Inspiration.... Animation

Many times when I am in need of inspiration to get down to my own illustration, I turn to animations. But not just any modern animation... I look back to Fleischer Studios. Oh sure, I have many disks from Warner and Disney but nothing has the pleasing effect of the Fleischer touch. In particular are the Superman short films from the early 1940s.

I actually spend more time watching the backgrounds than the action in front. These are tremendous, well rendered pieces of art that mimic the true value of distance. Even a piece of paper has the subtle shadows that make it appear to have been folded. Leaves in trees actually looked like leaves in trees. Great attention was paid to detail. The cartoons made for TV in the sixties almost made me gag. Everything was flat with no shadow or substance.

Fleischer's animations were filled with camera pans and dissolves between scenes that gave them a cinematic quality. He was inventing new ways to make animations and was the only true rival to Disney at the time. The backdrops to Superman and the early Pop-Eye films were so realistic they almost looked like a world you could step into. With a few exceptions, todays animations while high in special effects, don't have that realistic feel of any place you could visit.

When Paramount first came to Max Fleischer to make the Superman films he turned it down. When asked why, he told Paramount that it was just too expensive to make the kind of film they wanted. Back then the average short cost $10 to $15,000 to make. The Superman short films would cost $90,000 to make. Paramount agreed and put up the money.

It's truly amazing that these nearly 70 year old animations can still rival anything made today. Production costs what they are, I can see where they would want to cut corners, Only the action seems relevant today. While all the studios make some very fine action animations that are very eye catching, I can't help looking beyond what's going on in the foreground and sneeking a peek at what's out back.

It truly is all in the details.
This link gives further insight into the creation of Superman in the animations.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E01KqT6RURs

Incumbents Need To Go!

The masses have spoken! They will hear no more of this type of change! They stood shoulder to shoulder, spoke their piece and had their way. The GAP will not remain with the new logo but will return to the original. What did you think I meant?

If only the voters could be as passionate about who speaks for them in government as they are about the name on their shopping bag. The GAP heard the people loud and clear and took action. Why can't voters speak just as loud and clear to their representatives? Mid-term elections are in a few weeks and it's time to make choices... serious choices.

It's time for the career politicians to be shown the door, the pink slip, to be sent packing. Mayors, Governors, and the President of the United States are subject to term limits. They can only hang around and be ineffective for a short period. But those who have introduced these rules and enacted them have no intention of having limits imposed on them. There's too much money to be scraped into their pile by hanging around and convincing the voter they are doing him a favor by picking his pocket. There is a solution.

Go to the polling place and vote them out. There is a growing trend to vote out the incumbents. Ask yourself if that career politician has really helped the masses or just the already rich. Have they done all they can to get peoples jobs back or just secured their own? Decades of ineffectuality are just a waste of our time and tax money. Just because he's a "Good Old Boy" is no reason to keep him around.

We are at a point in time where we need more rapid solutions to this countries problems. All Congress seems to do is keep everything in Committee while they fight over the legitimacy of each proposal. And when a solution is passed it's held up by all the legal wrangling.

But, don't we need these career people because of their experience? Ask yourself how all this experience let this country fall so deeply into the hole it's in. Ask yourself if any one of them lost their home, lost their savings or lost their health insurance. We know none of them lost their job. Now it's time they did. But don't grieve for them. They've got an ironclad pension that we'll be paying for forever.

Incumbents need to go! The next person may be all wrong for the job but he'll be an incumbent.... and we know what to do with them each and every election year.

Facebook changes.....again

In the news, yesterday they announced more new changes at Facebook, ostensibly to make your usage of the social site more enjoyable and easier to use. One of the upgrades mentioned was that you could now download every post you ever made right back to the day you first signed on. It reminded me of a post by one person who asked, "When I delete any of my posts are they completely erased?" Apparently, this person had some dubious posts that now, in hindsight, were illadvised. I replied, doubting that anything was completely erased. It had to be on some server, somewhere in their archives; you just weren't able to see it anymore.

