Breaker Breaker

I suspect that all of you have stood on the beach at one time or another and watched the waves roll in.

I remember watching the movie "Castaway" with Tom Hanks. There is a scene in that flick shot from the top of the hill, where the camera pans 360 degrees. Did you notice that no matter what direction the shore line faces, the waves always come towards the shore?

Why is that?

Why don't the breakers ever go out?

Or sideways?

Is it a conspiracy by the travel industry to prevent California surfer dudes from getting a free ride to Hawaii?

Are waves magnetically attracted to land?

If you can explain this phenomena, please tell me so I can sleep at night.

Cheers,
Rick

Richie Rich Revisited

About a month ago, I decided to become filthy rich by allowing ads on my blog. Your part in this scheme, gentle reader, was to simply click on the ads. In doing so, you would make me rich. Not a lot to ask now is it? So, how are we doing? How close am I to achieving that which normally takes hard work, talent, long hours and determination?

One cent! Yes, you heard correctly... one cent. One one-hundredth of a dollar. At this rate, it will take about one hundred years to earn $10.00, which is the minimum payout by the folks who pay for add clicks. Frankly, I'm disappointed. I was expecting more from you and you have let me down.

I'm kidding of course. Nobody gets rich without putting in the effort (Assuming one has the ability in the first place), but its fun to dream.

I just finished watching a DVD about the life of Cole Porter. Now there's a guy with talent. His talent made him rich. Just by writing a hit song or two.

So maybe I'll write a hit song. Trouble is, I'm not creative. You need good ideas to write a good song, and I don't have any. So, here's your chance to redeem yourselves gentle reader... Give me a song idea, and I'll see what I can do. Deal?

The Musical Crutch

Like most guitar players, I am 99% self taught. The guitar, being a folk instrument, (Meaning regular folks can easily play it) lends itself to personal experimentation. With half a dozen chords under your belt, you can accompany thousands of songs. Lots of folks do this, and actually think they are "Guitarists". But the guitar is a complex instrument that you could spend your whole life learning and perfecting, and still be a very long way from knowing everything. For example, a classical artist such as Christopher Parkening knows his stuff on the classical guitar, but (I'm guessing here) knows very little about blues, or bluegrass. But, I digress.

Being that I am self taught, I know precious little about music theory. When I look at a score, I don't see music; I see spots before my eyes.
Hey Rick, do you read music? - Not enough to hurt my playing! Haw Haw Haw!!
Actually, it hurts a lot. When I see the piano player sit down in front of a complex score and play it without even knowing the tune, I'm impressed. Knowing how to read separates the Musicians from the Duffers.
Having a good ear, and a feel for the music has enabled me to compensate quite well over the years, but I'm often confronted with my shortcomings. Oh, how I would love to be able to do what the piano player does and just play from the score.

Well, help has arrived... sort of. Technology has come to the rescue. There is a software company named Sibelius. They offer a program called G7 that is very useful for folks like me. With this program, you can take a piece of printed music, scan it into the program, and the program will play the piece so you can hear it. The software will also analyze the notes and tell you what the chords are! How cool is that? It's absolutely a-flippin'-mazing!
So once the program plays the tune for me, I'm off and running. I can then play it by ear. OK, so it's not as good as actually learning to read, but it sure helps.

If you are one of those illiterate guitarists like me, check it out. It may not make you a better musician, but it will save you the embarrassment of having to ask the pianist to write out the chords for you!

Cheers,
Rick

The Barnstormer

When I lived in Virginia back in the late '70s, I fulfilled one of my childhood dreams. I learned to fly. One of my friends was a captain with American Airlines, and he encouraged me to "Go For It". I soloed in 2.5 hours and received my private pilots license in about three months. The plane I learned in can be seen in the photo above. That particular student pilot had been on a cross country solo flight when something went wrong.






I eventually purchased this 1962 Cessna 172 for $6000 and flew regularly between Washington and Ottawa to visit friends and family. That's a 4 to 5 hour trip in a light plane. (Ottawa is the town where I did most of my growing up.)

