Alex Vernon.com

I’m heading to Iowa tonight and I’m actually excited. Mainly because the rest of my family is going and I get to hang out with my bros, or as they say in Hawaii my brahs. Of course “hanging out with my brahs” can mean something entirely different here in Atlanta. My Grandmother on my Dad’s side, who happens to be my only surviving grandparent is turning 75 on October 1st. My uncle is organizing a pre-birthday surprise visit from a bunch of relatives I don’t know. Last count was 38 I believe. I’ve been to Iowa once when I was a kid, I only remember corn fields and blackberry bushes though. Of course that might be all there is up there, I’ll let you know. I can’t wait to get some corn pictures, I have a couple of ideas already but unfortunately they require a ladder and my tripod which I’m not taking. I’m sure I’ll come up with something when I get there though. I don’t know if I’ll have Internet access up there, but my laptop is coming anyway to transfer pictures from my camera. If I don’t have access to the Net I might leave a couple of audblogs.

Sadly Interstate Bakeries has filed for Chapter 11. This means we may see an end of everybody’s favorite phallically shaped snack food the Twinkie. I don’t even like Twinkies but it is a symbol of Americana, what better represents our culture of capitalism, laziness and preoccupation with all things sexual? (ok, that last ones not too bad) Alright maybe I’m being a little harsh, it’s strange to think that years down the road no one will no what a Twinkie was. It seems to be so universal now. No matter where I move everyone knows about Twinkies. It’s like when you meet someone new you might get into a music discussion: Do you like Husker Du? Husker Who? How about the Minutemen? Isn’t that some kind of militia? Ok, what about Soul Coughing? What the hell are you talking about? You like Twinkies? Yeah man, they’re excellent! Without this commonalty between different geographical regions and social classes we will start to see the further degradation of our consumer based celebrity obsessed culture. The pothead factor also needs to be considered. Everyone knows the knockoff Twinkies aren’t up to par, I guess they could go to Ho-Hos if they like chocolate. Wait a minute, Interstate Bakeries makes those too! We are definitely looking at a crisis of untold proportions here. I recommend we raise the National Terror Alert Level to Ernie now, hell maybe even Elmo! Screw Iraq we need to get this situation under control before it gets out of hand.

Soon to be munching on Twinkies in a corn field…

-Alex

I have posted some National Cathedral from my DC trip in my gallery. Check ‘em out and feel free to post comments.

http://www.alexvernon.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=nc

-Alex

I love coming back home. Even if I’m only gone for a couple of days. There’s just something about walking up to your car, sitting in the seat that’s adjusted just for you, feeling the steering wheel, firing it up and hearing that first beat from one of your favorite CDs. Then getting out of the airport and letting the cool night air blow away all of the bad memories of security checkpoints, crappy rental cars and uncofortable hotel beds. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been having car problems or not (I have been)or if it’s a really crappy car (most of my cars) just the fact that it’s yours and you’re on the way home makes all the difference.

-Alex

Man I love these smaller airports (I’m at RDU right now). No long lines, everybody is friendly even the TSA workers. If air travel was this easy most of the time I wouldn’t dread it so much. So I’m leaving Cary now, I didn’t get a chance to go into Raleigh or Durham. I planned to but I just didn’t have enough time. Oh well, back to Atlanta.

I mentioned in my audio post that I bought a ticket for my Flordia trip but it was for the wrong month. Since it was through Hotwire I’m screwed. I’ll have to eat it this time, it could’ve been worse though. (Isn’t that funny how that works, if I spent twice as much money on the ticket I would probably still say “it could’ve been worse”) I’m heading to Tampa next week to visit my friends the Dalys. That should be a lot of fun, I haven’t seen them for a while. I have tickets to see Deborah Coleman while I’m down there. I’ve seen her twice already and she is awesome! I’ll put it this way, one of the times I saw her she was playing in Conyers, GA (link not working right now). Let’s just say there are a lot of Confederate Battle flags out there (Deborah is black) and they couldn’t get enough of her. It always nice to see music break the color barrier that is still all to prevalent in today’s society. I didn’t take any pictures here in Cary but I’ll definitely have some from Tampa.

Please put your seatbacks and traytables in their upright and locked positions.

-Alex

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I plan on posting a review for my DC trip. I’ve been a little busy this weekend however so I haven’t had a chance to yet. It’s coming soon though, no really it is I wouldn’t lie to you.