So, allowing my Conspiracy Theory writers mind to drive, I came up with a scenario. Knowing how the NSA listens in on everything in the cyberworld, looking for terrorists, it was clear that Facebook or Twitter or any social site, or even blogging sites like this one, would be a good place to go trolling for baddies. Also, knowing how some members like to talk in code, either song titles or passages from literature or quotes from famous people past and present, would this not pique the curiosity of these covert listeners. Maybe not, but it might get you on the radar of some listener who thinks everyone is out to overthrow the Government. How long would they be tiptoeing through the tulips of your public passages before they decided you were harmless. Or would they ever decide you were harmless; especially if some sting in your local area were to flush out a hive of felons dedicated to breaking the law or sending info to foreign governments? For that matter; will this post have them looking at me?

I've often advised people of giving TMI (to much info) online. Where they live or what they own; even when they will be on vacation and the house will be empty. They might as well hang a sign on the front door, "Come in and help yourself".

So, all I can say, (again) is don't say anything online that you will regret later because deleting it is not going to get it erased. It will always be recorded somewhere so that some dedicated savior of the nation can connect you to the local terrorist cell. As for me........ I got nothing to hide.

Oh great! That'll have them knocking on my door by sunrise.

New GAP logo - Who cares?

With all the tragedy, loss of life and property, the furor today is over the new logo for the GAP. The elongated Times Roman type inside a large blue square is replaced by the bland "Impact" type with a small blue square in the corner. I can see a lot of thought was used to come up with that. I say... what difference does it make? Will shoppers be unable to find the store in the local mall, now? Not a chance. They'll still be running in to plunk down their plastic to get the latest, whatever, fashion. If they can't accept change maybe they should save their old shopping bags to use on their next visit.

I say, if they want to use a new logo with some, impact, they should enlarge a close up of Michael Strahan's teeth and use it as a background for the newest logo.

Christmas Gift To Myself

On Sunday, December 14th I ordered a gift for myself. A brand new Canon digital camera. It's got all kinds of great functions that make taking better pictures extremely easy. Why a new camera when I rarely take pictures? Listen up while I explain.

I haven't sold any of my writing in years and haven't made a nickle on my artwork in some time but in this epoch of layoffs and business closings I'm determined to make some extra dough by selling stock photos. I'm not about to make a career of it but one never knows. I do intend to make it a source of rainy day insurance.

My everyday job looks to be secure for now and if my employer continues at the current pace and can weather the storm I should be okay. Still, one can't just sit around and hope everything will always turn out okay.

I'm well aware that taking pictures is not just a matter of pointing the lens and clicking the shutter. Content and composition are paramount. I've got a lot to learn but I'm convinced my artistic talents will guide me as I set up shots. I intend to take the advice I gleaned from various blogs by successful photogs and carry the camera with me at all times. You never know when that perfect picture will reveal itself. I'm prepared to take dozens of shots from as many angles as I can think of in order to get that one perfect picture. Practice makes perfect in anything you do.

I'm compiling a list of types of shots I want to watch out for and where I might have to go to get them. This is not going to be a hobby but rather a way of life. Pursuing this is going to get me out of the apartment and away from the glare of the television. One side affect could and should be a stimulus to get me to jump start my artistic talents. It's already gotten me to write in this blog which I haven't done in some time.

I envision taking a number of floral pictures at first or "crowd" shots of interest, local sports or playground shots. I may end up chasing a few fire engines to get news shots or of an accident or two or something of human interest that may see print in local newspapers. Who knows... maybe in a couple of years I may be jostling for the optimum position with other shutterbugs for that perfect shot of Britney Spears cleavage? Yeah, right! Dream on sucker.

Timely Service... Forget it!!!

On August 28th at 4:30 PM my phone service went dead. Along with it went my DSL service from Verizon. Since I'm not an owner of a cell phone and don't care to own one there was little to do at the time. There's been a lot of remodeling going on in my apartment complex and a wire could have gotten accidentally yanked loose.

