women who were active, even moderately, turned out to be far less likely to develop heart problems than the sedentary women, regardless of how much they weighed. (The fitness of the participants in the study was judged based on a questionnaire that estimated their daily energy expenditure.)
While the researchers were careful not to say that being overweight or obese is desirable, they stressed that it is important to be active regardless of how much you weigh. This is true even for people with serious heart disease, such as the women involved in the study.
"Increased physical therapy seems to be an ideal therapy for coronary heart disease," Dr. Wessel said. He said that physicians who are treating patients for heart disease -- and its prevention -- should be sure to stress physical activity more than weight loss.
A second, unrelated study also published in JAMA, offered seemingly contradictory results. It found that weight, rather than fitness, was the best predictor of women developing Type 2 diabetes.
The study, conducted by Amy Weinstein and a group of researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, followed 37,878 women over a seven-year period.
"We observed a modest reduction in the risk of diabetes with increasing physical activity level, compared with a large increase in the risk with increasing BMI," Dr. Weinstein said. The women in the study, however, were generally younger and healthier than those in the heart study.
In a related commentary, published in the same edition of JAMA, Steven Blair of the Cooper Institute in Dallas, said the evidence linking obesity to health problems is indisputable but the role of fitness is equally clear. He said the differences in findings were largely a result of methodology and the groups of women studied.
What is important for the public to retain, Mr. Blair said, is that research has consistently shown that a moderately fit obese person is about half as likely to die of heart disease as an unfit person of normal weight. The Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation recommends that everyone do the equivalent of 30 minutes of brisk walking daily to be considered moderately active.
Mr. Blair, a well-known fitness guru who always makes light of the fact that he is heavyset, said the "fitness versus fatness" debate is academic and irrelevant to people looking to get healthy.
"Physicians, researchers and policy-makers should spend less energy debating the relative health importance of fitness and obesity and more time focusing on how to get sedentary individuals to become active," Mr. Blair said.
About 59 per cent of adults in Canada are considered inactive, and 48 per cent are overweight.
Never mind what the bathroom scales are saying and take a brisk walk: That's the message that emerges from a new study that shows that, when it comes to heart health, it's more important to be active than thin.
The research, conducted exclusively on women, found that those who were fittest were least likely to have clogged arteries, had the fewest heart attacks and had far fewer risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The same associations did not hold true based on women's weight, or body mass index. (BMI is an approximation of body fat.)
"Lack of physical fitness is a stronger risk factor for developing heart disease than being overweight or obese," said Timothy Wessel, a cardiologist at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville, Fla.
He said the link between BMI and heart disease remains unclear, particularly in women. Dr. Wessel said the problem is that most obesity studies have not adequately measured physical activity and many studies of physical fitness have excluded women with known or suspected coronary heart disease.
The research, published in today's edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association, was conducted on 906 women who were prescribed a coronary angiography -- a test that measures blockages in the arteries of the heart. Practically speaking, that meant many already had a number of risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
The vast majority of the women in the study, 76 per cent, were overweight or obese and just over 70 per cent were virtually sedentary. Their average age was 58.
During the four-year study period, 68 of the women died and 455 suffered a heart attack or stroke.
When the data were analyzed by categories of weight and activity, women who were active, even moderately, turned out to be far less likely to develop heart problems than the sedentary women, regardless of how much they weighed. (The fitness of the participants in the study was judged based on a questionnaire that estimated their daily energy expenditure.)
While the researchers were careful not to say that being overweight or obese is desirable, they stressed that it is important to be active regardless of how much you weigh. This is true even for people with serious heart disease, such as the women involved in the study.
"Increased physical therapy seems to be an ideal therapy for coronary heart disease," Dr. Wessel said. He said that physicians who are treating patients for heart disease -- and its prevention -- should be sure to stress physical activity more than weight loss.
A second, unrelated study also published in JAMA, offered seemingly contradictory results. It found that weight, rather than fitness, was the best predictor of women developing Type 2 diabetes.
The study, conducted by Amy Weinstein and a group of researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, followed 37,878 women over a seven-year period.
"We observed a modest reduction in the risk of diabetes with increasing physical activity level, compared with a large increase in the risk with increasing BMI," Dr. Weinstein said. The women in the study, however, were generally younger and healthier than those in the heart study.
In a related commentary, published in the same edition of JAMA, Steven Blair of the Cooper Institute in Dallas, said the evidence linking obesity to health problems is indisputable but the role of fitness is equally clear. He said the differences in findings were largely a result of methodology and the groups of women studied.
What is important for the public to retain, Mr. Blair said, is that research has consistently shown that a moderately fit obese person is about half as likely to die of heart disease as an unfit person of normal weight. The Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation recommends that everyone do the equivalent of 30 minutes of brisk walking daily to be considered moderately active.
Mr. Blair, a well-known fitness guru who always makes light of the fact that he is heavyset, said the "fitness versus fatness" debate is academic and irrelevant to people looking to get healthy.
"Physicians, researchers and policy-makers should spend less energy debating the relative health importance of fitness and obesity and more time focusing on how to get sedentary individuals to become active," Mr. Blair said.
About 59 per cent of adults in Canada are considered inactive, and 48 per cent are overweight.
Vote Kerry, dump Bush!
- QUOTATIONS OF THE DAY -
"It's absolutely essential that eight weeks from today, on Nov. 2, we make the right choice, because if we make the wrong choice then the
danger is that we'll get hit again and we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States."
- VICE PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY
"It's absolutely essential that eight weeks from today, on Nov. 2, we make the right choice, because if we make the wrong choice then the
danger is that we'll get hit again and we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States."
- VICE PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY
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