I’m a MVD Weapon
To date I’ve avoided commenting on the latest goings on in the Middle East because I was too busy deconstructing the ineptitude of our local newspaper and feeling sorry for myself for ever thinking about working for said newspaper.
I also try to not talk or write about things which I know nothing about, else risk producing redundant commentary that you can find anywhere in the lamestream drive-by media or in other blogs on the internet.
Fortunately (or unfortunately) for you, I’ve spent enough time reading about and watching CNN and Fox news to have a decent take on things, so now you get to hear my own opinion on what has happened to date, and my predictions on where things are going (or should be going.)
I’m going to address this situation with a simple analogy. Think about it this way…
Suppose that I and a bunch of other Methodist descendants of Veterans that fought for the south in the US Civil War got together and formed a group. We formed our group because we only wanted to associate with like minded people of similar descent, but mostly just because…
WE WERN”T HAPPY.
Being Methodist Veteran Descendants, and since the media and the government loves acronyms, they’d probably start calling us MVD’s.
The first thing we’d so is that we’d all get together and secretly infiltrate a secure area where we could hold our meetings and from which we could conduct our operations…somewhere like where I live—St. Simons Island Georgia.
St. Simons is a perfect location for our operations because it really is an island, it only has one road connecting it to the mainland, it has a marina on the Intercoastal Waterway, an old navy airport with two runways, a lighthouse for navigation, and a killer Harris Teeter grocery store with buy-one-get-one-free boneless chicken breasts on sale about 90 days out of the year.
We’d have meetings and drink good Bourbon Whiskey and walk around laughing at bus loads of old Yankee men wearing black socks and sandals. We’d go fishing and dip snuff and generally confuse everyone into thinking that we were just retirees or on vacation like everyone else, but then…
On Tuesday after the Labor Day holiday, after all the families with kids had gone back home and before the winter hoards of Canadians and (smile when you say that) "New Englanders" have arrived, we make our move.
At 4:30 AM on the chosen day we’d close the Torras Causeway in both directions, keeping all of the Mexican maids, construction crews and day laborers on the mainland, and bringing the infrastructure of St. Simons Island to a virtual standstill.
We’d take over the house of our local talk radio show host, and do our own broadcast from his home studio with propaganda announcements.
“After 12:00PM—No one in, and no one but us out, with a 24 hour curfew enforced by the MVD brigade.”
“Everyone that isn’t with us is against us, so get out, unless you are one of the aforementioned Yankees.”
We’d check car tags and ID’s on the bridge going off the island, and if you were from NY or Canada or worst of all—New Jersey—you were a “guest” of the MVD’s until further notice.
The final test for any suspicious individuals would involve having to say “y’all” correctly, and the really sneaky females might have to cook some grits. The men in that category would be served a bowl of grits and if they tried to eat them plain without a big gob of butter and salt or put sugar on them they would be arrested on sight.
Having gained control of our island, now suppose that all of us MVD’s suddenly started lobbing home made explosives across the state line into Florida; aiming specifically at Jewish, Catholic, Mormon and Jehovah’s Witness churches and neighborhoods in Jacksonville. (I’m not sure exactly how many people of those religions exist in Jacksonville, Florida, but bear with me here…I’m trying to write humor…)
Just for good measure, suppose that a group of us MVD’s decided to go out on I-75, I-85, and I-95 and start capturing Yankees heading on vacation down to Miami and Panama City (or anyone else unfortunate enough to be driving a car with a tag from a state north of the Mason Dixon line), holding them hostage, and forcing them to endlessly watch reruns of the Jeff Foxworthy Show and The Dukes of Hazard.
Our reasoning for such acts?
Why isn’t it obvious?
Religious and cultural differences.
That, and we’re pissed off that Alabama doesn’t have a pro football or basketball franchise and we have to take our shotguns and deer rifles out of our pickup truck gun racks if we ever were unfortunate enough to try to drive through New York on our way to Connecticut on vacation.
Then there is that little issue regarding our desire to reclaim the state of Florida from the carpetbaggers and other invaders that have arrived over the past 140 years since that famous Yankee, General William Tecumseh Sherman, marched through Georgia from Chattanooga to Savannah, raping and pillaging and burning virtually everything in his path.
(Imagine CNN and the NY Times covering that little trip today.)
By the way, wasn’t Sherman a Presbyterian? But I digress…
How long do you think that it would take for the Imperial Federal Government of the By-God United States of America to come down here and start lobbing tear gas and “flash bang” grenades into our individual houses and onto our little communal compound that we’d built out here on St. Simons Island Georgia.
How long do you think that it would take for Georgia to call out the National Guard against our collective Redneck MVD butts?
Five Minutes?
Twenty four hours?
There’d be hell to pay, wouldn’t there?
There’d be a bombed airport, a broken bridge, and dead MVD’s all over the place. All the time the Yankees would still be scrambling around, parking illegally on the curb and in handicapped spots at Harris Teeter, looking for black socks, the cheep chicken, and Brie Cheese specials, so they’d be suffering collateral damage at massive rates.
By the way, what happens when you cross a MVD with a SUV?
“Four Wheeling“
NOW…
Remember David Koresh and the Branch Davidians out in Waco Texas?
Remember the ATF, under order of President Bill Clinton and then Attorney General Janet Reno, placing the Branch Davidian compound under a 51 day long siege and in the end, killing eighty people, including seventeen children under the age of 12?
In the ensuing assault, while trying to arrest one man—David Koresh—THE WOODEN COMPOUND BURNED TO THE GROUND.
All of that death and destruction in TEXAS, dammit.
Not Syria or Cuba or Nigeria or Russia...I said T-E-X-A-S.
I think that President Bush was the governor at the time (I'm too lazy to Google the fact), but who ever was governor...had to be losing his mind.
Where was the NY Times on that little "police action"?
Where was CNN on that "unfortunate case of collateral damage"?
Where was the UN and where were all the "talking heads" and the stupid assed "pundits" and human rights "activists" while Miss Reno's giant adams apple bobbed up in down in press conferences?
Yeah, I know, I know...they (The Branch Davidians) were a "cult" and they were "white people" living in the state of Texas and all, but what if had been Sammy Davis Jr. and a building full of black Jews in Kew Gardens, NY?
What if it had been a bunch of Transvestite organic Avacado farmers wearing crotchless overalls (from the Frederics of Hooterville collection) outside San Francisco, California holding the local Goose liver Pate and Veal farmers hostage?
Where would the NY Times and CNN and the government have been then?
You see, it is my opinion that one (wo)man's "Excessive force" isn't always real excessive force.
Like I like to say...don't take a knife to a gun fight...
In light of those type of domestic government actions, regardless of whether there is a "D" or a "R" behind the name of the president and the other officials, I say that condemnation of Israel and the US support thereof pales in comparison to other things happening in the world.
Fact: Israel wouldn't be where they are today if the elected Lebanese government had "called out the national guard" and used their own police power against the Hezbollah terrorists.
Fact: Israel wouldn't be bombing the shit out of southern Lebanon if the feckless United Nations had enforced their own resolutions.
Fact: The US has since 1947 supplied Israel with financial support and sold them weapons systems to support their own self defense.
So what's the big damn doodling deal today?
Yeah...I thought so...there isn't really one, and I hope that Israel kicks the shit out of them until some real closure on this issue is obtained...screw the collateral damage and the liberal media hand wringing.
As I've said so many times before here on this blog:
WAR INVOLVES BREAKING THINGS AND KILLING PEOPLE!!!
What is there to not understand?
Moving along, now let me get my final MVD political statement in here and say that, just in case you haven’t noticed, if we here in the United States were of like mind to the liberal's beloved peaceful muslim arabs, we'd really be setting up a MVD camp out here on our little island.
There would be other people setting up camps in other places, and by "other people" I don't mean ignoramuses like the KKK and the "skinheads." I mean smart, educated people like my friend Tripp and I, people that you don't want to be building things and aiming things at your head and your house and your car.
But we aren't, because we're happy just living out our lives in what has to be, in spite of what the media says, the greatest country that has ever existed.
That, and Tripp and I know that the south really did “Rise Again.”
Some of our fellow southerners and most of you Yankees just don't know it or haven't realized it yet.
Why do I say that?
Because there is hardly a Yankee out there that doesn’t lust after the opportunity of retiring here in the south, and in the end, when it’s all said and done, we’ve all ended up winning the old battle that some people here in the US still refuse to stop fighting.
We all generally get along.
I can call you a Yankee if you live up north, but I really don't hate you.
And you’re welcome to call me a “Redneck”, as long as you smile when you say it, and allow me to celebrate the glorious southern heritage of which I am so proud.
Unfortunately, the middle east isn’t that way, and probably will never be as we have it here, at least without constant military and political pressure.
Instead of 230 years of existence and of 140 years of reconciliation, the middle east has endured thousands of years of hatred and division and roughly 60 years of non-imperialistic existence. The area was divided up after WWI and WWII with little or no regard to the current ethnic divisions with which we are all so aware of today (thank you France and Great Britain.)
Anyone ever heard of a Suni or Shite or Kurd, unless you were getting your PHD in "Middle Eastern Studies", before 1990 or possibly the 1979 Iranian Revolution?
Not me...
Finally, in closing, I have to ask you, would you really want the US to take the pre WWII Neville Chamberlain approach, or wouldn't you rather see the Winston Churchill approach?
I choose the latter, rather than the former, and that's what I think that president Bush is doing.
AND I KNOW THAT I'M RIGGGGGGHHHHHTTT...
Because I own this blog. If you don't agree, then go away...dang it
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Sunday, July 23, 2006
If You Can’t Join ‘Em….Beat ‘Em
Doing Tings Bass Ackwards…
I friend of mine agreed tonight with my latest idea to politely take our “K-Street Tree Project” to the other “alternative” news publication here in town, and then toss it down to the Jacksonville, Florida paper that does a section dedicated to south Georgia.
Since I haven’t signed any agreements, the Mayor and the city didn’t ask me or otherwise tell me about opening their so-called “PR Campaign (cam-pain in the Arse)”, and since the Brunswick News insists on ignoring mention of my personal origination, participation, and any otherwise valid information that I have to offer on the subject, I feel that it is quite reasonable to answer any and all other news inquires—even if I instigate them.
This could be quite interesting…so stay tuned.
(I really really really promise to give this topic a rest shortly)
I friend of mine agreed tonight with my latest idea to politely take our “K-Street Tree Project” to the other “alternative” news publication here in town, and then toss it down to the Jacksonville, Florida paper that does a section dedicated to south Georgia.
Since I haven’t signed any agreements, the Mayor and the city didn’t ask me or otherwise tell me about opening their so-called “PR Campaign (cam-pain in the Arse)”, and since the Brunswick News insists on ignoring mention of my personal origination, participation, and any otherwise valid information that I have to offer on the subject, I feel that it is quite reasonable to answer any and all other news inquires—even if I instigate them.
This could be quite interesting…so stay tuned.
(I really really really promise to give this topic a rest shortly)
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Partial Success
They're Getting Warmer
We'll, just to keep torturing myself, I bought a copy of today's newspaper on my way home from dinner. You can imagine my surprise when, on the top of page two, they published this article:
City's tree plan just a sprout
Fri, Jul 21, 2006By KEITH LAING
The Brunswick News
The city of Brunswick wants someone else to pick up the bill for resurrecting one of its fallen oak trees.
Mayor Bryan Thompson said the city will seek assistance from several sources to raise the $35,000 it is expected to cost to have a professional sculptor carve a fully grown tree felled during the K Street sewer repair project into a community landmark celebrating the lives of prominent Georgians.
If the proposal comes to fruition, the 180,000-pound tree, which had once shaded K Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Amherst Street, would be transformed into a piece of artwork commemorating Georgia founder James Oglethorpe, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and poet Sidney Lanier.
"There could be a variety of sources, such as the area arts organization and private sector donations," Thompson said.
He added while the city has selected Pennslyvania-based artist Joe King to create the sculpture, it has not arranged to finance the project.
"It was never our intention that the city was going to drop $35,000 on this," he said.
"We were talking to this guy to get a ballpark range of what something like this would require in terms of cash" We are fully planning on seeing what kinds of partnerships might be formed throughout the community to help pull this together."
Thompson also said the project has not been finalized yet.
"We're at the stage where we are looking at the possibility of this," he said.
"We were trying to find someone very qualified to take on in a masterful way this large, complex project."
I'll give the Newspaper a B+ for their effort, after allowing the story to flounder and fester in the critical public eye for almost two weeks.
Notice that as is typical with newspapers, mistakes made in stories printed in large print, above the fold, on the front page are later corrected somewhere else inside in fine print, if they are corrected at all.
The interesting thing is the number of letters to the editor that have been published addressing the initial story...a total of five to date, including this positive one in today's issue:
Backlash about old oak sculpture saddens artist
In regards to having the old oak tree carved by a sculptor, I understand the reasoning about the money being used for humanitarian needs, and the other options mentioned are okay. Still, as an artist myself, it makes me sad that once again, as always, art is considered unimportant, or the very, very least important.
Artists have to earn a living, too. A plastic surgeon "carves" someone's body and reshapes it for the sake of egotism and makes that much money, I'm sure. How important is that?
Jackie Strickland
Then there is this one that's the third negative one to date:
BrunswickMayor may be risking re-election due to idea
Mr. Mayor, while your moves to improve our city, (ie: tearing down the eyesores) are to be commended, I have to stop and think about the idea of spending $35,000 to sculpt what is left of a tree.
Are you out of your mind? Don't you think that the monies could be spent better elsewhere in the community?
Do you want to risk re-election because of a tree? If you want to help preserve the city of Brunswick's history, then look around and find a cause that will benefit the members of the community, perhaps even garner some profits for Brunswick. Sculpt a tree? Mr. Mayor! It's firewood!
MJ Bragg
And finally, much to my surprise, blog reader and frequent commenter here at this blog, Ed Drew, wrote a letter without my prior knowledge and finally managed to get my name mentioned in the newspaper in association with the project I originated.
Ed wrote this:
BrunswickInformation regarding tree appears wrong
I am very disappointed at the recent reporting of the events surrounding the carving of the remains of the oak tree from K Street. I was well aware of the plans that had been put together with great effort by Virgil Rogers of St. Simons Island. He put considerable time and effort into saving the tree stump and the plans included having it done with private donations, not tax dollars as you imply in your editorial.
I am very disappointed in your inability to correctly write a story and editorial of an event right there in your city. Neither of these even mentioned Mr. Rogers, who, had it not been for him, there would not even have even been a project. If you can't get a local story correct, with proper credit to local individuals, how in the world can you get anything correct?
I formerly lived in Brunswick, that's why I am familiar with the situation.
Kenneth Drew
Deridder, LA
All I can say is...THANKS ED, and hopefully with a little luck we can turn this thing around and get it done after all.
What still bugs the heck out of me was why it had to be such a mess in the first place?
We'll, just to keep torturing myself, I bought a copy of today's newspaper on my way home from dinner. You can imagine my surprise when, on the top of page two, they published this article:
City's tree plan just a sprout
Fri, Jul 21, 2006By KEITH LAING
The Brunswick News
The city of Brunswick wants someone else to pick up the bill for resurrecting one of its fallen oak trees.
Mayor Bryan Thompson said the city will seek assistance from several sources to raise the $35,000 it is expected to cost to have a professional sculptor carve a fully grown tree felled during the K Street sewer repair project into a community landmark celebrating the lives of prominent Georgians.
