One year ago today: August 31, 2013, work on the cPod.
Five years ago today: August 31, 2009, reads like gossip.
Ten years ago today: August 31, 2004, Mars measles.
MORNING
What's this? A fuzzy picture of the scooter dash. You can barely make out the dials. But that's the point. The lens had become so clouded you could not see anything except the orange needles. Nothing worked, even resurfacing with a grinder. The plastic was nearly opaque and only usable because I had memorized the positions over time, I know that 40 mph is top center. So I'm happy to be able to actually read the numbers again. At long last, I found a product that does not yellow over in a few days and can be reapplied over itself. It is called Vick's Vapo-Rub and each application only lasts a few days.
Bottom line: I don't stick with a band this long unless they are producing exceptionally good music. I told you, these are the best musicians I've ever found in Florida. But no band is perfect and there is a natural incongruency in this band's direction. For example, they want to produce recording quality sound on stage, but those stages are local bars. My idea of a bar band is a duo, not a four-piece. That's cumbersome.
Which brings up the second point. Last evening again, another lady not likely to do me any favors was gung-ho about my band. Could this be the break I've waited so long over? (Of course not, she disappeared never to be heard from again.) But I'd take it. Steady work on the local circuit? Something is cooking over there. They have the band contact info, but insist on dealing with me. The razor (gossip) says that the clientele has told the management to get some new and different music in there. And among that clientele, the largest minority necessarily has to be my audience. These folks play bingo, you know.
Where's the drama, you ask? What could be wrong about a band working steady? Well, I'm in a position to know or figure out what each pub pays. The Legions have a budget of $1,000 per month, a figure not likely to change. For the existing trio (mentioned here earlier this month), that's $75+ per member per night. For a five piece, that drops to $50 lousy bucks, just barely worth it. What I have in mind is spelling off with another band, us taking the special occasions that merit a show band. What other band would take such a deal? I know of several.
I say take it even if the money is bad, for it would also propel this band into reality. This band so desperately needs massive stage time. Right now, it is obvious who is comfortable up there and audiences sense it, spontaneously. Also, I am the only band member, at least who admits it, out there to meet women. And I feel that should be respected. Legions are not my normal turf. That's why I'm so fond of house gigs anywhere else. We commence at 7:00 PM.
NOON
This is interesting, I think I may have been nominated for some kind of award. Over an article I wrote in 1990. Let me make sure this registered letter isn't some kind joke. It does not appear to be. It [the article] has to do with the "averaging" effect in law that I mentioned y'day. That was not a random observation. I wrote a four page article on the topic, one of my university requirements back west. Some people liked it. But my old college pal, Brock, says be careful. He responded to a similar missive. When he didn't "win", they still plagued him for a year with letters asking for endowment money. I'll decline the offer at the first hint of a scam.
Each investor in the project was doled out "a check with more zeros than a soccer tournament". But that is not what dazzles me. These guys built a remote control sled to scoop up the gold. In 1988. All computer controlled. And I can find no pictures of this "sled" anywhere. And that's a good thing. of course, as soon as they found the gold, out came the lawsuits, this is, after all, America. Thirty-nine insurance companies argued the gold belonged to them. That's the expensively-recovered gold, not the portion of the gold still lying on the ocean floor. They got 8%.
They should have gotten dick. Let me get this straight. My house burns, they pay for it because that's their job--and then 150 years later they claim they own my house? This contributes to my contention that American insurance companies are the largest, most corrupt, most evil industry that exists this side of the law.
Back to the "robot". Like every article I read on successful robots, I am fascinated but skeptical. Where did these people learn everything that was required? The treasure hunters built their systems from scratch in 1985, which astounds me. They modified computer navigation systems on the rolling deck of a ship. Yet of all that I've read so far, theirs is the most believable story. The conspicous question is why do I feel 99% of robot builders are not telling the whole truth? Maybe they are incapable of it.
Why am I suspicious? Because, unlike me, they don't moan for years about the complexity and expense. It is approaching four years for my first robot. True, I didn't have millionaires on my team and I got very little help, but this is a complex business. Reading robot stories is like listening to a co-worker brag about marriage. He's painting way too lustrous a picture of something known to be a tough undertaking. And the way he goes about everything else simply does not instill you that he is the man for the job.
Last note. It was with critical eye I read the accounts of the robot sled in the book "Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea". They intentionally describe the robot and mechanical arms in what I now know to be quite misleading terms. They give false dimensions, but believable, mind you. They describe cutting aluminum with a scroll saw. Really? I don't blame them for keeping the real specs under wrap. Under a tarp, actually.
EVENING
I can't give many details because it was a private residence, but this evening was the classic pool party gig that all bands talk much about. A penthouse overlooking the breakers in Pompano Beach, food, bikinis, great pay, and a $50 bill in the tip jar. " The only sad thing is it came along 45 years to late." I forgot my phone so no pics, but the band will have some later in the week.
Nothing makes me happier than a victory, and I say that with sarcasm, Ken, because one actually has to experience true success before you can compare whether it makes you happier than before, know what I'm sayin'? I'm still less than thrilled with the direction of the band and this first "proper" house gig was a full 15 months of hard work in the making. And the $50 tip was from the owner, which was nice, but it still does not compare to my $100 solo tips which came from walkins, that is, strangers.
