This was a response I wrote to a woman who thought that because she was Dominican she couldnt also be considered to be Black. And Dominican chick, I ve been reading your posts back and forth with the nutjobs here. You re basically debating with the race hating guys who sit home and wonder how come white girls dont like them(when these guys have no redeeming qualities, its all race this and that. And dont be fooled there ar some women talking that same shit. The black guys always talk to them, why? I mean we all like big butts but if you look like a burro what the fu....?). But DB, I think you r black. I think most Dominicans are black, even the mixed ones(I have the same sentiments for Porto Ricans-who I consider the most mixed up people with respect to identity and pride in themselves, but I ll save that for a future rant.) I mean, I m black and you are darker than some of my cousins, and I m sure that your sister/s are darker than some of my family members also. I think you like most Dominicans & Boricuas deny being black because of the derogation you place on it. Oddly enough Cubans dont do that. Thats why i understand it. My wife is Dominican. She could pass for white, her mother was white. I mguessing like a Polish or Eastern European type of white women. Who knows? My mother in law is like 78 years old, but shes white. They live in Provincia La Vega, Ayuntamiento Moca por los Montanas Ciabo. OK, so my wife could pass for white, but her brothers(9 of them) couldnt. They are the same color my cousins that live in Boston are. Actually the same color my son is, when he was born, a sort of high yellow. Now my brother in laws children couldnt pass for white no matter what. They are most assuredly black, light skin black(lets say, like NELLY), they are DOminican also, like yourself, born here with Dominican parents. But my sister in law as light skin as she may be, apparently had dark eggs(thats a rhetorical euphemism, I dont mean she had DARK eggs, but the complexion of their children isnt reflective in their skin color). So basically, here in America, you can be what you want to be. You dont want to be black, thats cool. You want to be Hasidim? OK. The curly locks, 9 kids and beat up minivan and no deodorant dont work for me, but its love you know? Now about the work ethic of black people dont be misconstrued. Thats what you see in NY and other large cities. In the suburbs its the other way around. People who dont have any established networks dont have the same emphasis on labor participation. You know this is true. Look at the Pennsylvania boards. The same way you fel about the black people in NYC, however you feel, those white people in those small old cities despise you just as well. They hate you for changing the workforce, the housing market and also putting poverty and complexity of community in their faces. They had an essentially all white community with no crime(subjective statement at best), standardized school system(weak and uncompetitive), pretty houses(weak and uncompetitive), and jobs(same as the 2 prior). Dominicans, Porto Ricans, Ecuadorians move in change the atmosphere of the neighborhood, even though being legal(some may be illegal, except PRs) they bring a lot of cultural differences with them. Them white people dont want to deal with it. If they did they would have moved or stayed in Philadelphia. ANyway, to these people they would conceive you to be black, but a black person speaking spanish. You would tell them your Dominican, but thats like telling them you re a Lutheran. They would have no idea where the hell that place is or what it means. Is that a religious sect(it is)? A location(it is)? Whats Dominican? My aunt thought Santo Domingo was in Colombia? My good friends wife never heard of Santo Domingo(and she claims to be Porto Rican-tells you how stupid she is). I try not to get into this conversation because i know how YOU want to be perceived, but this is how you will be perceived by people outside Dominican or Caribbean neighborhoods. In Los Angeles, I m sure they would see you as Dominican, Latina and Black. I think if more Dominicans were to see themselves as black it could lead to more prosperity and better political alignment. But by denying the "Blackness" so to speak, I just think it will lead to cultural, financial and political isolation. Dominicans are the largest immigrant group in NYC right now and it is projected than within the next 20 years they would be the poorest(that was projected during the 2000 Census, but with the influx of Mexicans who knows right now). Areas like Washington Heights, Bushwick, Jackson Heights and the South Bronx are subject to gentrification as owners KNOW that white people will pay more for housing than other groups can even consider. If you cant afford to stay, whatcha going to do? You can go to Jersey, for a minute. But when it happens there what s next? Think about it? Places in Union City, Jersey City and North Bergen are just as expensive as places in Midtown. Then where? Upstate? Albany? Syracuse? Pittsburgh? It can be done, but more than likely you will lose your identity as a Dominican(this is my beef with Porto Ricans. They have so much pride about being Porto RIcan but know nothing about it.)