If the proposal comes to fruition, the 180,000-pound tree, which had once shaded K Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Amherst Street, would be transformed into a piece of artwork commemorating Georgia founder James Oglethorpe, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and poet Sidney Lanier.
"There could be a variety of sources, such as the area arts organization and private sector donations," Thompson said.
He added while the city has selected Pennslyvania-based artist Joe King to create the sculpture, it has not arranged to finance the project.
"It was never our intention that the city was going to drop $35,000 on this," he said.
"We were talking to this guy to get a ballpark range of what something like this would require in terms of cash" We are fully planning on seeing what kinds of partnerships might be formed throughout the community to help pull this together."
Thompson also said the project has not been finalized yet.
"We're at the stage where we are looking at the possibility of this," he said.
"We were trying to find someone very qualified to take on in a masterful way this large, complex project."
I'll give the Newspaper a B+ for their effort, after allowing the story to flounder and fester in the critical public eye for almost two weeks.
Notice that as is typical with newspapers, mistakes made in stories printed in large print, above the fold, on the front page are later corrected somewhere else inside in fine print, if they are corrected at all.
The interesting thing is the number of letters to the editor that have been published addressing the initial story...a total of five to date, including this positive one in today's issue:
Backlash about old oak sculpture saddens artist
In regards to having the old oak tree carved by a sculptor, I understand the reasoning about the money being used for humanitarian needs, and the other options mentioned are okay. Still, as an artist myself, it makes me sad that once again, as always, art is considered unimportant, or the very, very least important.
Artists have to earn a living, too. A plastic surgeon "carves" someone's body and reshapes it for the sake of egotism and makes that much money, I'm sure. How important is that?
Jackie Strickland
Then there is this one that's the third negative one to date:
BrunswickMayor may be risking re-election due to idea
Mr. Mayor, while your moves to improve our city, (ie: tearing down the eyesores) are to be commended, I have to stop and think about the idea of spending $35,000 to sculpt what is left of a tree.
Are you out of your mind? Don't you think that the monies could be spent better elsewhere in the community?
Do you want to risk re-election because of a tree? If you want to help preserve the city of Brunswick's history, then look around and find a cause that will benefit the members of the community, perhaps even garner some profits for Brunswick. Sculpt a tree? Mr. Mayor! It's firewood!
MJ Bragg
And finally, much to my surprise, blog reader and frequent commenter here at this blog, Ed Drew, wrote a letter without my prior knowledge and finally managed to get my name mentioned in the newspaper in association with the project I originated.
Ed wrote this:
BrunswickInformation regarding tree appears wrong
I am very disappointed at the recent reporting of the events surrounding the carving of the remains of the oak tree from K Street. I was well aware of the plans that had been put together with great effort by Virgil Rogers of St. Simons Island. He put considerable time and effort into saving the tree stump and the plans included having it done with private donations, not tax dollars as you imply in your editorial.
I am very disappointed in your inability to correctly write a story and editorial of an event right there in your city. Neither of these even mentioned Mr. Rogers, who, had it not been for him, there would not even have even been a project. If you can't get a local story correct, with proper credit to local individuals, how in the world can you get anything correct?
I formerly lived in Brunswick, that's why I am familiar with the situation.
Kenneth Drew
Deridder, LA
All I can say is...THANKS ED, and hopefully with a little luck we can turn this thing around and get it done after all.
What still bugs the heck out of me was why it had to be such a mess in the first place?
Friday, July 21, 2006
And Now…A Final Word From Your Sponsor
Unintended Consequences
Those that follow this blog know that for a little over a week now I’ve been on the verge of having a heart attack. I’ve written more profanity in this blog in that period of time than I’ve written in the previous 23 months, and to anyone that I’ve offended, I offer my sincerest apology.
In the interest of continuity and for archive purposes I’m leaving the postings up, so just like a TV show or movie I ask that you just avert your eyes from the offending postings or stop coming here as punishment. Heck, write me a comment and tell me how immature I am.
That said, I’d like to summarize my position on the K-Street Tree Project, and then get on with life here on the internet because there are much more important things in the world than my 50 ton tree trunk worth writing about.
Back in February when I originally came up with the idea of saving the old tree from the landfill, I had only two things in mind: “Saving the old tree from the landfill and erecting a really nice piece of art in an inner city minority community that doesn’t get much attention from artists and the public.”
In fact, about the only thing ever written about the K-Street area is the reporting of the latest robbery, murder, or break in, with the occasional “puff piece” about the nearby Girls & Boys Club thrown in once every few years for good measure.
It was just that simple.
When I took the project to the Mayor and the City, all I asked was that they honor my idea of putting the tree back home where it came from, or at least nearby. It would be easy enough to take it, have it carved, and toss it in the swanky already revitalized historic district adjacent to some half million dollar mansions and have a big black tie party as an unveiling, but that’s not what the City promised to do.
The other important thing, in my mind, was to keep the story under wraps until we could develop the project and knew the details before we went to the media and let the general public know what we were doing.
Yes, we wanted to control the story in a way, but I thought that the story is what it is, and I knew that publicity was a powerful tool and it had value in supporting our fundraising efforts.
Unfortunately, all of that is out the window now, because, to put it bluntly, I didn’t realize that I was surrounded by a newspaper company and a community full of Neanderthals.
They just don’t get it and, the more I say, the worse things get.
There’s a combination of racism, politics, and just plain stupidity at work here, and one slightly balding, slightly graying, slightly overweight man sitting on one little island cannot overcome forces that have had years if not centuries to build up and gain strength.
It’s not just blacks against whites or Democrats versus Republicans, you have the additional dynamic of Island residents versus Mainlanders, and Newcomers versus life long residents—and I greatly underestimated those issues when this all got started.
The bottom line is, like it or not, this thing has taken on a life of it’s own in the media, and nothing I can say or do now with change that or possibly undo the damage caused by the way the local newspaper as spun this story.
They (the newspaper) actually believe their own inept coverage, they’ve come out on the editorial page against it, published letters to the editor against it, and the public that actually reads the newspaper and listens to the radio is firmly against what really was an honest, sincere, altruistic effort on my part and that of the City.
In the end, the problem for me is, that this same negative publicity is causing potential donors to avoid getting involved in the project, and even potential team members and contractors are leery of getting involved. I had actually asked for price discounts or even free work from the concrete footing contractor and professional structural engineer designing the footing, but now I expect the best I can do is pay full price and keep their name out of it.
Finally, in losing my temper, I’ve looked like an immature teenager here on the blog and alienated both the newspaper editor and the political reporter that started the furor in the first place, and any day now I expect my name to come up in a newspaper article with a picture of a rabid dog or Charles Manson attached to the story.
Would someone please tell me why everything I touch these days seems to turn upside down?
Why does the “establishment” have so much inertia so as to prevent anything new and different from happening every once in a while?
I’ve donated thousands of hours of my time over the past two and one half years to non-profit theaters and other charitable organizations here in the Golden Isles, and with only two exceptions, each and every time a project with my name on it has come up for public scrutiny, they either gave someone else credit, left my name out entirely, or bitched at me behind the scenes for stealing the spotlight and not letting someone else take credit for my efforts when I did complain.
I know that it’s the thought that counts and everything, but once and a while, toss ME a bone too when I'm busting my hump on Saturday night and everyone else on the marquee is out drinking and toasting their success.
For the time being, I’m done with Glynn County and the people of Glynn County, Georgia. I’m going to finish my part of my beloved K-Street Tree Project, then step back and if it gets funded and installed fine, and if not…YOU know I did my best and what actually happened by reading the past week and one half here on the blog.
And, in closing this issue, I have one final thought for your consideration:
Imagine, if you will, what else the Brunswick News has done over the past one hundred plus years, if they are capable of doing this to a story about someone “A Wantin’ To Spend Thirty Five Thousand Dollars A Carvin’ On A Big Ole’ Tree Stump”?
Scary, isn’t it…
Those that follow this blog know that for a little over a week now I’ve been on the verge of having a heart attack. I’ve written more profanity in this blog in that period of time than I’ve written in the previous 23 months, and to anyone that I’ve offended, I offer my sincerest apology.
In the interest of continuity and for archive purposes I’m leaving the postings up, so just like a TV show or movie I ask that you just avert your eyes from the offending postings or stop coming here as punishment. Heck, write me a comment and tell me how immature I am.
That said, I’d like to summarize my position on the K-Street Tree Project, and then get on with life here on the internet because there are much more important things in the world than my 50 ton tree trunk worth writing about.
Back in February when I originally came up with the idea of saving the old tree from the landfill, I had only two things in mind: “Saving the old tree from the landfill and erecting a really nice piece of art in an inner city minority community that doesn’t get much attention from artists and the public.”
In fact, about the only thing ever written about the K-Street area is the reporting of the latest robbery, murder, or break in, with the occasional “puff piece” about the nearby Girls & Boys Club thrown in once every few years for good measure.
It was just that simple.
When I took the project to the Mayor and the City, all I asked was that they honor my idea of putting the tree back home where it came from, or at least nearby. It would be easy enough to take it, have it carved, and toss it in the swanky already revitalized historic district adjacent to some half million dollar mansions and have a big black tie party as an unveiling, but that’s not what the City promised to do.
The other important thing, in my mind, was to keep the story under wraps until we could develop the project and knew the details before we went to the media and let the general public know what we were doing.
Yes, we wanted to control the story in a way, but I thought that the story is what it is, and I knew that publicity was a powerful tool and it had value in supporting our fundraising efforts.
Unfortunately, all of that is out the window now, because, to put it bluntly, I didn’t realize that I was surrounded by a newspaper company and a community full of Neanderthals.
They just don’t get it and, the more I say, the worse things get.
There’s a combination of racism, politics, and just plain stupidity at work here, and one slightly balding, slightly graying, slightly overweight man sitting on one little island cannot overcome forces that have had years if not centuries to build up and gain strength.
It’s not just blacks against whites or Democrats versus Republicans, you have the additional dynamic of Island residents versus Mainlanders, and Newcomers versus life long residents—and I greatly underestimated those issues when this all got started.
The bottom line is, like it or not, this thing has taken on a life of it’s own in the media, and nothing I can say or do now with change that or possibly undo the damage caused by the way the local newspaper as spun this story.
They (the newspaper) actually believe their own inept coverage, they’ve come out on the editorial page against it, published letters to the editor against it, and the public that actually reads the newspaper and listens to the radio is firmly against what really was an honest, sincere, altruistic effort on my part and that of the City.
In the end, the problem for me is, that this same negative publicity is causing potential donors to avoid getting involved in the project, and even potential team members and contractors are leery of getting involved. I had actually asked for price discounts or even free work from the concrete footing contractor and professional structural engineer designing the footing, but now I expect the best I can do is pay full price and keep their name out of it.
Finally, in losing my temper, I’ve looked like an immature teenager here on the blog and alienated both the newspaper editor and the political reporter that started the furor in the first place, and any day now I expect my name to come up in a newspaper article with a picture of a rabid dog or Charles Manson attached to the story.
Would someone please tell me why everything I touch these days seems to turn upside down?
Why does the “establishment” have so much inertia so as to prevent anything new and different from happening every once in a while?
I’ve donated thousands of hours of my time over the past two and one half years to non-profit theaters and other charitable organizations here in the Golden Isles, and with only two exceptions, each and every time a project with my name on it has come up for public scrutiny, they either gave someone else credit, left my name out entirely, or bitched at me behind the scenes for stealing the spotlight and not letting someone else take credit for my efforts when I did complain.
I know that it’s the thought that counts and everything, but once and a while, toss ME a bone too when I'm busting my hump on Saturday night and everyone else on the marquee is out drinking and toasting their success.
For the time being, I’m done with Glynn County and the people of Glynn County, Georgia. I’m going to finish my part of my beloved K-Street Tree Project, then step back and if it gets funded and installed fine, and if not…YOU know I did my best and what actually happened by reading the past week and one half here on the blog.
And, in closing this issue, I have one final thought for your consideration:
Imagine, if you will, what else the Brunswick News has done over the past one hundred plus years, if they are capable of doing this to a story about someone “A Wantin’ To Spend Thirty Five Thousand Dollars A Carvin’ On A Big Ole’ Tree Stump”?
Scary, isn’t it…
Thursday, July 20, 2006
And In Local News…
What Would You Think Of Me Trying This?
If I had an extra couple of thousand dollars lying around, here is how the headlines would read later this week in ourlocal fishwrapper The Brunswick News:
Citizen Files Suit Against City
Art versus Firewood
The Brunswick News has learned that the city of Brunswick’s recent public arts efforts could actually end up costing the city money in court.
As partially (yet inaccurately) reported here in the pages of this paper, the city has recently been planning to restore the giagantic trunk of a tree that was removed to make way for extension of a large sewer line on K-street in downtown Brunswick.
Back in 2005, when the city was determining the fate of the magnificent 200 year old tree, this same newspaper came out against then Mayor Brad Brown and the decision to save money by removing the tree rather than rerouting the pipeline around its roots.
Now that the tree has been uprooted and killed, and after about three seconds of consideration, the Brunswick News believes that we should all just let “bygones be bygones” and let the old tree fade into history.
You know…”out of sight…out of mind”
Well, something like that…
Any hoooooooo….St. Simons island resident Virgil Rogers was so inspired by this paper’s coverage of Mayor Bryan Thompson’s efforts to resurrect the tree and have it carved into a piece of art funded by private donations and Arts Grants, that he IS ABANDONING HIS OWN PROJECT AND SUING THE CITY FOR THE FUNDING AS YET TO BE RAISED, and donating the proceeds to charity.
“We got to have more textbooks ‘cause I know that little chirren are wandering around trying to learn Spanish from video tapes and cassettes” said Rogers.
“We got to be a spending more money on food for the needie, and all them crack heads down on Wolfe street need a new shelter when the temperature falls down to 70 degrees in January. You know where blue gums come from don’t you?”
“I want to have that tree sawed up and split into kindlin’, then we’ll use the money left over to buy everyone in Newtown Brunswick that a wants one a bright shiny new fireplace.”
“After all, them mean old white folks out there on St. Simons Island have fireplaces, and 70 degrees is cold.”
“That’l teach them, trying to do that high browed art when people are freezing and starving and don’t have rocks to smoke.”
More as this story develops, If we can keep our reporters awake and sober.
If I had an extra couple of thousand dollars lying around, here is how the headlines would read later this week in our
Citizen Files Suit Against City
Art versus Firewood
The Brunswick News has learned that the city of Brunswick’s recent public arts efforts could actually end up costing the city money in court.
As partially (yet inaccurately) reported here in the pages of this paper, the city has recently been planning to restore the giagantic trunk of a tree that was removed to make way for extension of a large sewer line on K-street in downtown Brunswick.
Back in 2005, when the city was determining the fate of the magnificent 200 year old tree, this same newspaper came out against then Mayor Brad Brown and the decision to save money by removing the tree rather than rerouting the pipeline around its roots.
Now that the tree has been uprooted and killed, and after about three seconds of consideration, the Brunswick News believes that we should all just let “bygones be bygones” and let the old tree fade into history.
You know…”out of sight…out of mind”
Well, something like that…
Any hoooooooo….St. Simons island resident Virgil Rogers was so inspired by this paper’s coverage of Mayor Bryan Thompson’s efforts to resurrect the tree and have it carved into a piece of art funded by private donations and Arts Grants, that he IS ABANDONING HIS OWN PROJECT AND SUING THE CITY FOR THE FUNDING AS YET TO BE RAISED, and donating the proceeds to charity.
