Originally posted 2010-11-11 05:55:45. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Hello Everyone. Today’s podcast is not very cantankerous. It does however discuss a very important holiday, that I feel is underrated, Veterans Day.
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-Justin
Link to more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veterans_Day
Originally posted 2010-08-27 12:45:41. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
“Hood ornaments. They were just lovely, and they gave a sense of respect. And they took ‘em away because if you can save one human life- that’s always the argument- it’s worth it, if you can save one human life. Actually, I’d be willing to trade maybe a dozen human lives for a nice hood ornament. I imagine those things really did tend to stick in bicyclists.” Michael O’Donoghue
It is comforting to be a Cantankerous OLD Coot because when you look around at the trivial cultural wasteland of modern day America, you, at least, have the memories of better times. Sick of ugly, look-alike cars? Remember hood ornaments! Back when you used to be able to tell one car from another and all cars weren’t ugly, hood ornaments were totally useless sculptures found on the hood of every car no matter the price or cache. These were not trivial junk but carefully crafted works of art designed to reflect the unique image for the car make itself and quite often the specific model. The hood ornament was just one more way to make a car distinctive. Today most of us will remember the Flying Lady for Rolls Royce or the Mercedes Star because those two manufacturers held out the longest before abandoning hood ornaments. It may have been safety that precipitated the end for hood ornaments but in the long run I think the big reason was cost. Popular priced cars after the onslaught of government regulation in the 60′s couldn’t afford hood ornaments and as hood ornaments became rare, the few remaining became collectors items causing Rolls to go to outlandish length to protect theirs before giving up.
I confess that the only thing that makes me cantankerous about Venice is having to leave. Not that there aren’t some strange things going on here in Italy. The Italians have their own way or doing things- and it isn’t all bad. Just hard to get used to.
But once you do, you can never go back.
I apologize for being in such a mellow mood but it can’t last. Next stop is NYC.
Meanwhile to make up for Justin’s branfreeze look at some pictures. It’s all good.
San Marco the Basilica
Originally posted 2011-03-02 05:27:06. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Image via Wikipedia
Coots want to honor mediocrity today. It is easy to take mediocrity for granted. It looks so easy but it is not. People fail to appreciate the difficulty in maintaining an even keel in life; charting that difficult course between accomplishment and blithering idiocy. Most people just can’t manage this. Try as they might, they fail. They either excel at something without even noticing or expose their stupidity because they don’t know how to maintain proper discipline. Humans are complex and operate on many levels which makes the seemingly simple task of being mediocre almost impossible. Most people have some dimension of their being which stands out. There seems always to be some talent or skill which is unique or memorable and most people just don’t have the skills to cover it up. This is why for most people being mediocre is impossible. No matter how hard they try to tone down those areas, they just can’t do it. Something stands out.
Naturally, the Italians couldn’t possible tolerate a dull national anthem. It’s like grand opera.
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