We need to think seriously about where our individual personal world is going, I believe there will be great change that will occur within the next ten years---let me be brief---this is what i believe. There is no way to avoid these situations, one can only prepare logically.

I believe an economic meltdown much like that which occurred in the Soviet Union will occur in the United States. Only slowly as compared to the soviet overnight circumstances......

I believe that we will be forced to return to a local economy situation matching that of pre-war US in the year 1900.

I believe we will become personally responsible as systems shut down, for our own fresh food, our own health through alternative healing, and the social welfare of our own local communities. Everything will be local, nothing will be global ever again.

I believe we will see a reduction in the quantity and a rise in price of gasoline available to private citizens.

I believe that much of our infra-structure will begin to collapse slowly to the point that one does not recognize problem after problem. Let me give you two examples, neither the city of New Orleans nor the World Trade Center site have been rebuilt--have you realized that----it already appears as if we as a society can no longer accomplish major infrastructure construction projects.

I believe that the solution is for each of us to take charge of our existence..live within our means, garden, create as much of our own energy as possible, obtain energy efficient vehicles to stretch possible gasoline rationing...I usually intermix my urban homesteading philosophy with other items here since constant sermons are good for no one but....please, please think of homesteading self sufficiency when ever possible...wherever you live.

My wife and I have pretty much decided to add a pair of Hen chickens to

our little urban homestead. Born in New Jersey--wtf do I know about chickens other than the absolute fact that i couldn't EVER kill and eat them after i got them. So i have a great deal of research to do.......During the past 8 years one of the major crimes of the Bush administration was the destruction of the public health examination of food production. Bush purposefully returned our society to the pre-Sinclair Lewis days of shabby corporations poisoning hundreds of Americans and walking away scott-free for nothing but profit. In case you forgot, I'll remind you of intentional corporate peanut butter poisoning for profit which killed us..our dogs weren't even safe against Chinese poisoned dog food remember that one? Couple this Republican food supply Katrina like background information with my personal drive and desire to become an Urban self-sufficient, community cooperator...

Urban Chickens make some real sense.

First of course is eggs--maybe two a day--which for my wife and I would be plenty to consume with possibly a few leftover for

trading/bartering. The second and equally important reason would be the contribution of chicken poop to the compost pile---the most excellent compost available. The chickens cooped in the composting area would also be natural turners for the compost pile as well...so this could be a win-win-win in almost any direction you turn. Several blogs advise that the bantam chickens (smaller sized) are the way to go for the city...people also seem to run the reporting gauntlet of this is a great deal of work and this is no work at all----hard to get a true report on that issue. Some bloggers advise that their chickens make great backyard pets. I'll have to wait and advise on that on since chickens may be the literal descendants of dinosaurs. I'll report on how this concept (at the moment) turns out--but I am pretty much set on giving the Urban Chicken a try....

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/dining/bal-md.gr.chickens28jun28,0,1452470.story

If you believe my desire for independent eggs, solar panels and poop compost is mislaid something interesting is going on in India today.

As we begin our descent into the post industrial age, problems and solutions displayed by India, both socially and infrastructure based, are a model for what we in the US will begin to experience as our fragile, oil and energy dependent infrastructure collapses. The Monsoon is late this year in India (insert global warming pro and con argument here) and it is HOT. The overloaded electrical power grid has crashed, there's basically no power at all in Delhi---and folks are unhappy.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8123012.stm

Everyone in the world now demands electricity and every nation, every human is in a competition for the last glimmer of energy although many of my fellow US citizens bury their heads in the sand refusing to think on the future. Our problem is our refusal to face the future on a realistic basis.

Invest in solar panels NOW....

My mother always said that if you feed the birds you'll never go to purgatory. But then again she told me if I picked my nose I'd pull my eyeball out.

warren

The garden is producing, I'm working with a more positive attitude, it's me 57th birthday----We're both doing some community service---i have a ton of good books to read...life in our little two person art commune is good!

The fact that the broadcast media in the United States is giving the death of Michael Jackson almost continuous coverage proves to me our nation is unfortunately, forever culturally doomed.

Twenty years ago I wouldn't be caught dead in one---now I probably will be....

Over the past year I've discovered I love Hawaiian shirts and wear them loudly and proudly almost all the time. It's a part of the development of geezerdom I believe. The latent gene which appreciates a soft, big, super comfy, colorful, cool shirt, this part of a dude's DNA must lie dormant until the late 50's are reached in most males with the exception of the Dude Lebowski contingent or actual real Hawaiians. There is nothing like gray hair, a nasty Yankee's baseball cap, a battery powered loud Hawaiian shirt, and an exposed butt-crack to impress the neighbors while you're doing yard work. I now live for times like these.