“We got to have more textbooks ‘cause I know that little chirren are wandering around trying to learn Spanish from video tapes and cassettes” said Rogers.
“We got to be a spending more money on food for the needie, and all them crack heads down on Wolfe street need a new shelter when the temperature falls down to 70 degrees in January. You know where blue gums come from don’t you?”
“I want to have that tree sawed up and split into kindlin’, then we’ll use the money left over to buy everyone in Newtown Brunswick that a wants one a bright shiny new fireplace.”
“After all, them mean old white folks out there on St. Simons Island have fireplaces, and 70 degrees is cold.”
“That’l teach them, trying to do that high browed art when people are freezing and starving and don’t have rocks to smoke.”
More as this story develops, If we can keep our reporters awake and sober.
Words of the Day
OK Chirren' Get Out Your Dictionarys...
Feckless ___________________________________________________
Obtuse _____________________________________________________
Feckless ___________________________________________________
Obtuse _____________________________________________________
I Got A Good Edumication
But It Weren't Free...And It Still Be Going On
What About YOU?
(testing testing testing....thump thump thump...Is This Thing ON?)
What About YOU?
(testing testing testing....thump thump thump...Is This Thing ON?)
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Our Newspaper Is Absolutely, Positively, Full Of Shit
And once they screw up a given issue, they obviously won't give up...
For your consideration, I present today's "Letter to the Editor" headline in the Brunswick News:
"PUT THE MONEY TO BETTER USE"
Instead of paying an out-of-towner to do the oak sculpture, why not use local talent to utilize high school art students. This would mean a whole lot more to our community for generations to come, plus save $35,000 today.
Brent Nichols"
And...if that wasn't ignorant and obviously misinformed enough, one of today's other letters to the editor headline was this:
"Brunswick Money for tree carving should go to the needy"
What in the world are you people thinking?
$35,000 to carve a tree stump?
There are shelters, soup kitchens and other charities that could put that money to use for a tangible benefit in our city. Do you know how much clothes, blankets or food $35,000 could provide? How about text books in school?
At my daughters' middle school last year, five out of seven classes did not assign homework because there were not enough text books for each child to have one. But you can spend $35,000 on a tree stump sculpture? Nice one, Mr. Mayor, nice one. Reminds me of another sculpture the city thought we needed many years ago – "Figures Reclining in the Marsh" if I remember correctly. Another waste of public funding there as well.
Michael Vinson
Brunswick
You see ladies and gentlemen...here is a perfect example of the newspaper (emphasis on the "Paper"), a so-called professional staff of so-called journalists, jumping on a story with few if any facts, and then still proceeding through the process of executing their agenda .
Dammit, I'm pissed off...and I'm not letting this thing go until somebody bleeds ink, if not blood.
UPDATE:
Now that I've calmed down a little...let me add, to be honest and accurate, that the newspaper finally did try to call me late yesterday, nine days after this story first hit the presses. I didn't manage to haul my lumbering ass out of the swimming pool in time to call theasshole reporter back, however.
That would have involved effort, and right now the last thing that I'm expending is additional effort on this issue, except for possibly when I have nothing else to do except fart and belch.
What I do want to do here is try to impress on those of you out there that actually believe everything that you see and hear on the TV news and in the newspaper that most of the time what you are being fed is TOTAL SHIT, regurgitated by some moron that can't find their way to work every day without a map and an extra half hour to make the journey.
I'm telling you, ladies and gentlemen, that the Brunswick News has, for whatever reason or lack thereof, totally screwed up this project that was tendered by ME to the city with the best of intentions, and I actually don't know if I have the energy to finish it because of having to deal with the public furror that their inept reporting has generated.
After all, there is no money to spend on the tree right now.
There is no money to divert to feeding the homeless.
There is no money to use to buy textbooks.
I haven't made one thin damn dime on this project, and never expected to.
All I wanted to do is save the remains of a two hundred year old tree from the indignity of the landfill or the woodpile, and the semi-professional journalistic idiots down at the Brunswick News screwed all of that up.
I sure hope that they got their money's worth and sold a bunch of newspapers.
No...I'm lieing...I actually don't.
For your consideration, I present today's "Letter to the Editor" headline in the Brunswick News:
"PUT THE MONEY TO BETTER USE"
Instead of paying an out-of-towner to do the oak sculpture, why not use local talent to utilize high school art students. This would mean a whole lot more to our community for generations to come, plus save $35,000 today.
Brent Nichols"
And...if that wasn't ignorant and obviously misinformed enough, one of today's other letters to the editor headline was this:
"Brunswick Money for tree carving should go to the needy"
What in the world are you people thinking?
$35,000 to carve a tree stump?
There are shelters, soup kitchens and other charities that could put that money to use for a tangible benefit in our city. Do you know how much clothes, blankets or food $35,000 could provide? How about text books in school?
At my daughters' middle school last year, five out of seven classes did not assign homework because there were not enough text books for each child to have one. But you can spend $35,000 on a tree stump sculpture? Nice one, Mr. Mayor, nice one. Reminds me of another sculpture the city thought we needed many years ago – "Figures Reclining in the Marsh" if I remember correctly. Another waste of public funding there as well.
Michael Vinson
Brunswick
You see ladies and gentlemen...here is a perfect example of the newspaper (emphasis on the "Paper"), a so-called professional staff of so-called journalists, jumping on a story with few if any facts, and then still proceeding through the process of executing their agenda .
Dammit, I'm pissed off...and I'm not letting this thing go until somebody bleeds ink, if not blood.
UPDATE:
Now that I've calmed down a little...let me add, to be honest and accurate, that the newspaper finally did try to call me late yesterday, nine days after this story first hit the presses. I didn't manage to haul my lumbering ass out of the swimming pool in time to call the
That would have involved effort, and right now the last thing that I'm expending is additional effort on this issue, except for possibly when I have nothing else to do except fart and belch.
What I do want to do here is try to impress on those of you out there that actually believe everything that you see and hear on the TV news and in the newspaper that most of the time what you are being fed is TOTAL SHIT, regurgitated by some moron that can't find their way to work every day without a map and an extra half hour to make the journey.
I'm telling you, ladies and gentlemen, that the Brunswick News has, for whatever reason or lack thereof, totally screwed up this project that was tendered by ME to the city with the best of intentions, and I actually don't know if I have the energy to finish it because of having to deal with the public furror that their inept reporting has generated.
After all, there is no money to spend on the tree right now.
There is no money to divert to feeding the homeless.
There is no money to use to buy textbooks.
I haven't made one thin damn dime on this project, and never expected to.
All I wanted to do is save the remains of a two hundred year old tree from the indignity of the landfill or the woodpile, and the semi-professional journalistic idiots down at the Brunswick News screwed all of that up.
I sure hope that they got their money's worth and sold a bunch of newspapers.
No...I'm lieing...I actually don't.
The Text Of My Original Proposal
As Promised...Here's What I Originally Took To The City...
The
K Street
Tree Sculpture
Project
By Virgil R. Rogers, III
February 27, 2006
In late 2005 the City of Brunswick and the Norwich/K Street community witnessed the loss of one of their oldest citizens—a gigantic old Live Oak tree that had stood watch over it’s fellow residents since the late 18th century. The tree was the unfortunate victim of a sewer trunk line construction project.
The “K-Street” tree is considered to possibly be old enough to have witnessed the founding of the City of Brunswick and the signing of the Declaration of Independence, but it is most definitely old enough to have lived through the battles of the War of 1812, the Civil War, WWI, WWII, the seen the arrival of the airplane and the automobile in Glynn County.
The purpose and goals of what I call “The K Street Tree Sculpture Project” is not to lament the loss and second guess the reasons behind its demise, but rather to celebrate the life of this glorious old tree and to acknowledge the importance of all of these ancient leafed monoliths to our local citizens and the Golden Isles community.
To this end, I am considering several possible levels of project development, each with unique meaning, design requirements, and costs.
My initial single purpose and core goal is to save the remaining trunk from the K Street Tree from the Landfill, the Sawmill, or someone’s fireplace. That said, I propose that the tree’s trunk be salvaged, stored, and processed into some meaningful artistic symbol. Ideally it would afterward be returned to a location as close to its original location as possible. This would allow the local community to regain their familiar old resident in a dignified, yet revised appearance.
I am working on a number of variations on this theme:
1. Relocating, up-righting, and carving various portions of the trunk into images of well known individuals of historical regional and state significance. Those which initially come to mind include British General Oglethorpe, Poet Sidney Lanier, and Dr. Martin Luther King. Other more recent persons could also be considered.
2. Relocating, up-righting, and including the tree trunk in the middle of a new playground and play structure dedicated to the K Street children, including those at the adjacent Boys and Girls Club.
3. Relocating and including the tree trunk inside of or adjacent to some as yet unidentified facility—possibly a community or visitors center.
The involvement of the City of Brunswick and Glynn County would be encouraged and appreciated, but I would like to minimize the use of taxpayer funds for the purely “artistic” portion of the project. Depending on the final configuration and actual scope, assistance of the local government(s) in providing a display site and appropriate foundation could be critical to the success of the project.
Regarding the final design theme, something as simple as a contest held within the local schools, allowing the children to suggest the appearance is one possibility. Other options could be considered when and if they are presented.
I would like to elicit the ideas, opinions, and assistance from any and all members of the local government in formulating the project scope and direction, as well as in completing its implementation. Of course all local, state, and national Building Codes and Zoning Regulations would be strictly adhered to.
As an experienced engineer and project manager, I offer my services to manage and coordinate the K-Street Tree Sculpture Project to a successful conclusion. Local and nationally recognized artists, each familiar with the techniques of carving large scale sculpture out of trees would also be included on the project team.
In addition to local artist Keith Jennings—creator of the “Tree Spirit” carvings on St. Simons Island—I have made preliminary contact with several other national artists including Voss Finn and Joe King and I am awaiting their expression of interest in competing for the project.
Mr. Kings work includes projects for Pittsburgh’s Carnege Museum and the Smithsonian Institute. Some of his work includes:
I believe that the project completion timeframe would be between three months and one year, depending on the final scope and details undertaken. I have had a preliminary conversation with Mr. Gragg at Gragg Cabinets located on ML King Boulevard about using his property for temporary storage if necessary. As secure site is also required for use during construction to ensure public safety and to prevent vandalism.
A basic cost of between $3,000 and $10,000 could be expected, although this estimate is very preliminary and is again affected by the final project scope. Funding could be raised through donations from local individuals and businesses, including services to support the artist/craftsman’s per diem costs (hotel rooms, meals, etc.)
I look forward to working with the City of Brunswick government personnel and our local business community in facilitating the successful completion of this project, producing a result of which we can all be proud.
(all of the photographs and some of the formatting is missing because of limitations of HTML coding, but the text is verbatum)
The
K Street
Tree Sculpture
Project
By Virgil R. Rogers, III
February 27, 2006
In late 2005 the City of Brunswick and the Norwich/K Street community witnessed the loss of one of their oldest citizens—a gigantic old Live Oak tree that had stood watch over it’s fellow residents since the late 18th century. The tree was the unfortunate victim of a sewer trunk line construction project.
The “K-Street” tree is considered to possibly be old enough to have witnessed the founding of the City of Brunswick and the signing of the Declaration of Independence, but it is most definitely old enough to have lived through the battles of the War of 1812, the Civil War, WWI, WWII, the seen the arrival of the airplane and the automobile in Glynn County.
The purpose and goals of what I call “The K Street Tree Sculpture Project” is not to lament the loss and second guess the reasons behind its demise, but rather to celebrate the life of this glorious old tree and to acknowledge the importance of all of these ancient leafed monoliths to our local citizens and the Golden Isles community.
To this end, I am considering several possible levels of project development, each with unique meaning, design requirements, and costs.
My initial single purpose and core goal is to save the remaining trunk from the K Street Tree from the Landfill, the Sawmill, or someone’s fireplace. That said, I propose that the tree’s trunk be salvaged, stored, and processed into some meaningful artistic symbol. Ideally it would afterward be returned to a location as close to its original location as possible. This would allow the local community to regain their familiar old resident in a dignified, yet revised appearance.
I am working on a number of variations on this theme:
1. Relocating, up-righting, and carving various portions of the trunk into images of well known individuals of historical regional and state significance. Those which initially come to mind include British General Oglethorpe, Poet Sidney Lanier, and Dr. Martin Luther King. Other more recent persons could also be considered.
2. Relocating, up-righting, and including the tree trunk in the middle of a new playground and play structure dedicated to the K Street children, including those at the adjacent Boys and Girls Club.
3. Relocating and including the tree trunk inside of or adjacent to some as yet unidentified facility—possibly a community or visitors center.
The involvement of the City of Brunswick and Glynn County would be encouraged and appreciated, but I would like to minimize the use of taxpayer funds for the purely “artistic” portion of the project. Depending on the final configuration and actual scope, assistance of the local government(s) in providing a display site and appropriate foundation could be critical to the success of the project.
Regarding the final design theme, something as simple as a contest held within the local schools, allowing the children to suggest the appearance is one possibility. Other options could be considered when and if they are presented.
I would like to elicit the ideas, opinions, and assistance from any and all members of the local government in formulating the project scope and direction, as well as in completing its implementation. Of course all local, state, and national Building Codes and Zoning Regulations would be strictly adhered to.
As an experienced engineer and project manager, I offer my services to manage and coordinate the K-Street Tree Sculpture Project to a successful conclusion. Local and nationally recognized artists, each familiar with the techniques of carving large scale sculpture out of trees would also be included on the project team.
In addition to local artist Keith Jennings—creator of the “Tree Spirit” carvings on St. Simons Island—I have made preliminary contact with several other national artists including Voss Finn and Joe King and I am awaiting their expression of interest in competing for the project.
Mr. Kings work includes projects for Pittsburgh’s Carnege Museum and the Smithsonian Institute. Some of his work includes:
I believe that the project completion timeframe would be between three months and one year, depending on the final scope and details undertaken. I have had a preliminary conversation with Mr. Gragg at Gragg Cabinets located on ML King Boulevard about using his property for temporary storage if necessary. As secure site is also required for use during construction to ensure public safety and to prevent vandalism.
A basic cost of between $3,000 and $10,000 could be expected, although this estimate is very preliminary and is again affected by the final project scope. Funding could be raised through donations from local individuals and businesses, including services to support the artist/craftsman’s per diem costs (hotel rooms, meals, etc.)
I look forward to working with the City of Brunswick government personnel and our local business community in facilitating the successful completion of this project, producing a result of which we can all be proud.
(all of the photographs and some of the formatting is missing because of limitations of HTML coding, but the text is verbatum)
Letter To The Editor
I really sent this out this morning...
Dear Kerry,
I’m writing to personally thank you and your newspaper for, in less than eight days, essentially killing the results of my efforts spent over the past five months working on what I call the “K Street Tree Project.”
It was actually Tuesday’s thoughtful, insightful, yet totally incorrect editorial that probably drove the last stake into our fundraising efforts.
Last week I managed to quell the firestorm you created on the local morning radio talk show with your incomplete article of July 10th by explaining to the listeners that the $35,000 cost figure was just an estimate, that the project was still in the preliminary stages, and that most if not all of the funding would be coming from private donors and federal/state grants for the Arts.
Now this week it is apparent that you not only believe your own shoddy reporting, but that it is worth your while to come out and devote editorial space to deride my efforts without even asking any further questions.