At work the next day I went online to Verizon to request repair service. The request form is not set up for people who don't have cell phones. It asked me for an alternate phone number so they might call me if they had to. No help there but it wouldn't take my request without some phone number there so I put in the one that's dead. Naturally the dumb machine took the useless number. I was also asked for my e-mail addy. I put it in but without the phone working I've got no DSL and as a result no e-mail. After it tried to see if my line was working it told me they couldn't send out a repairman until Sept 3rd. What! Seven days without service. They got to be kidding!

So now I have to take a day off from work to wait for the repairman because he will be around anywhere between 9AM and 8 PM. Nice of them to be so specific. If I'd had some serious ailment or was an invalid they would have made the effort to get to me right away. Sometimes being healthy is a drawback.

Since I'll be without service for a week do you think Verizon will offer me 25% off my bill this month? Yeah! When pigs fly.

But all is not lost. My new PC that I bought last February has a WiFi connection and it has been telling me of signals it detects in the area every time I turn it on. I've ignored it but now I was interested. I expected to be asked for some password to sign on and I was correct but the machine has detected half a dozen signals so I kept trying and what do you know. One allowed me to connect but it is an unencrypted source. I'm online again. The signal is a little week and drops out at times and I'm not going to be doing any online banking soon. I've got to check out the encrypted provider and see what they want for their service. Unless their transmitter blows up I'm not likely to be without service again. And it works a hell of a lot faster.

The Incredible WALL*E

Since I had no where else to be yesterday, July 4, I went to see a couple of movies. The first was Wall*e, a tongue in cheek love story between two robots. A too long alone trash recycling robot left behind on the Earth to clean up the mess left behind by the Earthlings taking a cruise to the stars and a sleek, clean, ultra-powerful probe sent back to Earth to see if it's worth returning to.

After it gets over its fear of being destroyed by the ultra-powerful probe, it's love all around for Wall*e the bumbling little trash recycler. Wall*e follows the probe, designated Eve, to the stars by hitching a ride on the outside of the ship sent to retrieve her/it. They are taken to the cruise ship Axiom where humanity has been in space for 700 years. Having grown fat and lazy the humans are waited on hand and foot by automated robots.

The movie is full of sight gags and inuendo and the facial expressions of the robots trigger the same emotions in the viewer. I couldn't help but laugh and feel sorrow for the little robots as the situations changed. A film well worth seeing again and again.

The second film was The Incredible Hulk. This sequel is far superior to the first installment. Ed Norton did a far better portrayal of Bruce Banner than the previous actor. And William Hurt made me believe he really was Gen. "Thunderbolt" Ross. Even though the action was between the Hulk and the super-powered antagonist, the battle was and always has been between Banner/Hulk and Ross. Each with their own separate ideas of right and wrong.

Even for all his brutality and blind rage the Hulk has a sense of right and justice. He does nothing more than defend himself when he is attacked. It's his enormous strength and lack of control that makes him appear to be a brutal, rampaging savage and killer. If left alone or ignored he'd just go away to be by himself. Clearly, Thunderbolt Ross is the true cause and is ultimately responsible for all the carnage done by the Hulk.

Given this new adversary, the Hulk is pitted against his equal, physically and far outmatched by this creature that has human intelligence and reasoning. But the aversary has ego which is his weakness while the Hulk's strength is and always has been his blind, insane, rage. This seering rage and to some extent, virtue, keep picking the Hulk up after he has been beaten down and should stay down. The gamma loaded adrenaline that courses through his veins magnifies the Hulks strength transforming him into an unstoppable juggernaut. Unstoppable except for the influence of one slim, unassuming, beautiful woman... Betty Ross. Somewhere, deep in the recesses of the Hulks brutish, manic-depressive brain resides a spark of humanity that is Bruce Banner's undieing love for this woman. She alone can calm the flames of his insane anger. While, on the surface, this may appear to be a weakness, it's actually the Hulk's greatest asset.