OK this is a call and response thing. First I ll post the leading argument then my response. Only the relevant parts though:

Vigilante Darwinism Current mood: deviously evil
There are too many people on the planet today. Wait. I take that back. There are too many stupid people on the planet today. I don't know exactly where they come from. They are ninja-esque in their assault upon intelligent society; everywhere, yet nowhere. You could be walking along, minding your own business, and then...BAM! Face to face with a person who would do better in a padded room surrounded by a bunch of board games than out of the streets causing mayhem.Consider rats if you will. They actually eat their own kind. While this is a rather disgusting practice, it does elude to a higher plane of existence. When the world is submersed in nuclear warfare and we humans are struggling to survive, they will be happy and cozy in their little dens. Why? Because they had the good sense to kill off the weak and feeble of their species; leaving the strongest and most capable to survive. Ingenious.I am waiting for mankind to wake up and smell the coffee, but I grow weary. In fact, it appears we are going the other direction and actually encouraging the retarded of our species to procreate. Take for example, welfare. If you cannot support yourself and your family now, what makes you think you can handle one more child? Not to sound harsh, but the day after you receive your first welfare check, a doctor should show up at your front door for mandatory sterilization. True, people are sometimes dealt a bum hand, but a majority of the time the person is either too lazy to work or too stupid to get a better paying job. Either way, the genetic line should be obliterated.

Now here was the response I posted:

Why do people insult the welfarians? You know, most people in the US are only 2 checks from destitutions themselves. And more over its not like Pennsylvania is doing that good with job creation and population overflow. They lost 2 seats here in the last Census due to people LEAVING the state. No one is leaving because of the weather. I declare they are leaving because of the lame economic situation. But we persist on insulting welfare recipients? Thats nice. It s easier to insult offend poor people than the CEOs who shifted your jobs to lower wage area while taking a massive pay bonus for themselves. Not to mention the war-mongers who overbill the Defense Department for mayhem bound weapons. Mandatory Sterilization? Public Assistance is not meant to be permanent. If you are on it now, who is to say you ll be one 5 years from now? So why would you sterilize someone? And dont jump to a conclusion that being wealthy makes you a better parent. It makes you able to afford the shit that children need BETTER. AND, just because you re doing good now does not mean that you will always be. I mean, in this area 50 years ago everyone had a job in a factory(mostly steel production). When was the last time 200 tons of steel left Pennsylvania? 1983? Hmm, that more than 20 years ago? Lets not go so far back. Ford has to fire 30,000 people. GM also. So now you lost your job and new ones aint quite the same. What do you do? Do I neglect your need for food? Housing? Why do think the largest employer in the Northeast is the government. Of some sort, state, local, towns hire more people than they need to be productive but it keeps unemployment levels lower than they would be without it. Following your example no one should reproduce, because people who worked for Enron thought they were on easy street, but some one pilfered the company from under them. Now what? Should they kill their children as opposed to asking for welfare? What about the people who died in the World Trade Center? Many of them were major bread winners or led households. Not all of them multi-millionaires. There were janitors and cashiers and receptionists and window washers and electricians among the bondbrokers and financial traders. Now what? Kill them off as opposed to asking for government aid? How about putting orphans in wood chippers instead of group homes?
You say the majority of the time the person is just lazy. I ask you: Do you know that many people that you can determine that the MAJORITY of them are lazy? How many do you know? Or are you guessing and presuming that this majority is an actual factual quantity of people whom you oddly dont know? You have interviewed all 300,000,000 people in the USA? But tell me mama, how good does a family of 2-3 live on $694/month? Hmmm, but look at this a missile from the Raytheon Corporation costs $1,000,000...each. It takes 4 missiles to make a battery. So a battery costs like $4,000,000. And let us not forget the truck that it mounted on. Then you say too stupid to get a better paying job. That statement is so biased, I m sorry it doesnt even....you know, are you sure you re not one of these people who should be obliterated?
Rats eat their own kind, sure that s good. But they also eat their own shit so what do they know?