Having spent an additional two hours on the phone Tuesday morning with structural engineers and concrete contractors soliciting pricing and guarantees of discounts in return for recognition and publicity, when I saw your ill-informed editorial I realized that I was fighting a losing battle.
After all, who in their right mind would want to get involved in the project now that the Brunswick News has single handedly turned the public against the effort to resurrect the old tree?
Never mind that, from the very outset, when I PERSONALLY conceived of and presented this project to the Mayor and the City, I emphatically stated that:
“I would like to minimize the use of taxpayer funds for the purely “artistic” portion of the project…Funding could be raised through donations from local individuals and businesses, including services to support the artist/craftsman’s per diem costs (hotel rooms, meals, etc.)”
The only thing I wanted from the city was a place to put the tree once it was carved and help moving it—something they were already obligated to do once they ripped it out of the ground to make way for the sewer project.
Remember that the city saved tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars by killing the tree rather than routing the sewer line around its roots?
The only difference I asked for was carving the tree and putting it back in the neighborhood where it came from for public viewing rather than hauling it to the dump for disposal.
Yet you, in your infinite wisdom, with your building filled with so-called “professional” journalists, have seriously damaged my efforts.
Not one single person at 3011 Altama Avenue has managed to pick up the phone and ask me where the funding was coming from, even after I hand delivered a package of material describing our project last Tuesday to Keith Laing, the author of the original article.
For all you and your staff of “professional journalists” know, I PERSONALLY might be giving the city the money to do this project.
For all you and your staff of “professional journalists” know, the Mayor might be donating some of his recent, very publicized, game show winnings to the project.
What you and your editorial staff apparently don’t know or didn’t bother to mention in either the published article or your editorial is that we spent at least half of the last meeting at city hall (conducted on July 6th) talking about fundraising and applying for state and federal Art Grants.
Why was that fact omitted?
After all, the Brunswick News had a reporter and a photographer present in our meeting.
I assume that Mr. Keith Laing was that reporter.
Is Keith deaf, stupid, a partisan hack, or just forgetful?
I forgot to mention Attention Deficit Disorder…but I digress…
Tell Keith that I really admire his journalist skills. By the way, you might also consider buying Mr. Laing a new tape recorder because his pens and pencils obviously don’t provide enough information gathering technology to enable him to actually REPORT a story accurately.
You see, Mr. Laing forgot to mention or failed to remember a number of other things that came up in our meeting.
Things like that the actual carving of the tree was only going to cost ten or twelve thousand dollars.
Things like that we were going to ask for local artists to submit ideas and even be involved in the carving if they could do so safely and competently.
Things like that, even if we took the Brunswick News’ advice and handed your newsroom a truck load of chainsaws so that “local artists and volunteers” could do the carving, we’d still need cranes to lift the massive trunk and a concrete foundation to rest it on once it was finished. The last time I checked, cranes and concrete cost money, something that it’s apparently easy for “professional journalists” and uninformed amateurs to overlook when considering the viability of projects like this. (By the way, the trunk weighs somewhere between 80 and 100 thousand pounds, not 180,000 pounds as your band of “professional journalists” has incorrectly reported not once, but twice now.)
Things like that we were going to ask the children in the local neighborhoods for suggestions for what they would like to see in the artwork. We might possibly have a competition in the middle schools looking for ideas. I personally came up with the names of General James Oglethorpe, Poet Sidney Lanier, and Civil Rights leader the Reverend Martin Luther King in my initial proposal, but those names are not fixed in stone (excuse the unintended pun.)
For all I care, we can put your newspaper’s owner’s visage up there along with commissioner’s Cap Fendig and Tony Thaw, throw in a bunch of Arabs, camels, and add 72 naked, dancing Virgins up and down the tree trunk—all I’m trying to do here is save a giant 200 year old tree from a landfill, and get some positive PR for the city of Brunswick, Georgia in the process.
Why the hell do you have to go off half cocked and tear this thing apart before you know all of the facts?
Why do you and your newspaper seek to have it both ways?
I seem to recall numerous articles lamenting the political process leading to the removal of the tree in 2005. I seem to recall that public opinion was AGAINST the city taking the tree out, but now that the City wants to put it back, you’re against that too. And by the way, you need to leave the city council out of your editorializing because thus far, to my knowledge, the council is only involved by default.
The bottom line here is, until you received this letter, that you and the Brunswick News knew less about what you were writing and editorializing about than you should have—and that’s a crying shame because you’re in the reporting business…I think.
Or are you just in the editorializing business?
The ultimate irony in all of this is that liberals and the liberal media are constantly lamenting the plight of minority inner city neighborhoods and demanding that the government increase taxes in order to steal some of the wealth to be transferred to the “needy” and “downtrodden” in our society.
Thanks to the Brunswick News, funds from a bunch of mean old wealthy white men and women from St. Simons Island most definitely won’t be used to donate a world class piece of art to the citizens of the city of Brunswick.
And as to all you “professional journalists” down there at the Brunswick News—thanks for not hiring me for your recent position, because I refuse to work around and tolerate incompetents like Keith Laing.
You keep writing, and I’ll keep holding your feet to the fire.
Best Regards,
Virgil Raymond Rogers, III
That aught to get my message across...
Dear Kerry,
I’m writing to personally thank you and your newspaper for, in less than eight days, essentially killing the results of my efforts spent over the past five months working on what I call the “K Street Tree Project.”
It was actually Tuesday’s thoughtful, insightful, yet totally incorrect editorial that probably drove the last stake into our fundraising efforts.
Last week I managed to quell the firestorm you created on the local morning radio talk show with your incomplete article of July 10th by explaining to the listeners that the $35,000 cost figure was just an estimate, that the project was still in the preliminary stages, and that most if not all of the funding would be coming from private donors and federal/state grants for the Arts.
Now this week it is apparent that you not only believe your own shoddy reporting, but that it is worth your while to come out and devote editorial space to deride my efforts without even asking any further questions.
Having spent an additional two hours on the phone Tuesday morning with structural engineers and concrete contractors soliciting pricing and guarantees of discounts in return for recognition and publicity, when I saw your ill-informed editorial I realized that I was fighting a losing battle.
After all, who in their right mind would want to get involved in the project now that the Brunswick News has single handedly turned the public against the effort to resurrect the old tree?
Never mind that, from the very outset, when I PERSONALLY conceived of and presented this project to the Mayor and the City, I emphatically stated that:
“I would like to minimize the use of taxpayer funds for the purely “artistic” portion of the project…Funding could be raised through donations from local individuals and businesses, including services to support the artist/craftsman’s per diem costs (hotel rooms, meals, etc.)”
The only thing I wanted from the city was a place to put the tree once it was carved and help moving it—something they were already obligated to do once they ripped it out of the ground to make way for the sewer project.
Remember that the city saved tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars by killing the tree rather than routing the sewer line around its roots?
The only difference I asked for was carving the tree and putting it back in the neighborhood where it came from for public viewing rather than hauling it to the dump for disposal.
Yet you, in your infinite wisdom, with your building filled with so-called “professional” journalists, have seriously damaged my efforts.
Not one single person at 3011 Altama Avenue has managed to pick up the phone and ask me where the funding was coming from, even after I hand delivered a package of material describing our project last Tuesday to Keith Laing, the author of the original article.
For all you and your staff of “professional journalists” know, I PERSONALLY might be giving the city the money to do this project.
For all you and your staff of “professional journalists” know, the Mayor might be donating some of his recent, very publicized, game show winnings to the project.
What you and your editorial staff apparently don’t know or didn’t bother to mention in either the published article or your editorial is that we spent at least half of the last meeting at city hall (conducted on July 6th) talking about fundraising and applying for state and federal Art Grants.
Why was that fact omitted?
After all, the Brunswick News had a reporter and a photographer present in our meeting.
I assume that Mr. Keith Laing was that reporter.
Is Keith deaf, stupid, a partisan hack, or just forgetful?
I forgot to mention Attention Deficit Disorder…but I digress…
Tell Keith that I really admire his journalist skills. By the way, you might also consider buying Mr. Laing a new tape recorder because his pens and pencils obviously don’t provide enough information gathering technology to enable him to actually REPORT a story accurately.
You see, Mr. Laing forgot to mention or failed to remember a number of other things that came up in our meeting.
Things like that the actual carving of the tree was only going to cost ten or twelve thousand dollars.
Things like that we were going to ask for local artists to submit ideas and even be involved in the carving if they could do so safely and competently.
Things like that, even if we took the Brunswick News’ advice and handed your newsroom a truck load of chainsaws so that “local artists and volunteers” could do the carving, we’d still need cranes to lift the massive trunk and a concrete foundation to rest it on once it was finished. The last time I checked, cranes and concrete cost money, something that it’s apparently easy for “professional journalists” and uninformed amateurs to overlook when considering the viability of projects like this. (By the way, the trunk weighs somewhere between 80 and 100 thousand pounds, not 180,000 pounds as your band of “professional journalists” has incorrectly reported not once, but twice now.)
Things like that we were going to ask the children in the local neighborhoods for suggestions for what they would like to see in the artwork. We might possibly have a competition in the middle schools looking for ideas. I personally came up with the names of General James Oglethorpe, Poet Sidney Lanier, and Civil Rights leader the Reverend Martin Luther King in my initial proposal, but those names are not fixed in stone (excuse the unintended pun.)
For all I care, we can put your newspaper’s owner’s visage up there along with commissioner’s Cap Fendig and Tony Thaw, throw in a bunch of Arabs, camels, and add 72 naked, dancing Virgins up and down the tree trunk—all I’m trying to do here is save a giant 200 year old tree from a landfill, and get some positive PR for the city of Brunswick, Georgia in the process.
Why the hell do you have to go off half cocked and tear this thing apart before you know all of the facts?
Why do you and your newspaper seek to have it both ways?
I seem to recall numerous articles lamenting the political process leading to the removal of the tree in 2005. I seem to recall that public opinion was AGAINST the city taking the tree out, but now that the City wants to put it back, you’re against that too. And by the way, you need to leave the city council out of your editorializing because thus far, to my knowledge, the council is only involved by default.
The bottom line here is, until you received this letter, that you and the Brunswick News knew less about what you were writing and editorializing about than you should have—and that’s a crying shame because you’re in the reporting business…I think.
Or are you just in the editorializing business?
The ultimate irony in all of this is that liberals and the liberal media are constantly lamenting the plight of minority inner city neighborhoods and demanding that the government increase taxes in order to steal some of the wealth to be transferred to the “needy” and “downtrodden” in our society.
Thanks to the Brunswick News, funds from a bunch of mean old wealthy white men and women from St. Simons Island most definitely won’t be used to donate a world class piece of art to the citizens of the city of Brunswick.
And as to all you “professional journalists” down there at the Brunswick News—thanks for not hiring me for your recent position, because I refuse to work around and tolerate incompetents like Keith Laing.
You keep writing, and I’ll keep holding your feet to the fire.
Best Regards,
Virgil Raymond Rogers, III
That aught to get my message across...
Monday, July 17, 2006
Kiss My Jewish Ass...
If I Lived In Israel, That's What I would Be Saying Right Now
Liberal panties are wet the world over.
Notice that I don't say "boxers" or "briefs" here, because I personally believe that even liberal men wear panties?
Most likely some of those big old, giant, Sears & Roebuck panties or pantie girdles that all of you girls had to worry about back in the days before Fredericks ofHooterville Hollywood started delivering free pictures to your doorstep of young women walking around in their underwear. (By the way, looking at all of the belts, buckles, straps, and laces...now in retrospect, I can't help but wonder if those things were actually designed to keep something from getting out...or something from getting in...oh...well...never mind...)
Any way, this world wide assortment of moistened undergarmets of whatever description are wet because 99% of the liberals are peeing on themselves as a result of Israeli Prime Minister Elhud Olmert electing to actually DEFEND the country he was elected to DEFEND.
All I have to say is THIS about THAT:
To HISbolla and HEZbolla and HERbolla and Hammas and HAMas and HamASS and whatever the islamofaschistic-dune-goon-towel-headed-mo-fos out there choose to call themselves...Keep on lobbing your tiny little chicken shit rockets at Israel.
Next, to the United Nations and Kofi Annon...BITE ME.
And Finally, if things get further out of hand, to the world community and President Bush, I say...
NUKE 'EM...
I'll get off the sofa and limp all the way to the Middle East, at my own expense, to help... and I think that there would be a few thousand middle aged Rednecks from Georgia and Alabama on their way right behind me too.
When are they all gonna learn?
Dammit
Liberal panties are wet the world over.
Notice that I don't say "boxers" or "briefs" here, because I personally believe that even liberal men wear panties?
Most likely some of those big old, giant, Sears & Roebuck panties or pantie girdles that all of you girls had to worry about back in the days before Fredericks of
Any way, this world wide assortment of moistened undergarmets of whatever description are wet because 99% of the liberals are peeing on themselves as a result of Israeli Prime Minister Elhud Olmert electing to actually DEFEND the country he was elected to DEFEND.
All I have to say is THIS about THAT:
To HISbolla and HEZbolla and HERbolla and Hammas and HAMas and HamASS and whatever the islamofaschistic-dune-goon-towel-headed-mo-fos out there choose to call themselves...Keep on lobbing your tiny little chicken shit rockets at Israel.
Next, to the United Nations and Kofi Annon...BITE ME.
And Finally, if things get further out of hand, to the world community and President Bush, I say...
NUKE 'EM...
I'll get off the sofa and limp all the way to the Middle East, at my own expense, to help... and I think that there would be a few thousand middle aged Rednecks from Georgia and Alabama on their way right behind me too.
When are they all gonna learn?
Dammit
Sunday, July 16, 2006
I'm A Bit Short On Words Right Now
Here...Go Read This...
I'm distracted, I'm pissed off, and I'm having trouble writing anything worthwhile this morning, but my fellow bloggers have a bunch of commentary going on.
Take for instance Hugh Hewitt over at Townhall.com.
Read that piece, if you will, then if you have the time take a look at this discussion of what the islamofascist Arab bastards have done to contribute to history.
OK, I want a three page, single spaced report on my desk by Monday morning telling me what you learned.
Dammit
I'm distracted, I'm pissed off, and I'm having trouble writing anything worthwhile this morning, but my fellow bloggers have a bunch of commentary going on.
Take for instance Hugh Hewitt over at Townhall.com.
Read that piece, if you will, then if you have the time take a look at this discussion of what the islamofascist Arab bastards have done to contribute to history.
OK, I want a three page, single spaced report on my desk by Monday morning telling me what you learned.
Dammit
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Free Housing
Only slightly Used
For those following the adventures of our little Wren's, I just realized that I failed to mention that Winkin', Blinkin, and Nod flewthe coop away last Thursday afternoon sometime between 12 and 3 PM.
When I walked by going to my lunchtime pool expedition they were there, and when I came back the nest was empty.
I'ts sorta sad, but at least we managed to get them grown up and out on their own, all the while hatching out in a mailbox four feet off the ground in a high traffic area of our condos.
Here's the sign I had posted on the bulletin board over their nest.
Bye bye little birdies, If you can't write...please call...
For those following the adventures of our little Wren's, I just realized that I failed to mention that Winkin', Blinkin, and Nod flew
When I walked by going to my lunchtime pool expedition they were there, and when I came back the nest was empty.
I'ts sorta sad, but at least we managed to get them grown up and out on their own, all the while hatching out in a mailbox four feet off the ground in a high traffic area of our condos.
