The Story Behind the Car In the Mall

I hate it when I see it. There is nothing I can do short of being the person trying to stop people from doing the wrong thing. I learned a long time ago, you cannot stop a person determined to do the wrong thing.


This is my short VloMo 2012 contribution to take a humorous way to explaining.

Basically, a company rents a shiny car from a local car dealer. Then they rent car space in your local mall. People fill out a detail contest sheet with a lot of personal information, much more than what is needed for a contest.

On the back, in teeny tiny type they will tell you that you must fill out the info completely or it will be rejected. Or if you are under 18 it will be rejected. Or if your income is too low you will be rejected.

In some states you cannot will $100,000. You might have a chance at $5,000. Or $199. Depends on where you live.

If you "qualify" then you get to the next level, a timeshare meeting. You have to attended. You will then be given the hard sell on purchasing a timeshare. If you survive then you might walk out with steak knives. Or a radio. Not sure what the mooks who survive get these days.

Oh, should you happen to win the $100,000 you do know that you have to pay taxes on it right?

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Is Videoblogging Passe for Women?

There are days when I feel like a loon. A loon is a strange looking bird that looks like parts of other birds. But it is a loon. Today I started a Vlomo 2012 video gallery located at http://vlomo2012.tumblr.com

I've been up since 4 a.m. That is part of the reason I feel like a loon. Yep. That's me. I feel out of sync but trying to connect. I think I'm failing. But I am not. I am just tired.

I'm still a loon. Now this does have something to do with my question. Being a loon I got to waddle to get in the water.

I loathe to define videoblogging. It gets folks antsy. I don't want to get into a semantic fight with anybody. So here are a few statement and you can pick out the one that appeals to you:

• A blog that contains a video post on a regular basis.
• A video series that is posted by an internet distribution company that allows other people to watch or post the video on their blog.
• A talking head video using videos instead of the keyboard to express their feelings.
• A person using video to express a person, place or thing and then uploads the video for others to see.

So before you get to the question of "is videoblogging passe for women" you first got to ask is it passe?

For some folks yes. And that is okay. These are the folks that have moved on to professional careers in video or media.

Or it could be that because of the time sink it can be (but does not have to be) there just isn't time after work, school, family, bathing and sleeping to cram one more thing in your day.




Or you have said what you needed to say and are done.(PS - Margaret ain't done, she's made two more videos since this one.)

But there is another group that is hesitant to try. I feel that I haven't done a good job of encouraging women to step it up and truly use video to be visible and express themselves.

I'm not giving up Create Video Notebook but I gotta find a better way to engage women and men to take advantage of this time before the gates are closed and we can't communicate with each other.

Why? Because we have foolish old men who do not understand biology. We have women being defined by men into functional boxes of utility; formally known as the kitchen and the bedroom.

That is never a good thing. Not even for men.

The menopause story has got to be told to the Boomer women. The older women needs to tell the young ones how they survived.

Should reality television be our touch post as how women behave?

Nay I say nay! (See, squawking like a loon.)

So maybe the term videoblogging will eventually go away but I hope that folks tell their stories visually once in a while.

It can be slides to narration to video.
It can be you talking in front of a camera with a memory of your favorite dress.
It can be you sipping a cup of coffee as you talk about last night.

You got a smartphone that records audio and video? That is all you need to get started.

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Politically Speaking, The Poor Are the Enemy

I’m noticing a lot of talk about “The Poor.” It is an impersonal non-descriptive term. The prior incarnations were applied to “The Women”,” The Negro” and “The Asian (well, in the past this would have been referred to as The Chinese)” followed by the word “Problem.”

During most elections, “The Poor” would be invoked as a badge of concern or at least a focal point of attention. This time is different. “The Poor” have become the enemy.

In December 2011, Newt Gingrich made a statement about how poor children don’t have a clue as to understanding responsibility, ethics or the habit of working. This, by implication, means that their parents don’t have those qualities either.




Think about that statement. Every single poor person in America is engage in illegal activities. Sound idiotic. Yet many people agreed with the ignorance of that statement.

When Gingrich asked the potential donors in the room had they ever babysat or performed yard work as a comparison to an imaginary poor child, who hasn’t appeared to do anything but breathe and eat Skittles, I guess you could work up a bit of indignation.

Perhaps their understanding of “The Poor” is what they see and hear in the local and national media. It is a distorted vision.

But that was the beginning of the wave of “The Poor” being transformed into the enemy.

There are memes of taxation and certain Ayn Rand plug-ins presenting “The Poor” as picking individuals and corporate pockets in order to receive healthcare, education, and food. There are people ready to tell you that, in their perception, have done nothing to deserve it.