OK, so the new book by Bob Woodward "State of Denial" hits the stands manana. And there it is folks. The War in Iraq is bonkers! But to hear it being sung, it’s a cakewalk. I m still waiting to be greeted with jelly beans and Ju Ju Bees’ as a liberator. That’s the world we live in where the people who start wars never went to fight in one themselves. And this America.
Saw the news today, Congress passed an emergency appropriations bill to fund this war and other(s) at a cost of $440 Billion. Let me give you the zeros there just in case you thought it was small:$440,000,000,000. That’s half a trillion dollars, or 50% of $1,000,000,000,000. Where the fuck is this money coming from? Your people have sold you the fuck out! I now some of you motherfuckers don’t even have $1,000 in the bank so you cant picture the enormity. This money is BORROWED. And it has to be repaid. I know some of you don’t even have bank accounts, so….But for those of you with children who thought that you might be able to send them to college, you can hang that up. For those of you that thought that your kids in public school would have a fighting chance, you can quit now. The chances of success for YOUR children are now like a midgety dude fighting a 20 year old Mike Tyson. The funding for this albatross has to come from somewhere. Cuts in education, cuts in health care, cuts in transportation. Cuts in everything except military spending and prison building. I can guarantee that last part. Bailouts for none, except multi-national corporations. Yea, I can guarantee that. I know some of you don’t care, but fuck you, I don’t want to know you anyway. You’re like a fucking sheep. And sheep ain’t worth shit. Personal opinion.
So with less support from the federal government and unfunded mandates coming out of Congress, states will have no option but to raise revenue through increasing property taxes, and fees for services. Motor Vehicle fees, sales taxes, business taxes will have to increase(which you should know by now will only hurt small business operators, because big businesses have mucho write-offs, tax loops, off shore accounts and subsidies to dissipate their tax liabilities. Now I know of you corn-holers, will say that big business creates a lot of jobs so they deserve it. To that I say "Fuck you" , that’s bullshit. Small business creates more jobs and they should receive the same benefits that big business does.). No federal government matching dollars for community programs means no community programs. No child care, no senior centers, no summer camps, no job training programs.
And for those of you that believe in Karma I just want to say that you are full of shit. Who gets Karma? Its not the soldier dying for the acts of the zealots who sent him to die. The zealots get a big house in the suburbs and a refrigerator full of food. Zealots get fruity colored sweaters and fancy new cars for their 18th birthday. Poor people fill the jails looking for a better day. Only the poor people die, haven’t you noticed? Karma should affect the rich, greedy and corrupt but oddly enough it only pains the poor, hopeless and desperate. That’s how you know its bullshit! You don’t mean Karma, you mean witchcraft don’t you?
For those of you that don’t vote, once again "fuck you". When they institute the prison work camps and indoctrination facilities, I’ll see if I can get you a good job picking out radishes on the "liberty" farm. Either that or turning tricks in the state sanctioned brothel-arium.
And with that, folks I m off to Afghanistan next week. I had to go by the firearms store and pick up my own sidearm. Berettas are nice, but I m going to buy a CZ maybe a Hi-Point…. I’ll see you when I get back…hopefully in one piece. Now, you know ain’t no fat bootie babes in Afghanistan, so what’s a guy to do? Was that sexist? Yep, but once again, "fuck you", if I got to go to some shit-hole where some dude wearing a robe and sandals riding a donkey is going to shoot surface to air missiles and rocket propelled grenades at me then I get the right to say I like big butts. To me big ole asses make the world go ’round. Its like cigarettes, if you got it, share it. Wink-wink. Now, what are YOU going to do about it?
Some songs on the MP3: "What A Fool Believes" Doobie Brothers, "I m qualified to satisfy you" Barry White, "Freaks come out at night" Whodini, "Too hot to handle" Heatwave

