No, really, nothing to see here. I noticed I haven't posted anything new since early last week, so I decided to put up a quick post just so you all think I didn't forget.
Not much on my mind today. I'd be looking forward to the weekend, but I do have the on-call Blackberry for the next week. Sometime in the future I'll tell you all about my horrible experience with Mayflower when I moved to the west coast in 2000, and how the movie "Easy Rider" had an affect on my life. I should also tell you why you should stay away from Putnam Chrysler in Burlingame CA. But for now, all you're getting is this message to please stand by.
Have a great weekend.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Tuesday's Gone
Tonight on Discovery Channel's reality series Deadliest Catch, we say goodbye to Captain Phil Harris (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Harris_%28fisherman%29). After suffering a stroke in late January of 2010, he passed away Tuesday, February 9 2010. In trailers for the upcoming episode of Deadliest Catch, the Discovery Channel chose Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Tuesday's Gone" as the music. I don't know if this song was chosen because of which day of the week Phil left us.
I've been a fan of the show and its crews since its beginning and like many other fans, I am curious about the fate of Capt. Phil's vessel, the Cornelia Marie, and her crew. Especially Phil's sons Jake and Josh. It was just prior to Phil's massive stoke, that younger son Jake admitted to having a substance abuse issue.
But this Tuesday evening is going to be a sad one as we say farewell and Godspeed to Captain Phil Harris. While watching this evening I will hoist a glass in his honor.
I've been a fan of the show and its crews since its beginning and like many other fans, I am curious about the fate of Capt. Phil's vessel, the Cornelia Marie, and her crew. Especially Phil's sons Jake and Josh. It was just prior to Phil's massive stoke, that younger son Jake admitted to having a substance abuse issue.
But this Tuesday evening is going to be a sad one as we say farewell and Godspeed to Captain Phil Harris. While watching this evening I will hoist a glass in his honor.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Deepwater Horizon Spill
The Deepwater Horizon disaster has been on my mind quite a bit. While searching the web looking for more information I came across this blog written by Beth Bond.
http://www.southeastgreen.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2049:dadgummit-just-implode-the-well&catid=7:beths-blogs&Itemid=65
My thoughts are very close to the points and facts she has stated. Being the lazy person that I am, I'm just going to say "yeah, what she said" and save myself quite a bit of typing. But seriously, my fear is that after we all wait another month for the relief wells to be completed (that's 30 more days of 35k to 65k barrels of oil each day), we find that the gushing well is still not contained. What then? I can only imagine the backlash if at that time we attempt the solution of imploding the well and it works. People will be screaming at the fact that our administration sat on its hands for 3 months when we could have stopped the flow of oil months ago. Aside from the obvious and immediate impact the spill is having to the gulf states, we all know the ecological impact of this disaster will be with us for years.
I also think that some people don't realize how huge the spill is. Yes, we see satellite images and other graphics on the television. But there's an issue of perspective that I believe some people miss. For instance, here in the San Francisco Bay area we had a recent fuel spill when a freighter collided with a section of the Bay Bridge. I can't help but think that some residents of this area think that the spill in the gulf is not so much larger than what we experienced here. Those people need to go to http://www.ifitwasmyhome.com/ and see what the oil spill would be like if it was here. Then maybe there would be more call for action. All I know is that this disaster depresses me more each time I read something about it.
http://www.southeastgreen.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2049:dadgummit-just-implode-the-well&catid=7:beths-blogs&Itemid=65
My thoughts are very close to the points and facts she has stated. Being the lazy person that I am, I'm just going to say "yeah, what she said" and save myself quite a bit of typing. But seriously, my fear is that after we all wait another month for the relief wells to be completed (that's 30 more days of 35k to 65k barrels of oil each day), we find that the gushing well is still not contained. What then? I can only imagine the backlash if at that time we attempt the solution of imploding the well and it works. People will be screaming at the fact that our administration sat on its hands for 3 months when we could have stopped the flow of oil months ago. Aside from the obvious and immediate impact the spill is having to the gulf states, we all know the ecological impact of this disaster will be with us for years.