Never mind that you can’t live a day in this country without paying some form of local, state or federal taxes. And many people who should know better ignore the fact of millions of poor people do work and have taxes pulled from their checks each pay period.

No, don’t let the facts get in the way of the emotionally self-validating “live and let die; it is not my problem or concern.”

The main kicker in “The Poor” is the enemy campaign is when a presidential candidate Mitt Romney states that he is not concerned with the 47% and the reason why he is not concerned:

“…These are people who pay no income tax. Forty-seven percent of Americans pay no income tax. So our message of low taxes doesn't connect. And he'll be out there talking about tax cuts for the rich. I mean that's what they sell every four years. And so my job is not to worry about those people—I'll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. 

For the record, “The Poor” are hyper proactive about obtaining food, shelter and not walk around half naked.

Poor people take the jobs they can find. Many of those jobs are in the service industry or whatever employment is available. It bears repeating that many low wage jobs have been shipped to China, The Philippians and other countries.

We need to be really careful about defining who is worthy of concern or not. My understanding is that providing education was a non-negotiable part of the American experience. Have we decided that we now want a permanent class of illiterate citizens?

Are retired seniors unworthy of the money they invested in Social Security payments? Should disabled veterans have a time limit on re-entry support or medical care?  We do a terrible job of it now but we can do worse if we put our minds to it.

If you are not in the above groups and you do not make a lot of money what exactly makes you unworthy of being considered a full participant and recipient of the government’s resources?

There are real people behind the political rhetoric and quotes of the week. You wouldn’t know that from the political discourse of the past three years. I don’t expect that to change anytime soon after the election.

I do expect that if we as a people want to portray “The Poor” as the enemy there will be a price to pay.

From the thought, to the word, to the deed.

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Shaved Ice Cream Is a Mighty Good Thing

I wanted to walk. I got a chance at the October CicLaVia. I started in Chinatown, then past the courthouse and the new Grand Park across from City Hall.

 

At the Los Angeles Times building there were food trucks. I have learned to at least inspect them to see if it is the real deal or is somebody trying to push foo-foo food on me.

I wasn't supposed to go near those trucks in the first place. Trying to cut back on carbs and the lard of the land.

Over yonder was a truck that had something to do with shaved ice. Now I was raised a water ice girl, which is not the same thing. It is better. But I was far away from getting any rum raisin water ice anytime soon so you gotta go with the flow.

I was dehydrated. Which is why I ordered a stawberry, coconut and mango shaved ice concoction with a base of vanilla ice creme.

I ordered the small one but I got a huge ice cone of wonderment. I rested my body along side of the Times building and just slurped. It was hot, the bikes were bressing by and all was right with the world.

I walked around the corner I found a ledge I could sit on and continued to suck and slurp. I was indeed orally fixated.

There was a bike in the shape of a motorcycle. Then a  old rattly one just out of the garage. Expensive gear that must have cost a good $500 to start.

There were the sound of bikes. But it was also quiet. Peaceful.

You don't get that often in a big city. You have to work on it.

The above photo was when I was just about to break though to the ice creme level. I figured I should have something to show for my pleasure. It was small enough by that point that I could place it on the ledge to take the photo.

Shortly after the photo was taken there was nothing more to slurp. I walked and walked and walked.

It was a good day for it.

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Pull Up from The Myopic Grindstone

This a a nerd post. I'm venting. Okay, here it is the situation. I'm helping a friend install her old software to her new computer. I have my doubt about Norton Internet Security. The prior week it would not allow her to go enter certain web sites.

Couldn't see where to dial down the firewall. I looked every. I say frack it, next week I'm bringing AVG and be done with it. Backed up her system (it took a long time, old XP trooper that it was).

Finally got the stuff over. This week things are working, able to go to websites and get online mail.

Matilda* wants to re-install Eudora. I should mention that Qualcomm stopped developing and supporting Eudora. You can get the software from the site and the help info but there has been no work done on it since.

I wanted her to go to Thunderbird. On-going development. Spam protection. Better search. She was going for it until what ever blocked everything else last week blocked both Eudora and Thunderbird.

Today, Eudora is working. Thunderbird is not. 

No, I had nothing to do with it.

So, Matilda asked if she could import her contacts in Eudora. I had exported them out as a CSV file. The programs files were also backed up.

I was of a mind to grab a hunk of the old files and overwrite the new installation. Check with a few tech sites that gave the thumbs up. Checked with a few more that said don't do that, Windows 7 is less forgiving about allowing files to overwrite an existing installation.