Hmm, you guys are starting to piss me off now, man. Why is it that people who claim to like and KNOW music so much are misinformed about so much of it. Did I or did I not just spend 3 whole days with guys who kept telling me: That they stole that record from that guy? How did the O’Jays steal the melody for Backstabbers from Angie Stone? One record came out in like 1976 and the other in 2002. How did Teena Marie steal "Ooh Lalala" from the Fugees? Come on people. One record came out in 1996 and the other one in like 1988. How can you steal a record if the you recorded it first? Now I m not totally against sampling sometimes you can get a nice new record out of it. Kanye West prove me on this. For example he took Distant Lover by Marvin Gaye and make Graveyard Shift, also Spirit in the Dark by Aretha Franklin and made a nice record with it. But sometimes it s just a lack of creativity. I ll give it to the Southern rappers for not using samples that much and making their own music, but I ll take it away because the lyrics are mostly DOO DOO Du Jour. And sometimes the music isn’t that tight.
I don’t think the tirade is out of entirely out of place. I mean in all forms of music its not that good. And what is good is hard to come across. That’s why most of us spend so much time digging in the crates. You know DITC, right? Listening to vaulted records by masters of music. In my case it’s the 1970s, Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye, Barry White, Al Green, Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight et alumni. Why or how could people still be interested in records made essentially 30-30+ years ago? It’s the melody, rhythm sections, the lyrics, the arrangements. Some of the new guys today can get there but its like comparing the Grand Canyon to a sinkhole in your backyard. Its something like it but…I can mention some of the new guys that are doing it well, but I wont because this is a tribute to the greatness of the musicians who came before.
Man, don’t get me started on Spanish language music. There hasn’t been a fresh idea in Tropicale since 1983. Everyone reveres the sound of Fania even though the artists of Fania left the decade broke as fuck. Some Jewish guy made off with all the masters which he owns to this day. And every royalty generated from radio airplay goes to him not the artist. Its one of them chicken home roosting things though. They were presented with the option of going to Gamble in Philadelphia International or Gordy at Motown. They chose not to be affiliated with a Black Label or the "Black Sound" and got robbed by someone who had their "best interests" in mind. And by the middle of the decade had to backtrack because the only guys paying were Casablanca and Salsoul in NYC, PI and Philly Groove in Philly, and Motown and 20th Century now in LA. Don’t think so? Listen to the arrangements on the disco records and the arrangements on "Calle Luna, Calle Sol" and "Smarty Pants". You can hear the similarities only real difference-stronger percussion section in "Smarty Pants" and stronger piano section in "Calle Luna, Calle Sol". Still call and response vocal section with strong lead vocals. People know. By the end of the 1970s the Philadelphia Sound was killing them out there. It had the same dance rhythm as Fania but lyrics that could be generally understood by most. Along with the harder percussion and short horn interludes it made the record easier to extend and mix in the danceteria. I know most latinos don’t want to hear that but cant prove otherwise. The premise is that Tropicale(Salsa) has been improved on since 1983, while it hasn’t. Musicians still use the same melodies that they were using 20 years ago with changing only the chord structures barely. Any Spanish language musician that attempts to progress the music is charged with selling out. And then came Reggaeton. Oh lord! Need I say more? This isn’t even good reggae. While in reggae they used dub plates so many artists could record a record using the same rhythm. OK, OK. But dammit every one in a while a guy cuts a new plate and they start over again. Why is it in Reggaeton every record sounds the same? And why are the lyrics so DOO DOO Du Jour? What can save Reggaeton? Easing its way back to rap en espanol. There are radio stations that program reggaeton all day. Here is a plug to 2 cool radio stations: WDAS 105.3 and WRNB 107.9 FM, Philadelphia. To date I know they have competitors but no does it better, which is odd because DAS is a Clear Channel unit and RNB is a Radio One operation. Usually these corporate stations can screw up anything with focus groups and marketing surveys. If you know a good station let me know.

Bien, je n'avais pas projeté sur signaler au jour mais j'ai juste pensé que je pourrais transmettre par relais une partie de continuer mongering de crainte dans notre temps. J'ai entendu le président des Etats-Unis dire, avec son secrétaire de la défense, que si nous critiquons leurs efforts en Irak nous permettons les terroristes. En outre c'à ne pas interférer en Irak serait comme apaiser Adolf Hitler. Étrange. C'est tout que je peux dire. Étrange. Je veux dire, ces personnes suis si énergique pour aller faire la guerre mais recruter jamais activement leurs propres enfants pour le faire.
Maintenant ils voudraient intervenir militairement en Iran ? Qui et que sont-elles les personnes qui pensent que ceci disparaîtra mieux que l'Irak ? Bruits à moi comme si nous avons quelques intrus fanatiques juifs dans les affaires du gouvernement des Etats-Unis. Nous avons vu les affirmations diaboliques qu'elles ont joué dehors en conflit avec Hezbollah le mois dernier. Les ressembler à quelqu'un ont eu leur âne remis à elles dans une cuvette de Cheerios.

