Raindrops falling, one two three
come on girl and dance with me
'tis not raining cats
nor raining dogs
just a gentle downpour
When it starts to rain
I sing and play
I'm a stranger man for sure
Girl you'll find me knocking at your door
grinning wide
and dripping on the floor.
'tis another rainy day
a lovely day for sure
A rainy day lifts my heart
as i walk on out the door
I'm greeted by the subtle sound
of raindrops on the ground
The sweet scent of moistened earth
fills my nose again.
I feel as though I could walk all day
rain dripping from my hand
To many men a rainy day
is a dreary day for sure
They sit inside and
and brood forevermore
For me my dear, I'm sure you'll find
I'm a different man than they
I'll take you for a lovely stroll
and kiss you in the rain.
There is something 'bout
a rainy walk in wet and lovely air.
The rain will wash away anything
including all your cares
Unless you're one who sits inside
with dark and gloomy stares.
When we're good and soggy
we'll head back home again.
we'lll hang our clothes upon the hearth
to dry beside the fire.
I'll grab a blanket
and we'll huddle up
and cuddle by the fire.
A puddle to the left of me
a young girl on the right
We both jump in
and start a splashing fight
All is well, you can tell.
Life seems better in the rain.
Raindrops falling, one two three
Come on girl and dance with me
Tis not raining cats
nor raining dogs
just a lovely downpour
When it starts to rain
I sing and play
I'm a stranger man for sure
Girl you'll find me knocking at your door
Grinning wide
and dripping on the floor
Monday, June 7, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
"WTF People???" #8 (Criticism of Relief Efforts in Haiti)
That is right ladies and gentlemen, time for another installment of my little rant series. This time the focus of my irritation is focused solely on those who are criticizing how the relief efforts in Haiti have been conducted.
First off, if you have not done anything to contribute something to the relief efforts, I strongly suggest you do. I realize not a lot of us have a lot to give, but every little bit helps. Contrary to what certain very (inexplicably) influential religious leaders ( i.e. most notably James Dobson of Focus on the Family) have been preaching, just saying paying you taxes is not contribution enough. Their excuse is that your paid your taxes, and some of that money has already been sent to the Relief efforts, therefore donation done. In my humble opinion this is total B.S. because you were not the one who voluntarily sent your money for the purpose of helping those in need. That is like saying by eating at McDonald's you donated a few dollars to the building of a new franchise. I admit, I am curious why a leader of the christian faith is feeling so very uncharitable when he leads a religion based on charity to others. Not very christian of you Mr. Dobson, shame on you for being a hypocrite.
Ok, lets talk about something a little less controversial. Just about every news report I have seen or read regarding the efforts mentions those who are complaining that the relief is not being handed out fast enough and that there is major criticism for the military not bringing in supplies fast enough. Well, in my humble opinion (yes, laugh if you want at that statement) these people need to extract their heads from their rectum because the sphincter is clearly restricting blood flow to the brain. First off, these people simply cannot fathom the scale of this disaster. It is estimated that the amount of people in need of aid is roughly 3 million. That is roughly the size of the population of the Denver Metro area, however most of those people are located in an area about half the size of the Denver area.
Now take into consideration the already limited infrastructure of the Port Au Prince area. There is one airport with only one runway, and has the capacity for 12 planes on the ground at any given time and could put only 30 planes a day through. The seaport has seven relatively shallow berths , but only one gantry crane (those huge, weird looking cranes used for offloading containers from ships) and limited capacity to offload ships (the port is mostly used for cruise ships). There are three main highways leading out of the city (all poorly maintained), along with several smaller roads (even less maintained, if at all). Plus most of the buildings were poorly built thanks to the political instability and corruption leading to almost nonexistent building codes. So let's see what happened when the quake hit. The airport was relatively undamaged with the exception of the control tower, which was destroyed. However now you have about three hundred planes a day wanting to land. The US Air Force took over and is now processing about 180 planes a day. The seaport was basically obliterated. Only a few berths are clear for ships to come in, but the pier with the gantry crane is now underwater, and many of the vehicles for offloading cargo got buried under piles of containers or the rubble of buildings. Simply put, yeah you might be able to get a ship in, but getting your cargo off the ship is a big problem. According to most reports I have read, all of the highways are near impassable, and the smaller roads leading in from the other ports in the country were destroyed. Add to this the fact that with all the buildings destroyed in the city blocking city streets along with abandoned vehicles. Getting any trucks through the city without killing the hordes of people wandering the streets is a major hassle to say the least.