This movie was superbly put together graphicswise. The computer generated hulk actually looks like he is right there interacting with the other humans and his surroundings. The movie is an adrenaline rush from start to finish with just enough oases to let the viewer catch his breath.

Films such as this one don't get nominated for the best picture Oscar but this one needs to be considered by the Academy.

Superhero -- Who? Me?

With great power comes great responsibility. Those words were first strung together by Stan Lee after he created Spider-Man. While these words were meant to define the duty of the superhero in the comic book universe it could also apply to any public official or upper echelon of the business world. But let's concentrate on the superhero.

Imagine yourself with the powers of your favorite hero. After you got done playing with and exploring the new abilities would you design your costume and go out to fight crime or be committing them. For the sake of arguement we'll say you want to fight crime.

Would you openly display your abilities or be a creature of the night and do things as quietly as possible? Done in secret would only last so long. Sooner or later you'd get caught at it and be on the run. Someone once said "No good deed goes unpunished". No matter how good the intentions you'd be hunted by the law.

Would there be mistrust -- ceretainly, fear -- absolutely, bad propaganda -- for sure. The Government would want to not only control you they'd want to disect you to see if they could make more of you into soldiers. They'd want to brain wash you and/or use you as a weapon of blackmail to enemy countries. But before that they'd want to use you as a superspy. Your life would not be your own.

Of course, if you were powerful enough, they'd try to destroy you if they couldn't control you. You may believe this thinking is a little paranoid but I think it's very close. Human nature is what it is.

While it's entertaining and often thrilling to read about superheroes I don't think I'd want to be one. Well, maybe being invulnerable wouldn't be so bad.

Status Symbol

In the United States that could be none other than the automobile. The sleeker, faster, racier, the priceier the better. But now, since the price of gasoline has gone so high it does more parking in the driveway than driving on the Parkway. (pardon me George Carlin for stealing your line)

In the seventies we had much the same thing happen. More cars were sitting and public transportation was being utilized. But that was because you couldn't get any gas because of the shortage of fuel due to the oil embargo beset upon us by the oil producing nations not because of the price. Now as then, cars with higher mileage ratings were being sought out rather than the big status symbols. At the time a five year old Volkswagen beetle would set you back $2000 - 2500 while a gas guzzling five year old Cadilac Eldorado could be had off the lot for $500.

The long sought after and so handsomely prized by Soccer Moms everywhere, SUV, is being sent out to pasture and the gas sipping sub-compacts are flying off the lots. The SUVs were sold under the banner that it was the safest, most reliable vehicle that you could count on to keep the loved ones safe in an accident. Now... who cares if the wife and kiddies get crushed under an 18-wheeler, WE CAN'T PAY FOR THE GAS. And speaking of the 18-wheeler: I heard last evening that in order to fill one up with Diesel fuel will set the driver back $1300. Be prepared to pay even more at the grocery store and any other place that relies on these big rigs to bring in the goods.

Scooters are also the transportation of choice by the thrifty or just plain poor. Getting 100 miles to the gallon will cause most anyone to forget how silly they might look on one. Guess what's going to cost more in the near future. Hint: it's the first word in this paragraph.

Remember the old sales pitch by the used car dealer: "It was driven by a little old lady from Pasadena who only used it on Sunday." Now I can hear the pitchman saying "It was driven by a small family from (insert town here) on the weekends." What with the cost of gas so high many are resorting to only using the car on the weekends while they take public transportation to and from work. Even the usually auto-choked highways in Southern California are suddenly experiencing a lot less traffic. And the trend is spreading around the country. Look for tolls on bridges and turnpikes to increase as revenue starts to plummet.

If something isn't done I can visualize more and more of these rapidly growing detriments to the budget sitting in front yards with "For Sale" signs on them. Or maybe someone will fill theirs up with dirt and grow flowers or brocoli or maybe asparagus in it. Now there's a status symbol for ya!

The Writing Muse

Mine, at least, must be female. Why do I say that, you ask? Because it's so fickle.

