Vintage vs Antique

 Today I learned that vintage is anything at least 25 years old. I also learned that antique is anything over 50 years old. I didn’t realize there was a difference.

A lot of Gen X people enjoy vintage audio gear. My speakers are vintage.  I was surprised to learn my two receivers are antiques. 

Back in the day my Pappy had a radio that was the size of a small refrigerator.  I thought that was an antique.  Antique to me meant inoperable junk or pristinely restored items from the previous millennium. 

Never in a million years would I consider myself an antique collector. Yet here we are with me listening to antique electronics. Is that even a thing?  Antique and electronics don’t belong in the same sentence. 

Gad Saad

 More people ought to know about this guy and his work. Two of his works include:  The Parasitic Mind and Suicidal Empathy.  

He’s a smart guy and understands things a lot of people are too intellectually or emotionally soft to realize.  

New cars

Every time I see the interior of a new car with a sparse interior, a digital display and an iPad like screen in center stack I think what a rolling piece of shit. The synthetic interiors. Spartan interiors.  The lack of physical controls.  A small displacement turbo engine, hybrid or EV. These are rolling pieces of garbage manufactured for the EPA and other government regulators in an effort to track and surveil the population.  Connected to 5g data centers providing a stream of information that will be used to real time track your location, carbon footprint, compliance with speed limits and driving laws, your fitness for driving, where you go, times of travel/risk profile, who you associate, etc. All this information will be distributed in an effort to control you, fine you and tax you.  

I should be

 I should be thankful for Hollywood. Without movies there wouldn’t be film music.  Disclosure Day is coming out soon. It marks the 30th film collaboration between Steven Spielberg and John Williams. They’ve worked together more than 50 years. 

I’m thankful for their work because they synergize each other’s work. 

Disclosure Day may be the last John Williams score.  Saw a video of him conducting the orchestra during recording sessions. John Williams was in a wheelchair. My heart sank. Still hanging on but the prognosis doesn’t look like many years are left.  

What gets me is the publicity machines spin up for Hollywood. Hollywood is their own publicity machine. There are all these videos and interviews of the actors and actresses with Spielberg circulating of them celebrating the release of the movie. 

What a bunch of inflated blowhards. The smiles, the flash photography. The red carpet premiers.  The big dick suck for how great all of it is.  The smiles.  The runways. It’s all bullshit. 

With Toy Story 5 they’re still rolling out tom hanks and Tim Allen like they’re in the prime. The egos of these ass clowns is repulsive.  It’s obvious they’re always the smartest ones in every room they’re in.  Have you seen joan cusack?  Ugly plastic.

The publicity machine turns me off completely. If anything it has the complete opposite effect on me than it does for the rest of the population.  It repulses me. It makes me despise them, their movies and their entire industry.  They’re arrogant. Conceited. Inflated. Blow hards. Shut the fuck up. Stop playing make believe on film.  

I hate movie stars, celebrities, people making their living in front of or behind a camera.  I hate popular culture. 

One of my buddies has tom hanks at the top of his list for people he’d like to have dinner with. His love for and my disgust for the same thing stresses our friendship.  I don’t understand what tom hanks contributes to the world?  The fact he can fool you into believing what he’s doing is real?  His storytelling ability?  His ability to make bullshit believable?

Read a book instead. It’s better for you. Better for your mind, your spirituality and your understanding and interpretation of the story being told or documented.  The Hollywood shit is all fake. 

Tales from the park side

 Visiting with my dad yesterday. We were doing a FaceTime.  His medication was off and he seemed tired.  Mentioned he wasn’t sleeping well and he can’t shut his mind off.   I informed him he has medication to assist such as melatonin and some valium derivative. 

Anyway, we had a brief conversation about my employment situation and was explaining an opportunity that may come together.  As I was talking to him drool came out of his mouth. Twice.  He didn’t even notice.   Then I asked him what he thought. He said ‘I don’t know. I’m not following what you’re saying.’  He's looking at me as the conversation passes by.  With Parkinon's masking it's hard to know if a face void of emotion is checked out or just a neuro muscular symptom that comes with the brain unable to initiate and control muscle movement.

He mentioned his physical therapy is going well his therapist says his balance in improving   I inquired about speech therapy.  She only comes once a week.  I understand they help you with exercises to do during the week.  Yeah.  Do you do them? No.  Okay - do you want to pause the speech therapy until your medication situation is stabilized?  No.  Are you maximizing the benefit if you’re not practicing between sessions?  No.  Okay?

My Dad is a prideful man and I’m sure the decline is harder on him than it is on him than it is on me.  Cognitive testing is going to scheduled.  Will the information be gleaned be useful in or merely serve as confirmation? 

The last cognitive test he underwent was hard emotionally on him. That’s when his relationships went off the rails with the starwood staff. He was raging in frustration and anger.  I don’t see how putting him through a 2-4 hour cognitive assessment is going to be beneficial. If anything it will be blow to his confidence in his abilities and confirmation there are cognitive gaps and he is on the decline. 

Our family moved  to Texas in 1975. My parents didn’t have to walk the aging journey with their parents.  My Aunt and Uncle took care of my maternal grand parents.  My paternal grandfather died in 1979 from cancer.  My paternal grandmother died in Austin from esophageal.  My dad moved her to Austin while Laurie and I were dating.  She died when we got back from our honeymoon.  I don't remember how long she was living her.  My sister walks my dads aging journey third person through me.  She is tremendous support. And it's not the same as dealing first hand with the challenges of seeing a parent on the skids.

 A once capable man being overcome by advancing Parkinson’s.  It's eroding his quality of life.  When we got on facetime, the first thing that struck me is he is losing more weight and his face is looking more skeletal and thinned out - losing tone and 'fleshiness.'  

Am I stuck in employment purgatory until his time on earth ends?  Is this the universe knowing something I don't?  Divine intervention?   

Statue

 Obama commissioned a sculpture of himself for his architectural eyesore of a library in Chicago.  It was important to B Hussein Obama that the artist be black.  Here is a photo:

 

 

I absolutely love what they've done here.   I absolutely love everything this statue represents.  Figuratively, literally and most importantly aspirationally.  It's a real statement piece.  It makes me smile when I see it.  Actually, I find humor in it.  It looks like an afro wearing Richie Cunningham with a michael jackson glove.  He Heeeeee...... Ow!  Beat it.  Just beat it.

 

This work represents equity in action. I wonder if the rendering below was the inspiration behind this magnificent sculpture:

 Did the big guy himself sign off on this?

 

The guy that makes these wooden park sculptures 

could have done a better job.

 

No one will criticize.  Everyone will kiss the ring and bow.  For some reason that's what the faithful do with all things Obama.  Don't stop 'til you get enough.  Come on.

 

Everybody Wang Chung tonight...

 

Jorge Lukis could have done it better:

 

 

 

 

Soul Crushing

 Does anyone understand how soul crushing it is to receive an automated rejection letter stating I am not qualified for a job when my resume and experience matches their desired qualifications line for line? 

It's devastating.  

My career is worthless.  

I'm worthless.