Oh de peur que je ne pas oublier, ceci soit un 70s en retard Cadillac DeVille. Très assez, oui ?

Ok , I havent posted in a few months. I cant say I v been busy. I have and I havent. I m trying to close the deal on this move back north and its more unnecessarily complicated than it needs to be, so I ll keep this short.

Here we have a Chrysler Imperial. Actually during this time the Imperial was a stand alone make which was to be ultra-luxury. The official Fat Cat CEO car. Mr. Big Business in the flesh. This plan worked out for a while until Chrysler had problems in the 1970s and it didnt make sense to economically to spend so much on alterior development of a car that share almost every underpinning with cheaper models and that had sold very few models. Mind you this was an incredible car but it usually placed itself above the fold because it cost about 30-40% more than the top of the line Chrysler product. But man, this car could put you on gossimer wings.

Our problem here is this: the current outrageous price of gasoline makes these retro cars unfun. Not sure if unfun is a real word but let assume it is for this exercise. Imagine yourself in this plush beauty plotting with Telly Savalas to take over The Operation from your archnemeses'. Your villian is played in todays episode by James Coburn as Mr. Big and his henchman a young Lee Majors. Now you and Telly(in this episode, your link to a secret government enclave called the Guardian Good Guys) have to go to Mr. Big's outfit to settle the score on the big horse race doping scheme that going down(isnt this 1970s TV at its best). Every one around is dressed to kill in odd colored 3 piece polyester suits. You, yourself, you re in an orange suit, brown loafers and a tan cap. Telly, well you know, he has to look good and he has a better contract than you do, so he s dressed in a dark blue 3 piece and a fedora with a red feather.

Bet you never seen 1 of these before? It is a Cadillac Deville Station wagon. It is some good construction. Although I m not sure if it was factory built or aftermarket body shop concoction. It has the Sedan Deville chassis with what appears to be a Chevrolet Impala wagon cargo section. But this car has vented windows in the glass, so it may be more closer to the Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser wagon. Although you cant see it here it does have the sedan taillights on this car. When you see the inside it has the tailgate window switch on the dash panel(making me think its factory built), but the lines along the roof make me think its a body shop car. Either way, it s still a nice car to look at.

Ok, man, I m angry now! I heard it said that FEMA is a bumbling organization. But it doesnt matter nonetheless. I m pretty sure that any state Office of Emergency Management at random would be just as ill equipped to deal with any disaster or terrorist attack. I think all the states are ill prepared. The problem here to me is that we are COMPELLED to pay taxes. But as a result we are assured NOTHING in return. You cant tell me you have to pay this tax and this user fee and then maintenance tax(all of this to support the government and its expenditures) and when you need them to be there for you they say "if a disaster strikes, you are on your own". How bullshitty is that!!!!!! I was in Miami last October when Hurricane Wilma came through. Me, I was ok. I had access to potable water and had some staples in the house. After the storm receded up the coast I was able to make it to the market on the emergency power generators they had. My area lost power for a week, but I was able to still prepare food, using old timey campstyle methods(I ll go into detail one day, when all things are better). The problem here is that the officials seemed to be out of touch with life as it lived. People were running out of emergency provisions A DAY after the storm. OK, the storm came through on Sunday night, and Monday. By Tuesday afternoon people were running out of food! What! They live in a hurricane prone area but never prepared for it? I dont think so. I think people are caught in a vice there that they think check to check and hope it wont be so bad. But this time it was. People in Broward County were told to boil there water because the Water Management Board didnt prepare. Power was out going up the Eastern seaboard. Which was why I didnt leave. I d rather be out of gas in Miami than in the middle of some bunghole in some retard county. But the situation is that people who cant prepare are left to plotz at the discretion of the government to govern their well being. And the talking heads never understand(or refuse to understand) the issues. "People arent saving anymore". "The increase in gas prices wont affect consumer spending". "This war in Iraq will be a good thing for democracy". "The US economy is creating more jobs than ever before in the past 8 years". "Illegal immigrants take jobs Americans dont want to want to do....." Oh I m so riled up, I must take a Root Beer break. But I just wanted to get the point out that even with this year being an election year, the same morons will be elected and the cycle will continue. We need to Corey Booker-ize this election and freshen up the voices of the people. "....No more backward thinking, time for thinking ahead" 'Wake up Everybody'-Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes.