She jumps into my thoughts at the most inopportune times when I've no time to be productive and when I'm at the keyboard with all the time in the world she decides to go out for a walk. And her step-brother, Ambition, usually decides to take a nap.

This doesn't happen all the time but more often than not. I suppose it might have something to do with having no deadline to meet or being in need of the funds I potentially could earn if I actually sold something. But is that really my fault? :-)

I suppose, if I could shut out all the other distractions, she might be willing to get down to some serious work. Then again she hates to get down to any serious research which really slows down the process.

What's a writer to do when they have a clunky muse? Is there any place to exchange an old one for a new one? Can they be reprogrammed or are you stuck with the one you're born with?

So many questions -- so few answers -- so little time.

Friends

What are friends...really?

I used to think they were that someone who stood behind you in good times and bad. Who took the time to listen to what it was that troubled you. Someone you could seek out for advice or who would seek you out when they had a problem to solve. But most of all, someone who would never shut you out just because they thought you might not understand or forgive a transgression.

And you know what? All of this is true. The difficulty is in deciding just who are friends and who are just letting you fill in time until something better comes along. Sometimes you have no idea who really are your friends until adversity shows it's ugly face. Then those you believed to have thought you were invisible suddenly show you how wrong you were.

But what do you do about those who tell you "how glad I am to have found you" then become invisible themselves for whatever reason they had. Do you forgive? If you're any kind of friend and want to keep calling yourself that, you better. Do you trust them ever again? Trust has to be earned and can be earned again if the person really wants it.

What it all boils down to is if you want to have friends you have to be one first. This is not some revelation I just thought up; no, it's been around since the beginning of man's existence. It's just that sometimes you have to remind yourself of it.

7 kinds of sex

The 1st kind of sex is called: Smurf Sex. This kind of sex happens when you first meet someone and you both have sex until you are blue in the face.

The 2nd kind of sex is called: Kitchen Sex. This is when you have been with your partner for a short time and you are so horny you will have sex anywhere, even in the kitchen.

The 3rd kind of sex is called: Bedroom Sex. This is when you have been with your partner for a long time. Your sex has gotten routine and you usually have sex only in your bedroom.

The 4th kind of sex is called: Hallway Sex. This is when you have been with your partner for too long. When you pass each other in the hallway you both say "screw you".

The 5th kind of sex is called: Courtroom Sex. This is when you cannot stand your wife/Hubby any more. She/He takes you to court and screws you in front of everyone.

The 6th kind is called Religious Sex, which means you get Nun in the morning, Nun in the afternoon and Nun at night.

OOPS. Don't forget the 7th kind of sex - Social Security Sex. You get a little each month. But not enough to live on!

Gone Phishing

Scam artists have been phishing via email for some time now with all sorts of scenarios to trick you out of your private information. And unfortunately, a large enough percentage of people still bite on these lures making it profitable for the scammers to keep trying.

It needs to be remembered that any site you are registered with will not email you and ask you for your username or password. And any email they do send you will usually address you by name: info that phishers could not possibly have.

Recently I had an incident with the phishers other tactic. They call you on the phone if you are listed in the book and try to get info from you. The automated caller claimed to be with MasterCard and told me my rates were about to change and to press 9 to speak with a rep who would explain it all to me. It pains me to think that some percentage of people are naive enough to fall for this. First: I have more than one card with different banks whose rates are different and set by each bank. Second: any changes to your rates will be mailed to you with your monthly statement well in advance. They will not waste time and money with the phone unless there is a serious problem with your account. I was tempted to talk to this rep and see just how much bullshit I could lay on them before they hung up in disgust but it was late in the evening and I had other fish to fry.

All I can say is that if anyone calls you or emails you for your info tell them nothing. The only time you will need to give them your info is if you contact them first through their website or call the phone number on the back of your card and not some link in an email or a phone call from them. If one of your accounts should call you they will address you by name and tell you a portion of your account number once you identify yourself.

