The economy drags on. I’m very happy to have a job still given the market. As the Federal government keeps pumping money into the economy to keep it afloat (and for some stupid reason giving money to the banks that got us into the sh!t in the first place), I have to admire this simple plan to solve all of the issues at a single go.

Dear Mr. President:

Please find below my suggestion for fixing America ’s economy.

Instead of giving billions of dollars to companies that will squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan.

You can call it the Patriotic Retirement Plan:

There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force.

Pay them $1 million apiece severance for early retirement with the following stipulations:

1) They MUST retire. Forty million job openings – Unemployment fixed.

2) They MUST buy a new American CAR. Forty million cars ordered – Auto Industry fixed.

3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage – Housing Crisis fixed.

4) They MUST buy their own health insurance. – Health Plan for seniors just fixed!!!

It can’t get any easier than that! If more money is needed, have all members of Congress and their constituents pay their taxes… If you think this would work, please tell everyone you know.

If not, please disregard. Then shoot yourself!!!! – 1 job opening

God Bless America.

I don’t think the cutoff age should be 50 years old… Perhaps more like 60. Still, there is something very compelling about the simplicity, and afterwards, if those folks who retired want to start brand new businesses, I’d be all for that, too. More jobs!

Meanwhile, I found this article about a man, Tom Graham, who has walked every single street in San Francisco. I like to walk (and kind of wish I did more of it) but this is a dedication I will simply admire from afar. Where the heck is DeForest (street? avenue? alley?)?

The heat’s hit San Francisco. I don’t like heat, but there it is. Most people hope the weekend ends up hot, or at least warm. I’m hoping this weekend cools off!

Two years. It’s not that long but we’ve done so much already… It give some insight into the cliche that a moment can last a lifetime because that’s been two years, and we have a real lifetime to have the continuing adventures.

T’estimo, Paprikafrita, sempre.

Photo by Jerome Abellar

So let’s get back to it, shall we? Yes!

World Cup is starting up. Here’s all the games, here are the game times set to Eastern Standard time and finally here is a map of where you can watch in the Bay Area. USA plays England first… Let’s make them suffer!

Meanwhile, while I haven’t been writing a whole lot, I have managed to watch the entire three “seasons” (Brits having a different idea of how many episodes constitutes a season than us) of an amazing BBC series called Black Books. See it. It’s comedy gold that will probably not be remade here in America (like The Office) because there’s too much smoking, drinking and swearing without any (well, only once) sex, murder or blowing things up. Brilliant. I need to find out who wrote the opening theme song…

Speaking of explosions, can anyone explain to me why they can’t simply blow up the hole in the Caribbean leaking all that oil? Or pour several thousand metric tons of concrete over the top? Seriously, it seems ridiculous they build these things without some sort of failsafe or cutoff valve.

Anyways, off we go!

I ain’t married and I can still attest to the truth of this quote!

I tend to not to go in for these folk remedies and favor hard science (though as everyone knows, it is sometimes far from “hard” as new discoveries are made). Never the less, I went in with an open mind and while I don’t know if it will help, it was an amazingly relaxing experience. Once the needles were inserted I was left in the darkened room by myself for about 40 minutes. If you had asked me how long it was, I would have said ten or fifteen at best. During that time I meditated and let my mind wander. Weirdly I saw a lot of faces. Most of them I didn’t know but Rosa and my Mom’s were in there, as well as my friend from Prague, Richmond.

Afterwards, when heading to my motorcycle, I felt very calm. I felt very light and yet very grounded to the earth. Heavy and light at the same time. It was a nice feeling… Very pohoda.

I wouldn’t recommend acupuncture for everyone, but for me it was extremely relaxing and, who knows, it might even help me in the long run.

I’ve just finished putting together my 2009 mix that I give out to friends and family each year. This year’s was particularly difficult and I rather wish I could have put out a double-disk mix. Maybe I’ll look into jewel cases for next year. The cover was something of a challenge this year. The main portion is a modified version of a piece called “Little Spanish Dancer” and the background is a modification of some lovely detail work by Echo Chernik. Here’s the play list; I’ll put up an iTunes link when I can.

Just You and Me – Zee Avi
Mi Swing Es Tropical – Quantic & Nickodemus
Bruises – Chairlift
5 Years Time – Noah and the Whale
Lisztomania – Phoenix
Love Me Dead – Ludo
Guilty Pleasure – Cobra Starship
Everything Is Everything – Phoenix
Nth Degree – Morningwood
Underwater – Mock & Toof
We Are All Connected – Symphony of Science
La Flaca – Jarabe de Palo
Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts – The Gaslight Anthem
Forever – The Explorers Club
Mingus – I’m from Barcelona
Foundations (Full Explicit Version) – Kate Nash
The Step and the Walk – The Duke Spirit
Graffiti Eyes – Stellastarr*
Supernatural Supergirl – josh kramon
My Beautiful Rescue (Renovated) – This Providence

UPDATE: Here’s the iTune’s Store iMix. It’s $20.01 for all the songs except “We Are All Connected” (which is a free download) but if you write me I might give you a super secret download link…