Posts
I received news today that my book, When Towns Had Teams, will be on the presses on Friday morning. My printer, JS McCarthy, informed me to be at the plant at 7am to take a look at the first run of my cover and the first signature.
This brings me tremendous joy, having been through the ringer the past 6 weeks, or so, doing my pre-press duties and performing a myriad of other tasks that are associated with independent publishing. The book has been a tremendous project and knowing its going to be in bookstores and available via my website is gratifying.
The past week, things have started to slow down and my mood has been tempered with cautious optimism. There’s also a side of me that feels somewhat guilty—I’m concerned about marketing my book, when thousands upon thousands of residents of the Gulf Coast have lost everything they own—I don’t know how to juxtapose these two things. I didn’t cause this event, I know, but I still empathize and sympathize with what so many must be feeling and experiencing.
In addition to that, I’ve had to do a considerable amount of driving of late, particularly yesterday and today. Yesterday, I drove to Bangor and back and then today, I had an appointment in Westbrook this morning, and had to have my final proofs back to the printer this afternoon, in Augusta. Recently, I was forced to purchase another automobile, due to my son’s return to college and the fact that his 1993 Toyota Camry wagon died; actually, it didn’t die, but it won’t pass inspection without major repairs. Just around the corner from where I live, a sweet old lady was selling her beloved Pontiac Parisienne, a vintage 1985 model. If anyone knows this model, it’s a hulking mass of automobile, equipped with a V-8, 305cc engine. They don’t call these babies “land yachts” for nothing. At the same time, the car is in great shape and has been meticulously cared for, particularly on the mechanical side. With limited funds to invest in an auto, I had few options but to invest my meager resources in a 20-year-old vehicle. Actually, the car gets about 22 or 23 mpg on the highway and boy, does she ride nice.
Having to fill the 30 gallon tank the past week, however, has driven home the reality of the escalating gas prices. With gas having risen from $2.62/regular on Monday night, to $2.81/regular today, I’m concerned where it will all go.
Then, on top of all of this, I read the following on the Oil Drum site and recognize that we could be in for an interesting next few months, if not much longer. Gas prices will continue to rise, as our refining capacity cannot match our demand, not with the destruction to the Gulf Coast oil operations from Katrina.
I’ve been following all of the events pertaining to peak oil since early in the summer. I don’t bring these types of pronouncements to you lightly. While some might think I derive some measure of schadenfreude from this, I would vehemently disagree.
I’m not sure what all of this means? It seems like we are facing some defining moments as a country in the coming days. I think we’ve had too much prosperity, foisted primarily on the availability of cheap oil. Our bloated materialism and quest to consume might finally be catching up with us. Along those same lines, Richard, over at Commie Curmudgeon, has an interesting post on a book written in the 1970’s, by Andre Gorz, Ecology as Politics.
As usual, Richard chimes in with an erudite analysis uniquely his own, prompted by a comment I had left regarding James Kunstler’s book, The Long Emergency and cheap oil.
Richard posts several provocative quotes from Gorz’ book, all particularly interesting and I’d argue, relevant, in regard to this post and the issues that are facing our society and maybe, our current way of life.
All of us who aren’t well-heeled are going to have to make tough choices this winter. We may have to curtail our driving. For those of us in states like Maine, which lack any significant public transportation infrastructure, it could be particularly challenging. I'm afraid that we may be reaching a point where we may have to downsize our expectations in the coming days, months, and most assuredly, years. This doesn’t necessarily have to be thought of as a bad thing. Maybe, the blight of development and sprawl might be finally checked and even ended. With the possibility of multiple trips to Wal-Mart losing their feasibility, maybe the local hardware store might be a more attractive option. What would happen if we suddenly recognize that our big box, retail-based economy, isn’t sustainable and we begin to focus on our own local economies and rebuilding our communities?
Obviously, I’m throwing a lot of information out there tonight, but in light of recent developments, I think we all should begin having conversations and dialogue about them.
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Bangor-bound and ill-prepared
I’m off to Bangor at an ungodly hour to set up for a job fair. This is part of my semi-regular part time gig to help pay some bills and aid me in getting my independent publishing venture off the ground. I’m not in a great frame of mind, primarily because of the lack of support that I’m receiving from my so-called boss.
Granted, I’m a contract employee. While this company pays a decent hourly wage, covers my driving expenses and provides other incidentals, my new 20-something overseer is not impressing me at all. With her London design school pedigree, you would think she’d understand that our trade show materials sucks! Our table top display was ragged at best when I did our last trade event. Apparently, little miss prissy must have broken it during her previous set up, as she was the last person who had the materials. When I met her last evening, in order to receive her handoff, she was late, rude and provided me with little or no directive as to why I had so few materials for today’s event. I don’t understand what it is about recent college graduates? Are our colleges so dumbed-down that they aren’t preparing graduates for the real world? Does my boss not understand at trade fairs, more is always better?
