Saturday, March 30, 2002

Randoms


















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The Backyard view at sunrise








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Yeah, got an old digicam in hand.

Handy.














My pal Clint opines...

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Currently in Boston, his first real trip to the Northeast - and viscerally feeling the after-ripples of 9/11 in that city:

McClint: i got a question for ya...
McClint: why are people rushing to remove any and all images of the WTC from printed materials and TV shows etc since Sept 11?
JPennant: I guess not to date the show, and as a sign of respect
McClint: Are the Superman movies removed from circulation because Christopher Reeve can't walk anymore?
McClint: it just seems odd to me
JPennant: you should take a $20 bus ride to NY and see it
JPennant: very different up close
JPennant: you'd get a sense as to why
McClint: i dont deny the horror and emptyness in the hearts of americans but why remove all signs of it? I'd think you'd want the images to live on since the towers themselves were taken away
JPennant: i hear ya
McClint: when a loved one dies, do you remove all pictures of that person? no. you keep 'em around and maybe put up more
JPennant: hmm
McClint: as for a TV show being "dated" i can understand that but even that is pretty shallow
JPennant: why did it occur to you?
McClint: just seeing all the stuff around here relating to Sept 11. i'd venture to bet that Boston has a huge guilt complex over the whole thing since 2 flights originated here
McClint: and then I saw an old rerun of Friends and in one of the segue shots was the WTC lit up at night.
JPennant: ah yes
McClint: but it was an OLD episode.. like first season.
McClint: and i remembered that lots of NY-based tv shows rushed to change their location shots and opening credit sequences changed to cut out all images of it
JPennant: yup
JPennant: you know, I think a big reason is that to take em out would cause less furor than leaving them in.
McClint: eh i guess
McClint: and i guess you can't have plot lines revolving around what happened when you have pictures of it in the opening of the show
McClint: I havent been watchin much TV lately but i did notice Law & Order cops have black bands on their badges
JPennant: yeah, they do
JPennant: for their dead brothers
JPennant: and the sets have flags placed discreetly around
McClint: of course South Park had a good Bin Laden episode :-)
JPennant: hoho.. i should try to download that. :-D
McClint: i think Boston Public covered it or at least alluded to it
McClint: did you see that south park?
JPennant: nah. i dont watch tv.
McClint: it came out within a month or 2 after the attacks. then there was an episode that started off complaining about how shitty the airlines got afterwards and how they got govt bailouts but still gave shitty service etc
JPennant: heh. i like that
McClint: i gotta give it to Trey Parker and Matt Stone, they are VERY timely. they even had an Elian Gonzalez episode within a week after them taking him away in the raid
JPennant: heh. Long as they dont ask "What would Brian Boitano do?"
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On reading of my secret wish to be a gravel-ly voiced, fiddle playing country rock star..

McClint: HAHAHAHAHA..
McClint: whisky-soaked and playing a fiddle? I cant see you as that.
JPennant: No? :-)
McClint: heheh. no.

Damn. :-)

Friday, March 29, 2002

Der lyrical and multi-talented Belle writes:

> I like reading about your Florida antics.

Antics?

>Hm, you're not Itinerant in NY anymore. Perhaps you are Itinerant
>in Transit? Itinerant in General? Teehee.


For a little background, she is the woman who has a way of coining catchphrases that stick..

Such as the one that is now a big ol' logo on the top of this page.

Yep. Her.

Naturally - her new phrases will be soon be on mugs and t-shirts and license frames and....
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So, some random Florida (annoying quotey fingers - another Belle catchphrase Ive stolen) "antics":

Recently, I wander by a strip mall somewhere in Lauderdale and I see this sign



I do a double, and sure enough - I confirm that the Fetish Factory is NOT a chocolate or cheesecake joint.



Normally, that would be enough... but this is a magical stripmall ladies and gentlemen...

So naturally along with the Fetish Factory, there is an appropriately named Delicatessen...



A lawyers office



And, sure - a pregnancy clinic.



Heheh. COULD I make this up?
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My morning routine:

I normally am awake by 5am (unless I went to bed AT 5am.)

By 7 or 8, i have trundled off to the 7-11 for my coffee and donuts...

First I pick up a New York Post, then decide which of the South Floridian megapolis papers I should buy



The bowdacious tata's win this morning.

Frankly tho - by the time Im done with the Post - most other papers bore me. I shouldnt even bother.

Anyways, before I first moved to Florida back in 89/90, I DETESTED coffee.

I became addicted to 20 oz muggas in a Florida convenience store, where the mixes are a BIG production with several types of flavorings etc etc.

This morning is no exception:



My 24 oz contains:

8 packets of brown sugar
3 packets of powdered creamer
5 packets of half-and-half
Half a cup of hot chocolate (from that machine there..)
A touch of chocolate amaretto (from the same machine)
And there i am topping it off with Dark Mountain Roast coffee.

What? This is one of my more conservative days.

I grab an apple fritter and chocolate donut.. pay the nice Jamaican lady who always reads the cover of the Post thoroughly before she scans it.. and my day begins. :-)
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By the way, this is SUCH a pretty truck.