Here's the sign I had posted on the bulletin board over their nest.
Bye bye little birdies, If you can't write...please call...
Thursday, July 13, 2006
More "Business Center" Blogging
Fast, But Expensive...
So here I am again, in a rented chair, in a rented room, in front of a rented computer, getting my daily fix of the internet.
The good news is that the computer and it's internet connection is really fast...DSL phase II or something like 6 G bits so Dallas, the owner, says.
So I've checked E-mail and the President isn't looking for me, I took a peek at a few other blogs, enjoyed reading about Israel kicking some Lebanese butts, an now I guess that it's time to head back to the beach for anotherstumble stroll.
Hopefully I'll have Pat's computer back in town tomorrow night, and until then.
Regards Y'all...
So here I am again, in a rented chair, in a rented room, in front of a rented computer, getting my daily fix of the internet.
The good news is that the computer and it's internet connection is really fast...DSL phase II or something like 6 G bits so Dallas, the owner, says.
So I've checked E-mail and the President isn't looking for me, I took a peek at a few other blogs, enjoyed reading about Israel kicking some Lebanese butts, an now I guess that it's time to head back to the beach for another
Hopefully I'll have Pat's computer back in town tomorrow night, and until then.
Regards Y'all...
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
The Weather Is Here
Wish You Were Beautiful...
I'm sitting here in a local "business center" paying $5 for 20 minutes on a DSL line so I'll make this brief.
Still no response from the newspaper regarding a job or their crappy reporting of my "K Street Tree Project."
I'm on my way to the beach for a briskstumble walk. I haven't been down there in a while, and I'm taking my camera.
If I find anything interesting (500 pound men in tanktops or 300 pound women in G-String Bathing Suits) I'll be sure to save your eyes by NOT taking any pictures.
Click on some of my links or go see what Steve over at Hog On Ice is doing in my absence.
I sure miss y'all...
I'm sitting here in a local "business center" paying $5 for 20 minutes on a DSL line so I'll make this brief.
Still no response from the newspaper regarding a job or their crappy reporting of my "K Street Tree Project."
I'm on my way to the beach for a brisk
If I find anything interesting (500 pound men in tanktops or 300 pound women in G-String Bathing Suits) I'll be sure to save your eyes by NOT taking any pictures.
Click on some of my links or go see what Steve over at Hog On Ice is doing in my absence.
I sure miss y'all...
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Signing Off The Air
For A Short Time...
Well ladies and gentlemen, I have to admit that I'm guilty.
My notebook PC crapped out a couple of months ago and, instead of getting it fixed, it's been setting in our office closet being neglected.
Now Pat has to travel back to her Chicago office this week, taking her little Dell PC with her, and I'll be forced to spend the next four days with infinite network capability, but no functioning computer.
I guess that this situation may force me to look into what ails the machine and buy a new cooling fan and a couple of other critical pieces--wishfully hoping that the hard disk is intact.
I hope to steal some surfing time and possibly do a little blogging from the public library, because all of our neighbors are computer challenged and/or don't have internet connections.
I guess that's a result of being nearly 100 years old or something.
Any hoooooooo...y'all take care 'O yourselves this week and think about me while I thrash around in my latest adventures.
Send out a search party if you don't hear back from me by Friday night.
Well ladies and gentlemen, I have to admit that I'm guilty.
My notebook PC crapped out a couple of months ago and, instead of getting it fixed, it's been setting in our office closet being neglected.
Now Pat has to travel back to her Chicago office this week, taking her little Dell PC with her, and I'll be forced to spend the next four days with infinite network capability, but no functioning computer.
I guess that this situation may force me to look into what ails the machine and buy a new cooling fan and a couple of other critical pieces--wishfully hoping that the hard disk is intact.
I hope to steal some surfing time and possibly do a little blogging from the public library, because all of our neighbors are computer challenged and/or don't have internet connections.
I guess that's a result of being nearly 100 years old or something.
Any hoooooooo...y'all take care 'O yourselves this week and think about me while I thrash around in my latest adventures.
Send out a search party if you don't hear back from me by Friday night.
Our Birds Are Growing
Winkin', Blinkin', And Nod Say Hello...
We held our breath for three and one half days worrying about our little Wren family in our absence, but I'm proud to say that their mom did a perfect job of feeding and defending them while we were gone.
They're starting to look like birds rather than dinosaurs.
Here...take a peek after my camera's flash woke them up early this morning...
We held our breath for three and one half days worrying about our little Wren family in our absence, but I'm proud to say that their mom did a perfect job of feeding and defending them while we were gone.
They're starting to look like birds rather than dinosaurs.
Here...take a peek after my camera's flash woke them up early this morning...
Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is
My Own Personal Trial By Fire
People that are bloggers or otherwise are serious blog readers are already aware of this reality, but if you’re not, let me tell you something that might or might not surprise you.
Being a blogger can cost you a great deal, even if the actual service supporting your blog is free.
I know of a number of fellow bloggers that have lost their jobs because of things that they said on their personal Blogs, even though their blogging was done in their own private homes, on their own personal computers, on their own time.
Thus is the case with my situation here on this blog and over at my Redneck Gourmet cooking blog—both websites currently being graciously hosted for free by Google’s Blogger.com.
All my blogging has cost me thus far is my time and intellectual effort.
Apparently, this status quo is about to change.
You see, right now I am faced with two very serious situations in my private and professional life which might ultimately end up impairing my ability to keep blogging, else they could end up affecting a job opportunity that I have not as yet mentioned in public. My ongoing efforts doing community service may also be substantially affected, depending on the final outcome.
I have a number of different ways I can respond to these situations but, in the end, when it is all said and done, it basically comes down to selling out my own loudly proclaimed convictions (what I call going with the flow) for a small financial gain and a little glory, else calling a Spade a Spade and letting the chips fall where they may.
I think that I hear some chips clinking around my feet right now…
You see, I have an opportunity to realize my dream of actually working for a local Newspaper in their newsroom, and I’m supposed to respond to our negotiations today...BUT…
Ironically, this very same newspaper happens to be one that I have a problem with the way they’ve handled their reporting of a story in which I am personally involved.
I wrote about the situation yesterday afternoon in my previous posting called Being Ignorant…Or Being Ignored.
Those that know me in person know where this thing is probably going.
I just can’t keep my loud mouth shut.
Maybe I’m juststupid hard headed.
I’m calling them on the situation, and getting to the bottom of where things are going so that I can decide NOW about how much additional effort I should expend and if I can actually survive in the employment environment into which I’m thinking of injecting myself.
Actually I’m not calling, I’m writing.
Later today I’m hand delivering a package of written documentation (e-mail correspondence and my original proposal to the city) of my efforts and involvement to the offending Newspaper reporter addressing my perceived “issues”, then I’m going to wait and see what happens.
Either I’ll learn that there is some as yet identified “vast conspiracy” attempting to usurp my “K Street Tree Project” for the political benefit of others, else there has just been a bit of sloppy, lazy reporting that resulted in the TOTAL OMISSION of mention of MY involvement in conceiving of the project and moving it forward to date.
The bad news is that by being forced to challenge the very organization with which I’m seeking employment (at a pay rate far, far below that at which I am qualified to receive in engineering), I may be jeopardizing my journalistic job prospects.
The other thing that bothers me is that I’ve recently been tempted to just sit back and let the city pay for the project with local and federal funding from various grants and financial sources.
I’ve spent hours on the telephone and in meetings in person attempting to pry some money out of some of the local philanthropic organizations, but since there are over 80 non-profit organizations in our county clamoring and competing for funding, let’s just say that “the pickin’s is slim…”
The thing is, I have to admit that I’ve written extensively about my opposition to “public funding” of “the arts” for arts’ sake, but thus far to date I’ve assuaged my conscience with the knowledge that the city already has a financial liability on this project because the city ripped the old tree out of the ground by it’s roots in order to save money on a sewer pipe project.
I think that it would be quite reasonable to require them to pay some of that savings back by restoring the tree to the place where it grew up, even if it is in a somewhat altered form.
Any way, am I crazy to end up with no job due to my adherence to my values and philosophy?
What about possibly getting kicked out of my own art project due to my adherence to values and philosophy?
If so, then I say so be it—I’m putting my money where my mouth is. At least nobody can say I’m a hypocrite.
Would someone please explain to me how I always end up getting myself into these situations?
People that are bloggers or otherwise are serious blog readers are already aware of this reality, but if you’re not, let me tell you something that might or might not surprise you.
Being a blogger can cost you a great deal, even if the actual service supporting your blog is free.
I know of a number of fellow bloggers that have lost their jobs because of things that they said on their personal Blogs, even though their blogging was done in their own private homes, on their own personal computers, on their own time.
Thus is the case with my situation here on this blog and over at my Redneck Gourmet cooking blog—both websites currently being graciously hosted for free by Google’s Blogger.com.
All my blogging has cost me thus far is my time and intellectual effort.
Apparently, this status quo is about to change.
You see, right now I am faced with two very serious situations in my private and professional life which might ultimately end up impairing my ability to keep blogging, else they could end up affecting a job opportunity that I have not as yet mentioned in public. My ongoing efforts doing community service may also be substantially affected, depending on the final outcome.
I have a number of different ways I can respond to these situations but, in the end, when it is all said and done, it basically comes down to selling out my own loudly proclaimed convictions (what I call going with the flow) for a small financial gain and a little glory, else calling a Spade a Spade and letting the chips fall where they may.
I think that I hear some chips clinking around my feet right now…
You see, I have an opportunity to realize my dream of actually working for a local Newspaper in their newsroom, and I’m supposed to respond to our negotiations today...BUT…
Ironically, this very same newspaper happens to be one that I have a problem with the way they’ve handled their reporting of a story in which I am personally involved.
I wrote about the situation yesterday afternoon in my previous posting called Being Ignorant…Or Being Ignored.
Those that know me in person know where this thing is probably going.
I just can’t keep my loud mouth shut.
Maybe I’m just
I’m calling them on the situation, and getting to the bottom of where things are going so that I can decide NOW about how much additional effort I should expend and if I can actually survive in the employment environment into which I’m thinking of injecting myself.
Actually I’m not calling, I’m writing.
Later today I’m hand delivering a package of written documentation (e-mail correspondence and my original proposal to the city) of my efforts and involvement to the offending Newspaper reporter addressing my perceived “issues”, then I’m going to wait and see what happens.
Either I’ll learn that there is some as yet identified “vast conspiracy” attempting to usurp my “K Street Tree Project” for the political benefit of others, else there has just been a bit of sloppy, lazy reporting that resulted in the TOTAL OMISSION of mention of MY involvement in conceiving of the project and moving it forward to date.
The bad news is that by being forced to challenge the very organization with which I’m seeking employment (at a pay rate far, far below that at which I am qualified to receive in engineering), I may be jeopardizing my journalistic job prospects.
The other thing that bothers me is that I’ve recently been tempted to just sit back and let the city pay for the project with local and federal funding from various grants and financial sources.
I’ve spent hours on the telephone and in meetings in person attempting to pry some money out of some of the local philanthropic organizations, but since there are over 80 non-profit organizations in our county clamoring and competing for funding, let’s just say that “the pickin’s is slim…”
The thing is, I have to admit that I’ve written extensively about my opposition to “public funding” of “the arts” for arts’ sake, but thus far to date I’ve assuaged my conscience with the knowledge that the city already has a financial liability on this project because the city ripped the old tree out of the ground by it’s roots in order to save money on a sewer pipe project.
I think that it would be quite reasonable to require them to pay some of that savings back by restoring the tree to the place where it grew up, even if it is in a somewhat altered form.
Any way, am I crazy to end up with no job due to my adherence to my values and philosophy?
What about possibly getting kicked out of my own art project due to my adherence to values and philosophy?
If so, then I say so be it—I’m putting my money where my mouth is. At least nobody can say I’m a hypocrite.
Would someone please explain to me how I always end up getting myself into these situations?
Monday, July 10, 2006
Being Ignorant…Or Being Ignored
I’m Not Certain Which Is Worse
OK, I had been back in town for less than an hour today when I managed to find something that caused me to be EXTREMELY PISSED OFF.
You remember me posting about MY so called K-Street Tree Project?
You know, the project that I conceived of last February and wrote about here.
You know, the project that I first met with the mayor and the city administrator last February and wrote about here.
You know, the project that I met with the mayor, the city administrator, the County Arts Director, made a conference call with an artist in Pennsylvania last Thursday afternoon, and wrote about here.
You know, the project that I’ve spent over forty hours developing from scratch and putting the team together to implement it.
YES, THAT K-STREET TREE PROJECT.
That said, look at this article in today’s Brunswick News:
Massive oak may live anew
By KEITH LAING
The Brunswick News
The city of Brunswick is contemplating giving an oak tree felled during a K Street sewer repair project new life.
Mayor Bryan Thompson said the city is considering hiring a professional sculptor to carve the fully grown tree that had once shaded K Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Amherst Street into a community landmark that celebrates the lives of prominent Georgians.
The tree weighs more than 180,000 pounds.
Among those being considered to be commemorated are Georgia founder James Oglethorpe, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and poet Sidney Lanier. The project is expected to cost about $35,000.
Neighborhood residents expressed displeasure when the tree was removed late last year.
Thompson said the sculpture would be the city's way of apologizing to them.
"That tree should have never come down, but we now have the opportunity to bring it back in an altered form, re-done in a way that should last indefinitely," he said.
He added that the sculpture would be a welcome addition to the city landscape.
"There would be nothing else like it in the community," Thompson said. "We think it's going to be embraced."
A former artist himself, Thompson said that the key to making the project successful would be allowing the effected neighborhood to participate in the tree's renaissance.
He said he hopes Pennslyvania-based artist Joe King will be able to do more than carve the tree while he is here.
"I like the idea of being able to use the artist to teach wood carving classes so that it's more than somebody coming in, carving the tree up and there it is," he said.
King agreed to offer his expertise to the community during a teleconference with Thompson and City Manager Roosevelt Harris last week. He also expressed an enthusiasm for the project.
"It's a very exciting project," King said. "It's nice to be able to salvage something that's almost like a piece of history."
Notice anything missing?
Some little something like MY NAME, perhaps?
I don’t know if it is a case of political intrigue on the part of the Mayor’s office, editorial/journalistic ineptitude, or a little of both, but for some silly reason I feel that I most definitely have cause to feel wronged in this presentation of MY IDEA to the public of Glynn county.
Somebody...
Anybody...
Please tell me...
Why do I keep on putting up with this crap?
OK, I had been back in town for less than an hour today when I managed to find something that caused me to be EXTREMELY PISSED OFF.
You remember me posting about MY so called K-Street Tree Project?
You know, the project that I conceived of last February and wrote about here.
You know, the project that I first met with the mayor and the city administrator last February and wrote about here.
You know, the project that I met with the mayor, the city administrator, the County Arts Director, made a conference call with an artist in Pennsylvania last Thursday afternoon, and wrote about here.
You know, the project that I’ve spent over forty hours developing from scratch and putting the team together to implement it.
YES, THAT K-STREET TREE PROJECT.
That said, look at this article in today’s Brunswick News:
Massive oak may live anew
By KEITH LAING
The Brunswick News
The city of Brunswick is contemplating giving an oak tree felled during a K Street sewer repair project new life.
Mayor Bryan Thompson said the city is considering hiring a professional sculptor to carve the fully grown tree that had once shaded K Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Amherst Street into a community landmark that celebrates the lives of prominent Georgians.
