David Byrne and the Beauty of Failure

I spent a lot of years thinking that the first song that David Byrne wrote, “Psycho Killer”, was the result of his inability to successfully imitate Alice Cooper.  Something so quirky and original was , in my mind at least, … Continue reading

ROBOT MISSING PARTS

Part of being a parent is trying to take care of things that can’t be taken care of…like putting together a thrift store Lego robot for your 3 year old at 6 in the morning.  It only takes about 5 … Continue reading

Snooki had a Baby…..

…and my window won’t go up. Snooki had a baby.  Why and how I know who and what Snooki is is a mystery…the melange of valid and trivial information floating around in my head is strange…total devastation in the Northeast … Continue reading

An orange Schwinn Varsity…and a DREAM

Back when this book first came out, I was still riding the old orange Schwinn Varsity that I’d gotten when I was 13.  Nothing’s very sophisticated or high-tech about a heavy, steel framed dinosaur….but I loved to ride.  Watched ” … Continue reading

Sourdough…a great movie trapped in the tape

Back when I used to spend time picking up video box after video box, trying to decide on a movie that the whole family could watch…I discovered “Sourdough”.  I love this movie.  My family groans…sure that I couldn’t possibly be serious…but I am serious and I do have a lot of affection for this film.

This movie is the story of an older “mountain man” who’s spent the bulk of his life living way out in the Alaskan wilderness….and the eventual disillusionment he feels when “far out” isn’t far enough anymore.

It’s kind of a strange movie in some ways….kind of feels like a documentary with a plot…and I’m pretty sure that it’s out of print…just another one of those movies that you might find at the Salvation Army buried in a bin with about a couple of thousand other VHS orphans. It’s a  beautiful, slow paced, scenery rich film that “out realities” any of the rose throwing bimbo fests currently wasting our time.

Gil Perry was the star of the film…another mystery…I googled him to see what I could find and apparently there isn’t a lot out there. The movie was made back in the day when if you told someone that you’d googled them they probably would have punched you out…not understanding that it wasn’t anything with a deviant twist to it.  In the end… I couldn’t find out anything about Gil.  It was easier to disappear when it wasn’t so easy to find you.

This is one of the great “lost ones”…not like the Holy Grail or anything…but worth seeking out.  And if you can find a copy and watch it, maybe I can add you to the list of folks who groan when I say, “Awwwww…I Love that Sourdough movie…you ever see it? You want to watch it again?!!!

 http://rodperry.com/about_author.html

PS    Just discovered the above link….the movie’s writer/cinematographer’s  site that explains  his background and mentions the movie. He’s written two books about the history of the Iditarod…check it out.

Camo Truck

I’m approaching mid life in about 10 or so years (I’m 52 so that should give me a pretty good run) and I’ve started thinking about what kind of vehicle I need to get to satisfy my mid-life hunger pangs. … Continue reading

I GUESS IT ALL MAKES SENSE

Barack re-elected, recreational use of marijuana approved for Washington and Colorado ( I don’t believe it was a cause or effect situation as far as the re-election went, though….the marijuana thing, I mean…just coincidence…not like “what were you smokin’?” )….and … Continue reading

My Favorite Lloyd

This is one of the books published by Lloyd Kahn and the folks at Shelter Publications.  These are great books…Lloyd has a great deal of curiosity and enthusiasm for all of the places he features…and I value any of his … Continue reading

Survivalism and the Law of Attraction

I used to wake up every morning, turn on the computer, and spend all morning before the rest of the family woke up reading the survivalist blog that I’d set my home page to. I was an expert on all … Continue reading

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Ramit Sethi is a smart as…

Ramit Sethi is a smart as heck know-it-all Indian dude that , when it comes to finance at least, knows what he’s talking about. ( I suppose you thought I’d misspelled A** in the title? maybe….he is kind of a smarta**…and that’s probably a lot of the appeal of this book.)

The book isn’t a get rich quick kind of situation.  The main idea is that if we can “get out of our own way” (my quotes….not his), automate our finances, learn to avoid/eliminate fees, and save money in simple ways that we stand a better chance of being rich than if we continue to make the mistakes that the majority of us make.

I’ve read a bunch of this type of financial books….trying to figure it all out.  I guess it’s kind of like the friends who live at the beach who always want to come to visit the mountains.  We always want something different than what we have.  Temporarily, we don’t have a huge pile of money.  I’d like a huge pile of money….I’m not embarrassed to say it…a big old imposing pile of money…lots of money. I don’t love money….that’s the root of all evil…but I would love to have a bunch of money.  It would be fun.  Ramit’s book is a fun read. It’s fun to read about how to save, invest, and handle your money so that someday the reader might end up with a GIANT pile of money. (did I mention that I’d like to have a big ol’ honkin’ Scrooge McDuck style monster pile of money?  Well…I would. )

This book is currently a little more than ten dollars at Amazon.com….I can think of at least three tips that he gives that would save the price of the book in the first couple of chapters alone.It’s a bargain and a smart investment.

I’d like to sit down with Ramit sometime and chew the fat, have a couple of beers, let him pick up the tab (he’s a rich author, you know?)…but until that happens this book is the next best thing to hanging out with him.

http://www.amazon.com/Will-Teach-You-Be-Rich/dp/0761147489/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352194998&sr=1-1&keywords=i+will+teach+you+to+be+rich