When I watch science fiction movies I always marvel at the technology that people imagine. One of the things that I see in some movies that I really hope and look forward to using is the wall screen.
Basically the entire wall becomes a screen of some kind. Usually not touchscreen but could be. Usually controlled by voice or just ambient you know controlled by some system. But when I see a wall that can be a window on the world or show you peaceful forest scenes or water scenes or I give you a view of what's through the wall without anyone being able to see you I am just amazed and hopeful.
I saw one example of wall screens that was amazing but I did not like. In one of those series on Netflix, I think it was black mirror, they had an episode where in the near future people were always indoors. And they had to generate electricity in order to survive. They were put in a small room to stay in and the walls were all screens. As the guy progressed he was able to get a bigger and bigger room but the walls were still screens and completely controlled by some system.
I try to do something on the wall screen scale myself. On my desk at home I have a 40 inch flatscreen TV that I use as a monitor. I will search YouTube for ambient beach, forest, river, and other scenery videos that are 2 to 8 to 10 hours long. And I will put them on what I'm working at home at my desk as a sort of window. Instead of feeling cooped up I feel like him looking out at the scene. So it feels like I'm at the beach I just don't have sand between my toes and wind blowing in my hair.
I look forward to when all screens become a reality. I know that they have some screens that are flexible LED things that can rollout and cover almost an entire wall. That's getting close! I have a projector in my basement that turns the wall into a really big screen but it's not the same because if you stand up and get between the projector in the wall you see your shadow. So, or getting close. Fun stuff!
Saturday, June 26, 2021
Sunday, June 20, 2021
Toward the storm ~
There is a story used in coaching circles about how best to handle a storm that you see coming in your life. The story talks about how cattle will run away from the storm and how because they are slow the storm overtakes them and they end up confused and in the storm longer than they would have been if they had just stayed put. Then the story talks about buffalo and how they turn as a herd toward the storm and run through it, which minimizes the impact of the storm on them.
I don't see very many people going toward the storms in their lives any more. I see a lot of people skulking around the edges, commenting on the people in the storm, or foolishly running from it and getting overtaken.
I tend to go toward the storm, not away from it. So I end up having a rough time relating to those around me.
I don't see very many people going toward the storms in their lives any more. I see a lot of people skulking around the edges, commenting on the people in the storm, or foolishly running from it and getting overtaken.
I tend to go toward the storm, not away from it. So I end up having a rough time relating to those around me.
Monday, June 14, 2021
A zoo online talk ~
I did something new the other day. I signed up for a social event with the zoo called wild on the rocks. The director for moving of animals basically held a talk on the her job and her experiences and took questions from people. It was a zoom event because of the stupid virus reactions but it was an interesting time.
The lady talked about how different states and countries have different regulations concerning the movement and transportation of wild animals. She talked about how when transporting three liens from Atlanta to Chicago they had to hire people to ride behind the truck with rifles loaded and ready in case the liens got loose in the state of Tennessee but no other states had that regulation. She talked about other stuff that was interesting. A lot of it was the fascinating because she experienced it and boiled it down to find answers but three years sitting and watching a group of animals in a California Valley does not sound like a lot of fun to me or my wife.
But it was a good experience! I'm hoping to do more of these as the I get older. I look forward to actually going to the zoo and participating in the event socially. It's all part of my changing and adding new things to my life that I've never been able to do before because of my schedule and commitments to family and church. And now that I'm able to do these things I'm enjoying it!
The lady talked about how different states and countries have different regulations concerning the movement and transportation of wild animals. She talked about how when transporting three liens from Atlanta to Chicago they had to hire people to ride behind the truck with rifles loaded and ready in case the liens got loose in the state of Tennessee but no other states had that regulation. She talked about other stuff that was interesting. A lot of it was the fascinating because she experienced it and boiled it down to find answers but three years sitting and watching a group of animals in a California Valley does not sound like a lot of fun to me or my wife.
But it was a good experience! I'm hoping to do more of these as the I get older. I look forward to actually going to the zoo and participating in the event socially. It's all part of my changing and adding new things to my life that I've never been able to do before because of my schedule and commitments to family and church. And now that I'm able to do these things I'm enjoying it!
Tuesday, June 8, 2021
Chief Smoke In The Face ~
My dad loved to talk and tell stories. He could talk for 30 minutes about a small incident that happened at Scouting or at work. And he could listen, to. But he loved to talk.
He would tell us stories about things that had happened in the past. Things that it happened at work but not too many because his work was sensitive and he couldn't talk a whole lot about it. He would talk about events at stores and how things in the parking lot would aggravate men things in the grocery store would not make any sense and comments of people it made him. He was very personable and could talk to anybody and seem to know somebody everywhere he went in town.