Personally, based on my previous track record, I can see that a clash of cultures looms on the horizon. I may be a contract employee, but I believe in doing an honest day’s work. I also would appreciate having some type of support, particularly if this person is being paid to provide it. I never was a believer in generation gaps, but now that I’m 40-something, I can really appreciate the reservations that the older set usually has about young people.
I could go on about my situation, but I’ll end by saying that if I was doing the event as RiverVision Press, I would have made sure that I had a display that smacked of professionalism. The employer I’m representing is considered a leader in its field. Yet, with the materials I was given and the trade booth I’ve had to piece together, it will tell all in attendance that this company is not a real player, but a poseur.
Granted, I’m a contract employee. While this company pays a decent hourly wage, covers my driving expenses and provides other incidentals, my new 20-something overseer is not impressing me at all. With her London design school pedigree, you would think she’d understand that our trade show materials sucks! Our table top display was ragged at best when I did our last trade event. Apparently, little miss prissy must have broken it during her previous set up, as she was the last person who had the materials. When I met her last evening, in order to receive her handoff, she was late, rude and provided me with little or no directive as to why I had so few materials for today’s event. I don’t understand what it is about recent college graduates? Are our colleges so dumbed-down that they aren’t preparing graduates for the real world? Does my boss not understand at trade fairs, more is always better?
Personally, based on my previous track record, I can see that a clash of cultures looms on the horizon. I may be a contract employee, but I believe in doing an honest day’s work. I also would appreciate having some type of support, particularly if this person is being paid to provide it. I never was a believer in generation gaps, but now that I’m 40-something, I can really appreciate the reservations that the older set usually has about young people.
I could go on about my situation, but I’ll end by saying that if I was doing the event as RiverVision Press, I would have made sure that I had a display that smacked of professionalism. The employer I’m representing is considered a leader in its field. Yet, with the materials I was given and the trade booth I’ve had to piece together, it will tell all in attendance that this company is not a real player, but a poseur.
Monday, August 29, 2005
Pat Robertson's god
Periodically, I enjoy humoring myself by sending out a rash of queries for articles that I think would make a tad more interesting reading than the usual warmed-over fare. Today, I’m performing my two-or-three-times-a-year exercise in futility by sending off posts to Downeast, Yankee and similar publications, about an article idea I came up with while biking past my local volunteer fire department the other day. I’m sure, in about three months, I’ll be receiving my polite, but firm rejection letter from those publications, as they tell me that my article is just not “the right fit” for their publication. In between letters, I've been catching up on some of my reading that I've been missing the past few months.
Since my recent posts about music garnered about as much interest as a fart in the frozen food section, I’ll move on to crazy Pat Robertson and his recent Xian response to Hugo Chavez. It seems the god that Pat prays to is only interested in free-market capitalism, the bloodier and more exploitive, the better. Since Chavez represents a populist movement that threatens the power structure and economic system that is Pat’s true god, in his theology of guns and military might, it’s ok to take him out.
Zbignew Zingh weighs in with his two cents about Robertson’s “Fatwah”, as he calls it.
What I like about Zingh’s article, is his accurate assessment of Robertson and his brand of Elmer Gantry’s, that predominantly reside on the right side of the governmental aisle. As he writes, “Robertson sees himself as a prophet with a direct line to God. All medieval witch-burners do. He is a fool because he could not resist opening his mouth and blabbing to the whole world that he had foreknowledge about America's black bag operations to assassinate yet another democratically elected foreign leader. By speaking so brazenly -- and prematurely -- Robertson caused two immediate effects: First, he provoked sanctimonious denials from other political witch-burners like Minnesota's Republican Senator Norm Coleman and Secretary of War Donald Rumsfeld. Second, Mr. Robertson's intemperate prattling has, in essence, spilled the beans about the all-too-real US plan to kill President Chavez. Thus has Pat Robertson unwittingly spared Hugo Chavez from the death that was, indeed, prepared for him -- at least for the time being -- and earned Mr. Robertson a public scolding from those liars whose dark secret he has disclosed.”
If you are interested in the rest of Zingh’s take, you can view it over at Dissident Voice, a mighty fine place to cut through the mainstream media’s apologetic spinning for the powers that be.