Band-wise, the gig was an eye-opener. It emphasized the band needs stage time, in case anyone in the band thought I was just saying that because I wanted gigs. No. Plus outdoors is where the distractions are and we messed up more than a few times. I could not hear anyone on the far end of the stage. And our song list is too extensive, time to dump the weaker numbers.
Ah, but you want to know about the party. Great buffet, but nothing I could touch, even the mac salad had mayo galore. I had a few beers and discovered I do not like Dos Equis, at least not the mark in the green bottle. But everything else out on the balcony (house rule) was in aluminun cans which blew away in the wind. Around 60 people present, mostly paired-off couples, and around eight single women. But nothing you could mingle with. That's why I take a book to read.
One lady did come inside and ask what I was reading. I told her. Then she says she doesn't read but prefers "to get her knowledge about life and the universe from first-hand experience". Dang, and there I was with my nose stuck in a book while the world was passing me by. I asked her where she got all this experience and she said she'd only ever lived in New York City and Fort Meyers Beach. I actually kept a straight face.
And the other lady, well, that was a bit of a nut-case. I wonder if that type of female realizes how confrontational they get with advancing age? She took great exception to the way our singer was dressed, which was a bit trashy, but how is anyone to say it isn't just a costume? I say nut-case because her outlook, loudly expressed, on even closely related topics, lacked consistency. So if she says something and you agree because you thought something similar, watch out. It might not be so similar in her fragmented thinking. She was also a bit of a nasty drunk, telling everyone how to improve their life.
So I purposely talked to the guitar player about me living in a trailer court so she would hear it. She lives just up the street from his place. She claims to work for some big millionaire outfit and gave us advice on how to present ourselves as a "$5,000 per night band". We need glossy photos, to hand out business cards a boat shows, and band uniforms. Yes, band uniforms. Darn it all! Why didn't we think of that?
She also let us know which songs we played that were no good at all. I acted friendly toward around four of the single ladies present that I found semi-attractive. No real response except one who had obviously been drinking. But I was glad to see four in one place, my style involves meeting that many a day for months on end before I make a choice. This was one isolated party thirty miles away. And none of the women looked like they owned their own place. While Florida is technically full of divorced women, they are not hot to trot, they are not the new 40, they have not pursued their educations, and they never seem to go out to anywhere they be might be met by any men they can't find cause to complain about.
ADDENDUM
Welcome to the end of a successful month. Things in general have been on the uptick for a few months, so enjoy while you can. I invited a gal I've known for 30 years for brunch at the Hollywood Prime, but by proxy since she is 3,000 miles away. It's the thought that counts. Have you seen the Prime? They have seafood, but the featured dish is Jackman beef, where they massage the cows, which in turn provides employment for the State's business school graduates. Try the Kobe, where the beef is not just a meal, but "an experience".
On the flip side, I see that music expenses are still running at more than 50%. Dropping, but still excessive. The cure is not to cut spending, but to increase gig frequency. I'm working on that. My equipment is going to need replacing soon. And it is the variable, not the fixed, expenses that are gobbling up the cash. If I try to ignore it like other musicians, time to get worried.
The treasure hunting book, how goes that? I'm into it this time. As told, I glossed over the Ohio chapters the first read, but not this go-round. These guys had to raise money and the nation has a massive infrastructure monitoring that very activity. Thus, the chapters have discourses with all the judges and lawyers involved with maritime law of which I know not a single scrap.
But I rapidly noticed the English influence in said laws. My premise is that most laws are written to balance some relationship between two parties, and that this is by it's own nature, short-sighted. It creates an averaging effect not beneficial to society in the long run. How? Well, it gives a tremendous advantage to to those who exist in larger numbers over the few who have anything to contribute.
Right now, I could take half of Florida for everything they got by stockpiling emergency rations and gouging those who don't. But there is a law against it. How would that benefit them? By teaching them to think ahead, which they don't have to do because the law "protects" them. The averaging effect, right?
The same doctrine appears to apply at sea. The advantage is passed to the majority, to the bastard-rat, who by pretending he needs through, uses his "right" of way to horn in on your deal. To claim salvage, you have to file, as soon as you file, the bottom-feeders appear. To claim the wreck, you must position your vessel over the site, so the trolls need only follow you to see where you stop. Then create an "emergency" whereby you must move out of their way, then stop right on the spot where you vacated. And it is always, always, an "accident".
I was force-taught this disgusting "emergency/accident" lesson at a [shockingly] early age. You quickly learn to stop over nothing and to make all your really big discoveries "out of the blue", that is, giving no outward appearance or advance warning of your ultimate design. Doing things this way is a costly disincentive, but it is better than doing nothing just to be left alone. At least in life you manage a few accomplishments.
I read with interest the lively account of how the ship that made the discovery burned 15,000 gallons of fuel keeping her stern facing toward the "pirate" boat circling for opportunities. Maritime law says you cannot sail across the stern of a salvage vessel. In this case, the bad guys were a team of lawyers and professors who were blatantly trying to "co-discover" the treasure. The legal issues are way over my head, but I get it. You are not supposed to trample anybody. Yet when there are 100,000 average people ready to trample over 1 innovator, the law changes sides.
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