If it isn't coming from a manufacture installation Windows 7 isn't that tolerant of being goosed.

Ok. Plan B - look for a CSV to LDIF converter.

There are some. Shareware for $49. Not doing that. There are some free ones, if you know a programing language or two.

There was one that might have worked, was free and gave it all. But Windows 7 is 64Bit OS and the software was old school 32Bit.

I even tried to download that 13 year old version Netscape Communicator because I think it had multiple export options. Not happening on Windows 7.


Ok Plan C - look for a PST to LDIF converter.

PST is the old Outlook mail file format. Eudora can read that file. If I could find a CSV to PST converter that might work.  My search ended. Nada.

What Is True Here?

I need to convert the CVS file to LDIF in order for Eudora to import it. Could Thunderbird do it? I know it can import CVS. Can it export LDIF?

Why yes. Yes it can.

I cleaned up the CSV file in Excel and then imported it. Three frigging minutes later I had that pesky file. Two minutes later I e-mail the time sucker file to Matilda.

Victory. Of sorts.

On the one hand, I spent three hours chasing down programs that don't exist or find vendors willing to provide a solution for a good chunk of change. Not saying the software wasn't worth it. I'm saying that there isn't a true repository you can go to find out your software options.

You have to find your person or beacon of information. Not a lot of modern folks writing about converting Address Book files.

The answer was in my face. I couldn't see it for hunting down the "software" I believed existed.

Once I let go of that search the answer came to me. Being methodical is one thing. A great thing. Being pig-headed about were the answer should be is truly putting your nose to the grindstone. It will hurt sooner or later.

Pull up, breath and let it come to you.

The techies will say I should have followed a specific process for file transfers. They are right.

The safety folks will say why did you allow her to download a obsolete program? It wasn't obsolete when she first started using it seven years ago. I installed maleware and system protection. I warned her of the risks. I can do no more than that.

The Thunderbird folks will say why didn't you call her ISP and ask for help.  I'm not in front of her computer. And that is something I did suggest. Or contact Norton.

I hope this is the end of it. I know it is not. I just have to hang on to hope.


*No, that isn't her name.  I'm not that sure she know what a blog is. She does go to parent sites, some of which are blogs. It is still a web site to her.  Let's just say I don't have coupons.

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A Few Words on Depression

It sucks. There is the clinical kind depression and the environmental kind of depression.

They both suck.

I'd elaborate more but I'd come to the same conclusion.

Let's just say that when you hear some person tell someone to snap out of being depressed understand that human does not have a clue of what he or she is saying.

Some times you get lost. You have to find your way out. That takes time. Or medication. Or an inspirational word, song or movie.

Sunlight.

Motion.

There is no one way out. There is no snapping.

We are not light fixtures.

We are human.

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The Speech That Should Viewed To Be Understood

I love animation in just about all the forms possible. I was telling a friend earlier in the day that I had purchased a comic book program that will animate the panels into a comic book motion graphic type video.

The tools to create are becoming more accessible. But it still takes talent and writing skills to get the job done. I need more hours in the day to do what I want to do. So very much to do. For those of you on the non-progressive side of the fence you might want to hook up with me later.




You won't like the video. I just know it. The video takes a speech of President Obama's and animate it to visual clarity.

The video was created by Why Obama Now by animator Lucas Gray.

In this current election I have been exposed to 21st century verbal and political hate that hasn't been this proud and loud since 1954. I am not using hyperbole. It seems that every other week we have a wack job busting at the seems trying to tell me that we need to turn this country back.

There is a politician in Arkansas that wrote a self-published book about just how noxious he finds African Americans to be; if you got the stomach for it you can read a bit of it at Talking Business.

My understanding is that Arkansas is trying to get tech folks to move to that part of the the country.
They are having a hard time with the pre-existing stereotypes that the locals are trying hard to shake.

This business and civic campaign might take awhile when you have a Republican state senator, Jon Hubbard, codifying what my great-grandmother must have heard at least once in her life.

Ok, maybe twice.

“… will it ever become possible for black people in the United States of America to firmly establish themselves as inclusive and contributing members of society within this country?” (Page 187)

I've heard this before. Seen it. Read it. Oh, the above statement is mild. I have no intention of reading the book.I will not co-sign on being called lazy or the reason of the fall of the white man. Even now there are commentators and other bloggers trying to defend what this guy is spewing.

Being a member of this society I have to defend Hubbard's right of free speech. Don't have to like it. Just as Hubbard is now finding out you have to stand and accept the judgment of others who may or may not approve of what you have to say.


As for me? I like the animation better. Go figure. 

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