Well, the world basically told the US that we are basically in charge of running the relief efforts. Heck, even the Vatican put a US diocese in charge of the Catholic Charities Haitian relief effort. The Navy has moved in a hospital ship, and several other ships have brought in helicopters and supplies and thousands of troops. the Seabees and the Army's engineers have begun doing what they can to set up working infrastructure clearing roads and sending in a ship to clear the port. The Air Force has remotely taken over air traffic control and since then has increased the number of planes processed by the airport by nine times. They have been working their asses off 24/7 to make this happen and so far they have done a damn good job of it.
So what do all the desperate people in Haiti and all the more outspoken people around the world have to say about it? The Air Force is poorly prioritizing flights. People aren't getting the supplies they desperately need. Planes are being diverted to the Dominican Republic because they aren't allowed to land at the airport. Why can't ships full of relief supplies offload them? Why is the US making sure military flights can land at the airport but not all civilian planes can? If nearly a billion dollars worth of aid have been given, why hasn't it reached more than a fraction of the people who need it?
I think you probably see the pattern here. If you sympathize with any of the sentiments still, let me spell it out for you in a way your severely atrophied brain might be able to understand. They can't get it to them! The relief efforts are severely hindered by the damage to the already poor infrastructure that could barely support a fraction of the population already in place. The military flights are getting priority because before people can get the supplies they need, you have to be able to get the supplies to where they are needed. Establishing infrastructure is key to any disaster relief. Haiti didn't really have it to begin with, so the situation is all the worse for it. On top of that, a good part of the population didn't have much to begin with. So 200,000 died, so what? That is a tiny fraction of the 3 million people living there. The supplies donated are barely enough to feed a small fraction of the population, many of whom were already dirt poor and hardly had enough money for food in the first place. So if they had a hard time getting supplies when the infrastructure in this horribly overpopulated city was intact, how in the great turning worlds do you expect to get it to them with the infrastructure in shambles???
Seriously people. I know the scale of the disaster is mind boggling, but if you can allow a bit of oxygen to reach your brain by loosening the sphincter a bit, you will see that what is being done is truly unprecedented and handled incredibly well considering. To all of those in Haiti who are becoming increasingly desperate: The world is doing all it can. I know you are becoming increasingly desperate, but keep faith. As the old saying goes, Rome wasn't built in a day. These things take time, and all things considered an unbelievable amount of things have been done in an unbelievably short amount of time.
First off, if you have not done anything to contribute something to the relief efforts, I strongly suggest you do. I realize not a lot of us have a lot to give, but every little bit helps. Contrary to what certain very (inexplicably) influential religious leaders ( i.e. most notably James Dobson of Focus on the Family) have been preaching, just saying paying you taxes is not contribution enough. Their excuse is that your paid your taxes, and some of that money has already been sent to the Relief efforts, therefore donation done. In my humble opinion this is total B.S. because you were not the one who voluntarily sent your money for the purpose of helping those in need. That is like saying by eating at McDonald's you donated a few dollars to the building of a new franchise. I admit, I am curious why a leader of the christian faith is feeling so very uncharitable when he leads a religion based on charity to others. Not very christian of you Mr. Dobson, shame on you for being a hypocrite.
Ok, lets talk about something a little less controversial. Just about every news report I have seen or read regarding the efforts mentions those who are complaining that the relief is not being handed out fast enough and that there is major criticism for the military not bringing in supplies fast enough. Well, in my humble opinion (yes, laugh if you want at that statement) these people need to extract their heads from their rectum because the sphincter is clearly restricting blood flow to the brain. First off, these people simply cannot fathom the scale of this disaster. It is estimated that the amount of people in need of aid is roughly 3 million. That is roughly the size of the population of the Denver Metro area, however most of those people are located in an area about half the size of the Denver area.
Now take into consideration the already limited infrastructure of the Port Au Prince area. There is one airport with only one runway, and has the capacity for 12 planes on the ground at any given time and could put only 30 planes a day through. The seaport has seven relatively shallow berths , but only one gantry crane (those huge, weird looking cranes used for offloading containers from ships) and limited capacity to offload ships (the port is mostly used for cruise ships). There are three main highways leading out of the city (all poorly maintained), along with several smaller roads (even less maintained, if at all). Plus most of the buildings were poorly built thanks to the political instability and corruption leading to almost nonexistent building codes. So let's see what happened when the quake hit. The airport was relatively undamaged with the exception of the control tower, which was destroyed. However now you have about three hundred planes a day wanting to land. The US Air Force took over and is now processing about 180 planes a day. The seaport was basically obliterated. Only a few berths are clear for ships to come in, but the pier with the gantry crane is now underwater, and many of the vehicles for offloading cargo got buried under piles of containers or the rubble of buildings. Simply put, yeah you might be able to get a ship in, but getting your cargo off the ship is a big problem. According to most reports I have read, all of the highways are near impassable, and the smaller roads leading in from the other ports in the country were destroyed. Add to this the fact that with all the buildings destroyed in the city blocking city streets along with abandoned vehicles. Getting any trucks through the city without killing the hordes of people wandering the streets is a major hassle to say the least.