Cant you just hear the Magnum P.I theme looking at it?

Its rilly not my speed, cept I LIKE it. :-D
It is sooo pretty.

(Cue Magnum PI theme...)






To answer GiGi's question about what would be our top 5 dream jobs..

Hmm. I wouldnt think of these things as jobs.

Race Car Driver.

Oh yes. A job that if I died in a horrible flaming crash, I would die happy - cuz it would be EXACTLY what I want to do.

Flying down the Mulsanne straight at 220 mph in the 24 Huers de Le Mans, taking those wicked curves at Spa Forchamps, flinging and kicking the tail out in a F1 uber-car in the Monaco Grand Prix, then taking the Concorde to race in the Indy500 the next day, kicking ass in the Paris to Dakkar rally or scaring myself shitless on some moonlit forest stage in Scotland in the RAC Rally, or winning the NASCAR championship as a ROOKIE.

Oh yes. :-D

All of that.
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Fighter/Military Pilot.

Now this makes no sense as a man who is scared of falling off heights (NEVER will I jump off a bridge, plane or anything for no damned good reason).. but yes I love flying.

And Im sorry - but those Military Pilots LOVE what they do. They get to do it in the COOLEST flying machines too.

Lighting off an F-15 and going vertical. A barrel roll in a Spitfire. Upside down in a Phantom. Dropping loads at 50 feet, full speed in a C-130.

Who the fuck WOULDNT wanna do this???
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Rock Star.

Well, not a ROCK star.. but a mildly successful musician (one or two platinum series), own production companies, and totally unaffected by money and fame, playing onstage in a BlackHawk jersey.

Oh yeah.

Id have to work on that stage fright thing tho.

Song I would most like to perform and perform it WELL?

"The Devil Went Down To Georgia"
The Devil Went Down To Georgia
He was lookin' for a soul to steal
He was in a bind
Was way behind
Was willin' to make a deal...


Can you see me all whisky-soaked and on a fiddle? Heheheh.

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Long Haul Trucker

I love driving, and "Smokey and The Bandit" and the 70's TV show ( I think 'Movin On') made me wanna.

"Big Wheels movin
Gotta keep 'em goin
Big Wheels moin
Movin On"

Yeah, I would do it for a few years.
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And the fifth?

I think Im kinda working on that right now... ;-)

Thursday, March 28, 2002

He said:
"Too many people simply give up easily. You have to keep the desire to forge ahead.

Success is just one long street fight."


- Milton Berle, dead at 93.

Heh. A very good way to put it.

He sure wasnt jokin' about that tho.

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It struck me, reading the blog of an Angelino..

I looked back on the writings of some of my regular reads and sure enough, the pattern was there in every single one.
(no links provided cuz my ass has been flamed enough times....)

Here it is: LA'ers often seem.... bored.
Just bored out of their gourd more often than not.

Excitedly, I posed this insight to Brian, a thoughtful and philosophical LA native.

He said he didnt see it, but would get back to me after some thought.

Naturally, the subject passed. :-)

(This is too easy, but ... ) Maybe he got bored with it?

*rimshot*

JPennant: I still mean what I said tho. :-)
yamB: about.....?
JPennant: LA'ers seeming to be often .... bored.
yamB: oh, that one
JPennant: heheh. yup.
yamB: well, off the top of my head...
yamB: I think some of that is due to "variety"
JPennant: hm?
yamB: yeah. we have so much of a variety of things to do out here, that sometimes we get bored with things
yamB: i'm not sure i explained that right
JPennant: =-O Yeah, it seems kinda contradictory
JPennant: You all often act like LA a vast sprawl of nothing punctuated by a bit of good scenery and color.
yamB: i think that comes from the commuter car syndrome
JPennant: ahh
JPennant: I guess that does take a toll on folk's psyche
yamB: since no one gets out of their car except at the destination, it's all just scenery
JPennant: that makes sense.
yamB: i don't know if this analogy makes sense either, but...
yamB: i have a very wide variety of foods that I like to eat
yamB: and everything is available here
JPennant: okie
yamB: but somedays i just wished that I ate the same thing every day so I wouldn't have to make a choice
JPennant: AHHHHH!
yamB: so everything then, seems rather boring
JPennant: You know, that actually makes sense
JPennant: An overload of everything all becomes a mass of nothing.
yamB: that's why at most sporting events, the LA crowds always get criticized for not being very excited
JPennant: Its hard to enjoy the little details eh
yamB: they have so many different options for entertainment, that a ball game is just another option
JPennant: Heh. We figure y'all are just naturally laid back or stoned.
yamB: well, that's beside the point :-)
JPennant: heeheeheee

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I think the reason my mind got on that track awhile back, was a memorable paragraph in Mary Forrest's monoblog..
I have seen the spoiling effects of Southern California living. Days that seem to fold into each other because of persistent beauty that goes unnoticed and unmeasured. Impossibly beautiful moments that don't linger because they are indistinguishable from those that follow. It is beautiful here much of the time. So beautiful that I have to look at ugliness every now and then just to remind myself of the contrast.


