Gradually degenerating into ignorance and complacency.

Friday, April 04, 2008

Historic Photos of Fort Wayne

Historic Photos of Fort Wayne is a well-crafted, simple collection of pictures taken of Fort Wayne up to the nineteen eighties. Well the pictures tell their own stories, the captions detail the people and significance of the scene. Interestingly, the author notes the Germanic founding of Fort Wayne and the later toned-down German influences that were a distraction during the onset of WWI. I have read Fort Wayne history and being a native of Fort Wayne, I was surprised to learn even more with this book. Since it is a fast read, while interesting, I would recommend this book for any Fort Wayne native. People liking historic photos could also benefit from this neat and clever book. While it was near me, family read it and had much the same praises as do I for this book.

While I normally harshly criticize many books and focus on the negative, I will endorse this one. Good viewing, good reading.

Thursday, April 03, 2008

sign of Spring

Sprout, grow, push away Winter

I drew the wrong conclusions

Elwood, a Blues Brother, or maybe not. I think not.
Fresh Market trash

carried away


I believe that this was moved from a shopping center, near a body of water, then pushed along about .2 mile downstream.

Hire a ninja

Not askAninja. I was just sharpening my blade when the thing went off. Man kills another with sword. I got this from MR who (mono) blogs . So, put the guy in jail, but insist on killing registered sex offenders, then you don't have to worry about sword-wielding guys doing "accidental" things.

Yeah, sex offender is dead!
Sad that supposed protective father will be in prison.

It's good that this impulsive man will be off the streets.

watching the game

So I got Beowulf from the library and if you like cut scenes from video games, then you'd love this movie. It is like watching a long series of cut scenes from sci-fi horror games. It was avoidable. It was interesting with some of the sound, the visuals were ok, but lacked realism -- still had the cut scene flair of a person altering shape and mass during times of the movie.

Overall, the movie isn't a movie. It was more like a long game trailer -- play now on Wii, PS #, GC, XBOX #

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

moley moley moley

A neighbor was fixing a dryer vent and asked for help. Apparently a mole crept in through this access and entered the home. While it deftly escaped his terror campaign of chasing it in the house, the cat, a day later, was clearly more skillful and left the assassinated mole on the floor.

There's it's dead, can I go now?

Anyway, I helped him with the venting and it is as good as it is going to be.

My Neighbor Totoro

This kid's movie is fairly typical of Hayao Miyazaki's work. There are children being independent, but this one has fewer "scary" moments and scenes. The characters are all interesting in their own right, but the mother character is never developed -- like most of his work. When watching the movies you must assume that there are myths and creatures that are unknown to you, but he will show you.

The English version was remastered, leaving a perfect surround sound with stereo elements. The relationship of the sisters is very well done and typically there is an elder who helps the main character go through life and learn. The only disappointment with the movie I had was the Poke'mon like qualities a few of the forest spirits. I did, however, like the Cheshire Cat allusion as well as the Magic School Bus allusion.

It ended fairly abruptly leaving you wanting more, as if ... "is this a series".

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Old Vermilyea House

Old Vermilyea House at Redding Rd. and Aboite Rd. in Allen County, Indiana

In Indiana, specifically Huntington


Dan Quayle ... oops, should that be Quail, or Kwale or ... well, I think you got it.

today's Zork walk Gru on me

I walked again today, a habit I hope I keep, and found some odd things on my trip. I found a caster (wheel) broken free from a wooden cart. It was lying in water. Elsewhere near the discarded wheel was a shovel. It was "unused". Apart from many other scraps of wind-blown trash, I found a yellow golf ball and saw, but did not move, a flower pot, a small basketball, large stones, van with four flat tires +, long oddly-shaped stick, car tire, empty water bottle, ...

While you couldn't, even in Zork, carry the van in your inventory, I am sure that putting all of these things in the right places would have yielded something like a gem that would be worth n points. I didn't meet the Wizard of Froboz or the Red Cloaked Figure, but I did see a mailbox. Oh, I forgot, matchbox with 3 matches. It was getting colder and darker. I didn't want to be eaten by a Gru, so I headed back.

+ Sadly, this was the only vehicle in the lot with a keyed side and four flat tires. It was clearly targeted. The only good news, is that the vandals didn't get every car there.

MR made me laugh

Did I find any Geo Metros, like the one I had once driven, slip through the grate holes into the stormwater/sewer? No, but that was very funny!

dark day

Fort Wayne experienced the death of at least five persons.+ It was a dark day. I hope Fort Wayne never again has such a dark day.

+ it will be argued that the fetus is a person, thereby making it six deaths.

Today's weather

ass-biting cold

lazy workers yields unmovable covers


Way to go workers! Yeah, that whole process would have taken minutes to pull up the cover and let it sit. Here's to laziness!

Monday, March 31, 2008

So I go to this job interview

She asks me, "what kind of job do you want". I told her; she screamed; kicked me out. I guess I misunderstood her. I mean, it was a fan manufacturer, right?

Flowers For Algernon

While I am not through reading it, it is the book I am reading now. I saw the sad play and have had the book for a long while, never reading it. It is a sad book, only hints at some flashes of humor from real life perspectives, but as a whole, a journey of sadness. I think that is why I am not running through it. After my friends having hellish weeks, stress in my own life, I am not keen on getting lower through literature.

free book for review

I was offered and got a free Fort Wayne book. It is quite nice, mostly chronologically arranged detailing, in photographs, the "evolution" as it were of Fort Wayne. I would suggest anyone interested in Fort Wayne's history to Historic Photos of Fort Wayne. There is not a whole lot of text, but well worth your while to read.

but thine is black

My sister called, and one small feature to not working full time at my in-town job is that I could help her out. She was thinking of buying a Dodge Intrepid, 1999, like mine. Well, it was much cheaper, but lacked some of the amenities mine has as well as some interior structure wear and tear. In all, I think that she didn't get a bad deal from the company. The only real -- now, problem was the breaks. While they didn't squeal, they seemed weak. She bought the car today and took it to another place to fix the brakes. Only now do I think, "have it's memory erased, then it will be over; it will be ours ..." +

+ Star Wars: New Hope

eyebrow raised, other twitching

It was a stressful weekend -- my anger boiling to a point of wanting to act out, so I walked about 3 hours. I walked in areas where I have never been and saw a few neat things, but mostly just thought and felt. I startled two rabbits from their creek-side burrows Apart from them, the birds, and one cat, I saw nothing of much interest. I did see some very-well hidden businesses that would not be seen by local passerbys as they were off a side street and lacked very large signs. One street had wonderfully lazy road crews tar and gravel the road without removing the manhole covers, so -- they are permanently fixed. Smart, really smart.

The next day, still frustrated as the problem didn't go away really, I walked about 3 some miles and saw a curious raccoon, bewildered by my intrusion, but slowly crawled away into a "safer" spot -- a cover under a bridge. I did not have my camera, but with my slow movements likely put less stress on the animal as I backed up a bit then walked away from it. It looked at me as if I were about to scold it.

-- to protect identity, no gender terms are intentionally used --
When I got back I got a call from my friend. She had sad, bad news. Another friend at work, kid, had too much stress and lost it at work, hyperventilating that person went to hospital. That person was discharged the same night. I drove up (to another city) to see that the patient was already gone. I am happy that person got to leave.

My friend who called, reporting this, also had a hell of a weekend. In all -- my stress and anger are ill-suited for my minimal stress. Others, well-deserving a reprieve were granted none. In perspective -- I wish I had carried their load -- their hell with me as I walked. My feet, smearing the mud of wasted and of ill with each step -- eventually empty of most of my load.