Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From San Francisco

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hambone
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Post by hambone » Fri Aug 24, 2007 7:08 am

It's weird seeing the shallow "haves" invade the entire country, changing the feel of entire communities - not to mention the costs for basic amenities. But every dog has it's day and all this can't last. Didn't the Bible say the freaks shall inherit the Earth? Something like that...
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Sluggo
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Post by Sluggo » Fri Aug 24, 2007 10:57 am

tristessa wrote:
Sluggo wrote:I dream of moving back to Portland or Seattle.
Stop dreaming and do it. :geek:
Somehow my last sentence got cut off. It should say "I dream of moving back to Portland or Seattle. If I could only find a job there that pays as well as this one."
:vwgauge420:

1977 Bus with Sunroof - "Lucky '77"
2000cc Type IV w/Dual Weber 36s,
Aircooled.net SVDA w/Compufire,
Redline Weber Fuel Pump,
Holley Regulator,
Half Ass Brush & Roller Rustoleum Paint Job,
Incomplete Custom Interior,
Dual Batteries,
Crunched Slider Door.
------------------------------------------------------

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Amskeptic
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Post by Amskeptic » Fri Aug 24, 2007 11:17 am

I have seen the behavior you all speak of in every corner of this country. It has nothing to do with people of a certain geography or local clots of selfishness.

I love Los Angeles, it is a bold and amazing metropolis that actually works. If you tune in to the overall energy, there is a certain common denominator of pride "this place actually works" and yes it is annoying at times, but I could see the embattled commuters of the 405/101 interchange on TV actually complimenting CalTrans on TV for some road work that helped their home-bound grind each afternoon. There is a deep social stratification in L.A. but it is a known condition harkening back to the early era of Major Motion Picture Studio Moguls. The spoiled actors and actresses who couldn't do a damn thing to help their fellow citizens after the Big One, are none the less tolerated as the presenting face of L.A. to the rest of the world. There is also a celebration of diversity in L.A. that I have always loved. It is a gritty silent acceptance among the working classes that this metropolis will reward the energetic with a livelihood, and the homeless/disabled/veterans at least won't freeze to death at night. I had a few years of hobnobbing with some modestly rich and mildly famous people before I opted out of the American Dream L.A. Style, they were good earnest people who talked more than they walked, so sue them. Los Angelenos are proud of the natural beauty that surrounds them. You can see it when Mount Wilson is snow covered in February, you can come down the Rt 2 Los Angeles Highway with a huge pile of snow on your hood and hit Santa Monica's beaches for an afternoon of swimming in the Pacific while the snow finishes melting off the car.

The Me-First Entitlement Virus that is sweeping the country is our harvest of Be Cloyingly Attentive To Your Children Parenting. It was a well-intentioned attempt to do a better job, but we inadvertantly unleashed the Monster Id of the Average Two Year Old. The Monster Id is the root of the tantrum, it is merely the natural appetites of the body that a two year old is in no condition to control without some serious guidance from adults. We thought listening respectfully to our two year-old's "gimmee gimmee gimmee" tantrum would help raise more sensitive children. Ahh no.
So I now have seen hordes of Two Year-Old Adults who cannot bear to be patient, cannot think of others, and who imagine that Life Itself is a merely a series of amusements punctuating a ceaseless over-satiation of appetites.

Don't worry too much. We will be dragged out of our selfish appetites when the structures of civilization begin to crack and crumble. Those of you who know that you know, best start building strong children who understand discomfort and still have the joy of life.
Colin-whining because it is cloudy and only 72*
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
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hambone
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Post by hambone » Fri Aug 24, 2007 12:53 pm

good earnest people who talked more than they walked, so sue them

Isn't this a contridiction? Aren't these the very people that are causing these problems? I for one am sick to death of all the west coast phonies who are "organic to their bones" but it's all talk as they drive their stupid Subarus everywhere. What's the good of that? Who does that help besides their own egoes? Maybe I'm taking your comment out of context.
Los Angelenos are proud of the natural beauty that surrounds them.
Perhaps, but they also live in The City That Shouldn't Be, smack dab in the middle of the desert and creating smog hanging like a pall in a vast bowl. I think the natural beauty would be better served without all of that clogged humanity. I've not spent much time in L.A. but in other urban areas I've lived with nature nearby, the residents could give a crap about the nature, it's all just a never-visited backdrop. Portland included, it took me years to meet people that actually have a spiritual connection with the nature here. Most people I've met (even lifelong residents!) have NEVER been off the grid nor do they have any inkling to do so. But they always are the first ones to brag about the moutains ocean etc.
The Me-First Entitlement Virus that is sweeping the country is our harvest of Be Cloyingly Attentive To Your Children Parenting.
I can see how that could be part of the problem, however it seems to me that many children these days could really use a stable home with both parents fully involved and providing tons of love, that's what the little ones need. I've met a few spoiled rich kids in my day, and their parents "love" them with money and distance, creating bored bland entitled little assholes. Just saw a biography on Gram Parsons, his life seems to sum it all up.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gram_Parsons

Doesn't the issue have more to do with cultural acceptance of the American Dream myth pumped out by mainstream media and directly supported by the Consumer Spending Index? We are no longer a linked series of communities, we are now merely consumers encouraged to drown in our excesses and give our kids "the best", but what they really need is our strength, love, and wise guidance.
This is weird, I don't normally take issue with your comments!
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dingo
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Post by dingo » Fri Aug 24, 2007 7:47 pm

someone once played the Gram Parson original version of 'Honky-tonk Woman'...which the Stones apparently borrowed...
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glasseye
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Post by glasseye » Fri Aug 24, 2007 9:12 pm

Great rant. That's the second time in twenty-four hours that somebody has mentioned me to the term "Entitlement", regarding kids. Last night at dinner, a recently retired teacher was bemoaning that very disease in her students.