While I was in my backyard today I saw some interesting insects. A butterfly with light green wings (looked like a leaf), some sort of fly that looked like a bumblebee and appeared to have a couple of eyes on its thorax and a bluish green iridescent fly (not like a house fly, maybe it wasn’t a fly). Unfortunately I did not get any pictures, I saw them all only briefly and I did not have my camera with me at the time.

Well back to work tomorrow
l8r

-Alex

Well back at the airport, I had a great time on this trip. I am going to post a picture gallery of it here soon. On the way to the airport in the shuttle I was listening to a conversation that two of the other passengers were having. Part of it was about different things that the UNdoes in the third world to help cultures better themselves. One passenger was talking about the Mayan adobe huts in Ecuador. He said a big cause of death there is earthquakes, when one occurs the huts collapse in on themselves and crush the occupants. So they designed a hut with barbed wire in the bricks to act as trusses, a door that opens out for a faster exit and a metal roof that was lighter than the thatch roofs. So they went there and built a demonstration hut, however none of the Mayan wanted anything to do with it. The metal roof had a negative connotation on the male of the hut’s virility, and the outward opening door meant the woman of the house was loose. They also built the hut at a crossroads, which is where ghosts and spirits hang out in Mayan culture. Finally the door was facing west instead of east which is also a no no in their culture. So what’s the morale of the story boys and girls? Even if something is technologically superior you still need to check on the local cultures and customs or you might be wasting your time.
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Well we finally took off about 15 minutes ago 3 hours late. Aaahhhh!!!, oh well the pilot is cool a very nice guy who did a great job diffusing the situation. He asked a trivia question for an upgrade to business class. “What year month and day did Elvis die on?” It was August 16th 1977 a little unfair for younger generations but of well. I should write a letter about him, actually I think I will. I’ll post it here, maybe.

It’s actually my namesake Tropical Storm Alex that caused the delay. Go figure. Just ordered a Heineken and they comped it WooHoo! Gotta love free beer, even if it is Heineken.

There are a couple of girls sitting in front of me reading, well I actually I wouldn’t call it reading more like glancing. One is looking at Star Magazine and the other has a paperback book. The girl with the paperback is glancing at a page for a while skipping ahead a few chapters then repeating the process. I am tempted to ask her about her reading style but I’m pretty sure she would be offended.

From the friendly skies,

-Alex

Ok so I promised a Hiss concert review, well it was a good show but nothing eventful enough to merit a full review. Plus I’ve been busy this weekend so it’s not that fresh in my mind anymore. I will say that the lead singer of the Hiss looked a lot like Adrian from Rocky. During the show someone yelled out “Yo Adriaaan” in a Stallone imitation. The singer has apparently heard this many times before because he immediately said “that was original” and proceeded to say something about being called that when he was up to the guy’s knee or something like that. If you get a chance to see them check them out, I think you will enjoy yourself. Starlite Desperation was the headliner, they were a very energetic band, and the lead singer was a very good guitar player as well.

Well I’m sitting in the airport right now waiting for my flight to DC. I’ve been so busy the past week I haven’t had anytime to get excited about it yet. In fact I just packed this morning (although that isn’t unusual for me). George Pataki is on CNN airport right now, man this guys has his nose so far up Bush’s ass it’s not even funny. It’s actually pretty pathetic he sounds like one of those mindless conservative radio talk show hosts. Anyway this trip is personal so I plan on taking a bunch of pics, I will post them on the website when I get back, and I’ll probably put a few on my Photoblog during my trip.

Last night I saw the Corporation. Wow! Was that an eye opener. I was aware of some of the issues the movie brought up but I learned of quite a few more. They also explained why corporations are the why they are. And had interviews with prominent people on both sides of the fence. Ray Anderson CEO of Interface was especially inspiring, it gives me hope that someone in a position like his can do an about face and honestly admit he was wrong. Maybe we aren’t doomed after all. I highly recommend seeing this movie, it will make you think twice before purchasing that next widget.

On a related note; some of the themes in this movie remind me of a book I’ve been meaning to write about for a while. The book is Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit I highly recommend it, don’t let the telepathic gorilla thing throw you off it is just a vehicle to drive the philosophy. It’s a fast read and I believe it will introduce you to a new way of thinking. Buy it from Amazon or pick it up at your local library.

One more thing, I saw a loaded flattop tow truck on I85 the other day. What’s unusual about that you say? Two people were sitting in the car being towed, there was also a passenger in the cab so apparently they didn’t have a choice. I hope he connected the safety chains.

All right, I need to make a couple of calls. I’m out.

-Alex
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