Well, the world basically told the US that we are basically in charge of running the relief efforts. Heck, even the Vatican put a US diocese in charge of the Catholic Charities Haitian relief effort. The Navy has moved in a hospital ship, and several other ships have brought in helicopters and supplies and thousands of troops. the Seabees and the Army's engineers have begun doing what they can to set up working infrastructure clearing roads and sending in a ship to clear the port. The Air Force has remotely taken over air traffic control and since then has increased the number of planes processed by the airport by nine times. They have been working their asses off 24/7 to make this happen and so far they have done a damn good job of it.
So what do all the desperate people in Haiti and all the more outspoken people around the world have to say about it? The Air Force is poorly prioritizing flights. People aren't getting the supplies they desperately need. Planes are being diverted to the Dominican Republic because they aren't allowed to land at the airport. Why can't ships full of relief supplies offload them? Why is the US making sure military flights can land at the airport but not all civilian planes can? If nearly a billion dollars worth of aid have been given, why hasn't it reached more than a fraction of the people who need it?
I think you probably see the pattern here. If you sympathize with any of the sentiments still, let me spell it out for you in a way your severely atrophied brain might be able to understand. They can't get it to them! The relief efforts are severely hindered by the damage to the already poor infrastructure that could barely support a fraction of the population already in place. The military flights are getting priority because before people can get the supplies they need, you have to be able to get the supplies to where they are needed. Establishing infrastructure is key to any disaster relief. Haiti didn't really have it to begin with, so the situation is all the worse for it. On top of that, a good part of the population didn't have much to begin with. So 200,000 died, so what? That is a tiny fraction of the 3 million people living there. The supplies donated are barely enough to feed a small fraction of the population, many of whom were already dirt poor and hardly had enough money for food in the first place. So if they had a hard time getting supplies when the infrastructure in this horribly overpopulated city was intact, how in the great turning worlds do you expect to get it to them with the infrastructure in shambles???
Seriously people. I know the scale of the disaster is mind boggling, but if you can allow a bit of oxygen to reach your brain by loosening the sphincter a bit, you will see that what is being done is truly unprecedented and handled incredibly well considering. To all of those in Haiti who are becoming increasingly desperate: The world is doing all it can. I know you are becoming increasingly desperate, but keep faith. As the old saying goes, Rome wasn't built in a day. These things take time, and all things considered an unbelievable amount of things have been done in an unbelievably short amount of time.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
WTF People? #7 ("Star Wars"...and a few digressions)
Wow, I haven't written one of these for a while. I know it wasn't for lack of material either. Anyway, This evening I decided to go back and watch the original "Star Wars" movie just for the hell of it. Now I must explain, I have always been a big "Star Wars" fan, many of you who grew up with me already know this. Well, tonight when I watched it (after many years of not watching it) I couldn't help but be stunned by how bad it was. I don't just mean the acting either.
Since I brought up acting, I might as well start with that. First off, for a guy in his 20s Luke is a whiny little bitch. I think this is the base that the douche they picked to play Annakin in the newest 2 films, because that so-called actor because he made what is writtten as a fun and intelligent character into a stupid, sniveling, whiny little bitchwhore. Anyway, back to the original. Next we have Ben Kenobi. Actually he did pretty well, except for a jedi his swordplay was pathetic. Now Han was really just a talking head for the whole film with witty one-liners and a penchant for getting shot at. His character had no depth whatsoever. About the only character who was convincing was the charismatic princess. she was the only one who seemed to be an actual person who wasn't overacting the part. Now on to the Droids, chrome plated comic relief who somehow managed to quit their bickering just long enough to do just the right thing at the right time.
Now comes the part that REALLY bugged me: the technical side. Lets start with the physics of starflight (which seems to be conveniently forgotten here). First off, in space you can't hear anything because there is nothing to conduct the sound waves. All those cool sound effects like the Tie Fighters screaming by are totally bogus. I also noticed how every ship seemed to be confined to the motions of atmospheric flight. For example, when the fighters were flying down the trench of the Death Star, you had one lead fighter targeting the shaft while his two wingmen flew interference against their pursuers. All well and good, except they basically used themselves as meat shields when they could have fought back. According to physics, if they had simply cut their engines and turned around, they would continue in the same direction as before, but now they could shoot back at their pursuers. Since they are in the vacuum of space, they wouldn't be torn to pieces and crash. There was also the fact that it seemed every ship had their main engines on all the time. This simply produces constant thrust and acceleration in space and is kind of counter-productive.
