A week of laughing----

Laughing at the bizarre hope by the commercial market place, that our consumers will push themselves deeper into debt and destruction during the upcoming holidays to bring about profit.....Laughing at the Washington 1% pretending to lead but only desiring, like African heads of State, to continue their soul sucking graft. Laughing at the 2012 Republican so called candidates.

Between laughs I obtained my first (but not my last) tattoo described below....worked....and failed (as i do every year) to understand these present and upcoming Holidays as a singular human.....developed systems for my used sony UMPC....and finally allowed myself to accept the fact that i am correct in my determination as to where our society is headed.

Not much doing about the Winter homestead on thanksgiving day---JoJo is processing peanuts she grew this past year...and will soon be making cheese a new experiment for her...i am going to putz out today, write emails and do little things....i never take time off during the holidays---they mean not much to us---i save it for later...possibly for camping in the spring with the VW. Going into work tomorrow with the concept of completely fucking off since everyone else is gone.

This week the Mob that is our society has spoken and it's decision is that of the meek cow to the slaughter. The mob accepted the failure of the Congressional super committee to cut both the income of the 1% and the money sucking stupidity of the military industrial complex..our Representatives specifically choosing vapor lock and no action as the best possible outcome. The mob accepted the destruction of the OWS movement by the 1% and the use of counter terrorism equipment for the suppression of free speech.....and the mob accepts the Republican Spectacle of the Absurd, their candidate selection process, as viable. The mob accepts the new normal of an American 3rd world life as Europe economically crumbles, our economy stagnates and there is no way out.......Soon we dine on cat like Eli.....I told you so.

The search for the perfect shoulder EDC bag continues----trapped between wanting to carry everything i could every possibly need in any emergency--and the weight and size of the bag needed to carry this material---i constantly battle the forces of large and complete versus small and necessary. Displayed above and below are two recent orders of surplus military shoulder kit bags with the hope of balancing wants vs. needs. The used Italian military shoulder bag, displayed above is simple. A large, single, open, pouch with bottom tie straps, which i would use to carry a down vest or Keffiyeh http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keffiyeh this is an attempt at total simplicity in a carry bag...

The other order displayed above this paragraph is a new condition, never issued Hungarian military shoulder bag. This bag which is slightly more complex has 3 exterior pockets, 4 interior pockets and exterior ties which again can be used for attaching a vest for layering or a Keffiyeh.

Each bag was extremely low cost, and will be hopefully like all military surplus, sturdy and practical....The real problem is me---I have to decide and accept limitations as to what EDC equipment can be carried as absolutely necessary and what i use/need on a daily basis. The reduction in the physical size of my computing equipment now allows for the carry of a smaller, shoulder bag as compared to a backpack and i need to mentally follow suit...but in our new normal 3rd world life in the United States, the ability to escape and evade to return home becomes more and more necessary it is tough for me to develop a protocol on this issue-----i'll advise on how these bags work out.

As i write this---- the tattoo is 5 days old...

The photo above is the result of a 3 hour session last Sunday afternoon....

--yes it did hurt----especially in the 3rd hour------ but---the instant we were done i made an appointment to design the black tribal half sleeve for my left forearm..... i couldn't wait to continue with this process to get where i want to be....

Do I feel different or am i different?---yes is the honest answer---I feel as if i have passed some type of initiation that i really do not understand yet....a test i designed and then passed as the singular member of my very peculiar tribe.....having a design on you--- be it tattoo's or warpaint makes the wearer feel strangely powerful---having the ability, even if it is hidden to display plumage, for lack of a better term...something that a mere uniform cannot provide---I now understand why cultures tattoo themselves to expose before their enemies their personal histories and make sure their enemies know exactly who they are fighting before they begin---there is suddenly some primal urge you get when pissed off to pull off your shirt and display your markings prior to fighting.......it is who i am.

One of my top ten all time favorite movies is 20 years old this week--The Rocketeer...

I've written on this film previously--beautifully filmed with a what's not to like about it aura.

The Rocketeer has 30's art deco, gangsters, Nazi's, cool airplanes, jet packs, airships, spies, broomhandle mauser pistols and Howard Hughes. Wow--- 20 years old ?

In honor of the film's anniversary i purchased a book containing the complete graphic novels of Dave Stephens...who was responsible for inspiring the movie and reinventing a time, place, and the character of the Rocketeer in his graphic novels----- Mr. Stephens i understand, unfortunately died very young...but he left a history of tremendous art based on the 1930's--1940's styling..it's my day after thanksgiving, work is deadly boring, reading material at my desk----for this year.......

It is not a fragrant world.

Raymond Chandler