Truck crazy

I've been obsessed with Trucks for several years now. I've owned a Ford Bronco, GMC Jimmy,a Chevy Suburban, a Chevy Blazer and a Chevy pick up. All in the past ten years. It was always my plan to get a vehicle that I could take off roading and generally enjoy outdoors. The older the simpler, and better. I'm the hands on type, I got that from my dad, and I enjoy fixing and rebuilding things. I've sold or traded all of the trucks except the Blazer and the Pickup. One I use for work the other I'm still trying to work on when I have extra $. The trucks are a definite distraction in my life, especially with my personal life and my budding business. I don't know what it is, I really love that era truck, the blazer, Bronco, and Dodge Ram Charger. Of course my twisted dream is to rebuild a modern version of a Blazer with all new power plant, and gear. NOTHING too computer heavy ( my 2003 Chevy Pickup has to my surprise TEN computers in it) That's scary.... So far I will have to spend close to 3G to get my Blazer where I wanna get it. It's not like it's in bad shape but it is a 1985 model. I should have waited until I finished paying on the pickup before I took on this new hobby. But Fuck it you only have so long on this earth, you have to sometimes indulge yourself.

Keep your pimp hand strong...

I just like this picture....

Iraq

This morning the news reported that Nine US Soldiers were killed in a car bomb attack over night in Iraq. I feel for them and their loved ones who have just had their worlds changed forever. I've stated my opinion before about the war and I think it hasn't changed. Currently I'm reading two books; Bob Woodward's State of Denial and Fiasco by Tom Ricks. Both are very good books, almost too good. After awhile you get angry, very angry that our leaders were so arrogant and naive and almost criminal in there intent about this adventure. These people like Chaney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz ignored and ran roughshod over any opposition to the war. These men really believed that the generals and area experts were wrong and that invasion of Iraq would be the only hard part. They ignored any evidence that postwar Iraq would be the hardest thing our country had done since the end of WW2. It's sad but I wonder just how bad this adventure will get before it ends. I highly recommend these books regardless of your politics, they are a interesting view into the high levels of our government. "The road to hell is paved with good intentions".

Nothing makes sense anymore...

NBC showed the VT shooter's video as news, not really concerned that it will fuel copycats. BUT they beeped out the curses...........WTF who are they protecting. This prick killed 32 people.....just how much more could anybody be offended??? Then they whored out the video to other NBC TV shows like Today ( that was going to show unaired footage) and they advertised it like it was a drama.....WTF! These guys will whore out their own mother for a profit. I really should not be suprised but damn this is bad. I normally enjoy the world news, I like to know what's going on in the world. But this past week I've turned it off, I don't need endless "Experts" giving me their veiws of this event. I can do that myself. Thanks.

GWOT

At one time I was a Army Infantry Officer. It was only part time in the National Guard but to me it was the best job I ever had. To this day anyone who knows me knows that I truly miss serving.
I am not a hawk by any definition, but I believe there are hostile forces out there that we need to confront. One way or another, 9/11 proved that. Unfortunately when we (the U.S.) had global support right after 9/11 our leaders squandered that support way with the invasion into Iraq. To me the war with Iraq was the wrong place, the wrong enemy, and the wrong time. Old Saddam, even though a complete scumbag, wasn't going to do shit to us. We could have left him there for another ten years and we would have been fine. Okay jump ahead four years, we are in Iraq and it's going really fucked up. Our military is doing a fantastic job but they can not do it without the Iraq people support. And the current tread here at home is to cut and run, I thing that is impossible now. If we left Iraq the government would collapse within weeks and the country would splinter and terrorists would have new safe havens plus oil to support new attacks on the west. I pray that somehow we as a country can figure out a plan that will work and that Iraq will stabilize.

I do feel real proud of our service members operating thru out the world, doing the dirty hard work that most people will never hear about. And even though I haven't been in uniform for 13 years I feel a bond to this generation of fighters, to me they are all family. I was a cold war soldier, that was our focus and that was our fight. The soldiers,marines, airmen and sailors of today's military have a tougher job to do against a unforgiving, and determined foe. To all that serve good luck and best wishes.

VT Shootings

Let me just say that this entry is not about the event per say, it's more about the coverage of it. I understand it was a monumental sad event, the senseless killings of innocent people is always monumental.

But my god the news media is just too much to handle. I've always been critical of the new's true motivations and intentions, and when you are interviewing victims who are in shock just to get ratings it becomes obvious. It's not about getting the facts or telling what happened, it's about filling the 24 hour cycle of coverage. Watching the various teams of reporters in their hastily set up video sets "on location" makes me wonder. These guys what jump into the nearest private jet and get down to the action asap, so they could be the ones who can cover the tragedy first? Next time your watching, just listen to the questions and the answers they get, there is only so much of a story there, but these jackals will hunt out every possible aspect to fill the need. I remember one channel had a "expert" on during the Washington beltway shooter and he went on and on profiling the killer and how sure he was about the shooter. And what happened, he was dead wrong... just about the entire profile was wrong, the age, race, motivation, the only thing I remember he had right was that it was a male shooter. I don't have a problem with experts but sometimes they need to cut back on their arrogance. At some point they're just guessing like everyone else. The news is truly as fickle as we viewer. I really wish the news channels stopped their 24 hour coverage and maybe the feeding frenzy would stop.