So, it's caused by indulgent parents? Or relentless, mass-media marketing?

Are we so incredibly stupid? Or are the messages simply too irresistible?
"This war will pay for itself."
Paul Wolfowitz, speaking of Iraq.

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tristessa
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Post by tristessa » Fri Aug 24, 2007 10:20 pm

glasseye wrote:So, it's caused by indulgent parents? Or relentless, mass-media marketing?

Are we so incredibly stupid? Or are the messages simply too irresistible?
In both of those cases, does it have to be one or the other?

I think the answer is "yes" .. but what do I know?
Remember, only YOU can prevent narcissism!

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Amskeptic
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Post by Amskeptic » Sun Aug 26, 2007 5:43 pm

hambone wrote:This is weird, I don't normally take issue with your comments!
I consider it evidence of trust to engage in discussion.
hambone wrote:
good earnest people who talked more than they walked, so sue them
Isn't this a contradiction? Aren't these the very people that are causing these problems?
Not one citizen of L.A. is "responsible" for the urban problems that confront them. We all are. We all have our inner contradictions, we all contribute to the problem if we are participants in American life. I do not think we can draw a line in the sand and claim that "they" are contributors to the problem, but "we" in our "enlightenment" are not.
hambone wrote:
Los Angelenos are proud of the natural beauty that surrounds them.
Perhaps, but they also live in The City That Shouldn't Be, smack dab in the middle of the desert and creating smog hanging like a pall in a vast bowl. I think the natural beauty would be better served without all of that clogged humanity.


The same could be said for Portland with its smear of industry along the river and up to Troutdale. We are what we are, we have the consequences to share and bear. There are people all over who get it, and there are people in every city who do not.
hambone wrote:
The Me-First Entitlement Virus that is sweeping the country is our harvest of Be Cloyingly Attentive To Your Children Parenting.
I can see how that could be part of the problem, however it seems to me that many children these days could really use a stable home with both parents fully involved and providing tons of love, that's what the little ones need. I've met a few spoiled rich kids in my day, and their parents "love" them with money and distance, creating bored bland entitled little assholes.
A stable home for one is a prison of sanctimonious over-involvement for another. I have seen and know people who blossomed due to neglect. Really, if their parents had focused too much on their kids, the kids would have absorbed far more neurosis. I personally subscribe to the Benign Neglect style of parenting where you let your kids discover themselves in the world they inhabit while you stand back and build a firm framework in the background. You don't play God and dispense all blessings with this parenting, you structure your family life with smooth discipline and develop your spousal relationship and interaction in the world with the very same values you are trying to impart to your children by example more than windy bombastic platitudes. I have yet to meet a child who truly believes the cascade of lovy wovy kissy wussy smoochie "I love you"s that drench their days with irritating hovering overly solicitous stickiness, children become deaf and senseless to that. When you live your adult life and let them live their child lives and then only occasionally, when the true spirit moves you, communicate your fierce love, they will remember it for the rest of their days.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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hambone
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Post by hambone » Mon Aug 27, 2007 7:32 am

Not one citizen of L.A. is "responsible" for the urban problems that confront them. We all are.
agreed, but we all must do less talking without walking if the blue bubble will survive.

The same could be said for Portland with its smear of industry along the river and up to Troutdale. We are what we are, we have the consequences to share and bear. There are people all over who get it, and there are people in every city who do not.
Again, agreed. Any development in God's Backyard saddens me deeply. At least we have steady fresh water here though, L.A. does not. We also have an environment suitable for growin things. But it's not a matter of getting over it, its more about realizing all this development is a mistake and is leading to our demise.
Not one citizen of L.A. is "responsible" for the urban problems that confront them. We all are.
We are, every time we drive or eat out of plastic or turn on a light.
A lot of the damage was done by earlier generations tho. You can't blame the current calvary for Little Big Horn. We are left with quite a mess to mop up. Unfortunately we are still spillin' pickles in isle 8....
have yet to meet a child who truly believes the cascade of lovy wovy kissy wussy
That's not love, that's sentiment. I think it's more a matter of connection, every human has a different way of getting thru. It's up to the parents to try to figgur out how to send our little ones on the journey with the best equipment. I DO adore my kids more than anything, time in the trenches together has a lot to do with it. And even though they are showered with adoration, they also understand the Hambone School of Self Sufficence.
http://greencascadia.blogspot.com
http://pdxvolksfolks.blogspot.com
it balances on your head just like a mattress balances on a bottle of wine
your brand new leopard skin pillbox hat

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left handed kennedy
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Post by left handed kennedy » Mon Aug 27, 2007 10:52 am

I'm going to have to agree with Colin on this. I was born and raised in the O.C. with a golden spoon in my mouth. I thought that god lived on the beach in So. Cal. and the world revolved around me arse. It took me living outside of the US to discover that none of this was true.