He got involved with Scouting when my brother was in Boy Scouts. At some point he became the committee chairperson for the Boy Scout troop that my brother was a part of. And he enjoyed and had friends there that became lifetime friends and lifelong friends. But his love was in helping the scouts go through the program correctly and guiding them through achieving the goals. He loved doing the interviews with the scouts as they came to present their information for each rank. He taught merit badges I believe though I never got to see that.
But he also loved to talk about different things and kinda poked fun at it and tell stories. He talked about the character that he I believe invented that he called chief smoke in the face.
Chief Smoke In The Face was a fictitious Indian chief that had been through lots of different things and had lots of advice to share with people. He would joke around about chief smoke in the face with my kids as they were growing up and with my brothers kids as they were growing up. And as I heard him talk about it it's on Ken and I began to use Chief Smoke In The Face at my Cub Scout pack meetings.
I wouldn't do it every pack meeting, but in some pack meetings I would tell a story about Chief Smoke In The Face and how he had a son that left the tribe to go out on his own. He missed his son a lot and really wanted to find him but everywhere he looked he could not find them. As he went along searching for his son he began to put up signs. His hope was that people would see the signs and would help him by telling him if he saw his son. Chief Smoke In The Face went all over the place putting up the signs. Because he really wanted to find his son.
He loved his son! His son had been born and grew up near the mountains. And when it was time for his son to get his adult name in the tribe he had been playing near the mountain and had been jumping around on the rocks at the base of the mountain. And he slipped and fell and got scraped and bruised but came out of the fall just fine. But Chief Smoke In The Face and the tribe all agreed that his son's name should be called Falling Rock because he looked like a rock when he fell off of that rock that day.
So next time you're driving in the mountains and you see a sign that says "watch for falling rock" be sure and remember Chief Smoke In The Face and maybe send up a puff of smoke letting the tribe know that you found his son if you see him.
Recently my wife and I were driving somewhere in the mountains and the I was thinking back on how my dad created that character, Chief Smoke In The Face. And how I took that character and used them to help the boys in my Cub Scout pack when I was helping them through their program.
I may have to come up with some new stories about my favorite Indian chief. Hopefully they won't get me into any trouble with people that are easily offended.
He would tell us stories about things that had happened in the past. Things that it happened at work but not too many because his work was sensitive and he couldn't talk a whole lot about it. He would talk about events at stores and how things in the parking lot would aggravate men things in the grocery store would not make any sense and comments of people it made him. He was very personable and could talk to anybody and seem to know somebody everywhere he went in town.
He got involved with Scouting when my brother was in Boy Scouts. At some point he became the committee chairperson for the Boy Scout troop that my brother was a part of. And he enjoyed and had friends there that became lifetime friends and lifelong friends. But his love was in helping the scouts go through the program correctly and guiding them through achieving the goals. He loved doing the interviews with the scouts as they came to present their information for each rank. He taught merit badges I believe though I never got to see that.
But he also loved to talk about different things and kinda poked fun at it and tell stories. He talked about the character that he I believe invented that he called chief smoke in the face.
Chief Smoke In The Face was a fictitious Indian chief that had been through lots of different things and had lots of advice to share with people. He would joke around about chief smoke in the face with my kids as they were growing up and with my brothers kids as they were growing up. And as I heard him talk about it it's on Ken and I began to use Chief Smoke In The Face at my Cub Scout pack meetings.
I wouldn't do it every pack meeting, but in some pack meetings I would tell a story about Chief Smoke In The Face and how he had a son that left the tribe to go out on his own. He missed his son a lot and really wanted to find him but everywhere he looked he could not find them. As he went along searching for his son he began to put up signs. His hope was that people would see the signs and would help him by telling him if he saw his son. Chief Smoke In The Face went all over the place putting up the signs. Because he really wanted to find his son.
He loved his son! His son had been born and grew up near the mountains. And when it was time for his son to get his adult name in the tribe he had been playing near the mountain and had been jumping around on the rocks at the base of the mountain. And he slipped and fell and got scraped and bruised but came out of the fall just fine. But Chief Smoke In The Face and the tribe all agreed that his son's name should be called Falling Rock because he looked like a rock when he fell off of that rock that day.
So next time you're driving in the mountains and you see a sign that says "watch for falling rock" be sure and remember Chief Smoke In The Face and maybe send up a puff of smoke letting the tribe know that you found his son if you see him.
Recently my wife and I were driving somewhere in the mountains and the I was thinking back on how my dad created that character, Chief Smoke In The Face. And how I took that character and used them to help the boys in my Cub Scout pack when I was helping them through their program.