Life is too serious, Love is too mysterious. "Hahaha!" heard those words from Gwen Guthrie. Are they true? I dont know, but she looks good to me, my silky words are sweet, but my pockets sure look empty! How much oatmeal does one have to eat to lower your cholesterol several points? I just thought I d post something today, the weather is pretty nice and I read some post about heteropatriarchy and womanism. I thought it was a bunch of bullshit, but that s just me. I m sorry to make this accusation but there is nothing special about being a woman. Especially in a 1st World country. You got it better than almost any other woman on the planet in the history of the planet. Am I anti-woman now? Get the fuck outta here! It s like people make up boogeymen to assuage the fact that they have nothing else to talk about. I mean come on, Heteropatriarchy? What have you known to ever have been different?

And here is Bogota de Santa Fe, the capital of Colombia

This is a photo of a very beautiful city, Caracas, the capital of Venezuela.

Um, yea, I think that holds true for ABBA also. Fernando, HA! what a weird song. You want to know what a good song is ummm, "Dance with Me" by Orleans, lets see, "It keeps you running" by the Doobie Bros., and also "In my Pocket" by the Pretenders. I know more but I m upset because I wanted to eat eggs for breakfast but magically they went bad and smelled and stuck a funk to my fingers. Aw shucks!!

OK, I have someting to say to you(se) guys, I dont think I like Olivia Newton-John. Thats cathartic for me, because when i was in the first grade(around 1979-1980) I was deeply into her. I mean she was banging all over the radio. She was in the movie 'Grease' with Travolta(who I also patterned myself after from the show 'Welcome Back Kotter' and 'Saturday Night Fever', although he let me down in the sequel to that movie 'Staying Alive'). Newton-John was alos in the movie 'Xanadu' and sung the soundtrack. So yea, I was feeling her strongly back then. I wondered what happened to her over the years, although I found out she had to take it easy because she got diag'ed with cancer of some sort. In the time she was away, she was replaced by Sheena Easton, who was hot for a while with that "my baby takes the morning train" song. And then she sang the 007 song "For your eyes only". But I guess its hard for Aussies to keep current to whats going on in the States. So she fell off also. But in retrospect as I listen to their music, I dont like it at all. It is what I consider to be awful dentist waiting room music. Just thought I share that with you.

And I dont want to offend(actually I dont care if I do), but I m not going to support any illegal immigration legislation in our country. And if you are a politician and you do, I m not going to vote for you, re-elect you or even mention good things about you in mixed company. I am against any rights of passage for illegal immigrants in the USA. I can go into detail, but its Miller Time, and I m going to 'Tap the Rockies'.

OK, I ll admit it, I m a bore. I dont care though, I ve seen people compose their lives full of narcissism and materialism(or is it materielism). And others live off jingo-ism. My sin, I am into antiquat-ism. I like old stuff. What more can I say?

What happened to all the idealogues? You know the people who wanted to make the world a better place? So anyway, I want to seel guns to the afflicted people in Darfur so they can fight the Janjaweed militia. I know I m just making a bad situation worse, but I cant let people just get slaughtered while the world waits to do nothing. I m thinking AK-47s, some grenade launchers and maybe some 60 year old Cuban revolutionaries to train the people how to defend themselves.
This is a 70 Fury(in the fuselage design style)-->.
Umm, Yea, we re never getting out of Iraq so if you were waiting for a tax refund check, you can hang it up. What did they say a trillion dollars for this excursion? I dont even know what a trillion dollars is, that like 12 zeros, right?

