Limitations

“A man’s got to know his limitations.” That’s one of those irritating truths. I remember when I was younger and I’d hear someone say that, I would think to myself; “That’s something old guys say”. Friday afternoon I was helping a neighbor pour some concrete and I hit the wall. I reached a point where I had to rest or something bad was going to happen. There was a time when I was accustomed to backbreaking labor. I could work like a machine all day long and never flinch. At 43 and having M.S., those days have passed me by. I will admit that I was testing myself the other day to see how much I could take. I realize that if I was expected to exert myself like that on a daily basis that I wouldn’t be able to. I don’t have a burning desire to engage in hard labor but, it’s nice to know that you can take that kind of job if need be.

Anyway, music is what I know best so I think I will continue to pursue that game. I had a pretty busy weekend, played some music and made some connections. Networking isn’t one of my strong points but it’s necessary. I have a meeting tonight with a guy that has an idea for a different type of show (more details later if it looks viable). Also, I met a guy who wants me to meet with a Nashville publisher regarding my songwriting. That brings up a whole different dilemma involving a mess of songs that are tied up with a different publisher who doesn’t seem interested in promoting them. So, I have to either go and try and work something out on those songs or, write a new batch. I would get the rights to the existing songs back in a couple of years if said publisher does nothing with them. So, let the sleeping dog lay or wake up the dog and try to reason with him. The bad part is, as the writer, I find it difficult to be objective and analyze the work. I don’t know if the songs are worth a dime to anyone. If they’re not, a good publisher could say; “Here’s where you missed the mark, here’s what you need to do.” I guess I’ve been avoiding dealing with this but it’s a good example of the reason why most musicians tend to avoid anything to do with the actual music business.

The other day, I made a remark about how a criminal could use Google Earth to case a prospective crime scene. This is from The Smoking Gun regarding the terrorist plot to blow up gas pipelines at J.F.K.

In a federal criminal complaint, one of the accused, Abdul Kadir, reportedly told cohorts to use the popular satellite software after he determined that surveillance video shot by the men was “not sufficiently detailed for operational purposes.” Kadir, a Guyanese citizen and former member of that country’s parliament, made the Google suggestion during a February meeting with an alleged co-conspirator and a government informant (Kadir and three other men have been charged with planning the terror attack). According to the complaint, the snitch followed through and obtained the Google aerial images of JFK, which the men code named the “chicken farm.” At a May 11 meeting in Guyana, Kadir was shown the surveillance video and the Google Earth maps of JFK by the informant and Russell Defreitas, one of those charged in the airport attack plan. Defreitas, the complaint notes, “identified, among other things, the fuel tank locations and air traffic control tower.” For his part, Kadir “asked many questions about the maps, including the distance between the street and the fuel tanks.”

So, Google has better surveillance material than what the terrorists can get on their own. I think that’s scary. Should Google Earth be regulated? How could Google Earth be regulated? It’s going to be a can of worms. To do any type of regulation, somebody would have to decide which locations are off limits and monitor Google and any other companies offering similar software. It’ a more serious issue than an image that catches a guy coming out of an adult bookstore. Also, if there was a way to regulate it, you couldn’t do it retroactively. In other words, there are a ton of images that already exist that have been downloaded and saved on the bad guys hard drives.

On a lighter but still surreal note, Al Gore and the rock stars that came to save the world continue to demonstrate pompous and irony filled ignorance. This is from Times Online.

IT WAS intended to be the symbolic gesture at a global series of rock concerts next month to alert people to climate change. Al Gore, the former US presidential candidate turned climate doomsayer, had wanted a massive switch-off of lights by television audiences, but the National Grid has vetoed the idea.

The inconvenient truth, it says, is that the power surge when people switched their lights back on could cause disruptions in supply and even endanger hospital patients on life support machines.

Great idea Al. Although, I can’t really picture a mass of people watching this thing and simultaneously “making a difference” by switching their lights off. Best Live Earth quote of the week come from Muse front man Matt Bellamy who called the event, “private jets for climate change”.