I think that the reason So. Cal is the way it is, is because it has always been a service based economy first and foremost. Yes there are other diverse industry here but, as a vacation destination, service jobs prevail.

The problem is when "vacationers" come to stay. Like all people on vacation, we feel a certain level of entitlement (just watch Americans in Mexico to see what I mean). Most of the people that I have encountered with the "LA attitude" did not originate here. They come from other places and have this strange belief that everything should be handed to them.

I have left this strange land many time with the vow of never returning. Oregon, Washington, N Carolina, Ohio, Germany, ect. There just seems to be a draw that constantly brings me back. Yes, it has problems too numerous to count, but so has all the other places that I have lived.

My best advice is to carve out your own niche. There are plenty of real people here looking for someone to pass the time with. Diversity is the key, you just have to find the correct lock.
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Sluggo
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Post by Sluggo » Mon Aug 27, 2007 4:03 pm

left handed kennedy wrote:I think that the reason So. Cal is the way it is, is because it has always been a service based economy first and foremost. Yes there are other diverse industry here but, as a vacation destination, service jobs prevail.

The problem is when "vacationers" come to stay. Like all people on vacation, we feel a certain level of entitlement (just watch Americans in Mexico to see what I mean). Most of the people that I have encountered with the "LA attitude" did not originate here. They come from other places and have this strange belief that everything should be handed to them.
I have to agree with the vacation comment. If you want to find an American in a foreign country just listen for someone being loud and demanding. Most likely they're from the U.S.

As far as the people with an LA Attitude not being from here, I have to disagree. Being raised even slightly privileged in L.A. seems to breed some kind of contempt for the poor and working class. Plus it attracts these types of people from the rest of the world. It's a pretty even split. I knew some Armenians, Russians and Middle Eastern people in SF, Portland and Seattle. They were very nice people. But for some reason when you give them a little money and put them in L.A. all of a sudden they embody everything that is ugly about being a rich, entitled American/Californian. Even though the people they aspire to be like look down on them like they are scum.
I have left this strange land many time with the vow of never returning. Oregon, Washington, N Carolina, Ohio, Germany, ect. There just seems to be a draw that constantly brings me back. Yes, it has problems too numerous to count, but so has all the other places that I have lived.

My best advice is to carve out your own niche. There are plenty of real people here looking for someone to pass the time with. Diversity is the key, you just have to find the correct lock.
They are everywhere. But L.A. seems to have a much higher concentration of them. Even the poor here seem to spend all their time trying to act & look like a rich @$$hole. Especially those in their teens & twenties.

I think I'm just sick of the world. I need to go live in the jungle somewhere.
:vwgauge420:

1977 Bus with Sunroof - "Lucky '77"
2000cc Type IV w/Dual Weber 36s,
Aircooled.net SVDA w/Compufire,
Redline Weber Fuel Pump,
Holley Regulator,
Half Ass Brush & Roller Rustoleum Paint Job,
Incomplete Custom Interior,
Dual Batteries,
Crunched Slider Door.
------------------------------------------------------

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hambone
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Post by hambone » Mon Aug 27, 2007 5:08 pm

I think I'm just sick of the world. I need to go live in the jungle somewhere.
I'll meet you in 12 hours where Cougar Creek meets the Roaring River. I'll bring the beer. Mebbe you can bring us some forest wives?
Ok I got some packin to do. See ya in a few.
http://greencascadia.blogspot.com
http://pdxvolksfolks.blogspot.com
it balances on your head just like a mattress balances on a bottle of wine
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Sluggo
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Post by Sluggo » Mon Aug 27, 2007 6:15 pm

Wow! I really steered this off topic. Sorry Colin. :pale:
:vwgauge420:

1977 Bus with Sunroof - "Lucky '77"
2000cc Type IV w/Dual Weber 36s,
Aircooled.net SVDA w/Compufire,
Redline Weber Fuel Pump,
Holley Regulator,
Half Ass Brush & Roller Rustoleum Paint Job,
Incomplete Custom Interior,
Dual Batteries,
Crunched Slider Door.
------------------------------------------------------

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Amskeptic
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Post by Amskeptic » Mon Aug 27, 2007 6:36 pm

Sluggo wrote:Wow! I really steered this off topic. Sorry Colin. :pale:
Topic? Life. Proceed :flower:
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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glasseye
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Post by glasseye » Mon Aug 27, 2007 7:09 pm

left handed kennedy wrote: If you want to find an American in a foreign country just listen for someone being loud and demanding. Most likely they're from the U.S.
Or France
"This war will pay for itself."
Paul Wolfowitz, speaking of Iraq.

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