This particular plane was originally owned by Arthur Godfrey, the television personality. Godfrey Field, the airport in Leesburg Virginia where I took my flying lessons bears his name. You can read about him at this website: (http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/G/htmlG/godfreyarth/godfreyarth.htm)

This Grumman TR2 was owned by a friend who allowed me to use it before I purchased the Cessna. That Grumman was a real hoot to fly, but it was nearly the death of me. Here's what happened.

I had flown to Ottawa to visit my family one weekend. The weather forecast for the return trip to Virginia was marginal, but I decided to take a chance anyway (Big mistake). The weatherman called for low ceilings and rain over Pennsylvania and Virginia. Apart from some turbulence and rain, things were fine until I reached southern Pennsylvania. I was flying just below the cloud cover at about 3000 feet, and I was tense. Concentrating on navigation and fighting the poor visibility, I didn't notice that the ground was gradually rising to meet me. I was flying over heavily forested low mountains when I suddenly realized that I could no longer see the horizon... meaning the terrain a few miles ahead of me had risen to meet the clouds. If I didn't do something quickly, I would soon have to increase altitude to avoid the trees. I would then be in the clouds without an instrument rating, flying blind. Such a situation is usually not survivable.

I needed to find a place to land immediately! Consulting my chart, I saw that there was a small airstrip about 10 miles away to the west. Using radio beacons, I managed to find the airstrip within a few minutes, and got a brief glimpse of it as I flew directly over it. By now, there was only about 100 feet between the bottom of the cloud cover and the tree tops. My only chance was to execute a perfect 360 degree turn to find the strip again, and land. During this maneuver, the airstrip was not visible to me, due to the low altitude, tall trees and lack of visibility due to heavy rain. The fact that I found the landing strip and got the plane down was close to a miracle. It wasn't until after I parked the plane and got it tied down that the gravity of my close call reached my consciousness, and I began to shake. A good friend agreed to drive up from Leesburg Virginia to pick me up and drive me home that evening.

The following weekend, we drove back up to retrieve the plane and fly it to home base. Now, here's where things get really interesting. That plane holds 42 gallons of fuel. When I refueled prior to takeoff, I pumped 41 gallons into the tanks! I had been concentrating so hard on flying, I had neglected to monitor my fuel consumption. That's when I really started to tremble. I had been less than 5 minutes away from crashing into the trees that day! I'll never forget that incident as long as I live. Truly, God had preserved me. If He hadn't forced me to land, I would have crashed within minutes due to lack of fuel.

Thankfuly, most of my flying experiences have been much more uplifting than that. I remember seeing two sunrises on the same morning. I had taken off from Manassas airport 45 minutes before sunrise one day and climbed to 5000 feet to see the sun rise over the Chesapeake. Then I dropped down 3000 feet into darkness, and flew east for a few minutes until once again, the sun rose over the bay. Pretty cool eh?

If you ever get the opportunity to learn to fly - Go For It! Just watch your fuel levels, and you'll be fine.

Cheers,
Rick

The Kilt

In a previous blog entitled "The Diet", I touched on the subject of wearing the Kilt. After renting a kilt for the Robbie Burns dinner, and discovering how comfortable they were, I remember thinking that it's too bad they are just for formal occasions.

I did some surfing to find out about prices and such, and made a huge discovery. Kilts aren't just for formal occasions. In fact, there are quite a number of manufacturers who make non-traditional kilts for casual wear. Casual kilts generally use cloth other than tartan, such as denim, twill, even camoflauge. It seems that there is a growing awakening among men that kilts can be worn anywhere, anytime. If you Google "casual kilt", you'll get an eyefull. Or check my links for some of my favourite sites. It's huge.

Sometimes when I'm wearing a kilt, people ask if I'm Scottish. Explaining why you wear a kilt when your not Scottish can sometimes raise an eyebrow or two. I find it's often easier to say I have Celtic heritage, or that I'm a rock star. (Rockers get away with wearing all kinds of wierd stuff)
While I do have some Celtic heritage, it's not the main reason that I enjoy kilts. I like them mainly because of the comfort, especially when sitting for extended periods. Long drives are especially delightful. Frankly, I never realised just how uncomfortable pants were until I discovered that there is an alternative. Give it a try men, you'll be pleasantly surprised.