Hard path...

It's funny, the past two weeks I've been going down memory lane. Circa 1983 to 1986. I've been thinking about the days I spent going to hardcore shows (to those who don't know I don't mean porn) and the people I use to know. I called my friend Sean and together we talked about old times. He plugged me into American Hardcore a doc about the scene covering 1980 to 1986. Sean said check it out it's pretty good, also he was in it. I got my hands on a copy and watched it, it was good. Also timely with my current quest to remember my youth in NYC. The funny thing about the film was most of the people involved in the scene, mostly musicians making the scene all stopped dealing with it about the same time as Sean and I. The group we use to hang with started to come apart around 1986, some of us got tired of the constant drinking and I seem to remember a lack of clubs showcasing hardcore shows. Who cares, it was interesting that alot of us moved onto other things. A few are still trying to live the scene in whatever form it still exist. One guy I know is still comparing every hangout he goes to, to the "Park Inn". Another BS Icon from those days. You grow as a human, or you suppose to. But I've noticed afew people I've hung with are stuck in the time period I knew them from. To me it doesn't seem like they have grown any. That's sad. Maybe they're happy, and that's cool. I just don't know.

Wet Work 2

One time I was working Loss prevention for a Big Box store, I had another adventure. I was walking the store with my partner ( he had way more experience than me, being a former cop). It was a average day and I walked past a aisle that had safety gear in it. There was this dude standing there looking quite normal. But something told me to watch him. Within seconds he started to act alittle nervous (it's amazing just how much people give themselves away). He selected a pair of cargo straps and a pair of safety glasses. He then put the straps inside his pants pockets, package and all. He then removed the glasses from the packaging and put them on his head like sunglasses. Mt partner C saw the same thing and cut over to the next aisle to get to another position. I guess he thought the guy would walk toward the back of the store. But as soon as C was out of sight the guy turned and started to walk toward the front of the store. One thing I learned from this job is that if you are following somebody and you go the wrong direction even for a couple of seconds the person will disappear. Humans walk alot faster than you think. Anyway the guy walks pass me and heads for the exit. He totally doesn't think I'm watching him. I wait until the guy is just at the doorway when I stopped him. I explained what was up and he smiled and handed me the glasses. I told the guy that he had to come with me back to the office to fill out some paperwork (with was true). That was when he started to act a little squirrelly. Within seconds he tried to push right past me. That's when everything went sideways. I grabbed him and pinned his arm behind him, I told him to stop and just calm down. But no this as*wipe decides he can wiggle out. At one point I had his arm bent behind his back almost touching the back of his head. I thought this guy's arm is going to snap. I decided to take him to the ground so I could control him better. Wham! Down we went on the hard concrete and this bastards still struggling. I'm not a small guy but I don't want to hurt this prick. We're rolling on the ground and I look up and see about two dozen customers and employees just standing there staring at us. Finally I got the jerk into handcuffs and stand up ( you don't want to be on the ground too long). I tell the nearest cashier to page C, for backup. I looked down at the guy who has finally given up and notice for the first time that the floor, my legs and the guy was wet... WTF! The fuckin guy pissed his pants! I stood there dreaming of beating the shit out of this asshole. But I didn't I was a good soldier and picked him up and processed him. I didn't even call the cops. I started to think there had to be a better way to make a living.

Hired Goon

Another profession I had was as a bouner in NYC. I worked in a few clubs and special events. That's what happens if your big and intimidating looking. It's aways amazing I really don't notice just how much I intimidate people, never have. Anyway one club I worked at was out of pure desperation at the time there wasn't alot of work in NYC, other than minimum wage. I wasn't too crazy about the job but it paid the bills. It was alittle dangerous, I had to buy body armor and a heavy maglite flashlight, plus a assortment of "tools". The good thing was the LIMELIGHT was a pretty tame place to work. At the high point I work there we were averaging about six fights a week, mostly kids stuff. Unfortunately there was a drug/ wannabee gangsta group working the club. The first year I was there it was understood not to bother with certain people who sold drugs inside the club. We were told only to break up fights and protect the bars, and club kids.
I tell you I grew up in NYC, went to school there, I even spent two years in Cali. Los Angeles baby. Nothing prepared me for the pure craziness of the Limelight. Drag queens, Ecstasy poppers, strip shows including champagne bottles and Xmas lights, gay homeboys.... I really hated the job, and the danger of the job increased weekly. But I have to say it was continuously funny. Between the bouncers, like Bernard a Jamaican wannabee gigolo to Garcia who I wish I could produce a talk show around.
I also learned about myself. If I think your wrong or have done me wrong I have a sadistic streak in me that will come out if provoked. I also discovered that I was pretty lucky/ or good at fighting. Short story; we were short staffed one night because Neville wells the promoter didn't want to pay for heavy security FOR A HIP HOP SHOW! The limelight almost never put on that type of show, they usually had those shows at the Tunnel. But no he put one together and didn't inform security until minutes before the doors opened. Anyway ODB and his posse showed up and pushed their way thru the ropes. Tye who was outside by himself stepped up and a brawl started. I was upstairs and had no idea that Tye had gotten jumped, at least until a customer walked by and said "that's the biggest fight He'd ever saw". I looked outside and I saw thirty people fighting! I screamed on the radio and ran outside. It mess. I saw a coworker (dressed in black) on the ground with some asshole standing over him trying to punch on him. I kicked him in the side and he dropped, the coworker ( must have been a busboy) got up and took off. The guy I had kicked then grabbed both of my legs and held on. I was about to hit him again when I saw some prick running up with a bottle raised over his head. It seemed like slow motion, all I could do is to try to tuck my head in. Crack! The asshole hit me with the bottle and I went out for a few seconds (I guess). Because all I could remember was waking up with the two bastards over me trying to hit me again. Somehow I managed to keep the first prick between me and the guy with the bottle. It was about this time the rest of the staff showed up. The guy with the bottle took off (This when I got mad) but i had a good grip on the first guy. Another bouncer named Mike B caught the guy with a kick to the nuts and he dropped again, I then started to work that guy like you wouldn't believe. Not my proudest moment. It all ended when the cops finally showed up. In the end only Tye and I had any injuries, and no one ended up going to jail. I kept the incident from my girlfriend for months after that. Like I said the Limelight was a learning experience.