I also think that some people don't realize how huge the spill is. Yes, we see satellite images and other graphics on the television. But there's an issue of perspective that I believe some people miss. For instance, here in the San Francisco Bay area we had a recent fuel spill when a freighter collided with a section of the Bay Bridge. I can't help but think that some residents of this area think that the spill in the gulf is not so much larger than what we experienced here. Those people need to go to http://www.ifitwasmyhome.com/ and see what the oil spill would be like if it was here. Then maybe there would be more call for action. All I know is that this disaster depresses me more each time I read something about it.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Deprecated Panix Blog
Let me start by saying Happy Birthday USofA! I hope everyone celebrating has a safe holiday. Please take a little time to reflect on our freedoms and those whose sacrifices made them possible.
About seven years ago, I started my attempt at blogging. Instead of taking advantage of any of the blog hosting sites available at the time, I created a simple Perl CGI script and blog page at Panix. The following link contains posts dating back to April 4, 2003 and up to October 4, 2008.
http://www.panix.com/~hd-fxsts/blog.html
As for me, I'm going to go outside for a bit and enjoy the weather. Later on the grill will be fired up and it will be time to enjoy some hotdogs, burgers, and beer with some friends. Before that, I may head to Foster City's 4th-of-July festivities. In the past, free shuttle service was available for the fireworks show in the evening. That is not the case this year, so I'm not sure if I will go to the park this evening to see the show.
Enjoy the day.
About seven years ago, I started my attempt at blogging. Instead of taking advantage of any of the blog hosting sites available at the time, I created a simple Perl CGI script and blog page at Panix. The following link contains posts dating back to April 4, 2003 and up to October 4, 2008.
http://www.panix.com/~hd-fxsts/blog.html
As for me, I'm going to go outside for a bit and enjoy the weather. Later on the grill will be fired up and it will be time to enjoy some hotdogs, burgers, and beer with some friends. Before that, I may head to Foster City's 4th-of-July festivities. In the past, free shuttle service was available for the fireworks show in the evening. That is not the case this year, so I'm not sure if I will go to the park this evening to see the show.
Enjoy the day.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Birth of a nickname
You have all noticed that I use the nickname Deathgrip or sometimes just 'Grip. That is a cool moniker, even if I do say so myself. And it's not one I made up myself. But would you believe that in a round about way, the nickname comes from the 80s TV show, "Taxi"?
Nicknames never really stuck to me, and over the years people have called me Butch, Sponge, and a few others. Perhaps I should elaborate on the Sponge nickname in a future post, it's also not quite what you would first suspect. But back to Deathgrip. Before I moved to the west coast from Long Island NY, I met some of the people out here through motorcycle related email lists. This was before today's social media like Facebook and MySpace, and even predates things like Yahoo Groups. Being somewhat "vertically challenged" and coming from the Greater NY area, some of guys here (and in particular Craig "Wildman" Dewart 12/04/49 - 8/13/06) would call me either "Danny", "DeVito", "Louie", or "DePalma". Obviously in reference to the actor Danny DeVito and the character Louie DePalma he portrayed on the TV show "Taxi". For about a year or so, any of those were used. Somewhere down the road, I think it was my bud Scott that took poetic license and combined "DePalma" and "DeVito". But changed a loose translation of "hand" and "life" into Deathgrip. A new nickname was born, and at least for my group of riding buddies here on the west coast, has seemed to have stuck.
With that, my dryer buzzed and I guess it's time for some domestic tasks. Then relax with a nice cold Dos Equis Ambar.