Another thing that really bugged me was the ship designs. None but the Falcon are really suited for space combat. Lets start with the fighters. First we have the TIE fighter. Basically it is a small spherical cockpit with two small ion engines, two heavy turbolaser cannons, and two giant solar panel wings that basically provide an opponent with a huge target to shoot at. Now head on they have such a small profile that they would be hard to hit, but from any other angle they are stupidly vulnerable. Next we have the Y wing fighter. Basically it is very similar to the TIE figther except it doesn't have big wings and also has a large capacity for bombs or missiles. It also has a rotating turret which for some reason was never used in the movie to pick off the TIEs on their tail. Of all the fighters in the movie, the X wing starfighter was most suited for space combat. It too has a very small aspect ratio making it hard to hit, but it also has 4 cannons placed so as to make a sort of box around the target. the center of gravity is such that maneuvering it should be very easy and quick, despite what the movie showed. The larger ships are what really annoyed me because for warships, they are very poorly designed. One of the worst is the Star Destroyer. These things are unbelievably ill suited for space combat. The placement of their weapons is reminescent of surface ships that shoot to the side because they are dealing with gravity. Their field of fire is limited to almost completely lateral shots. Next we have the Correlian Corvette (aka Blockade Runner). Actually this one is rather well suited for it's purpose. most of the weaponry is forward mounted to provide a screen of fire towards any blockading ships, and 11 engines to give it considerable speed. However the huge ass this makes is also the weakness of the ship. If any ships get into pursuit, they have this huge glowing target to shoot at and the corvette can't shoot back. Now for the thing that bugged me the most: The Death Star. For a battle station it was surprisingly easy to get close to and destroy. Mainly this has to do with the gun emplacements and how they were severely lacking. Question: Why in the worlds would the heaviest turbolaser batteries have a field of fire ONLY parallell to the surface of a spherical battlestation? You would think you would have those pointed out towards oncoming capital ships where they might actually do some good. Also, I noticed that the fighters encountered only light resistance in their attack run. Han had two quad-laser turrets with fast servos on the Falcon. Both of these were Imperial design. Now why the hell didn't the Death Star have a shit-tonne of these installed all over the surface to deal with enemy fighters? They should have been able to make the space around the assault glow green with AA fire. I also can't help but noticed they dispatched a total of what, 10 fighters to deal with 30 attackers? The Death Star carried well over 1000 of the little bastards, What genius thought 3-1 odds were good enough? As I said, The Falcon was the only ship properly designed for space combat. It has two OUTWARD facing turrets on top and bottom to provide an almost spherical field of fire, plus a few fixed forward firing weapons for a little extra punch. In all of the Star Wars movies, I think the Falcon is the only well designed combat ship. Most of the other designs represent 2 dimensional thinking in a 3 dimensional environment., and most of the other designs look more suited for atmospheric or surface warfare rather than the hard vacuum of space.
The writing I also found lacking. There wasn't really any character development, or even meaningful interaction. Mostly they spent their time over-explaining the situation rather than actually interacting. They kept on making references to things that are supposed to be already known, but never actually were until a quarter century after the release of the first film.
In all, I still like Star Wars, but I can't help but be bugged by it. I could go on, but it is late and I have a headache now.
Since I brought up acting, I might as well start with that. First off, for a guy in his 20s Luke is a whiny little bitch. I think this is the base that the douche they picked to play Annakin in the newest 2 films, because that so-called actor because he made what is writtten as a fun and intelligent character into a stupid, sniveling, whiny little bitchwhore. Anyway, back to the original. Next we have Ben Kenobi. Actually he did pretty well, except for a jedi his swordplay was pathetic. Now Han was really just a talking head for the whole film with witty one-liners and a penchant for getting shot at. His character had no depth whatsoever. About the only character who was convincing was the charismatic princess. she was the only one who seemed to be an actual person who wasn't overacting the part. Now on to the Droids, chrome plated comic relief who somehow managed to quit their bickering just long enough to do just the right thing at the right time.
Now comes the part that REALLY bugged me: the technical side. Lets start with the physics of starflight (which seems to be conveniently forgotten here). First off, in space you can't hear anything because there is nothing to conduct the sound waves. All those cool sound effects like the Tie Fighters screaming by are totally bogus. I also noticed how every ship seemed to be confined to the motions of atmospheric flight. For example, when the fighters were flying down the trench of the Death Star, you had one lead fighter targeting the shaft while his two wingmen flew interference against their pursuers. All well and good, except they basically used themselves as meat shields when they could have fought back. According to physics, if they had simply cut their engines and turned around, they would continue in the same direction as before, but now they could shoot back at their pursuers. Since they are in the vacuum of space, they wouldn't be torn to pieces and crash. There was also the fact that it seemed every ship had their main engines on all the time. This simply produces constant thrust and acceleration in space and is kind of counter-productive.