I have compiled a list of "Reasons I Wear the Kilt" for your amusement and edification:

1- You can call Punks conformists.
2- Men look good in kilts... Period.
3- Women love men in kilts.
4- It gives the ladies a cheap thrill when you get out of a car.
5- Because equality should extend to comfort!
6- Floor mounted AC vents on a hot day.
7- Heat vents on cold days.
8- Ergonomically, men belong in kilts. That seam in pants can be deadly.
9- Because driving cross-country in pants is just plain cruel!
10- Any guy confident enough to wear one has got to be progressive, sexy, and hip
11- When worn regularly, no one ever forgets who you are.
12- It's one thing that men and women can agree on when deciding what to wear.
13- It makes a great trademark if all your band members wear kilts. (Unless they're shy)
14- In the words of Mel Gibson in Braveheart ..."Freedom!"
15- I love the reactions!
16- Want to meet people? Wear a Kilt - Strangers come and talk to you!
17- When else would you ever hear the phrase, "Dude, fix your pleats."
18- If going trouserless is good enough for Sean Connery, Mel Gibson, Russell Crowe, Adrian Paul, it's good enough for me.
19- Even straight guys check me out. (Not that I'm looking for a date)
20- It itches a lot less in a kilt, it’s the breeze you know.
21- It makes people wonder.
22- Because through out history, men have worn un-bifurcated garments.
23- Freedom, and increased mobility.
24- You only go around once, so why shouldn’t you be as comfortable as possible.
25- You will chafe no more.
26- No more adjust, right side, left side…
27- Say goodbye to wedgies.
28- Jesus didn't wear pants.

So if you happen to see me wearing the kilt, whether tartan, or otherwise, it's not because I've gone to the other side. It's because I enjoy the comfort.

Cheers,
Rick

Richie Rich

Do you remember the old Richie Rich comics?


Good old Richie had my name, but that was all we had in common. I used to wonder what it would be like to be filthy stinkin' rich.
Henrey Ford was once asked how much money is enough... His answer: "Just a little more." Aint it the truth.
I love that line in the movie "Fiddler on the Roof" where Tevye the Milkman is talking to God, and he says... "Dear Lord, I know it's no shame to be poor, but it's no great honor either!" I think I know how he feels.

Dear friends, let's be clear about wealth. The richer you are, the more stuff you have, and the more stuff you have, the more space you need to put it, and the more space you have, the more work it is to keep it all together. Frankly, I think I'm a bit too lazy to be rich. Too much work. Unless....

Have you noticed the adds at the bottom of my blog? Apparently I get paid to have them there if You, Gentle Reader, click on them. That's right, You can make me RICH if you do your part. Now I don't wish to imply any guilt here. I mean, it's OK if you don't click on these interesting and possibly beneficial to you adds... I'm quite used to not being rich. There is a certain tranquility to it. A comfortable familiarity.---

While I may be unfamiliar with riches, I am, for the sake of science, let's say, willing to give it a try. What the heck, it can't be that bad can it?
So here's my plan. You, Gentle Reader, come and check for updates on my blog every day, and when you do, just click on all the ads each time you visit. In fact, why not click several times? Also, tell all your friends about this semi-cool blog, and tell them about my plan to become fabulously wealthy. I figure that with all those people clicking away, I should be giving Bill Gates a run for his money in about two or three weeks!


Now here is my promise to you. When I'm rich, I'll still talk to you.
Yes, you heard me right! I'll still talk to you, and what's more, you'll be able to tell people that you knew me when I was still a nobody. How cool is that?

To be practical, it would be good if you let me know that you're clicking the ads by leaving a comment. That way, I'll know if you are someone I'm still talking too.

Anyway, do your best, and let's see how it goes.

Cheers,
Rick

Thought provoking question:
If money talks, what does it say?

Money talks, but credit has an echo!

Why do they call it "Take home pay?" - Because you can't afford to take it anywhere else.