Nicknames never really stuck to me, and over the years people have called me Butch, Sponge, and a few others. Perhaps I should elaborate on the Sponge nickname in a future post, it's also not quite what you would first suspect. But back to Deathgrip. Before I moved to the west coast from Long Island NY, I met some of the people out here through motorcycle related email lists. This was before today's social media like Facebook and MySpace, and even predates things like Yahoo Groups. Being somewhat "vertically challenged" and coming from the Greater NY area, some of guys here (and in particular Craig "Wildman" Dewart 12/04/49 - 8/13/06) would call me either "Danny", "DeVito", "Louie", or "DePalma". Obviously in reference to the actor Danny DeVito and the character Louie DePalma he portrayed on the TV show "Taxi". For about a year or so, any of those were used. Somewhere down the road, I think it was my bud Scott that took poetic license and combined "DePalma" and "DeVito". But changed a loose translation of "hand" and "life" into Deathgrip. A new nickname was born, and at least for my group of riding buddies here on the west coast, has seemed to have stuck.
With that, my dryer buzzed and I guess it's time for some domestic tasks. Then relax with a nice cold Dos Equis Ambar.
Deprecated Facebook Blog
I probably should have mentioned this before any new posts here. If you have a Facebook account, you can see my older LiveBlog posts here: http://www.facebook.com/DeathGrip?v=app_2417711041. If there was an easy way to export them from there and import here, I would do that. But I guess not.
As you can see, when I mentioned I don't post that regularly, I meant it.
For the moment, that's all I wanted to write.
As you can see, when I mentioned I don't post that regularly, I meant it.
For the moment, that's all I wanted to write.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Where to start
Seems I never could get myself into the habit of posting blog entries regularly. So why use yet another blog site? I haven't a clue, so please bear with me. But perhaps a quick story on why I chose 'Bonfire-in-a-can' in the URL for my blogs.
Years ago, in my late teens and early 20s, there was a hang-out spot near my home on Long Island called Beekman Beach. It was closed during regular beach season for a time, but always during the off season. But, it was a popular gathering spot for a period. People from many different places would gather, party, drink beer, and make a few fires on the beach. Some people brought wood, some scavenged for wood. Still, not many people were prepared to start a fire. Yes, we had matches and lighters handy, but sometimes not enough material to use as kindling. Working in an auto parts store at the time, I began to use one of the various brands of 'quick start' which was basically ether in a spray can. My friends and I were regular visitors to Beekman, so I was always sure to have a can handy in the trunk of my car. I forgot who it was that first coined the name 'Bonfire-in-a-can', but I started wrapping whatever can of quick start I had in masking tape and writing 'Bonfire-in-a-can' with magic marker on it.
I sometimes miss those nights at good old Beekman Beach. There were even times when we visited the beach when it was open. For a few years I had a small sailboat that I'd bring to the beach on top of my father's Jeep and spend a few hours sailing around Oyster Bay. Fun times...
That's it my friends, I cannot think of much more to say at the moment. Celebrate and have fun this Independence Day Weekend!
Years ago, in my late teens and early 20s, there was a hang-out spot near my home on Long Island called Beekman Beach. It was closed during regular beach season for a time, but always during the off season. But, it was a popular gathering spot for a period. People from many different places would gather, party, drink beer, and make a few fires on the beach. Some people brought wood, some scavenged for wood. Still, not many people were prepared to start a fire. Yes, we had matches and lighters handy, but sometimes not enough material to use as kindling. Working in an auto parts store at the time, I began to use one of the various brands of 'quick start' which was basically ether in a spray can. My friends and I were regular visitors to Beekman, so I was always sure to have a can handy in the trunk of my car. I forgot who it was that first coined the name 'Bonfire-in-a-can', but I started wrapping whatever can of quick start I had in masking tape and writing 'Bonfire-in-a-can' with magic marker on it.
I sometimes miss those nights at good old Beekman Beach. There were even times when we visited the beach when it was open. For a few years I had a small sailboat that I'd bring to the beach on top of my father's Jeep and spend a few hours sailing around Oyster Bay. Fun times...
That's it my friends, I cannot think of much more to say at the moment. Celebrate and have fun this Independence Day Weekend!
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