Another thing that really bugged me was the ship designs. None but the Falcon are really suited for space combat. Lets start with the fighters. First we have the TIE fighter. Basically it is a small spherical cockpit with two small ion engines, two heavy turbolaser cannons, and two giant solar panel wings that basically provide an opponent with a huge target to shoot at. Now head on they have such a small profile that they would be hard to hit, but from any other angle they are stupidly vulnerable. Next we have the Y wing fighter. Basically it is very similar to the TIE figther except it doesn't have big wings and also has a large capacity for bombs or missiles. It also has a rotating turret which for some reason was never used in the movie to pick off the TIEs on their tail. Of all the fighters in the movie, the X wing starfighter was most suited for space combat. It too has a very small aspect ratio making it hard to hit, but it also has 4 cannons placed so as to make a sort of box around the target. the center of gravity is such that maneuvering it should be very easy and quick, despite what the movie showed. The larger ships are what really annoyed me because for warships, they are very poorly designed. One of the worst is the Star Destroyer. These things are unbelievably ill suited for space combat. The placement of their weapons is reminescent of surface ships that shoot to the side because they are dealing with gravity. Their field of fire is limited to almost completely lateral shots. Next we have the Correlian Corvette (aka Blockade Runner). Actually this one is rather well suited for it's purpose. most of the weaponry is forward mounted to provide a screen of fire towards any blockading ships, and 11 engines to give it considerable speed. However the huge ass this makes is also the weakness of the ship. If any ships get into pursuit, they have this huge glowing target to shoot at and the corvette can't shoot back. Now for the thing that bugged me the most: The Death Star. For a battle station it was surprisingly easy to get close to and destroy. Mainly this has to do with the gun emplacements and how they were severely lacking. Question: Why in the worlds would the heaviest turbolaser batteries have a field of fire ONLY parallell to the surface of a spherical battlestation? You would think you would have those pointed out towards oncoming capital ships where they might actually do some good. Also, I noticed that the fighters encountered only light resistance in their attack run. Han had two quad-laser turrets with fast servos on the Falcon. Both of these were Imperial design. Now why the hell didn't the Death Star have a shit-tonne of these installed all over the surface to deal with enemy fighters? They should have been able to make the space around the assault glow green with AA fire. I also can't help but noticed they dispatched a total of what, 10 fighters to deal with 30 attackers? The Death Star carried well over 1000 of the little bastards, What genius thought 3-1 odds were good enough? As I said, The Falcon was the only ship properly designed for space combat. It has two OUTWARD facing turrets on top and bottom to provide an almost spherical field of fire, plus a few fixed forward firing weapons for a little extra punch. In all of the Star Wars movies, I think the Falcon is the only well designed combat ship. Most of the other designs represent 2 dimensional thinking in a 3 dimensional environment., and most of the other designs look more suited for atmospheric or surface warfare rather than the hard vacuum of space.
The writing I also found lacking. There wasn't really any character development, or even meaningful interaction. Mostly they spent their time over-explaining the situation rather than actually interacting. They kept on making references to things that are supposed to be already known, but never actually were until a quarter century after the release of the first film.
In all, I still like Star Wars, but I can't help but be bugged by it. I could go on, but it is late and I have a headache now.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Cosmos
I wrote this intending it to be a song. Sometime I plan on actually having music to go with. I can hear it in my head, but until I can play it that does nobody any good. it reads better if you leave off the last line when it repeats the previous one. I only included the repeats because it sings better with.
__________________________
As I drift on by I look up to the sky
and try to see every star
in the cosmos
Every now and then
one catches my eye.
I wonder where is the one
that is searching for me?
Where can she be found
in the cosmos?
In the cosmos.
Is that your light I see?
Are you the one for me?
Are you so far away
and yet I see you clear as day?
Its so hard to tell
My head rings like a bell
Calling out to you
In this cosmos.
By the light of the stars
the answers are clear as day
yet are hidden away
in the haze of the nebulae
Through the clouds of doubt
I try to hunt them out
Sifting through the dusty motes
of the cosmos.
Suddenly a bright white light
catches my eye.
It is calling to me in the voice of love.
Please don't be another shooting star
that has traveled so far
just to burn away from
my cosmos
away from my cosmos
I want you to stay in my sky
and beckon me on.
Light my way right to your side.
Let our light shine bright
as we dance through the endless night
of the cosmos.
of the cosmos
I want you to be
the brightest star in my sky!
Let our light be seen
on the other side of the galaxy.
let us fly together
dancing through the cosmos.
through the cosmos
Johannes Kepler says
"let them orbit together
floating forever"
let us be the perfect pair
floating above the air
not caring where we are
we're just another star
in the cosmos.
in the cosmos
Let us shine our light
in our timeless flight
through the cosmos.
__________________________
As I drift on by I look up to the sky
and try to see every star
in the cosmos
Every now and then
one catches my eye.
