BASIC Downhill

This (click) is definitely pushing the envelope!

Role Model for Resourcefullness

I stumbled across this inspirational site, the blog for the Blue Ant Studio while seeking tile arrangements for a built in planter rim. Initially we were thinking of a Santa Barbara style, but privately my own interests drift towards the avante garde with hints of tradition to exemplify a timeless quality. Any roughness should be a subtle detail that reveals a personal touch within a polished presentation. The basis for a project requires premium quality materials...not special deals with which to make do. Professionals have covered the learning curves and if they've been in business for awhile, they're good enough to call themselves professional and present a polish of design, craftmanship and execution with errors invisible to the layman.
It is with these thoughts in mind that I have linked to the extensive display at the Blue Ant Studio.

Making Do

And you thought you were having a rough day. Look at THIS!

Roofball

Afterwards, take a look at this>>>>>>>Click here and remember to click through the google redirect.

A Tribute to a Michael Jackson's Art (before the fall)

A Zone For Personal Beliefs in College.

Are college students being given a zone for personal thoughts yet or are they still being intimidated by their teachers and fellow students to fit in with "those who know"?

I was taking pictures of a friend who wants to help another friend get some clothes designs out in the market. There was a field up in Ojai that was so relaxing. I was doing a photo shoot for a family and I thought this captured the feeling of the day.

Can We Handle a 65% Tax Rate?

I was lucky growing up. Until halfway through third grade I had lived in three regions of the USA; California, Illinois and Mississippi. Because of my father’s corporate career, the next ten years were spent in Europe; three in Scotland and seven in Switzerland, and then on to College in California during the late fifties and early sixties. All those different viewpoints seep into one’s outlook on life because one’s frame of reference changes in a fundamental way outside the family. In Geneva, Ecolint was an international school with kids from one hundred and three nations during the time I was there. The corporations made adjustments to help out with the hardships of the expense of the school to soften the blow for the less affluent attendees in order to assure preparations for American colleges remained available. Like I said, I was lucky.

As it turned out, one of my main friends was Swedish. His family had left Sweden to get some relief from the high taxes, about 65%. It was intentional to insert the numbers there instead of letters to impress on my readers the cost of those generous governmental systems. That’s where we’re headed. His father had wanted to get a Pontiac GTO in Sweden, but thought better of it. In the USA, it cost about $3548. In Geneva it was about $7000 and I don’t know what it cost in Sweden at the time. He ended up staying in Geneva and enjoying his GTO.
Even though our free market system has offered a standard of living beyond the wildest dreams of most of the world, part of the massive spare time we have available is filled with apparent guilt that there are people all over the world who aren’t as lucky as we are. It seems ludicrous to many that free healthcare is unavailable to us whereas European countries have resolved the issues, at least on the surface.

When Reagan was researching how to alleviate the financial crisis left by his predecessor, he ended up consulting with an unpretentious fellow by the name of Laffer. I remember having read an article about Laffer at the time. He was a believer in putting money in the hands of consumers rather than having the government whittle it down for them. It worked and the rest of Reagan’s policies changed history. His modesty delivery was refreshing.
Just because a group of people who respect each other agree that something is true doesn’t make it so. If a system has been working however marginally from a perfectionist’s point of view, such as the case with our free market, it’s quite possible that meddling won’t improve its outcome. There has been a burgeoning population that has agreed that the free markets are too tempting for corruption as we have seen with Madoff among others. Corruption can occur with either party, though. Academicians have been salivating at the prospect of proving their theories and wish to dismiss fine tuning is a waste of time since excesses in our systems have caused the proverbial train to jump the tracks. It’s America and elections have put such an academician in the White House. The experiment continues.

Alan Cocconi's at it again

Alan Cocconi is a steadfast designer of things electric. He has recently set another record using technology on which he has a firm grip. He managed

to keep a solar glider aloft for two days.

Alan has permanently changed many preconceptions about electric vehicles. Fortunately, someone showed me a picture of a high performance sportscar, 

a Tzero, powered by batteries several years ago. Since then there's been a lot of progress with those who've implemented his designs.After a little 

research I found AC Propulsion, then the designer's name, Alan Cocconi.The name sounded familiar and I was delighted to discover that he was in fact the brother of a girl who'd been 

in one of my math classes in high school more years ago than I care to remember.

The SoLong is an electric-powered UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) that collects solar energy from photo-voltaic arrays laminated into its wings. It uses energy so efficiently that it can fly all night on energy it gathers from the sun during the day. Remaining aloft for two nights is the milestone for sustainable flight. One night is possible just by discharging the batteries, but two or more nights means that the plane has to fully recoup and store the energy used at night while flying in the sunlight the following day. Once that is achieved, the cycle can repeat continually, and keep the plane airborne indefinitely.

Interactive Floor

Kyler England sings at Musical Cafe in Santa Barbara

It was a relief to have a break from the dismal political scene. I'm on a film crew of a live public access TV show called "Musical Cafe" which hosts a diverse range of talent. We were lucky to be in the presence of Kyler England last night. She performed solo with guitar, sans band. Kyler is currently releasing her forth CD, "Simple Machine". A number of her songs have appeared on television shows.
She has a real knack for writing about her world in a unique way. With her powerful voice and lilting nuances she reveals her perspective to us. Her new CD has several tunes you'll find yourself humming as I do.
"818" starts off the CD with a romance in the 818 area code, looking for someone in an area, a familiar theme with a unique perspective. Just when you're lamenting the end of a song, you're gripped by the subtle layered intro of "tonight, tonight" and the optimism of an adventure in the city. "You and I" tracks the roots of a relationship to confirm a belief we all can share in one another played in a comfortable groove. "Simple Machine" is a refined love song. "Sweetspot" hit my sweetspot. What a relief after the anxiety of the economy!

Inga Swearingen at Soho in Santa Barbara

Inga Swearingen “paints time” with her beautifully crafted voice to temporarily shift our mad dash forward, creating a safe haven to remind us how precious each moment can be. It was a rare treat to see Inga immersed in her performance Monday night at SOhO in Santa Barbara accompanied by a versatile band. She radiated sensuality as she sang, “Get your Kicks on Route 66.” Her fluid "scat" singing always stays in the moment and really swings in counterpoint, light and agile, with tones reminiscent of Ella Fitzgerald. She let us into her heart felt serenity she shares with her husband in her recent original, “Two Trees”, swimming in the currents of her music and painting time for us all to see. Sharing the moments of her brilliant capabilities was a delightful way to spend an evening.

Though modest and decidedly reticent at self aggrandizement, a new listener may be catapulted forward in acceptance, if informed that Inga won “ The Shure Jazz Voice Competition” at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2003.

Dennis Miller To The Heart Of The Matter

I wholeheartedly agree with Dennis Miller when he said on his radio show that if you’re going to call Sarah Palin dumb, then, by the same token, you should call Caroline Kennedy dumb too. Of course neither of them is dumb; they are both quite accomplished in their own rights. But when Dennis continued by informing his listeners that Sarah Palin had been on a crab boat such as those seen in the documentary entitled, “The Deadliest Catch”, which is filmed off the coast of Alaska, I developed a solemn respect of this woman. It only adds to my confidence that she has a character and a passion for life usually overlooked in favor of style among the Washington elite and thus the fodder for derision as a means of marginalizing this true person of action.