So be aware and be safe.

It Ain't Art - It's Fraud!

Today, I happened across an art book that ticked me off. On it, displayed as high art were a bunch of old weathered timbers bolted together at right angles with a few old bolts and metal plates and it was called art. I call it firewood. And then there was that bolder. You're not going to take ten pounds of clay and shape it into a pile of dried dog poop left out in the rain, cast it in bronze ten times it's original size, plunk it on a slab of concrete in some metropolitan park and make me believe it's art. Or better still, take a few condiment squeeze bottles, fill them with paint, squirt them all over a six foot by ten foot canvas and call it art. And then have the balls to place a five million dollar price tag on it.

Who do you gotta sleep with to get that kind of deal?

Give me a good renaissance painter any day. These artisans knew how to make fine art. Their paintings looked exactly like what they were depicting. There was no guesswork there. You didn't have to stand there staring at the canvas for hours trying to figure out what the hell was this guy thinking. Even Warhol's op art looked like something even if it did make your eyes cross at times.

I've painted landscapes and done artwork for comic books and believe me I haven't earned enough to buy the local professional ball club. Then again, I haven't been dead for 300 years yet.

Maybe I'll try inventing a new style. I'll take several different colors of paint and pump them up my ass and then fart all over a canvas. Now all I need is to think of what to call it.

Have a great day.

Social Security

As a baby boomer I am rapidly closing in on the time when I will want to file for my Social Security. Whether I'll be able to retire and enjoy my leisure is another question.

It's been speculated many times that SS will likely be broke by then and Congress has not formulated a better plan to save it. I, on the other hand, have had the answer for some time. It's quite simple... cancel all Congressional pensions!

If they have to live on their SS as so many of us poor schmucks will have to do they'll fix the system in a big hurry.

Then too, most of them are lawyers and will likely get some high paying job once they're voted out of office. A job that will likely have a large pension attached to it when the time comes so they won't need their SS anyway. But you know the greedy group will apply for it anyway just so the rest of us can't get it first..

There also is another issue that is happening right now. The current administration wants to cut back on funding for medical care for children of low income families. Why? Most likely it is because the war in the Middle East is costing so much that they have to cut back on something. Who cares if hundreds of sick children die so long as we keep funding a senseless war where we're killing so many young adults. They get to cut back on the surplus population even faster. This has also prompted several states to sue the Bush administration to get the funding restored.

Get the tar and feathers ready, folks.

Justice League

Well, it looks like we may get the promised Justice League movie yet. They're still nailing down the cast and have said they want to announce the entire lineup all at once when it is set. But secrets are fleeting and it had been revealed that Jessica Biel would play Wonder Woman but three days later she was reported to have said no thanks. My two favorite choices would be Milena Govich recently off of Law & Order or Kate Beckensale.

The rest of the lineup include the Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman and the Martian Manhunter. Superman and Batman are also listed but Brandon Routh and Christian Bale will not be playing their respective roles. Christian Bale has just finish filming The Dark Knight and likely is looking for some time off. Brandon Routh has not done much lately so only the studio knows why he's not on board. My choice for Superman is obvious; offer it to Tom Welling who has been playing the young Clark Kent in "Smallville" now in it's seventh season. Oddly enough, Welling, who plays the young Superman to be, is older than Routh who played the older version.

I haven't made up my mind who should play the other heroes but if anyone who reads this has any suggestions let me know with a comment.

The villain should, in my estimation, be some otherworldly supercreature; something quite huge and powerful that would require an entire team of heroes to defeat it.

American Idol

Yesterday nearly 20,000 hopefuls stood outside of the Wacovia Center in Philadelphia to wait their turn to audition. I feel sorry for those who were at the end of the line that started before 4 AM.

I give them credit for having the where-with-all to wait for their turn before the preliminary judges. You have to want something bad to wait for so long. By dinner time they were still listening to auditions and there were hours to go still.

The judges deserve some credit for being there all that time. A captive audience you might say.

