Pilot's Log

Sagittarius Horoscope for week of May 17, 2012

In the coming weeks, you will have an excellent chance to develop more skill in the art of high gossip. High gossip has almost nothing in common with the mindless prattle that erodes reputations and fosters cynicism. It's not driven by envy, pettiness, or schadenfreude. When you engage in high gossip, you spread uplifting whispers and inspirational hearsay; you speculate about people's talents and call attention to their successes; you conspire to awaken generosity of spirit and practical idealism. High gossip is a righteous approach to chatting about the human zoo. It might not flow as easily as the cheap and shabby kind -- at least at first -- but it lasts a whole lot longer and creates connections that help keep your mental hygiene sparkling clean.

Dad also found Mum's stashed copies of my sister Lynn's short-lived tabloid paper The Ponderer, of which Mum, brother Dana, and other talents including Matt Mikas and David Klein were contributors.

--Collapse.

Went to Asheville with Mom & Dad to witness niece Gennie's college graduation. Then after a brief stop at sister Lynn's, we went to Early Girl Eatery (Downtown) for a lunch feast with all of Gennie's significants, plus a few other significants (as in, family friends) but sans my brother, who had to work today.

Back at Rather Manor...and close to dropping in bed (or at least a cosy chair).

Maybe I'll KiffieScopeTM this adventure someday, but this wasn't particularly fun. No breakdowns, no delays, no detours, but lousy weather and a bout of lostness...at the neighborhood of my destination, the house of family friend David Klein and my brother. I need a better map of Asheville.

On to South Carolina, Georgia and Florida on the morrow.

Yesterday, I went to Asheville, partly as an errand and partly to bond with my brother the bigtime football fan. We went to his regular sports bar to watch the games. (Yes, I was tempted to present this whole trip in KiffieScope, but as journeys go, it was relatively low-key.) And so watching loads of games on loads of TVs also meant loads of commercials...and one of the ones seen had background music taken from the old NFL Films soundtracks.

And, as my Research Addiction took hold back here, I would inevitably find THIS.

Once upon a time, long before you had cable TV or satellite service and even before video cameras were tough enough and cheap enough to set them all over a football field, NFL Films was the biggest and best coverage of the Pro game. Every week, we'd see their highlights on Sunday before tuning in to the locally-presented game (which was our only choice). They had an iconic style, from camera angles and lens settings, to subject matter off-field, to their narrators...and especially to their music, which is still influential and sought after by fans.

Of course the idea man goes, Madden sim-game + this music + machinima programs = what, exactly? Maybe my brother can help me answer that riddle.

...Lipinski Proxy junket.

And it went smoother than the other ones in the past. Still, driving 200 miles round trip wears me out. I hope Bro can arrange somebody else to do it next time.

Just got back from Asheville, where for yet another time (I forget how many it's been now) I've helped my brother move from one living quarter to another in town. This time, he's going from one street named after a fella named Deaver to another street also named for Deaver in another neighborhood. I'm sure that's going to confuse the Postal Service.

D.Wm. borrowed Dad's pickup truck. I used Moonshine as my round-trip transport as Bro would need to continue using the truck through the weekend and beyond to complete the move. We made four hauls and finally gave up for dinner. (No, Moonshine did not carry furnature of any sort. She was parked in the lot of the church across the street from where Bro's "old" place was.)

Asheville is strange. I saw a little girl walking the sidewalk wearing a Snow White costume. *Shrug*

FP (who is glad to be at a stopping place and will probably be immobile for the rest of the weekend)

PS: My parents arranged for a replacement chair for my computer desk! Sitting down is underrated. I'm proud to be a Chairborne Ranger!

Got word today that I am not being hired for the job in Asheville.

Need to update my resume and print new copies.

At least I have neat clothes to wear to job interviews.

FP

(Mostly) Wasted trip to Asheville today. Reason for the trip was a job interview; interview was postponed at about the time I arrived in town. Will try again in the coming week.

Visited my brother at his job in a shopping mall kiosk. We chatted for a while about this and that.

On the way out I went through the mall's Dillard's (clothier) and saw a piece that ties into yesterday's entry. They had hats on sale and there was a cap that looked like a WW2/Cold War vintage Air Corps/Air Force cap of the kind ground crew wore in the tropics. The insignia patch was based on the 5th Air Force symbol, but with the numeral 5 replaced with the letter R. I asked myself "What is THAT supposed to mean?" and picked up the hat to look at the backside. It was a Ralph Lauren. I guess they were trying to one-up Tommy Hilfiger! I didn't know whether to be intrigued or insulted. Then again, I might have bought it if the letter were a B, an S or an F!

On the way out of Asheville I tuned in a local radio station and my problem about that was I never heard a DJ. So I don't know what station it was. And since they have duplicate transmitters in the mountains, the frequency is no help either. They were playing a stretch of rock that started out rather typical Southern Rock, in the Skynyrd/Allman vein, but after a while the stuff seemed to veer into Zappa-esque territory. It seemed to come from a single album or concert, with no discernable breaks. The first song had no vocals, just an instrumental jam. The second was minimal vocals. The third was a kind of spoken-word thing with background music, done live in front of an audience. It was very weird stuff, and I hate that I can't find out who was doing this or even which station I was listening it from. I lost the station before the third song was finished, because of the interference from the mountains as I was getting downrange.

FP

Called my brother today, and he told me a story about his new job as a cellular phone salesman.

A policeman came into his shop with a phone he had confiscated from a criminal suspect. "Could you recharge this for me?" he asks Bro. So Bro gets the charger out and hooks the phone up and a while later, the phone has a charge on it. The cop notices it's a camera phone, and so asks Bro "Hey, can you bring up the pictures that are on this phone?" "Sure," Bro tells him.

The VERY FIRST picture that comes up showed a table upon which sat a gun and a "key" of marijuana.

The policeman says, "I'll buy the recharger!"

I called my brother last night and 1) still no word on whether I got the job; 2) he's no longer employed at the place where he had me apply for said job. This has radically tightened his financial situation and I'm feeling depressed because I can't help him out in any meaningful way. He still has his other job, but he'd been counting on me getting the other job and moving in with him so we can share expenses.

Three eggs in the incubator and it doesn't look like any of them want to hatch. There might not even be yolks to make breakfast out of. Sheesh.