I wonder where is the one
that is searching for me?
Where can she be found
in the cosmos?
In the cosmos.
Is that your light I see?
Are you the one for me?
Are you so far away
and yet I see you clear as day?
Its so hard to tell
My head rings like a bell
Calling out to you
In this cosmos.
By the light of the stars
the answers are clear as day
yet are hidden away
in the haze of the nebulae
Through the clouds of doubt
I try to hunt them out
Sifting through the dusty motes
of the cosmos.
Suddenly a bright white light
catches my eye.
It is calling to me in the voice of love.
Please don't be another shooting star
that has traveled so far
just to burn away from
my cosmos
away from my cosmos
I want you to stay in my sky
and beckon me on.
Light my way right to your side.
Let our light shine bright
as we dance through the endless night
of the cosmos.
of the cosmos
I want you to be
the brightest star in my sky!
Let our light be seen
on the other side of the galaxy.
let us fly together
dancing through the cosmos.
through the cosmos
Johannes Kepler says
"let them orbit together
floating forever"
let us be the perfect pair
floating above the air
not caring where we are
we're just another star
in the cosmos.
in the cosmos
Let us shine our light
in our timeless flight
through the cosmos.
600 Miles
This was originally posted July 27th, 2007 on my Facebook account:
It has been a while since I wrote a song, even longer since I wrote one I cared to share with others. Before anybody asks, yes it is for and about someone in particular, someone who is meaning more and more to me every day. Sorry if it is a bit long, it takes up two sides of a blank paper, double columbed on both sides.
BTW, thanks John for getting me thinking about writing this, I had almost forgotten how much I love songwriting.
__________________________
Ain't it kind of funny
Though everything is sunny
You still never know what you might have had
'Till you're long gone.
I used to see you everyday,
Though I kind of shied away.
We used to laugh and joke,
And sometimes poke.
Those memories had better never fade away.
But that place I left,
A move that was left than deft,
But there was nothing for me there,
So I followed my dreams up to thinner air.
600 miles out to the west.
I was doin' fine.
The world felt like it was mine.
I was finding friends
And a few dead ends
And praying for a sign.
What happened next
Started in text
An angel from the past
Stepped out at last
From 600 miles away
Now it's 600 miles
And endless smiles
And love growing stronger with time
600 Miles, plus a little more
And I'd be knocking at her door
She's just a day
And three tanks away
But it ain't up to me to say
Just got to take it day by day
I saw her online
And told her I was fine
We flung some dirt
And started to flirt
'Till we both hurt from our smiles
Then we started to talk
About the paths we've walked
About our joys and pains
And a couple of stains
Plus some things we'd never thought we'd say
Still it's 600 miles
And endless smiles
And love growing stronger with time
600 miles, plus a little more
And i'd be knocking at her door
She's just a day
And three tanks away
But it just ain't up to me to say
We've just got to take it day by day
Then one day it got kind of serious
Though I can't say mysterious
She said there was something she wanted to say
And I told her I felt the same
Our thoughts turned out to be one and the same.
Now we talk everyday
From 600 miles away
Online or on phone
Sitting all alone
Sending our love all that way
600 miles
And endless smiles
Our love getting stronger with time
600 miles, plus a little more
Are sitting between me and her door
She's just a day
And three tanks away
Sadly it just ain't up to me to say
We send each other pictures
From now and then
Of each of us and where we have been
Pictures are nice, but they aren't the same
Though they do make for a nice little game
I told a friend I wish I had known
Just what kind of love we could have shown
He asked me this: would you have had it that way?
Would it have been the same anyway?
Think about it before you say it
My heart screamed yes,
But I didn’t have to guess
That the answer was that it couldn’t have been
We’re different now than we were back then
It would have fallen apart from the start
I’d be with her now except for one little thing
The reason I left in the beginning
I’ve got to be here so I can follow a dream
I have to stay and I have to learn
So I can be the person I want to be
Babe, you know I’d be there if I could
Walking and talking together and holding your hand
My heart keeps telling me I should
But life just doesn’t seem to understand
Only 600 miles
And shared endless smiles
With our love growing stronger with time
600 miles, plus a little more
Else I’d be knocking at her door
She’s just a day
And three tanks away
It’s up to life and not us to say
My heart knows best
But the head knows the rest
We’ve got to wait my dear
For another year
All that time is just another test
If our love holds strong
It won’t be so long
Before I’m driving
And smiling all along
And 600 miles will soon be gone
I’ve got 600 miles
Filled with endless smiles
Fueled by love grown stronger with time
600 miles, plus a little more
And I’ll be knocking at your door
I’m just a day
And three tanks away
I’ll be there, that much I can say
600 miles
A day
Three tanks away
But as they say
We’ve all got dues to pay
But we’ll be together one bright sunny day
It has been a while since I wrote a song, even longer since I wrote one I cared to share with others. Before anybody asks, yes it is for and about someone in particular, someone who is meaning more and more to me every day. Sorry if it is a bit long, it takes up two sides of a blank paper, double columbed on both sides.