The tree weighs more than 180,000 pounds.
Among those being considered to be commemorated are Georgia founder James Oglethorpe, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and poet Sidney Lanier. The project is expected to cost about $35,000.
Neighborhood residents expressed displeasure when the tree was removed late last year.
Thompson said the sculpture would be the city's way of apologizing to them.
"That tree should have never come down, but we now have the opportunity to bring it back in an altered form, re-done in a way that should last indefinitely," he said.
He added that the sculpture would be a welcome addition to the city landscape.
"There would be nothing else like it in the community," Thompson said. "We think it's going to be embraced."
A former artist himself, Thompson said that the key to making the project successful would be allowing the effected neighborhood to participate in the tree's renaissance.
He said he hopes Pennslyvania-based artist Joe King will be able to do more than carve the tree while he is here.
"I like the idea of being able to use the artist to teach wood carving classes so that it's more than somebody coming in, carving the tree up and there it is," he said.
King agreed to offer his expertise to the community during a teleconference with Thompson and City Manager Roosevelt Harris last week. He also expressed an enthusiasm for the project.
"It's a very exciting project," King said. "It's nice to be able to salvage something that's almost like a piece of history."
Notice anything missing?
Some little something like MY NAME, perhaps?
I don’t know if it is a case of political intrigue on the part of the Mayor’s office, editorial/journalistic ineptitude, or a little of both, but for some silly reason I feel that I most definitely have cause to feel wronged in this presentation of MY IDEA to the public of Glynn county.
Somebody...
Anybody...
Please tell me...
Why do I keep on putting up with this crap?
Sunday, July 09, 2006
I'm Being Watched
Roof Clean, Pork Butt Consumed, Cat Happy I'm Going Home
Well Folks...I managed to survive myworking vacation long weekend in Lower Alabama, not much worse for the wear.
This little guy is a great fellow, but I think that he's jealous of me and my relationship with my lovely mother:
We're heading back home to our little island tomorrow morning. Do you think that a cat can dance and sing?
That one probably will.
Well Folks...I managed to survive my
This little guy is a great fellow, but I think that he's jealous of me and my relationship with my lovely mother:
We're heading back home to our little island tomorrow morning. Do you think that a cat can dance and sing?
That one probably will.
Help Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
I'm Melting
Just three words describe my priorities today
Roof
Boston Butt
Wish me luck...
Just three words describe my priorities today
Roof
Boston Butt
Wish me luck...
Saturday, July 08, 2006
Live...From Lower Alabama
BBQ Pork, Anyone?
Well, we made our journey in record time yesterday, thanks to first driving south from Georgia to Florida to find an west bound interstate highway.
Even though we probably traveled an additional 100 miles out of our way, we shaved nearly an hour and one half off of what had previously been a seven and one-half hour journey.
Our thanks go out to my friend Mark for that little travel tip.
Between now and Monday morning I've got a full plate, excuse the pun, considering my cooking endeavors and the need to spend the morning cleaning pine straw off about 3,000 square feet of roof and cleaning out the associated rain gutters.
Then there is the ailing 7.5 KW emergency generator, that needs my attentions.
In the food department, I have a seven pound Boston Butt Shoulder happily swiming in a spicy brine in the fridge, and if everything goes as planned our other guests will enjoy BBQ Pork, Fancy Asian Cold Slaw, and Potato Salad on a table by the swimming pool late Sunday afternoon.
Wish me luck...
Well, we made our journey in record time yesterday, thanks to first driving south from Georgia to Florida to find an west bound interstate highway.
Even though we probably traveled an additional 100 miles out of our way, we shaved nearly an hour and one half off of what had previously been a seven and one-half hour journey.
Our thanks go out to my friend Mark for that little travel tip.
Between now and Monday morning I've got a full plate, excuse the pun, considering my cooking endeavors and the need to spend the morning cleaning pine straw off about 3,000 square feet of roof and cleaning out the associated rain gutters.
Then there is the ailing 7.5 KW emergency generator, that needs my attentions.
In the food department, I have a seven pound Boston Butt Shoulder happily swiming in a spicy brine in the fridge, and if everything goes as planned our other guests will enjoy BBQ Pork, Fancy Asian Cold Slaw, and Potato Salad on a table by the swimming pool late Sunday afternoon.
Wish me luck...
Friday, July 07, 2006
Distractions
More Travel Blogging
I’m sitting here trying to figure out if it would be easier to get on an airplane and go personally strangle FOX News’ Greta Van Sustren, or just change the channel….
OK, I changed the channel rather than risk being indicted for a felony Murder.
Dammit Gretta…give it a rest already…that woman wears me out with the Lacy Peterson and Natalee Holloway epic sagas.
Any way, about three hours from now we’ll be climbing into a car and droning cross country from the Georgia coast to spend a long weekend visiting my lovely Mother in lower Alabama.
Almost six hours looking at billboards and pine trees.
I hope our little nest of Wren’s will be OK while we’re gone. Their mom seems to be doing a good job of keeping them fed and the tourists and raccoons have left them alone so far, so I’ll just have to say a prayer and hope they’re safe until we return Monday afternoon.
By the way, let me mention that I'm really excited about my latest art project.
I had a great meeting with a bunch of our city officials yesterday afternoon, talking about my “K-Street Tree” art project. We had a conference call with our proposed “chainsaw artist,” Joe King from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and I had the opportunity to present my final plans to Bryan Thompson, the Brunswick Mayor, Roosevelt Harris the city administrator, and my friend Heather that handles the one of the local arts associations.
The city finally got around to moving it last month, and it turns out that my giant tree carcass weighs nearly 100,000 pounds (I had guestimated at least 50,000 doing a "back of an envelope" calculation).
I had to laugh out loud when I heard that my giant Live Oak tree trunk not only took TWO cranes to pick it up, but it broke the trailer they used to haul it to the temporary storage area and fell off in the middle of the road in the process.
Here’s another look at it for those that missed my February posting when I first took charge of this big stick of firewood:
This is the first time I've ever done anything of this size and scope in the public eye. The city is completely behind my idea to salvage the tree's tunk to be carved into a sculpture and placed back in the community from where it was removed to make way for a utility project.
We're talking a cost of nearly $50,000 when it is all said and done, including the foundation, artist's commission, and landscaping.
I sure hope that I haven't bitten off more than I can chew...
I’m sitting here trying to figure out if it would be easier to get on an airplane and go personally strangle FOX News’ Greta Van Sustren, or just change the channel….
OK, I changed the channel rather than risk being indicted for a felony Murder.
Dammit Gretta…give it a rest already…that woman wears me out with the Lacy Peterson and Natalee Holloway epic sagas.
Any way, about three hours from now we’ll be climbing into a car and droning cross country from the Georgia coast to spend a long weekend visiting my lovely Mother in lower Alabama.
Almost six hours looking at billboards and pine trees.
I hope our little nest of Wren’s will be OK while we’re gone. Their mom seems to be doing a good job of keeping them fed and the tourists and raccoons have left them alone so far, so I’ll just have to say a prayer and hope they’re safe until we return Monday afternoon.
By the way, let me mention that I'm really excited about my latest art project.
I had a great meeting with a bunch of our city officials yesterday afternoon, talking about my “K-Street Tree” art project. We had a conference call with our proposed “chainsaw artist,” Joe King from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and I had the opportunity to present my final plans to Bryan Thompson, the Brunswick Mayor, Roosevelt Harris the city administrator, and my friend Heather that handles the one of the local arts associations.
The city finally got around to moving it last month, and it turns out that my giant tree carcass weighs nearly 100,000 pounds (I had guestimated at least 50,000 doing a "back of an envelope" calculation).
I had to laugh out loud when I heard that my giant Live Oak tree trunk not only took TWO cranes to pick it up, but it broke the trailer they used to haul it to the temporary storage area and fell off in the middle of the road in the process.
Here’s another look at it for those that missed my February posting when I first took charge of this big stick of firewood:
This is the first time I've ever done anything of this size and scope in the public eye. The city is completely behind my idea to salvage the tree's tunk to be carved into a sculpture and placed back in the community from where it was removed to make way for a utility project.We're talking a cost of nearly $50,000 when it is all said and done, including the foundation, artist's commission, and landscaping.
I sure hope that I haven't bitten off more than I can chew...
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Feed US!!!
Our Birds Are Growing Up
Well, the good news is that our baby Wrens--I call them Winkin', Blinkin' & Nod--survived the busy Independence Day holiday weekend none the worse for the wear.
Their eyes have opened, and they've gotten their voices now, "peeping" and "cheeping" asking for food every time I disturb them to take their pictures.
Here's a sample of the goings on from yesterday:
By the way, I figured out that the big raptor I photographed and displayed in my last posting was a young Red Tailed Hawk. That explains why the squirrel was stareing him down and he was clumsy bouncing around in our tree yesterday.
I know that we have a Red Tail nest in the area because I've seen them circling overhead the past few years, I just never saw a juvenile bird up close. Our bird books tell us that the Red Tailed birds tails don't actually turn red until they are mature.
So like I said earlier, this place is a bird "Mecca"...I can't wait until tomorrow to see what I'm gonna see,
Well, the good news is that our baby Wrens--I call them Winkin', Blinkin' & Nod--survived the busy Independence Day holiday weekend none the worse for the wear.
Their eyes have opened, and they've gotten their voices now, "peeping" and "cheeping" asking for food every time I disturb them to take their pictures.
Here's a sample of the goings on from yesterday:
By the way, I figured out that the big raptor I photographed and displayed in my last posting was a young Red Tailed Hawk. That explains why the squirrel was stareing him down and he was clumsy bouncing around in our tree yesterday.
I know that we have a Red Tail nest in the area because I've seen them circling overhead the past few years, I just never saw a juvenile bird up close. Our bird books tell us that the Red Tailed birds tails don't actually turn red until they are mature.
So like I said earlier, this place is a bird "Mecca"...I can't wait until tomorrow to see what I'm gonna see,
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
IT'S BIRD FOOD…
We Have To Have It
One of our greatest pleasures, and to me actually quite a bit of a surprise since moving here to our little island, has been our collection of birds that we’ve adopted.
Maybe I should say that they’ve adopted us.
OK, maybe I should admit that we’ve actually bribed our birds to hang out on our back patio by conveniently placing various forms of BIRD FOOD within easy reach of their little beaks and footsies.
Any way…you want to see birds…we’ve got birds for you to see.
First we have the teeny tiny little Ruby Throated Hummers, which consume at LEAST a cup of water/sugar mixture from our feeder each week.
Then there are the Cardinals, Chickadees, Thrashers, Doves, the occasional Blue Jay and even Red Headed Woodpecker (and God knows who or what else) that show up at our two feeders full of Safflower Seeds each day to provide for our additional entertainment.
Today I came home from an early swimming pool expedition and found Pat in a state of excitement as she pointed out this Hawk sitting within twenty feet of my dining room table.
I missed the best photo opportunities while running to get my camera set up. There was actually a Squirrel in the tree adjacent to this three pound bird staring him/her down and generally raising heck over its presence.
I think that this bird has visited our patio before. At first I though that it was a Red Tailed Hawk, but upon closer examination, at this point I don’t have a clue.
Maybe a Falcon?
All I know is that it was hanging out around our bird feeders looking not for the bird seed and sugar water, but for the birds that our feeders have attracted.
Our regular birds WERE NOT HAPPY.
Fortunately, this big old bully left the scene and everything returned to normal within a few hours.
I was ready to go out and risk getting the Animal Police after me if Winkin', Blinkin', and Nod had been threatened.
By the way...their doing just fine...more baby bird pictures to follow.
One of our greatest pleasures, and to me actually quite a bit of a surprise since moving here to our little island, has been our collection of birds that we’ve adopted.
Maybe I should say that they’ve adopted us.
OK, maybe I should admit that we’ve actually bribed our birds to hang out on our back patio by conveniently placing various forms of BIRD FOOD within easy reach of their little beaks and footsies.
Any way…you want to see birds…we’ve got birds for you to see.
First we have the teeny tiny little Ruby Throated Hummers, which consume at LEAST a cup of water/sugar mixture from our feeder each week.
Then there are the Cardinals, Chickadees, Thrashers, Doves, the occasional Blue Jay and even Red Headed Woodpecker (and God knows who or what else) that show up at our two feeders full of Safflower Seeds each day to provide for our additional entertainment.
Today I came home from an early swimming pool expedition and found Pat in a state of excitement as she pointed out this Hawk sitting within twenty feet of my dining room table.
I missed the best photo opportunities while running to get my camera set up. There was actually a Squirrel in the tree adjacent to this three pound bird staring him/her down and generally raising heck over its presence.
I think that this bird has visited our patio before. At first I though that it was a Red Tailed Hawk, but upon closer examination, at this point I don’t have a clue.
Maybe a Falcon?
All I know is that it was hanging out around our bird feeders looking not for the bird seed and sugar water, but for the birds that our feeders have attracted.
Our regular birds WERE NOT HAPPY.
Fortunately, this big old bully left the scene and everything returned to normal within a few hours.
I was ready to go out and risk getting the Animal Police after me if Winkin', Blinkin', and Nod had been threatened.
By the way...their doing just fine...more baby bird pictures to follow.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Going Forth For America’s Fourth, 2006
What Else Can I Say, That Hasn’t Already Been Said More Eloquently?
Unless I change my mind and get inspired by something, this morning, on the anniversary of our great nation’s independence, I’m just going to point out some recommended reading, and offer some famous quotes for your enjoyment….
First, there is a collection of essays out here that have been published on the internet called The Federalist Papers. I don’t mean to be condescending in mentioning them because many people over the age of thirty or forty probably know about them already.
As to the young “whipper-snappers” out there, I have no idea what you’ve been taught…but…the Federalist Papers were written by James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton and published in New York City Newspapers after the US Constitution was written and awaiting ratification by the individual states.
I can’t make you click on the link and take the time to read these writings, but I wish that everyone would, because they provide an excellent context as to where our country has come from and possibly where we are going—if we don’t further lose our way due to the insanity of crappy public education, partisanship, and various other forces of dubious intents and capabilities.
Next I’d like to present a few of my favorite historical quotations. (If you’re a regular reader, please excuse any redundancy found in this offering):
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
--C.S. Lewis
"A republic will avoid war unless the avoidance might create conditions that are worse than warfare itself. Sometimes, the dispositions of those who choose to make themselves our enemies leaves us no choice. In any case, declarations of war rest with the legislature alone; the President is authorized to take defensive actions only."
"When, in spite of all efforts to avoid it, a republic must go to war, the focus of the nation is temporarily changed. The President, as Commander-In-Chief, assumes the extraordinary powers necessary to conduct the all-out effort. Citizens and legislators must then put aside differences and unite against the common enemy. Undesirable conduct may be forced on the republic in dealing with an unscrupulous enemy."
"The right to procure property and to use it for one's own enjoyment is essential to the freedom of every person, and our other rights would mean little without these rights of property ownership. It is also for these reasons that the government's power to tax property is placed in those representatives most frequently and directly responsible to the people, since it is the people themselves who must pay those taxes out of their holdings of property."
—Thomas Jefferson
"I am in the prime of my senility"
"If you would persuade, you should appeal to interest rather than intellect..."
"Never leave that till tomorrow what you can do today."
"Search others for their virtues, thyself for thy vices."
"Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at a tempting moment"
--Benjamin Franklin
And finally, a few short stabs from my idol Samuel Clemmons:
"Clothes make the man... Naked people have little or no influence on society."
"Education: that which reveals to the wise, and conceals from the stupid, the vast limits of their knowledge."
"Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are more pliable."
"If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything."
"Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn't."
"It is easier to stay out than get out."
"Let us so live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry."
"I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened."
"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first."
"Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself."
"The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug."
--Mark Twain
OK, now go out there and enjoy your Independence Day, cook some hot dogs, visit with your family, and even take the time to READ something serious besides MY internet rantings…
Unless I change my mind and get inspired by something, this morning, on the anniversary of our great nation’s independence, I’m just going to point out some recommended reading, and offer some famous quotes for your enjoyment….
First, there is a collection of essays out here that have been published on the internet called The Federalist Papers. I don’t mean to be condescending in mentioning them because many people over the age of thirty or forty probably know about them already.
As to the young “whipper-snappers” out there, I have no idea what you’ve been taught…but…the Federalist Papers were written by James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton and published in New York City Newspapers after the US Constitution was written and awaiting ratification by the individual states.
I can’t make you click on the link and take the time to read these writings, but I wish that everyone would, because they provide an excellent context as to where our country has come from and possibly where we are going—if we don’t further lose our way due to the insanity of crappy public education, partisanship, and various other forces of dubious intents and capabilities.
Next I’d like to present a few of my favorite historical quotations. (If you’re a regular reader, please excuse any redundancy found in this offering):
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
--C.S. Lewis
"A republic will avoid war unless the avoidance might create conditions that are worse than warfare itself. Sometimes, the dispositions of those who choose to make themselves our enemies leaves us no choice. In any case, declarations of war rest with the legislature alone; the President is authorized to take defensive actions only."
"When, in spite of all efforts to avoid it, a republic must go to war, the focus of the nation is temporarily changed. The President, as Commander-In-Chief, assumes the extraordinary powers necessary to conduct the all-out effort. Citizens and legislators must then put aside differences and unite against the common enemy. Undesirable conduct may be forced on the republic in dealing with an unscrupulous enemy."
"The right to procure property and to use it for one's own enjoyment is essential to the freedom of every person, and our other rights would mean little without these rights of property ownership. It is also for these reasons that the government's power to tax property is placed in those representatives most frequently and directly responsible to the people, since it is the people themselves who must pay those taxes out of their holdings of property."
—Thomas Jefferson
"I am in the prime of my senility"
"If you would persuade, you should appeal to interest rather than intellect..."
"Never leave that till tomorrow what you can do today."
"Search others for their virtues, thyself for thy vices."
"Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at a tempting moment"
--Benjamin Franklin
And finally, a few short stabs from my idol Samuel Clemmons:
"Clothes make the man... Naked people have little or no influence on society."
"Education: that which reveals to the wise, and conceals from the stupid, the vast limits of their knowledge."
"Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are more pliable."
"If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything."
"Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn't."
"It is easier to stay out than get out."
"Let us so live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry."
"I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened."
"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first."
"Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself."
"The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug."
--Mark Twain
OK, now go out there and enjoy your Independence Day, cook some hot dogs, visit with your family, and even take the time to READ something serious besides MY internet rantings…
Monday, July 03, 2006
Baby Birds
We're Proud Grandparents... Of Winkin', Blinkin', and Nod
I went out and got these photos of the nursery area this morning just about sunrise. First here's a sign I posted when the little house Wren set up shop in our postal outbox:
Here's Nod...er Blinkin'...maybe Winkin', asking for a little snacky...
Here's the whole flock sleeping...
And here's everybody yelling at me to get the heck out of their faces so they can sleep some more...
We're So Proud...More photos to follow as our little family grows up.
I'm beginning to feel the urge to start knitting little things...
I went out and got these photos of the nursery area this morning just about sunrise. First here's a sign I posted when the little house Wren set up shop in our postal outbox:
Here's Nod...er Blinkin'...maybe Winkin', asking for a little snacky...
Here's the whole flock sleeping...
And here's everybody yelling at me to get the heck out of their faces so they can sleep some more...
We're So Proud...More photos to follow as our little family grows up.
I'm beginning to feel the urge to start knitting little things...
Brain Surgeon...Or Fry Cook?
What Will I End Up Doing When I Grow Up?
I hate to admit it, but these days I feel a little like Max Baer’s character Jethro Bodine on the Beverly Hillbillies.
For those of you who have been living in a cave for the past forty years or otherwise can’t bear to watch the adventures of the Clampetts et. al., let me remind you that Jethro—a graduate of the sixth grade—was constantly plagued with indecision as he pondered his employment options.
In addition to Brain Surgeon and Fry Cook, I seem to recall Mr. Bodine investigating other careers like…
Rocket Scientist
A “Double naught” Secret Agent Spy
Movie Producer
International Playboy
Rock and Roll Star
Airline Pilot
Frogman i.e. Navy Seal
Any way, I’ve been spinning around here on our little island for over two years and other than a little engineering consulting work here or there and some property rental income, my money making ability has basically sucked.
Yeah, I know, I know, I appear to be the ultimate philanthropist with my work with the community theaters and our neighborhood association, and we adopted a foster grandfather to look after for a year or two, but I’m basically bored out of my skull much of the time and writing blogs ain’t putting no bacon on the table and chicken in the freezer.
Thinking about the parallels between Jethro and I, I just realized that I’ve worked my way through most of his list of professions, and found most to be financial loss leaders when it’s all said and done.
I did twenty years of highly technical work as a Mechanical engineer. Those jobs paid really well and I guess that you could say that I was close to being a “Rocket Scientist.”
I spent a couple of months spying on the sexual antics of a soon to be ex-wife before she moved out, threatened to have me killed, and put a restraining order on me. Not much of what I’d call a success, but all in all a good learning experience. I’m most definitely not private investigator or spy material, in my estimation.
I've never had much interest in movie production. In fact, I’ve never owned a video or movie camera and I haven’t been to a movie in a movie theater since the last Lord of the Rings film came out.
As far as being an International Playboy, I once took three different women to the same Jamaican resort in a twelve month period back in the mid-nineties. I was quite famous with the resort staff and I guess that I was trying to play the ladies man back then. I'm proud to report that for the past five years I’ve settled down with a wonderful woman that puts up with my quirks and obsessions.
As a rock and roll star, I did about a year in the late 90’s as a harmonica player and back up vocalist with a local Atlanta band that had a good deal of potential until the inevitable infighting, wife/girlfriend issues, insanity, and job relocations broke our little gang up. But then again. there's always karaoke...
As to being an Airline pilot, I never came close.
My navy flying career ended when my vision took a turn for the worse in college and my private pilot career ended when the FAA refused to give me a Third Class Medical certificate because of my hypercoagulative blood condition. I did manage to have the thrill of renting an airplane and flying around the planet by myself, and I'll never forget the day I flew my first solo flight and got my "shirt tail cut off." (All the pilots out there know what I'm talking about...)
Navy Seal?
Nope, the Seals would have killed me and used me for fish bait, but I did a short stint in the Navy Reserve back in the late 1970’s and I have spent a hundred or so hours underwater as a NASDS certified scuba diver.
That just leaves Brain Surgeon and Fry Cook, and I feel too old to go back to medical school now, although I could probably make it if I wanted to.
Finally I have to look at Jethro's Fry cook ambitions, and that’s another story entirely. I’d love to go to culinary school, but I don’t want to spend the time and money at this point in my life, so I’m thinking about doing the next best thing.
You see, I had an interview last week with the executive chef of the best damn restaurant here on our island. He didn't make me any promises of employment because he had just started the interview process, and he thought that someone of my age and experience was crazy to want to start at the bottom in the restaurant business, but I think that the interview went quite well and I know that I’d love the experience.
In addition to having the opportunity to improve my cooking skills and recipe knowledge, my Redneck Gourmet cooking blog would benefit and the cookbook would finally get done.
AAAAAHHHHH…WHAT HAVE I DONE?
THEY MIGHT SAY YES, THEN I’D HAVE TO GO TO WORK.
Maybe I should start comparing myself to Samuel Clemmons…
Let’s see...
Author
River boat captain
Newspaper reporter
Yeah, that's the ticket...
I haven’t done any of that stuff yet.
I hate to admit it, but these days I feel a little like Max Baer’s character Jethro Bodine on the Beverly Hillbillies.
For those of you who have been living in a cave for the past forty years or otherwise can’t bear to watch the adventures of the Clampetts et. al., let me remind you that Jethro—a graduate of the sixth grade—was constantly plagued with indecision as he pondered his employment options.
In addition to Brain Surgeon and Fry Cook, I seem to recall Mr. Bodine investigating other careers like…
Rocket Scientist
A “Double naught” Secret Agent Spy
Movie Producer
International Playboy
Rock and Roll Star
Airline Pilot
Frogman i.e. Navy Seal
Any way, I’ve been spinning around here on our little island for over two years and other than a little engineering consulting work here or there and some property rental income, my money making ability has basically sucked.
Yeah, I know, I know, I appear to be the ultimate philanthropist with my work with the community theaters and our neighborhood association, and we adopted a foster grandfather to look after for a year or two, but I’m basically bored out of my skull much of the time and writing blogs ain’t putting no bacon on the table and chicken in the freezer.
Thinking about the parallels between Jethro and I, I just realized that I’ve worked my way through most of his list of professions, and found most to be financial loss leaders when it’s all said and done.
I did twenty years of highly technical work as a Mechanical engineer. Those jobs paid really well and I guess that you could say that I was close to being a “Rocket Scientist.”
I spent a couple of months spying on the sexual antics of a soon to be ex-wife before she moved out, threatened to have me killed, and put a restraining order on me. Not much of what I’d call a success, but all in all a good learning experience. I’m most definitely not private investigator or spy material, in my estimation.
I've never had much interest in movie production. In fact, I’ve never owned a video or movie camera and I haven’t been to a movie in a movie theater since the last Lord of the Rings film came out.
As far as being an International Playboy, I once took three different women to the same Jamaican resort in a twelve month period back in the mid-nineties. I was quite famous with the resort staff and I guess that I was trying to play the ladies man back then. I'm proud to report that for the past five years I’ve settled down with a wonderful woman that puts up with my quirks and obsessions.
As a rock and roll star, I did about a year in the late 90’s as a harmonica player and back up vocalist with a local Atlanta band that had a good deal of potential until the inevitable infighting, wife/girlfriend issues, insanity, and job relocations broke our little gang up. But then again. there's always karaoke...
As to being an Airline pilot, I never came close.
My navy flying career ended when my vision took a turn for the worse in college and my private pilot career ended when the FAA refused to give me a Third Class Medical certificate because of my hypercoagulative blood condition. I did manage to have the thrill of renting an airplane and flying around the planet by myself, and I'll never forget the day I flew my first solo flight and got my "shirt tail cut off." (All the pilots out there know what I'm talking about...)
Navy Seal?
Nope, the Seals would have killed me and used me for fish bait, but I did a short stint in the Navy Reserve back in the late 1970’s and I have spent a hundred or so hours underwater as a NASDS certified scuba diver.
That just leaves Brain Surgeon and Fry Cook, and I feel too old to go back to medical school now, although I could probably make it if I wanted to.
Finally I have to look at Jethro's Fry cook ambitions, and that’s another story entirely. I’d love to go to culinary school, but I don’t want to spend the time and money at this point in my life, so I’m thinking about doing the next best thing.
You see, I had an interview last week with the executive chef of the best damn restaurant here on our island. He didn't make me any promises of employment because he had just started the interview process, and he thought that someone of my age and experience was crazy to want to start at the bottom in the restaurant business, but I think that the interview went quite well and I know that I’d love the experience.
In addition to having the opportunity to improve my cooking skills and recipe knowledge, my Redneck Gourmet cooking blog would benefit and the cookbook would finally get done.
AAAAAHHHHH…WHAT HAVE I DONE?
THEY MIGHT SAY YES, THEN I’D HAVE TO GO TO WORK.
Maybe I should start comparing myself to Samuel Clemmons…
Let’s see...
Author
River boat captain
Newspaper reporter
Yeah, that's the ticket...
I haven’t done any of that stuff yet.
Never Take A Car To A Boat Race
Lazy Blogging
I'm lethargic and over stuffed from dinner, but I feel like posting something...
Here, take a look at This Story and I might be back after a while with something meaningful to say.
(Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention that we 're grandparents...our little house wren's eggs hatched Saturday night, but I haven't been able to get a good picture of the chirren.
The three little fuzzies are each smaller than half of my little finger, and basically all head and mouth right now.
We're so excited, although we don't know whether to buy pink or blue balloons--maybe a couple of each?)
Bird pictures are coming...
I'm lethargic and over stuffed from dinner, but I feel like posting something...
Here, take a look at This Story and I might be back after a while with something meaningful to say.
(Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention that we 're grandparents...our little house wren's eggs hatched Saturday night, but I haven't been able to get a good picture of the chirren.
The three little fuzzies are each smaller than half of my little finger, and basically all head and mouth right now.
We're so excited, although we don't know whether to buy pink or blue balloons--maybe a couple of each?)
Bird pictures are coming...
Sunday, July 02, 2006
“Miss Crappy Pants” Strikes Again
I Guess That I Just Bring Out The Worst In Some People
It took over two weeks for me to cool off enough to talk about this issue, but now, being thearrogant bastard eloquent wordsmith that I strive to be, I feel like venting a little this morning.
What got me started thinking about it again came about while taking my early morningwander stroll around our complex.
You see, I just came back home after doing my job asofficial unofficial pool Nazi, checking things out to make sure that none of our Independence Day Reveler’s were abusing the property, and I noticed that the bulbs in no less than eight of our landscape, parking, and security lights are not functioning.
Still Again.
I want to say “still” because most of them have been out of service for over a month now.
Not a big deal for me personally, but it’s a maintenance issue that is a sore spot with many of our full time elderly residents—many of them women.
What pisses me off personally is that I’ve previously done my best to assist in these areas with theprevious arrogant asshole original property manager that I helped get fired, and now the current property management company has relegated the task of managing our 48 unit condo complex to a woman that has the personality of a brick, and the people skills of a prison convict bilge pump septic tank the Grinch.
In spite of paying over $7,000 per year for managment services, I've found that we have outdoor lighting in need of service here almost all of the time, and calling to notify someone of the problems is only met with arrogance and indifference, especially if it comes from me…but I digress...
I call her, thisoffending, unprofessional bitch lovely assistant property manager, Miss Crappy Pants.
If you are a regular reader of this blog you’ve probably already heard of her.
Any way…
Miss Crappy Pants and I got into another disagreement a couple of weeks ago, and she thinks that she won.
I have a little message for her…
SHE LOST, BIG TIME…She just don’t know it right now.
Here was the situation.
Just before Memorial Day, Miss Crappy Pants’ boss, Miss Property Management Company Owner, asked me to take a look at the pool deck and, pending her prior approval, pick up a few things at the local hardware store if we needed them.
I did.
And she did—prior approve my purchase, that is.
All we needed was about seven dollars of brackets and bolts to properly hang up our “Shepherds’ Hook” on the Pool deck fence railing. (For those of you that don't know, a ""Shepherds Hook" is that curved thingie on a long pole designed to pickunattended dead grandchildren poor unfortunate potential drowning victims out of the deep end of the pool.)
