You just never know about people. Take my friend … my new friend Jack, for example … full of surprises. We became friends after I saw him a few times at Starbucks. I recognized him as a former musician from my church’s orchestra. Ha … I think he was quite flattered that “this stranger” (me) knew him for his prowess on the bassoon. I would wager that bassoonists don’t have that many groupies … I digress.
Anywho, I said “hello,” and we started talking.
I must admit, the travel life can be pretty interesting … and on the other hand, sometimes it becomes mundane. That’s when I try to find the good in all … or more accurately, just have fun with it.
Take elevators. Pretty mundane, but there’s got to be something interesting about them. Don’t they call an elevator a “lift” in other parts of the world … the UK or wherever? Why do I ask? Do you ever notice the brand names on elevators? My current hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn, has an elevator made by Schindler. So … I am wondering if anyone has ever called that a Schindler’s lift? Just sayin’ …
Galveston … right smack dab in the semi-circle of muddy water that is the Gulf of Mexico. But it’s also a wonderful place, memorialized in song by Glen Campbell, and for me it forever will be the place where the locals run to the ocean, not away from the ocean when severe storms roll in. My second trip to the island, my companion and I were ready to hunker down in our hotel room, wondering if the windows should be boarded shut … but the local surfers acted like the circus had come to town … Grabbing their boards and rushing into the seldom-seen swells.
Hmmm … as much as PingWi-Fi loves New Mexico and Oklahoma, they don’t seem to be reciprocating:( Been on the Dirty Gig (in Houston) for a while, so not much blogging going on. Just looked on GoogleAnalytics to see who’s reading the blog … you know among the normal readership … regardless. New Mexico, Oklahoma … what gives?
Know what I sayin?
The Dirty Gig takes PingWi-Fi to some unlikely places … some exotic places … some isolated places … and sometimes to the same place. It was only a year ago that The DG — “The Dirty Gig” — the disaster work that funds this road trip — stopped in Houston for flooding. We’re back!
In the aftermath of the most recent Houston flooding, for a week, Ping was spread thin over several jobs, cleaning up muck, cutting out drywall, hauling away mush, boxing books, taking moisture readings in walls, setting drying equipment and such …
Then I was reassigned at a huge computer manufacturing facility (that will remain unnamed). The computer company is a very high quality outfit, and for me, their name brings back great memories. For my first blog — the 18,000-mile trek to 47 major cities in four months, as “The Wi-Fi Guy” — it was one of their laptops that got me 3/4 of the way through the road trip. That laptop took a lickin … but sadly, sustained one drop too many.
Histweet> This day, 1886, with a little help from coca, Atlanta pharmacist J.S. Pemberton invented Coca-Cola. https://t.co/IBwpO06CGR #finn
— PingWiFi (@PingWiFi) May 8, 2016
"There is nothing I can do on a laptop that I can’t do slower on a smart phone.” – PingWiFi #quotes #travel #geeks #roadwarrior #blog #smc
— PingWiFi (@PingWiFi) May 8, 2016
Don’t you always wonder what dangerous, hateful stuff a driver did before someone has enough road rage to shoot them? #TwoToTangle #travel
— PingWiFi (@PingWiFi) February 3, 2016
A woman who viewed me on a social site had a piglet on her shoulder. Should I tell her I am wearing bacon ear gauges? #dating #hookup #fad
— PingWiFi (@PingWiFi) April 20, 2016
Day three of The 2016 Dallas International Film Festival was farmer day for PingWi-Fi. An old friend recommended “Farmer/Veteran.” Well, the filmmakers had me at “farmer” … or “veteran” for that matter (two of my favorite groups of people).
If you check out the link below, you will see the primary subject of the documentary – Alex. Interesting, in the Web site photo, Alex has the same “Joe Strummer” hairstyle as the guy in the previous mentioned film “Occupy Texas” … earlier on this site. The similarities end there.
Wow.
FarmVet is a documentary slice-of-life filmed over a span of four years, detailing the daily lives of a decorated Iraqi war veteran and his new bride as they start a farm and battle the demons of PTSD, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. The couple have a small acreage in North Carolina that they share with a handful of goats, a brood of chickens and a cow or two — no easy task for a guy whose daily dosage of pills (prescribed meds) outnumbers his critters.
To say the least, the film is upsetting and extremely thought provoking … certainly a “must see” for anyone who has, or whose loved ones have, experienced war. It’s a bit controversial and probably will never see widespread distribution in theaters. However, the film is scheduled for a Public Broadcasting Stations airing — a perfect venue — so watch for it.
Not much to say. FarmVet is not entertaining, but it had to be made. The storytelling is well done … but the story has some ambiguity … so it creates more questions than it answers.
I want to end on that note … the questions. After the screening, the filmmakers Alix Blair, Jeremy Lange and D.L. Anderson did a Q&A with the audience. I asked one question, but bit my tongue rather than posing my second. question. Because the film is about farm life, it graphically depicts birth and yes also the death of animals. I almost asked if the filmmakers expected any backlash from the more overzealous of the animal-lover kingdom.
I resisted,, thinking and hoping that was just too dumb of a question … But yes … vindication. The very next question was from a shorthaired woman in the back of the hall. She — or at least her question — was not concerned with the mental state of this United States military veteran. Her question was not about the wellbeing of the new family’s young children. The question wasn’t about the hell-on-earth we call war.
You guessed it. She was concerned about the treatment and the realistic depiction of the treatment of chickens.
I couldn’t have said it any better. One of the filmmakers politely said, more or less, “Well. It’s a farm.”
What’s that word … “dominion?” … Ha … the farm boy in me was a little bit disappointed there wasn’t a good neck-wringing for old time’s sake, and some artsy slo-mo footage to boot … I digress …
Hug a vet today and support Chic-fil-A:)
Know what I sayin?
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