BTW, thanks John for getting me thinking about writing this, I had almost forgotten how much I love songwriting.
__________________________
Ain't it kind of funny
Though everything is sunny
You still never know what you might have had
'Till you're long gone.
I used to see you everyday,
Though I kind of shied away.
We used to laugh and joke,
And sometimes poke.
Those memories had better never fade away.
But that place I left,
A move that was left than deft,
But there was nothing for me there,
So I followed my dreams up to thinner air.
600 miles out to the west.
I was doin' fine.
The world felt like it was mine.
I was finding friends
And a few dead ends
And praying for a sign.
What happened next
Started in text
An angel from the past
Stepped out at last
From 600 miles away
Now it's 600 miles
And endless smiles
And love growing stronger with time
600 Miles, plus a little more
And I'd be knocking at her door
She's just a day
And three tanks away
But it ain't up to me to say
Just got to take it day by day
I saw her online
And told her I was fine
We flung some dirt
And started to flirt
'Till we both hurt from our smiles
Then we started to talk
About the paths we've walked
About our joys and pains
And a couple of stains
Plus some things we'd never thought we'd say
Still it's 600 miles
And endless smiles
And love growing stronger with time
600 miles, plus a little more
And i'd be knocking at her door
She's just a day
And three tanks away
But it just ain't up to me to say
We've just got to take it day by day
Then one day it got kind of serious
Though I can't say mysterious
She said there was something she wanted to say
And I told her I felt the same
Our thoughts turned out to be one and the same.
Now we talk everyday
From 600 miles away
Online or on phone
Sitting all alone
Sending our love all that way
600 miles
And endless smiles
Our love getting stronger with time
600 miles, plus a little more
Are sitting between me and her door
She's just a day
And three tanks away
Sadly it just ain't up to me to say
We send each other pictures
From now and then
Of each of us and where we have been
Pictures are nice, but they aren't the same
Though they do make for a nice little game
I told a friend I wish I had known
Just what kind of love we could have shown
He asked me this: would you have had it that way?
Would it have been the same anyway?
Think about it before you say it
My heart screamed yes,
But I didn’t have to guess
That the answer was that it couldn’t have been
We’re different now than we were back then
It would have fallen apart from the start
I’d be with her now except for one little thing
The reason I left in the beginning
I’ve got to be here so I can follow a dream
I have to stay and I have to learn
So I can be the person I want to be
Babe, you know I’d be there if I could
Walking and talking together and holding your hand
My heart keeps telling me I should
But life just doesn’t seem to understand
Only 600 miles
And shared endless smiles
With our love growing stronger with time
600 miles, plus a little more
Else I’d be knocking at her door
She’s just a day
And three tanks away
It’s up to life and not us to say
My heart knows best
But the head knows the rest
We’ve got to wait my dear
For another year
All that time is just another test
If our love holds strong
It won’t be so long
Before I’m driving
And smiling all along
And 600 miles will soon be gone
I’ve got 600 miles
Filled with endless smiles
Fueled by love grown stronger with time
600 miles, plus a little more
And I’ll be knocking at your door
I’m just a day
And three tanks away
I’ll be there, that much I can say
600 miles
A day
Three tanks away
But as they say
We’ve all got dues to pay
But we’ll be together one bright sunny day
Sunday, September 9, 2007
"WTF People?" #6 (@#$%ing Applications!)
This one is going to be rather hostile to a lot of you who may read this, but it needs to be said. This regards the new slew of applications being allowed to clutter up facebook, and the people who use them. My message to you is this: unless you actually want me-or any of your friends for that matter- to use an application you have and use yourself, DON"T INVITE EVERY LAST PERSON ON YOUR 'FRIENDS' LIST TO JOIN!!!b I am getting tired and downright irritated at logging in everyday and finding 10 app invites for things I couldn't give a rat's ass about! For one thing, it would be seriously unfair to the rat...but I digress. I realize that once you add an app, it asks you to invite some friends, but please have the courtesy of either declining to do so, or invite only those who you think might like it. I DON'T want to be a vampire or a zombie or whatever. I DON'T rate my friends because I find that condescending and rude. Not to mention that no two friends are alike enough for a comparison or a ranking to really apply. Honestly people, think before you click that button!
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
WTF People? #5 (Nonsense text lingo)
So, it has been a while since I posted a a good rant. Sorry, but life has been rather busy of late.