I may have to come up with some new stories about my favorite Indian chief. Hopefully they won't get me into any trouble with people that are easily offended.
Wednesday, June 2, 2021
Better examples are out there ~
In our American society that is in such a state of flux and under so much pressure from different factions that want to reshape society into what they think it should be I am saddened by the examples being lifted up for people to see.
A person who won Olympic medals in the 1970s that after many years of being out of the limelight announced that they identified as a different person and begin publicly taking on that person, is being lifted up as a political candidate with a good chance of winning a governorship.
A man who belittled and berated his employees while marketing one of the most innovative products of the past century is lifted up as a model businessman.
Another person who grew rich off of technology sales and to created a foundation that spanned the globe in outreach of giving the money and products is now being divorced by his wife because of his predilections for younger women.
On a satellite radio service that also streams its content over the Internet a popular station is called the lookout and uses a young man standing on a street corner in a hoodie watching for something as their logo.
All of these people and things are used as examples of what we should follow, model, and be like. We're told that being a certain skin color or race is bad and should be avoided and punished. Comedians get on stage and in front of cameras and microphones and say hurtful mean things and then joke that they're comedians so they can say that and they didn't really mean what they said as anything. And it echoes in so many people's heads that it has an impact.
When I was a teenager and in my 20s I had friends that turned me onto Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. I loved that rap music because it was different from what I had heard and easy to understand the lyrics and fun because I was learning about something. One of the songs that was most popular was named "The Message". And in that song they tell the story about a young man wanting to grow up to be just like a bunch of smugglers, scrambler's, pickpockets, peddlers, and panhandlers. "Driving big cars, spending 20s and 10s, and you want to grow up to be just like them" is a line that I remember. Rap music got a lot deeper and a lot darker than that to the point that they openly advocate violence and rape and public sex and drug use as well as other things.
Superheroes are conflicted. Superman is reinterpreted as this dark dominating alien that humans have to figure out how to get around and defeat somehow. Parasitic aliens that eat humans are seen as heroes in a city that doesn't sleep.
I live my life very different from all of that. I am a happily married man and has stayed with the girlfriend that I asked to go steady with me in college for 34 years. 39 if you count the five years we went steady. I raised my children to be fine upstanding members of our community. Or their community wherever they end up. And so far they are doing very well at that. There's so much in the woke and upcoming generations that I just don't relate to or understand. And I know that that's a function of my age and attitude but I fear for the society that my children will raise their children in.
I think I need to pray more. And write and post more. God bless America!
A person who won Olympic medals in the 1970s that after many years of being out of the limelight announced that they identified as a different person and begin publicly taking on that person, is being lifted up as a political candidate with a good chance of winning a governorship.
A man who belittled and berated his employees while marketing one of the most innovative products of the past century is lifted up as a model businessman.
Another person who grew rich off of technology sales and to created a foundation that spanned the globe in outreach of giving the money and products is now being divorced by his wife because of his predilections for younger women.
On a satellite radio service that also streams its content over the Internet a popular station is called the lookout and uses a young man standing on a street corner in a hoodie watching for something as their logo.
All of these people and things are used as examples of what we should follow, model, and be like. We're told that being a certain skin color or race is bad and should be avoided and punished. Comedians get on stage and in front of cameras and microphones and say hurtful mean things and then joke that they're comedians so they can say that and they didn't really mean what they said as anything. And it echoes in so many people's heads that it has an impact.
When I was a teenager and in my 20s I had friends that turned me onto Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. I loved that rap music because it was different from what I had heard and easy to understand the lyrics and fun because I was learning about something. One of the songs that was most popular was named "The Message". And in that song they tell the story about a young man wanting to grow up to be just like a bunch of smugglers, scrambler's, pickpockets, peddlers, and panhandlers. "Driving big cars, spending 20s and 10s, and you want to grow up to be just like them" is a line that I remember. Rap music got a lot deeper and a lot darker than that to the point that they openly advocate violence and rape and public sex and drug use as well as other things.
Superheroes are conflicted. Superman is reinterpreted as this dark dominating alien that humans have to figure out how to get around and defeat somehow. Parasitic aliens that eat humans are seen as heroes in a city that doesn't sleep.
I live my life very different from all of that. I am a happily married man and has stayed with the girlfriend that I asked to go steady with me in college for 34 years. 39 if you count the five years we went steady. I raised my children to be fine upstanding members of our community. Or their community wherever they end up. And so far they are doing very well at that. There's so much in the woke and upcoming generations that I just don't relate to or understand. And I know that that's a function of my age and attitude but I fear for the society that my children will raise their children in.
I think I need to pray more. And write and post more. God bless America!
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