Now this is what i would call some truly alternative architecture...decommissioned underground nuclear missile silo's and command structures available for sale..some of the offerings are rehabbed into residences already. Some require extensive work prior to occupying. But still these are great for daydreaming "what ifs". If you travel the link to the site, click on the individual photo's for additional information and photo's on each site offered for sale...just the thing for the survivalist that has everything eh?

http://www.missilebases.com/properties

I have a bunch of new stuff which will be appearing in the blog over time

to start off with:

I've been without a weather station for a whole year now---and I have really missed it...pulling up the weather online or turning on the weather channel is not for me...true weather information means i am collecting the data myself. This weekend I'm installing my new LaCross, professional, wireless weather station. I'm back on the clock, observing my household micro climate. This new system is incredibly detailed and displays a tremendous amount of backyard weather information at one time. The system is now up, working perfectly and came with two receivers so both the kitchen (for gardening purposes) and the nerd cave (for geek necessary information) have display stations-------

If you've read my stuff at all before you know I am a serious bag geek, and carry a ton of computing and personal items everywhere with me for that just in case moment...

My new method of "stuff" carry is an AXIO tekno, hard shell, computer geek backpack. Put it down---it sits upright....My wondrous wife got this for me, is that great or what! I love this thing--books, notebooks, camera, water, laptop, phone keyboard, all my stuff is carried cleanly, and hard case securely. I feel like the king of all nerds when i stroll about with this rascal---love it..these hard shell backpacks originated in the crotch rocket motorcycle----extreme sporting world so one could carry your nerd gear on the crotch rocket/skateboard/mountain bike aerodynamically at high speeds and the hard shell provided some protection to both you and the expensive contents within. The most extreme thing about me however is this backpack on a geezer.....

Talk to your dog---like you really mean it.

Enjoy being a wise-ass--- you can get away if you're a geezer.

warren

I have not gotten used to having only two days off in a week. So much to do, so lttle time.

If i was retired our house would be a showcase...but with ony 48 hours in a week that you personally own there is not really alot you

can accomplish to the levels i want. I keep telling myself

game not in paddle, game in you.

NYC has done something truly cool. They took an old elevated train track system called the High Line and instead of tearing it down, the city has turned it into a walking park landscaped with beautiful bushes, flowers, trees and rare plants. Hit the link below for an explanation of the concept and a tremendous slide show projecting the finished product in use.

http://www.thehighline.org/design/high-line-design

Only one small section has opened so far it's just beautiful...what a wonderful re-use of a unused, bypassed structure for the public good. It is this kind of thinking we so desperately need in our country. I'm so glad to see this..it chokes me up.

This should work out really well for all of us:

Scientists have re-animated bacteria (Herminiimonas glaciei) which has been frozen in the Greenland ice for 120,000 years.

I know these guys don't date but if you don't date you have had to watch science fiction movies, right? I mean have these guys not seen THE THING? The first rule of Arctic science is that you never, never, never, ever reanimate anything you find in the ice!!

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17305-resurrection-bug-revived-after-120000-years.html

Here's a guy who's hobby is smiling and waving at passing cars from the sidewalk at an intersection

in Maryland.

He's been doing this just to make people feel better during their desperate auto-prison commute for 20 years. TWENTY YEARS.

Including holidays like Thanksgiving and Christman. Now how cool and zen like is this? I really like this guy... he sort of gives me hope for our society......It started years ago while walking his dog he would stop and wave at the special education bus and let the kids pet his dog and the dog would do tricks for the kids. Once his dog passed away he just decided everyone needed a smile and a wave and began to give everyone driving by a good start on the day.

http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/maryland/061509_man_waves_from_intersection_for_20_years

But then again

(then again always then again isn't there?)

You might be a Female, Florida, Redneck if:

When they try to take your beer away in Walmart's Auto Shop waiting room you start going ape shit, fight two employee's--and rip the pay phone off the wall and go directly to jail.

Now that's a real Amurican little gal, got-demmit!

I swear to Buddha who could make this kind of shit up.

Sarah Palin's probably already calling her to be the new and improved, 2012 Joe the Plumber, on the campaign trail with her.

WalMart the ultimate shopping experience...and we invented it.

http://www2.hernandotoday.com/content/2009/jun/15/intoxicated-woman-wal-mart-charged-criminal-mischi/

This past week we switched to the most basic cable TV service we can get...My wife and I did 11 years without TV altogether so this is no big deal. We did this for several reasons--first and foremost-- There is absolutely nothing other than True Blood, that's worthwhile on the whole damn cable system---the only thing i even cared about with True Blood is getting an answer to my question from the end of last season which is---------

WTF was the smoking hot woman doing naked in the road with THE PIG??

Other reasons included economics (why pay for absolute shit?) and a purposeful shift from any type of standard cultural patterns that is expected helps us grow as a people.

NETFLICKS has seemingly taken the place of cancelled cable and has become the answer for me right now.

http://www.netflix.com/Default?nfso=67082592&

Quick--no hassle--computerized---no crap or reruns unless you want them--lots and lots of TV series on DVD. NETFLICKS---like CLOVERFIELD will probably kill everything in it's path when it comes to video.

Wash your car even if it's going to rain, stop watching cable news--there's really no substance there just disturbing material and talking heads...scratch yourself where it itches...

warren

A good week...my positive attitude is driving on, a few small cracks here and there...but still...life is good. I've been laughing my ass off about Sarah Palin's phony outrage over a, let's face it, great joke by Dave Letterman...like her daughters have no possibility of getting knocked up eh? I hope she stays totally out in front of the Republican party....it drives even minimally intelligent, undecided voters to our side simply out of pure FEAR of her.