Several of the early arrivals were singled out by the media to give a little sample of what they intended to sing. As I listened to each of them in turn it occurred to me they all sounded alike. Didn't any of them have something original. Sure, they sang different songs but each one, man or woman, sounded the same in every inflection. I only heard a dozen or so and can only imagine how the judges felt after a few thousand.

Only about a thousand will be chosen to go on to the next round. This gave me pause for thought. This show always lets a certain number of auditioners, who couldn't carry a tune in a bucket, through to the next round so they can be ridiculed on camera by Simon and the rest. Is this really fair? Are they letting these few bad singers through at the expense of someone else who might actually be able to sing? Seems unlikely. The judges have already picked the better singers from the rest and just need a few for some reality television. It gives the better singers the incentive to do their best and not fall under the wrath of Simon.

William Hung (I hope I spelled his name correctly) was an exception. Some fast thinking producer saw a way to make a few bucks for a year or so then let William fade away. If he's still in show business it's a big secret because I haven't heard of him, in a while.

There even was a cross dresser there for the audition. What a flamboyant load of whatever. The man was dressed in a white feather dress, a white feather boa, a white feather hat with a huge brim and white high heels. That one I hope got the free pass to ridicule city. Not that I'm a nasty person or have anything against cross dressers, it's just good TV.

Anyway, I wish them all luck but I'll be staying away from the early rounds until the chaff is separated from the wheat.

I Resign

I found this on another website and thought I'd post it here for others to see.

My Resignation
Author Unknown

I am hereby officially tendering my resignation as an adult. I have decided I would like to accept the responsibilities of an 8 year-old.

I want to go to McDonald's and think that it's a four star restaurant.

I want to sail sticks across a fresh mud puddle and make a sidewalk with rocks.

I want to think M&Ms are better than money because you can eat them.

I want to lie under a big oak tree and run a lemonade stand with my friends on a hot summer's day.

I want to return to a time when life was simple; When all you knew were colors, multiplication tables, and nursery rhymes, but that didn't bother you, because you didn't know what you didn't know and you didn't care.

All you knew was to be happy because you were blissfully unaware of all the things that should make you worried or upset.

I want to think the world is fair. That everyone is honest and good.

I want to believe that anything is possible. I want to be oblivious to the complexities of life and be overly excited by the little things again.

I want to live simple again. I don't want my day to consist of computer crashes, mountains of paperwork, depressing news, how to survive more days in the month than there is money in the bank, doctor bills, gossip, illness, and loss of loved ones.

I want to believe in the power of smiles, hugs, a kind word, truth, justice, peace, dreams, the imagination, mankind, and making angels in the snow.

So... here's my checkbook and my car-keys, my credit card bills and my 401K statements. I am officially resigning from adulthood.

Made in China

This is almost becoming a phrase that means buyer beware.

It was bad enough with the poisoned dog food that came from there a few months ago then the toothpaste scare of recent weeks and now the latest is children's toys with excessive lead paint on them. This last one with the paint has forced Fisher Price to recall several toys made for them in China.

So many coincidences over so short a time has got to make one wonder what the hell is going on. Are they secretly out to get us. You might think so but they ship these same items to England and elsewhere in the world.

During the Second World War we saved their collective butts by driving the Japanese out of their country. They had no Army or any serious weapons in which to fight a large invasion. You'd think they'd be a more grateful nation rather than the ambivalent one they seem to be.

Commercials???

I haven't been to a movie in some time and decided to treat myself and a friend to an early movie. After the obligatory plug for the concession and to please make no noise came the string of trailers for upcoming movies. Okay. I endured all that and prepared for the movie. Uh uh. I had to sit thorough a string of TV commercials. What? I came to the movie theater to get away from the mindless TV ads on the tube. I don't want to be accosted by them in the theater.

I know, I know it's done to keep costs down but I should think the exorbitant prices they charge at the concessions would make up the difference. Oh well. You endure the adverts and then you at least get to see an uninterrupted movie.

Have a good day.