Until late May, our “Shepherd’s Hook” had spent at least three summers conveniently hidden behind a row of bushes, out of sight and unavailable in the event that someone that could swim wasn’t available to remove the aforementionedunattended grandchildren poor unfortunate drowning victims from their watery demise.
Any way, after a trip to Ace Hardware and after fifteen minutes of turning bolts with a crappy pair of pliers I brought with me for the task, our rusty “Shepherds Hook” was hanging up in plain view on two shiny new stainless steel brackets.
I was so proud.
Then a couple of days later, just before our mid-June poolside Condo Owners Extravaganza, one of our lovely neighbors that happens to sit with me on theCondo board of Directors asked that I purchase a tungsten light bulb to replace the one that had been burned out for about THREE MONTHS. This bulb illuminated our pool side flag pole.
No problem, another six dollars at Ace Hardware, another five minutes with a screwdriver, and we had a brightly lit American Flag in the evenings.
Hurray for me….
But then, enter Miss Crappy Pants—stage right.
I waited another week or so, not caring to make a special trip to the real estate office and not really wanting to deal withthe stupid arrogant bitches lovely property management staff, but finally I wandered into their office and presented the lovely assistant property manager Miss Crappy Pants with my original receipts.
After explaining what each piece of paper was for, that I had preauthorization to do the work, that I didn’t expect any compensation for my time and effort, and that there was no rush for repayment…
this stupid, arrogant, miserable, mouth breathing, ugly, crotch stinking, smelly footed bitch Miss Crappy Pants had the audacity to say out loud something to this effect (and I paraphrase because the top of my head blew off and I forgot the exact words she uttered)
“Well, I don’t know about this…how can I tell that this stuff was really for the pool area, and our regular contractors could have done this work if we had just been informed of the need.”
I turned 37 shades of red and purple, but I briefly managed to keep breathing and utter something about the “shepards hook” having been laying on the ground behind the bushes for 2-1/2 years. "What's there to not know about the need?"
Miss Crappy Pants didn’t blink, but instead added that she couldn’t tell by the receipt what the light bulb was and blaa blaa blaaaaaa….blaaa blaaa blaaa blaaa.
I reached across her desk, snatched the receipts cleanly out of her hand, and issued the following statement (and I absolutely do remember verbatim what I said):
“Dammit woman, but you have the worst F**KING unprofessional attitude on the whole damn planet. How dare you accuse me of trying to steal thirteen measly damn dollars. I don't know what you're about or what you're thinking, but I’ll have your job before this is over with.”
“Good luck”, She replied.
I turned and bolted out the door of the real estate office, and before I could burn the Mustang tires out of the gravel parking lot she must have come to her senses because she came outside and motioned for me to come back inside.
I flipped her a giant middle finger as I spun out of sight.
I also called her boss when I got home and told her about the incident, and stated that I would see to it that their property management company lost our account if Miss Crappy Pants continued to handle our business.
I tell you, I’m getting too old to let stupid idiot ignorant people upset me like that, and I’m actually a bit embarrassed at my own behavior, but a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do, and…
The silence is deafening.
It took over two weeks for me to cool off enough to talk about this issue, but now, being the
What got me started thinking about it again came about while taking my early morning
You see, I just came back home after doing my job as
I want to say “still” because most of them have been out of service for over a month now.
Not a big deal for me personally, but it’s a maintenance issue that is a sore spot with many of our full time elderly residents—many of them women.
What pisses me off personally is that I’ve previously done my best to assist in these areas with the
In spite of paying over $7,000 per year for managment services, I've found that we have outdoor lighting in need of service here almost all of the time, and calling to notify someone of the problems is only met with arrogance and indifference, especially if it comes from me…but I digress...
I call her, this
If you are a regular reader of this blog you’ve probably already heard of her.
Any way…
Miss Crappy Pants and I got into another disagreement a couple of weeks ago, and she thinks that she won.
I have a little message for her…
SHE LOST, BIG TIME…She just don’t know it right now.
Here was the situation.
Just before Memorial Day, Miss Crappy Pants’ boss, Miss Property Management Company Owner, asked me to take a look at the pool deck and, pending her prior approval, pick up a few things at the local hardware store if we needed them.
I did.
And she did—prior approve my purchase, that is.
All we needed was about seven dollars of brackets and bolts to properly hang up our “Shepherds’ Hook” on the Pool deck fence railing. (For those of you that don't know, a ""Shepherds Hook" is that curved thingie on a long pole designed to pick
Until late May, our “Shepherd’s Hook” had spent at least three summers conveniently hidden behind a row of bushes, out of sight and unavailable in the event that someone that could swim wasn’t available to remove the aforementioned
Any way, after a trip to Ace Hardware and after fifteen minutes of turning bolts with a crappy pair of pliers I brought with me for the task, our rusty “Shepherds Hook” was hanging up in plain view on two shiny new stainless steel brackets.
I was so proud.
Then a couple of days later, just before our mid-June poolside Condo Owners Extravaganza, one of our lovely neighbors that happens to sit with me on the
No problem, another six dollars at Ace Hardware, another five minutes with a screwdriver, and we had a brightly lit American Flag in the evenings.
Hurray for me….
But then, enter Miss Crappy Pants—stage right.
I waited another week or so, not caring to make a special trip to the real estate office and not really wanting to deal with
After explaining what each piece of paper was for, that I had preauthorization to do the work, that I didn’t expect any compensation for my time and effort, and that there was no rush for repayment…
“Well, I don’t know about this…how can I tell that this stuff was really for the pool area, and our regular contractors could have done this work if we had just been informed of the need.”
I turned 37 shades of red and purple, but I briefly managed to keep breathing and utter something about the “shepards hook” having been laying on the ground behind the bushes for 2-1/2 years. "What's there to not know about the need?"
Miss Crappy Pants didn’t blink, but instead added that she couldn’t tell by the receipt what the light bulb was and blaa blaa blaaaaaa….blaaa blaaa blaaa blaaa.
I reached across her desk, snatched the receipts cleanly out of her hand, and issued the following statement (and I absolutely do remember verbatim what I said):
“Dammit woman, but you have the worst F**KING unprofessional attitude on the whole damn planet. How dare you accuse me of trying to steal thirteen measly damn dollars. I don't know what you're about or what you're thinking, but I’ll have your job before this is over with.”
“Good luck”, She replied.
I turned and bolted out the door of the real estate office, and before I could burn the Mustang tires out of the gravel parking lot she must have come to her senses because she came outside and motioned for me to come back inside.
I flipped her a giant middle finger as I spun out of sight.
I also called her boss when I got home and told her about the incident, and stated that I would see to it that their property management company lost our account if Miss Crappy Pants continued to handle our business.
I tell you, I’m getting too old to let stupid idiot ignorant people upset me like that, and I’m actually a bit embarrassed at my own behavior, but a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do, and…
The silence is deafening.
Art for Children
Mr. Frog Got an Pseudo-Honorable Mention
Well, last evening I attended my third Art Gallery opening in which I had some of my work displayed.
This time my contribution to the exhibit was three 16”x20” photographs. Here's one example...
Well, last evening I attended my third Art Gallery opening in which I had some of my work displayed.
This time my contribution to the exhibit was three 16”x20” photographs. Here's one example...
My nerves have calmed down a bit since the first exhibit last winter, so I could actually enjoy the event and interaction with the other artists. Let me tell you, there are some GREAT photographers here on the island and elsewhere that were represented.
Once again I managed to screw around, after knowing about the exhibit since last summer, and create a bit of a disaster for myself when it came to printing the final copies of my photos.
I actually shot all three images which I decided to use in this show in the fall of last year, but I waited until two weeks ago to have them reproduced in the larger format because of the cost, not to mention the framing and matting expenses.
We’re talking spending dozens of hours and hundreds of dollars when the process is completed and, for whatever reason, I apparently specialize in cramming it all into the last few days before a show opens.
I guess that I waited because we don’t need a bunch of extra giant format copies of my photos hanging on the wall and I didn’t get notice that I was accepted in the exhibit until early June. In theory all of the photo's are for sale to the viewing public, but I'm not egotistical enough to believe that I'll sell all three going into the show so you understand the issue of frugality.
This time it was a UPS shipping error that caused my agony, but I managed to pull everything together late Friday and the quality of my photos offset the quick and dirty framing and matting I was forced to live with.
The bad news is that I didn’t receive an actual award in the exhibit, but when I saw the work I was up against I understood why.
The gentleman that did the judging was a professional commercial photographer of some reputation, and he took the time to address each of the photos he recommended for awards, and in the middle of his discussion he commented at length on my photos, and mentioned that his young daughter liked my work the best and that she told him that his judgment was in error.
He even gave me an opportunity to address the audience about my work and explain what I had done and where the photos were taken.
There were nineteen photographers and 57 photos, and I was in the top eight images—not enough for a prize, but there’s always next year.
Based on the the little girl's reaction, I think that I’ll start sending my work out to the elementary school competitions.
Any kids out there need a giant picture of a frog or an azalea?
Saturday, July 01, 2006
The Island's Full
Everyone...Please Go Home....
As I've said before, about the only down side to living on an island near the beach is that on holidays and many summer weekends we get overrun with visitors.
This July fourth weekend is no exception.
After spending a panicked day waiting on UPS to deliver three 16”x20” photo prints for my entry in the latest contest exhibit in one of the local Art Galleries, we stumbled around the island in surprisingly light quitting time traffic delivering my framed and matted treasures, then after a few cocktails at a local tavern, we slumped into a cozy booth at one of our favorite restaurants about 7:15.
Thank God I’m on a first name basis with John, the owner of the Blackwater Grill. They actually apologized to us because in spite of not asking for reservations until nearly six PM, thay could only deliver the second best table in the building (our regular table had already been reserved.)
What then ensued could only be described as total chaos for practicaly everyone but Pat and I.
While we sat in the back dining area looking out peacefully at the adjacent marsh, people were stacked two or three deep at the bar and lined up out the front door waiting for tables.
Can you say TWO HOUR WAIT?
Out standard bottle of wine was served within minutes of our arrival, and the food was only slightly delayed as we watched John and his staff frantically dash and spin around clearing tables and delivering orders.
We stopped by the liquor store on the way home, and I’ll sneak out to the grocery store EARLY tomorrow morning, then for all I care all of the tourists can use and abuse everything on the island but my condo, my swimming pool, and the art gallery during the opening reception happening from 5 to 7 PM tomorrow.
Not to appear to be a snob, and believe me that we appreciate everyone that comes down and injects their hard earned dollars into our local economy, but I hope everyone behaves themselves while having their idea of a good time this Independence Day, and that they take their trash and cigarette butts home with them if they can’t bother to put them in a trash can.
Other than that, ENJOY Y'all…
As I've said before, about the only down side to living on an island near the beach is that on holidays and many summer weekends we get overrun with visitors.
This July fourth weekend is no exception.
After spending a panicked day waiting on UPS to deliver three 16”x20” photo prints for my entry in the latest contest exhibit in one of the local Art Galleries, we stumbled around the island in surprisingly light quitting time traffic delivering my framed and matted treasures, then after a few cocktails at a local tavern, we slumped into a cozy booth at one of our favorite restaurants about 7:15.
Thank God I’m on a first name basis with John, the owner of the Blackwater Grill. They actually apologized to us because in spite of not asking for reservations until nearly six PM, thay could only deliver the second best table in the building (our regular table had already been reserved.)
What then ensued could only be described as total chaos for practicaly everyone but Pat and I.
While we sat in the back dining area looking out peacefully at the adjacent marsh, people were stacked two or three deep at the bar and lined up out the front door waiting for tables.
Can you say TWO HOUR WAIT?
Out standard bottle of wine was served within minutes of our arrival, and the food was only slightly delayed as we watched John and his staff frantically dash and spin around clearing tables and delivering orders.
We stopped by the liquor store on the way home, and I’ll sneak out to the grocery store EARLY tomorrow morning, then for all I care all of the tourists can use and abuse everything on the island but my condo, my swimming pool, and the art gallery during the opening reception happening from 5 to 7 PM tomorrow.
Not to appear to be a snob, and believe me that we appreciate everyone that comes down and injects their hard earned dollars into our local economy, but I hope everyone behaves themselves while having their idea of a good time this Independence Day, and that they take their trash and cigarette butts home with them if they can’t bother to put them in a trash can.
Other than that, ENJOY Y'all…
Friday, June 30, 2006
Hungry?
Here…Try This
Did you ever try a “white” pizza before?
I’ve enjoyed it (white pizza) in a few restaurants in the past, but to date all of my home pizza making has revolved around a standard tomato sauce base.
Not last night, however.
First I made my standard crust from my recipe on my Redneck Gourmet Blog site, then I used the following ingredients to make our pizza:
One 9 ounce bag of baby spinach
One small can of sliced mushrooms (or fresh sliced mushrooms of your choice)
One small can of sliced black olives
One small jar of artichoke hearts
½ pound of soft whole milk Mozzarella Cheese (Sorrento or equivalent)
¼ pound of nice fresh grated Parmesan Localetti Cheese
Anything else you want like anchovies or sliced pepperoni—anything but tomatoes.
First roll your dough out nice and flat, preferably thin for a white pizza, and toss it on your pizza pan. Next, smear the middle of the crust (up to about an inch of the edge) with some good extra virgin olive oil, then dump the entire bag of baby spinach on top.
Now spread your soft Mozzarella cheese over the top of the pile of spinach, cut or diced into small pieces. (Please do yourself a great favor and don’t use the crappy, dry, grainy crap they sell pre-grated in the grocery store.)
Next comes the olives, artichoke hearts, mushrooms, and whatever else you want to torture yourself with, and finish it all off by sprinkling the fresh parmesan cheese over it. Follow all of that up with some basil and fresh ground black pepper.
CAUTION: do not add any salt—the cheese is salty enough.
When you get done, it should look something like this:
And after 25 to 30 minutes in a 475 degree oven, it should taste like this:
So aren't you hungry now?
Well, get started cooking, and go eat....
Did you ever try a “white” pizza before?
I’ve enjoyed it (white pizza) in a few restaurants in the past, but to date all of my home pizza making has revolved around a standard tomato sauce base.
Not last night, however.
First I made my standard crust from my recipe on my Redneck Gourmet Blog site, then I used the following ingredients to make our pizza:
One 9 ounce bag of baby spinach
One small can of sliced mushrooms (or fresh sliced mushrooms of your choice)
One small can of sliced black olives
One small jar of artichoke hearts
½ pound of soft whole milk Mozzarella Cheese (Sorrento or equivalent)
¼ pound of nice fresh grated Parmesan Localetti Cheese
Anything else you want like anchovies or sliced pepperoni—anything but tomatoes.
First roll your dough out nice and flat, preferably thin for a white pizza, and toss it on your pizza pan. Next, smear the middle of the crust (up to about an inch of the edge) with some good extra virgin olive oil, then dump the entire bag of baby spinach on top.
Now spread your soft Mozzarella cheese over the top of the pile of spinach, cut or diced into small pieces. (Please do yourself a great favor and don’t use the crappy, dry, grainy crap they sell pre-grated in the grocery store.)
Next comes the olives, artichoke hearts, mushrooms, and whatever else you want to torture yourself with, and finish it all off by sprinkling the fresh parmesan cheese over it. Follow all of that up with some basil and fresh ground black pepper.
CAUTION: do not add any salt—the cheese is salty enough.
When you get done, it should look something like this:
And after 25 to 30 minutes in a 475 degree oven, it should taste like this:
So aren't you hungry now?
Well, get started cooking, and go eat....