Wet Work

I was thinking about a former job I've had. (I've had quite a few) But this had to be one of the more dangerous ones I'd had. I was a store detective, a loss prevention agent, whatever you wanted to call it. I basically provided security and prevented shoplifting and employee thief for a BIG BOX chain. At the time I was very desperate, having been trapped in a very dead end job in the rotten underbelly of Newark. So I landed the job at the box store and they realized I would be good at stopping shoplifters based on my background. So I trained for the next three months and learned the extremely difficult profession of loss prevention. Fortunately for me I had a very good teacher. Soon I was sent off to my own store to work it alone. First stupid policy (one of many). There's a reason why most Bouncers work in groups. For security especially in a physical environment numbers count. In the loss prevention field it's even harder, you don't have the overt intimidation factor like bouncing does. Anyway i started to make small cases and my confidence grew and eventually I started to make big cases. Once I detected a group of professionals that had emptied a wet vac out of it's box and started to conceal merch inside it. I can tell you my heart was pumping, I had a spot and they couldn't see me. I just watched them and tried to figure out how was I going to stop five guys at the door. I was able to flag down a dept head that was friendly and had he act as backup. We waited 10 to 15 minutes as the group loaded the box, place it into a cart , tape it up and push the cart thru the store looking for surveillance. They were good, but they were overconfident. The store had be wide open, no one had worked loss prevention there in about a year. The group finally broke up and three walked out. The other two stayed with the cart and got on line to pay. They purchased the "wet vac" for about $48. I let them pay and walk to the doorway when the dept head and I stopped them. I told them we needed to talk about the items in the box. Guy # 1 said "I don't know nothing about what's in the box" PRICELESS. In the end the apprehension was for over $1500. worth of merch. Those bastards had stuffed drill kits and drill points into the box, it weighted 60 lbs. I ended going to a grand jury hearing for that one. In the end both guys were convicted of theft and I don't know if they ever served any time. They were both career criminals so it wasn't a big thing to them. To me it was. I thought it was the beginning of a serious career. More later.

HARDCORE

Yesterday I discovered just how extensive Wikipedia is (it's my new fascination). I was looking up points of interest and discovered that there was alot of data about the local music scene I was into back in college. The NY Hardcore scene was the extreme version of punkrock. On wikipedia it was like going down old memory lane, bands and friends I had not thought about in years were there. It was amazing, tons of info and links. I would normally have to call up my friend Sean to remember all of these bands and facts but there it was in living black and white.

It sucks getting old.

After working for a few hours I started to reminise some of the old bands and times I use to enjoy. The funny thing is that most current music SUCKS so bad I still listen to most of these albums. I mean the Bad Brains and Suicadal are still my most favorite bands, especially the Brains. I believe the last show that I went to was Suicadal, they played somewhere in NY back in 1995? WTF I need to get out more, unfortunatly most of my friends have moved out of the city (TOO damn expensive.) But it would be nice to get back into seeing live bands playing again. Maybe I'll make some calls this week.

Once again

Last night like the last dozen or so Monday nights I was watching 24 on Fox. I've enjoyed this show since the begining, and it has gone up and alittle down over the years. BUT since last season it's been amazing. Last night didn't seem like much of a episode but once again the writers threw a couple of suprises and twists in. I'm just a sucker for stories with desparate situations and characters. I guess I've always have been like that. The comicbooks I've written all have that same feature included. It's just cool seeing it being sucessful with it. I know there are truly dedicted people out there doing the dirty, and dangerous jobs to protect us from a hostile world. I guess Jack Bauer is there rep, in TV land. I don't know where this season is taking us but I'm ready and willing to sit back and enjoy the show. Thanks 24!