Monday Afternoon Ramblings

January 17, 2011 D.A. Adams Leave a comment

Let me be as clear about this as possible: this is my blog, and from day one, I’ve written about whatever was on my mind at that moment. I’m not a journalist and have never one time claimed to be a news outlet. I openly and happily admit that I’m an entertainer. This blog serves as my outlet for new ideas, heartfelt opinions, old memories, frustrations, outrages, and anything else that crosses my mind. If you don’t like my opinions, feel free to comment on that blog, openly and publicly. As long as you aren’t more profane than I am, I’ll approve it.

I don’t belong to any political party because I believe that all parties by their very nature are corrupt. The party, regardless of political affiliation, is about the garnering of power, and as such, the leadership of that party must distort facts, twist ideas, and misrepresent situations for their own benefit. To me, the leadership of the Republican party only represents the upper 2% of our population but to appeal to a broad base uses fear and hate to move people to vote against their own best interests. After 38 years of witnessing their actions, I’m pretty entrenched in this belief, and no amount of Fox News bullshit will change my mind. I also believe that the leadership of the Democratic party is a group of elitist intellectuals who want to control and manipulate people’s lives because those leaders believe they know how to live better than everyone else. In order to appeal to a broad base, they use fear and hate to move people to give up self-sufficiency.

I’ve said before, the reason why I’m more vocal in my absolute disdain for conservatives than for liberals is because I live in a very conservative region and am bombarded daily by the hate and venom they spew. I see it on bumper stickers, hear it in stores, and feel it everywhere I go. If I lived in a liberal region and were bombarded from the other end, I would vent and ridicule their perversions just as vehemently.

The bottom line is that this is my outlet. If you don’t like my views, that’s fine. Start your own blog or write comments in public for others to read and respond to. That’s free speech, one of our most sacred rights as Americans.

www.daadams.com

General Posts

Sunday Afternoon Ramblings

January 16, 2011 D.A. Adams 2 Comments

Here’s a quick update on the farm: The irrigation system has been completed for the prototype, and it works perfectly. There are still a couple of parts to add in, like the timer and the water sensor, but the basics are in place. It’s simple and efficient and should be easy to replicate, which is extremely important because I’m gonna have to build dozens more over the next few years.

Next up is the lighting system, which by far will be the most expensive part, but it’s also the most important. I’ve decided on the Quantum T5 Badboy as my system because of the performance and the efficiency, but each one is pretty expensive, so it will take some time to get the lighting completed.

So far, I’m pleased with the prototype. The basic components are simple, and it functions very well. There’s still a long way to go and a lot to learn, but it’s coming together. I’m also proud of myself because this has been a big challenge, and so far I’ve been up to each step. That feels good. After the last few years, it’s nice to have a little positive momentum.

General Posts

Saturday Evening Ramblings

January 15, 2011 D.A. Adams 2 Comments

I’ve been thinking about our culture and some of the obstacles we face for the future, and one thing that strikes me is our rabid need for the next big thing. It permeates every facet of every part of our society. Movie studios are striving for the next Star Wars. The music industry is still trying to replicate the successes of Elvis and The Beatles. Video games are always about the next hot game. Sports are always over-hyping young athletes well before they’ve earned the accolades and then lambasting them when they don’t live up to expectations. When the focus is always on the next thing and then the next and then the next, what becomes lost is the past and the lessons it can teach. Obviously the purpose of this is to sell things–tickets, products, magazines, advertising, but am I alone in feeling like this system is simply unsustainable?

Hollywood has been bankrupt of ideas for years and is left recycling scripts and franchises. The music industry sucks and has for quite a while. Mainstream music is more about style and image than music. Video games haven’t hit the wall yet, but give it time. Both MLB and the NBA have been in decline for a couple of decades because the leagues focus more on their major markets than on overall competition. And there is a serious disconnect between the upcoming generation and anything related to the past. My nieces had no idea who Willie Nelson is, and one of them likes country music. My girlfriend’s son had never heard of Ronnie Lott, yet he aspires to play defensive back. I could cite many more examples of this disconnect, but you get the point.

I’m not saying we should live in the past solely. That would be just as foolish and would resemble the Classic Rock stations that have been playing the same fifty songs for thirty years. What I do believe is that if we as a nation are ever to get back to anything resembling quality, we need to stop seeking the next big thing and find some balance between attachment to the past and movement to the future. We achieve this by celebrating the greatness that has come before as much as we hype the new. Whatever we do, we have to find a way to connect this generation to reality more so than they are now. Otherwise, we aren’t going to have a culture to worry about.