Anyway, I have been thinking about this topic for a while, and it has really been bugging me: WTF is up with the weird spelling and terms that have come to life due to gaming and text messaging. A prime example is the term "pwned." To a non gamer or other person not familiar with this, it would appear to be a poor spelling ow "pawned" as in temporarily sold for cash with the intention of buying back, or perhaps a chess reference. However, those have nothing to do with it's meaning. The term "pwned" is read as "owned." How this came about, I have no idea. Perhaps some idiot was typing fast and forgot to check what he was saying and typed a 'p' instead of an 'o', after all, they are right next to each other on the keypad. However, why this has caught fire among the cyber-community is a mystery to me. Has the human race decided to abandon the one thing that has made it possible for civilizations to arise and record to be kepst for millennia? Are we suddenly abandoning the concept of an oerderly, rigid written language just so we can assign new meaning to nonsense? I mean when does "pwnd l4l/l3 n00b" read "owned lame noobie"? And where the hell did "owned"-in the sense of getting one's ass kicked- come from in the first place? You may say to me "but you are being a hypocrite with your frequent use of 'WTF'." I say no, I am not. WTF is a logical abbreviation of a phrase that has been around for decades. It is not some arbitrary spelling for a word that already has it's own spelling. if you are going to tell somebody something, say it right or don't say it at all! WTF is wrong with following some basic spelling rules now and then?
Another facet of this same problem is found in text messages and chatrooms. I recently saw a commercial that only emphasized my irritation towards this nonsense. It was about a mother confronting her daughter about her cell phone bill because of how huct all her texting had cost, and the daughter was responding the same way she texted people: with letters. she was answering with things like "omg, tinf!" now, it took me a little bit to figure out what she was saying, but it was stupid. Once again, you say "but you do the same with all that 'WTF' crap," well, you have me there. the reason I use that is because it is far more polite that saying "What The Fuck" all the time. Besides, WTF rolls of the tongue easier, and I hate typing "fuck" because it never looks right. But that does not mean some twit with no life can barge into a decent online conversation thinking he can get a few lolz when this n00b starts ragging on ppl who r getting annoyed. wut r u gonna do when this mongrel of an ass can't even have the decency to speak right. Or HoW aBoUt ThE peOpLe WhO Type LIke ThEiR ShIfT kEy iS FuCkEd, WTF is up with that? It is harder to do and takes twice the amoung of time to do ad regular typing. Are you people trying to get me to slap you in the face with a cinder block?
Anyway, I have been thinking about this topic for a while, and it has really been bugging me: WTF is up with the weird spelling and terms that have come to life due to gaming and text messaging. A prime example is the term "pwned." To a non gamer or other person not familiar with this, it would appear to be a poor spelling ow "pawned" as in temporarily sold for cash with the intention of buying back, or perhaps a chess reference. However, those have nothing to do with it's meaning. The term "pwned" is read as "owned." How this came about, I have no idea. Perhaps some idiot was typing fast and forgot to check what he was saying and typed a 'p' instead of an 'o', after all, they are right next to each other on the keypad. However, why this has caught fire among the cyber-community is a mystery to me. Has the human race decided to abandon the one thing that has made it possible for civilizations to arise and record to be kepst for millennia? Are we suddenly abandoning the concept of an oerderly, rigid written language just so we can assign new meaning to nonsense? I mean when does "pwnd l4l/l3 n00b" read "owned lame noobie"? And where the hell did "owned"-in the sense of getting one's ass kicked- come from in the first place? You may say to me "but you are being a hypocrite with your frequent use of 'WTF'." I say no, I am not. WTF is a logical abbreviation of a phrase that has been around for decades. It is not some arbitrary spelling for a word that already has it's own spelling. if you are going to tell somebody something, say it right or don't say it at all! WTF is wrong with following some basic spelling rules now and then?
Another facet of this same problem is found in text messages and chatrooms. I recently saw a commercial that only emphasized my irritation towards this nonsense. It was about a mother confronting her daughter about her cell phone bill because of how huct all her texting had cost, and the daughter was responding the same way she texted people: with letters. she was answering with things like "omg, tinf!" now, it took me a little bit to figure out what she was saying, but it was stupid. Once again, you say "but you do the same with all that 'WTF' crap," well, you have me there. the reason I use that is because it is far more polite that saying "What The Fuck" all the time. Besides, WTF rolls of the tongue easier, and I hate typing "fuck" because it never looks right. But that does not mean some twit with no life can barge into a decent online conversation thinking he can get a few lolz when this n00b starts ragging on ppl who r getting annoyed. wut r u gonna do when this mongrel of an ass can't even have the decency to speak right. Or HoW aBoUt ThE peOpLe WhO Type LIke ThEiR ShIfT kEy iS FuCkEd, WTF is up with that? It is harder to do and takes twice the amoung of time to do ad regular typing. Are you people trying to get me to slap you in the face with a cinder block?
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