Once again the side by side, what we have here is a 1970 Chrysler New Yorker(top) and a 1977 Chrysler New Yorker(lower). You gotta love the hide-aways(the hidden headlamp doors). The latter NYer was essentially a 1974 Imperial Sedan(after poor sales due to 1973 Arab oil embargo and the financial constraints put on Chrysler having just redesigned the entire lineup) which was rebadged as a NYer for 1975 til the models close at 1978. This was a shame because they were some awesome cars as you can clearly see here. The top car was designed in the fuselage style(by the Boeing Corporation). You can see it in the rotundness of the body(resembles the barrel shape body of the 747). This styling was most prominent in the Chrysler model and most subdued in the Plymouth models. Actually the Plymouth models werent as mundane as they looked from afar. What happened was: considering the options you could get in the Plymouth Fury, the car was more a menace on the road as opposed to mundane. This is obviously noted in the number of police agencies in North America that chose the Plymouth Fury as their fleet sedan. I ll post a picture of Plymouth Fury from this time frame(1968-1978) if I can find one. A mild technical note here for these cars and those of you wanting to buy/restore one. Compared to the other manufacturers full size sedans these cars had a wheel bolt spacing that was used usually for the mid-size(intermediate) cars. For example, the Cadillac Deville, Pontiac Bonneville, Ford LTD, etc., use a 5" x 5 bolt spacing pattern, while the Chevrolet Malibu, Ford Torino, etc., used a 4.5"/4.75" x 5 bolt spacing pattern. All the Chryslers used a 4.5" x 5 pattern no matter what the car was, if it were a Cordoba or a Polara or even a full size Dodge van(5 lug). I had thought that it was because the weight of the cars(at least 4400 lbs) would create a lot of stress on wheels and hub bearings. I think differently know. I m going to assume now that they did it because it was a mere production issue of 'keeping up with the Jones'. If Cadillac/Oldsmobile/Chevrolet used 5" bolt spacing then Ford had to use it also. Chrysler may have avoided that issue in order to control costs from the hub manufacturer(probably Bendix, but dont hold me to that).
Anyway, I like Imperials more than NYers because due to the limited sales volume they had more appeal(and actually very few options). But also because although they were made on the same assembly line they had totally different taillights, hood ornaments, steering wheel, even cornering lamps. The only problem with these cars is that when they are built with all these conveniences for the 'sophisticated driver' they ll tend to fail over 20+ years. So you know, you re dealing with a 1969 or whatever electrical system so the windows may not work. Or they antiquated Air Conditioning system may not have worked since 1981. I dont know, but you know, the old timer mechanics love these cars because it is all figure-out-able(just made that word up).

I thought I d post some side by side lovelies, in order to get you guys reminiscent before the weekend begins. The brown one is a 1970 Buick Electra 225 and the grey one is a 1978 Electra 225(the technical term is "Deuce & a quarter, signifying the length of the car, 225 inches.) Yea, these are beauties. Ok, they arent 'hyrbids' nor do they get 39 mpg, but one does look good when one arrives in an Electra. Cannot say the same for the Prius. Never could say that for the Honda Civic. Well, anyway, here we are in May 2006, some of us doing good, some arent. Hmm, thought just occured, I m a left wing foriegn policy advocate. Yep, Rumsfeld got his tail handed to him yesterday. Can some one say ambush? Ray McGovern gave it to him old Iranian hooker style, right in the caboose. Steven Colbert didnt do that bad either. Too bad we cant see the footage on the nightly news. The nightly news, starting to become an oxymoron, yes? Dont know what to read, see, nor believe anymore.

Well I wanted to leave you with another pretty. I didnt post anything during the entire month of April. Shame on me. Urban blight of the mind.

I forgot to give you guys an new photo to remember me by. Ha! Like I have fans. Its nice to be noticed though isnt it. Iffin's I didnt have such a boring life.

This blogging this is so excellent. Its like a repository for all the things you couldnt say in the life you live with the people you live your life with(unless you are in a truly cosmopolitan metropolitan area.....I m not, Ha!)

I m going to try to post in Spanish and Portuguese in the future, maybe even French. But don t hold me to that yet, I m still looking for a reason to live. Ha! I m gone