You can find art in the strangest places---humans naturally make art out of anything...

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/48001597.html

The best and worst cities in the world listed out--we in the US come in around the number 30-40 point...nothing higher...the best cities are mostly in those SOCIALIST countries that sarah palin warns us against...

http://www.calgaryherald.com/Vancouver+world+easiest+city+live+Harare+worst+Poll/1674901/story.html

A beautiful, man made, airborne Jelly fish---

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_citFkSNtk&feature=related

--President Obama writing an excuse note for a kid that attended one of his town hall meetings by skipping school---OUR PRESIDENT IS COOL!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGd1BTcRZ7s&feature=ytn:mptnews

Allot of recent activity regarding the legalization of Marijuana. Here's just a few links on news items or activities....from an upcoming voter initiative in California to legalize--to---the US drug Czar ordering an end to the term "war on drugs" --to--reduction of required sentencing---

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/06/10/MNER184D84.DTL

http://www.reuters.com/article/reutersEdge/idUSTRE55750K20090608?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0

http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/1618703,w-medical-marijuana-pot-obama-061109.article

Overall there seems to be the growing belief that Pot will be legal in California in 2010--Once one state legalizes this starts the avalanche, the crumbling of the stupidity we have been living under for so many years.

I did a good deal of DVD watching throughout the week with these highlights:

Gran Torino--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gran_Torino_(film)

what can you say about this film...it touched me, struck me very deep. Clint Eastwood's character were the adults around me when i was growing up. Tough, Loyal, and Complexly Stupid in so many ways...always ready to drink and fight..holding standards so high, that no one, no one outside of themselves could meet. The thing i did identify with in Clint's character was his change late in life. My father changed many of his beliefs, well maybe modified is a better term...just before the end...I've seen the same thing with me, but much earlier. You need to see Gran Torino.

I also had a chance to view SPACED, season 1, and loved

it---of course once again I am something like 5 years

behind the curve when it comes to TV. I'm sure you've heard of it

--Shaun and the whole crew from Shaun of the Dead--started with this British Comedy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaced_(TV_Series)

Simon Pegg is of course excellent and the series is so funny and well done that I had to immediately order seasons 2 and 3. If you have been a bubble boy like me and haven't seen SPACED rent it you won't regret it.

When in doubt ask yourself

"what would Jay and Silent Bob do?"

warren

I've been naturally writing blogs with smaller content while vacation...all the while being not sure if i work better with smaller or larger content. In a regular work week i save material, chew on information, and then create an opinion and blog it on the weekend...blogging when you are free is actually very different.

Monday it's back to work. I actually have made enough internal mental progress that i am viewing the world from a positive viewpoint instead of the negative zone i had been isolated in. I am planning on work being well different---better. I want this mental change for the positive to last long term--we are what we think we are so I am attempting to be more. I accomplished all my "working" goals for this vacation. I actually got a great deal accomplished on the urban homestead, I am very pleased. Tomorrow i will ride my segway in the morning, fill the prius with gas, prepare my equipment for work Monday--and then drive on with life as normal.

As I've advised before---I backed into collecting action figures late in life....

This has been the case for much of my Nerdness.. Late life attack of Geek appearing at a time when, by rights, i should be ordering the Denny's senior special breakfast, while sitting with other grizzly codgers, collars buttoned up, complaining about liberal politics...

Apparently that's not going to be my social circle....I'm riding my segway, and hunting the Internet for action figures. Weird eh?

So far I've been exclusively cheap when it comes to Action Figures but...I just entered into the expensive zone (for me) by ordering a "Captain America". This Action Figure cost more than my usual budget based on the fact that it is designed as an old style W.W.II version of the character with ammo belt, big shield and winged helmet...this should be very, very, cool.

I'm now on the search for two items---#1--any action figure from the movie Tremors---A Burt Gummer action figure would be almost too good to be true. If anybody out there knows of a place where I can find action figures from Tremors PLEASE contact me through the blog comment section--I'd really appreciate it.

Item #2 is that I am going to have to find is a new way to display my collection as it grows. I've got an idea on how to work this out and will post a photo of what i eventually come up with.

I love flash mobs-----performance art--or viral communication dependent upon your outlook on life---they are to me, an example of the purity of humans in action for no reason other than simple fun. An additional benefit is that is upsets the Establishment's way of seeing and doing---day to day operations---here's a video of a high class, California, Levi Strauss type store, getting hit by a FLASH MOB--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_mob---Hit not just by a flash mob but a flash mob outfitted in gold Hammer Pants engaging in a coordinated rendition of the infamous "Can't Touch This" Hammer dance---you gotta see this,incredible, and the expressions on the faces of the shoppers----priceless....

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/hammer-pants-flash-mob

Watch Christopher Walken as Feng in "Balls of Fury" he'll make you feel good no matter what is going on in your life...

warren