And I just went .. gosh.

I think thats why I take pictures.

Its almost a sin to let things, details.. life... blend into the background.

To be all background noise.

Wednesday, March 27, 2002

I havent used a film camera in earnest pretentiousness for nearly fifteen years, I reckon.

With the ease of use, cost-effectiveness and handiness of digicams - I had hoped I wouldnt have to, but the gods have made to it that I have no choice but to use an old fashioned filmer for now.

I had forgotten how difficult it was back in the pre-digimon dayz.
Focusing, estimating, guesstimating and hoping the picture turned out the way you saw it.

Gah.

AndAndAnd!!!...

Eckerd charged me SEVENTEEN bux to develop and print TWO $&%&*#&% rolls of film!!!!

Gahrrrrrrrrrr.

6.99 for a 24 exposure roll my ass.

"Im sorry sir, you shot extra pictures on that roll, so we have to charge for the extra prints."

If anyone is listening, CompGeeks is selling closeout Fuji 4700's for 350 right now.

Im not one to beg, but....
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What using a film camera is forcing me to do is to take pictures.. deliberately.

I think I need to do this, if I want to be a Good Photographer.

To judge my shots deliberately and accurately. Not just fire off random what-the-hell shots.

Its hard to get out of my digicam habits tho.

But, if this what Im serposed to be doing, hey.

So, some randoms from the first rolls that Eckerds jacked me for...



Sunrise Blvd and Florida A1A, Fort Lauderdale.

Hard to tell, but there are FOUR Corvettes in this shot.

This the boat dock on the canal behind the house.



Nah, Florida isnt rilly this pretty.





Oh yeah, this is what it often looks like when Im sitting on the grass by the dock reading the NYPost and having my coffee and donuts in th' mornings.



Part of the IntraCoastal Waterway system along much of Florida's East Coast where many yachts and cruise ships dock....



Yeah, not a bad little camera.

But im scared to go develop another roll of film right now.






Tuesday, March 26, 2002

In New York, youve got the Usual Suspects of vermin, the unwanted neighbors.

You know. Critters.

Roaches, rats, mice, flies.

You may not like it, you may even be lucky to not see them more than occasionally, but theyre the real permanent residents of New York.

In South Florida, that is also true - but you also have a common critter that I dont mind actually.

Lizards.

They abound in all shapes, sizes and colors.

Theyre not the PRETTIEST critters around mind you, but I happen to like them.. having gotten used to them watching and occasionally torturing the little beasties back in my Jamaican childhood.

As an adult, I like them even more cuz they feed on OTHER critters that I dont care for.

Roaches. Bugs. Flies.

So, when I see 'em, I dont bother them.

Even when i occasionally see 'em in the house, I tend to leave them alone.

Like today when I saw a tiny one in the shower.

He must think he's in a rain forest or sumthin.

I left him alone, and continued showering.
Although you really cant encourage them, so every so often you gotta grab a broom and shoo them outside.

Inside isnt where they belong, which is true fer all critters, NY or Florida.
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Speaking of wildlife, Ive become quite the ornithologist in the short time Ive been here.

And I dont need to leave the yard.

Lesee, the most spectacular of them are the parrots.
(Mars rarely believes anything I say anymore. Yes, I said parrots :-)

Coupla Hyacinth Macaws if Im not mistaken.

A pair of Muscovy Ducks. Blackbirds. Plovers. KingFishers. Swans. A red crested Woodpecker (ala Woody Woodpecker).

And more wild doves than Ive ever seen in my life. More doves than pigeons, which actually seem to be a rarity around here.

Ive even heard tell of Peacocks in the neighborhood. But I havent seen them meself.

By the way, they are some NOISY mofo's those doves. And none of that coo-cooing crap. They shriek, yell and belch. Just not the genteel doves of legend.

You get a mob, fermented fruit juices and thas what happens.

I guess I gotta start taking wildlife pix.

Cuz Mars doesnt believe anything I say. :-)
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Speaking of critters.. I havent seen any.. gators yet.

I'll give it time.

Monday, March 25, 2002

Ive developed this superstition about writing in my online journal, I was telling Kate the other day.

If blogger, or dreamweaver or whatever Im using to write munches my words - I pause and consider if I really want to talk about the subject.

If it munches a second or subsequent attempts to write about the same thing, then I figure the gods really dont want me to talk about that.

So I dont.

Not a bad system in retrospect actually.

But what happens when blogger is down almost constantly?

Eh, I figure I'll get it on the next try.

And then what if the machine youre using constantly crashes all week, not even giving you a chance to save any of it.

Okie.

And what if THEN, after all that - Earthlink decides to deny you access to your site, publishing access and everything? For nearly 5 days?

Then it becomes truly weird.

Somebody or something wanted me to keep my mouth shet. ;-)

Soo, the past week - its gone with no record.

Okie.

Nice weather we're having here in South Florida.