Just goofing off trying to look busy:
I know there has got to be a way to make an Oscar winning movie featuring Peter Dinklage. This guy is cool I love his voice(I m not gay, just saying this guy has delivery like the Cheschire Cat). You might have seen him in Elf, with Will Farrell, he was the short guy. But you gotta see this guy in The Station Agent, incredible role I ll say. The short guy thing doesn’t mean that much to me. Ok, I know that the problem with the motion picture industry is the same problem with the music industry. There is a lack of good stories to tell. You tell a good story and the world will beat a path to your door. I thinks…me thinks. It’s a small world after all, no offense Pete. I mean, Pete is from Brooklyn(everybody say YEA!!!!!!)
I wonder if people could actually improve their situation. I also wonder about what people mean when they say they ‘work hard’. I don’t know, it sounds like too much self aggrandizement sometimes. How do we know you work hard versus actually being a conniving son of a bitch? It’s a question and I m asking it. You know, I sold cars in the past and I remember guys being deceptive and conniving and it was all under the guise of hard work. Who knew? I think it all in the name of the game to be successful, I guess.
My man Mike is still working out the kinks to his homeless situation. I m hoping that it will rebound for him sooner than later. I think he may have to look outside of Greensboro though. I know how people cant become obstinate(not the word) but sometimes unwilling to see that things may not be going as well as they d hoped in their arena. My aunt told me that it doesn’t hurt to see what else is out there. I agree. My own personal bias is that we Americans spend too much of our life in one place. That’s nuts!! Why nuts? Because when you live in a country as big as this one, you should really make an effort to see it, even live in it. I mean if this place was Lichtenstein, or Vatican City you d have an issue, but this is America. But anyway, I didn’t mean to foretell the obvious, only to offer the guy some hope and open up the eagle vision to a more galactic sense. I mean, why waste time trying to do when what we really want to do is: TO DO. Just a rambling. What the hell happened to the AMC Rambler? This is not a question about old car companies and such, it is an inquisition into what happens when people no longer dream or have things to aspire to, to dream about? Just asking…
Well, I hear this song and I ll sign off with this:
Amaj7 A7 Dmaj7 Dm6Quando um coração que está cansado de sofrerAmaj7 A7 Dmaj7 Dm6Encontra um coração também cansado de sofrerAmaj7 G#7/+5 G6 F#7 G6 Gm6 Bm9/F# E13/-9É tempo de se pensar, Que o amor pode de repentechegarAmaj7 A7 Dmaj7 Dm6Quando existe alguém que tem saudade de outro alguémAmaj7 A7 G#m7 Db7/-9E esse outro alguém não entenderDmaj7 G#7/6 Dbmaj9 F#7/+5 Bm9/F# Gm6 Bm9/F# E13/-9Deixe esse novo amor chegar, Mesmo que depois sejaimprescindível chorarAmaj7 A7 Dmaj7 Dm6Que tolo fui eu que em vão tentei raciocinarAmaj7 A7 Ebm7/-5 Dm6Nas coisas do amor que ninguém pode explicarD6 G#7/+5 G6 Gm6 Bm9/F# E13/-9 Amaj7

Caminhos Cruzado by Antonio Carlos Jobim(I even got the fret positions for those of you who d like to try this out on the guitarra. Until later folks

Does anyone remember the JOY Department Store? 

Did someone order a tigerhide carpet? 

The Great City of San Francisco. Stellar isnt it?

Is grandpa coming to the picnic? I spent all day polishing his car and my thumbs hurt now. 

How about going on down to the five and dime and getting old Uncle Refus a malted? When you re done I ll let you rub my feet, my corns are killing me, yessir. Yessir, they are. 

The Good Old Days in the Chrysler Town & Country, cruising down the turnpike OK, as you can see I ve got quite an interest in stuff from the 1970s. I like almost all of it, except the doubl digit inflation, unemployment, gas rationing, so many companies going bankrupt, policital corruption amongst other things. But I do like the music, the cars, clothes. I love the Farrah Fawcett hair cut and the $6,000,000 dollar man. Ok, the 70s were bad, BUT it was still a time of American Imagination, albeit diminished imagination. What can we compare it with today? I wasnt planning on putting much of interest here on this board because I also post under the name of Zanzibar Jose but I figured people keep coming to this page so I should give them something to read. Yo! I type 37 words a minute but who cares, because Andy Rooney still types with index fingers(and he s been doing it for at least 60 years). My goal was to create an alter ego and have that person conversate about philosophical things as Avolokitisvara(the Buddhist patron of good fortune) and post the odd stuff as Zanzibar Jose(the funny things that go on in my life). I havent kept up with it, but it s alright because I havent has that much interesting happen to me.
In closing for right now, I can say that I hope you like the photographs and you want to "rap a taste" you can either reply here or my email: peligrojose@hotmail.com (I gave you the lame one in case you guys are Spam-oholics). OK, I got a few hours to my Saturday left(you know I feel the sincere desire for spinach and liver, some hot sauce, a little cornbread, but I ll probably get some weak Chinese rendition of whatever served with rice and some over cooked tasteless green vegetable.