Since my recent posts about music garnered about as much interest as a fart in the frozen food section, I’ll move on to crazy Pat Robertson and his recent Xian response to Hugo Chavez. It seems the god that Pat prays to is only interested in free-market capitalism, the bloodier and more exploitive, the better. Since Chavez represents a populist movement that threatens the power structure and economic system that is Pat’s true god, in his theology of guns and military might, it’s ok to take him out.
Zbignew Zingh weighs in with his two cents about Robertson’s “Fatwah”, as he calls it.
What I like about Zingh’s article, is his accurate assessment of Robertson and his brand of Elmer Gantry’s, that predominantly reside on the right side of the governmental aisle. As he writes, “Robertson sees himself as a prophet with a direct line to God. All medieval witch-burners do. He is a fool because he could not resist opening his mouth and blabbing to the whole world that he had foreknowledge about America's black bag operations to assassinate yet another democratically elected foreign leader. By speaking so brazenly -- and prematurely -- Robertson caused two immediate effects: First, he provoked sanctimonious denials from other political witch-burners like Minnesota's Republican Senator Norm Coleman and Secretary of War Donald Rumsfeld. Second, Mr. Robertson's intemperate prattling has, in essence, spilled the beans about the all-too-real US plan to kill President Chavez. Thus has Pat Robertson unwittingly spared Hugo Chavez from the death that was, indeed, prepared for him -- at least for the time being -- and earned Mr. Robertson a public scolding from those liars whose dark secret he has disclosed.”
If you are interested in the rest of Zingh’s take, you can view it over at Dissident Voice, a mighty fine place to cut through the mainstream media’s apologetic spinning for the powers that be.
Mo' music
Craig Finn has one of those voices and lyrical styles that is immediately recognizable. Finn, is the former front man for Minneapolis underground rock legends, Lifter Puller.
Lifter Puller are one of those incredible bands that when you hear them, you immediately are at a loss to explain their relative obscurity outside of their small circle of fans. Finn’s encyclopedic knowledge of rock and pop culture, as well as an obsession with the seamy underside of life, makes for some intensely literate songwriting. On reflection, this is probably the issue with the band’s lack of popularity. What sells is shit (and stupid, to boot), just check out the Billboard charts and the wannabes currently in vogue, such as Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and the latest flavor-of-the-month.
Finn is now fronting a new band, The Hold Steady that’s actually popping up on some critic’s radar screens. In NYC, the band has created some buzz. Earlier this year, they landed on the cover of The Village Voice and NPR just ran a feature on Finn and Co. Additionally, the band’s newest record, Seperation Sunday is getting favorable reviews across the music spectrum. While the NPR piece was somewhat lame, it was better than their average pop culture pap.
What kind of pissed me off about the NPR piece, however, was how little reporter Jacob Ganz seemed to know about Finn’s past with Lifter Puller. Like so many journalists getting primo gigs today, they often get by with shoddy preparation and rarely, if ever, seem prepared for their subject. As a result, the overall scope of most reporting seems watered-down and often irrelevant.
Despite my quibbles with the NPR spot on Finn and the boys, I’m pleased that it brought him back to my attention. I’ve often wondered what became of the immensely talented musician and songwriter and maybe, just maybe, he might finally be receiving his due, albeit belatedly.
Here’s an older interview with Finn from Indie Workshop.
Lifter Puller are one of those incredible bands that when you hear them, you immediately are at a loss to explain their relative obscurity outside of their small circle of fans. Finn’s encyclopedic knowledge of rock and pop culture, as well as an obsession with the seamy underside of life, makes for some intensely literate songwriting. On reflection, this is probably the issue with the band’s lack of popularity. What sells is shit (and stupid, to boot), just check out the Billboard charts and the wannabes currently in vogue, such as Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and the latest flavor-of-the-month.
Finn is now fronting a new band, The Hold Steady that’s actually popping up on some critic’s radar screens. In NYC, the band has created some buzz. Earlier this year, they landed on the cover of The Village Voice and NPR just ran a feature on Finn and Co. Additionally, the band’s newest record, Seperation Sunday is getting favorable reviews across the music spectrum. While the NPR piece was somewhat lame, it was better than their average pop culture pap.
What kind of pissed me off about the NPR piece, however, was how little reporter Jacob Ganz seemed to know about Finn’s past with Lifter Puller. Like so many journalists getting primo gigs today, they often get by with shoddy preparation and rarely, if ever, seem prepared for their subject. As a result, the overall scope of most reporting seems watered-down and often irrelevant.
Despite my quibbles with the NPR spot on Finn and the boys, I’m pleased that it brought him back to my attention. I’ve often wondered what became of the immensely talented musician and songwriter and maybe, just maybe, he might finally be receiving his due, albeit belatedly.
Here’s an older interview with Finn from Indie Workshop.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)