Gil's Blog

Has to be, otherwise, how do you explain this:

SARASOTA FL, Dec 23: The Sarasota Police Department responded to a bank robbery alarm at the Suntrust Bank located at 3577 Fruitville Road on Tuesday. A lone perpetrator had entered the bank and produced a note demanding money. The subject fled on foot and is still at large.

A note! In light of the recent economical downfall, bank robbery might become more popular, especially if all it takes is a note.. Am I the only one here to find this a bit odd? I mean, if I was a teller and someone just handed me a piece of paper asking for money, I’d ask “Where is your gun?” Don’t have one? Sorry buddy, but my heavy duty stapler would be flying at your head before you can say “no dye-pack.”

Same thing two weeks ago.. An old semi-regular at a local coffee shop here in Sarasota, named Lewis, was arrested for robbing a SunTrust bank on US41. I heard he had a BB gun, but didn’t pull it out. Now, had you seen Lewis, you would know that he is pretty old. You could probably just push him over, he’d fall and break his hip (sorry Lewis, I hope your cellmates don’t read my blog). A BB gun can hardly qualify as a weapon.. If you used it like a hammer maybe.. There was a time when most anyone would have recognized a BB gun from a real one, but today, it’s politically incorrect to know about guns. Oh well, I guess paper cuts can get infected.

Bank policies are not there to prevent theft, but to protect themselves against their own employees. A lawsuit from a teller who got a black eye from trying to stop a robber could cost the bank more money than the loot. Sometimes those policies border on the ridicule. Wachovia for instance has a no-gun policy. I wonder if it applies to undercover cops. Robbers of course will leave their guns in their car when they see the sign.. Another liability issue, I am sure. You may argue that if one can rob a bank with a note, they might not bring a gun. I am not sure it is a valid argument. We still get bloody robberies. Why don’t tellers have guns? That would solve the problem really fast.

I would be interested to hear from bank employees who are familiar with these procedures. It seems to me that our society promotes being a victim. Criminal life has never been easier. When do we start to say “No”?

I just stumbled on an excellent article in the New York Times, “Time to Reboot America.” The author couldn’t have said it better: “Landing at Kennedy Airport from Hong Kong was, as I’ve argued before, like going from the Jetsons to the Flintstones.” I didn’t have that impression landing in Philadephia sixteen years ago from Charles De Gaulle for my first time in the United States. However, I should have known America was in trouble when I saw my first American household appliances! Twenty years ago, my mother’s washing machine had a microprocessor in it. My credit card had an embedded chip; technology which took ten years to cross the Atlantic. I still need to tell my washing machine how much laundry is in it, and turn and old style knob to turn it on. Then, when the washing is finished, I must take the laundry, stuff it in a no less obsolescent dryer, and turn another 1960s style mechanical knob. Energy efficient? I doubt it.

My first American car was a Ford 1978 LTD. It was great, confortable, the AC worked, and I paid only $750 for it. It had a few little quirks, but all in all, it worked. The fuel consumption was appaling, but why care? Gas was less than a dollar a gallon, almost four times less than in France. We thought gas reserves would last forever, we still do.

Today, I still can’t take a high speed train (look 3:25 to 3:55) from Sarasota to Tampa or Orlando. I must drive on I4 to get to the East coast. I you have driven on I4, you understand.. No amount of money could get me to commute daily from Tampa to Orlando via I4.

The list goes on and on. I do have another list, with all the good things about America; it is longer than the bad one, that’s why I’m still here, for now. We have NASA, a top of the line computer industry, the Internet, medical research as good as in Europe, Universities like MIT. Then, why do I feel like I live in 1975 sometimes? We don’t produce much here anymore, everything is service based. Most of the stuff I owed says “Made in China” or Japan, Taiwan, etc. When I think of American products, I think “rugged,” “old fashion,” “reliable” (except for cars).. Certainly not “high-tech.”

America needs to look East, not at it’s own navel. I am affraid Obama will plunge us into a socialist/protectionist era that will be the last nail in the coffin. At least we might not spend billions in unecessary wars abroad. This is not the time however to close our borders to commerce. We need to produce so that my next cell phone says “Made In USA.” We will be in competition with Europe and Asia, whether we like it or not. We should be the ones selling them goods. American high schools produce students who are two years behind Europeans. When I went to college in Florida, to perfect my English, I thought it was a joke. The college level math was the same as when I was 12. Yes, I agree, time to Reboot America.

School reforms: We need to be more demanding on both students and schools. Schools should be held accountable for their results. The “everyone wins, you’re doing great” bullshit needs to stop. If you suck, someone has to tell you, so that you can correct your attitude. When I was in school, no student would ever dare to talk back to a teacher. Today, teachers get assaulted in class! Why? Simple: No consequences. Being suspended is not a punishment, it’s a gift. Parents don’t care anymore. When you’re 15, you don’t care about your future, you care about right now, maybe tomorrow. There should be immediate consequences to lazyness. Also, why do kids still have to learn how many ounces are in a pound, and a flurry of other stupid measurements when there is a metric system? Want to know how many litres are in a 3×3x3 meter tank? Simple: 3×3x3=27 x 1000 = 27000 litres. And guess what, it weights 27000Kg, 27 metric tons. I don’t need to spend fiften minutes on the problem, I can do it in my head in 5 seconds. Australia went metric in 1970. If they can do it, why not America? NASA uses metric, otherwise we’d probably never go back to the moon in our lifetimes.. As to schools teaching stupid theories like creationism, don’t even get me started on that…

Free markets: Why Ron Paul wasn’t elected is beyond my comprehension. Here is a politician who understands exactly what this country needs, and he doesn’t even make it to the last round. We need businesses, and we need them to be successful. Here is where Europe failed and America can prevail. Europeans have this funny idea that a business has social obligations beyond not causing harm to people. That’s not the purpose of a business. In France, money is seen as somewhat dirty. The European attitude is that the government and businesses must take care of the people who have the right to be fed, clothed, and pampered, given what they need. They just shot themselves in the foot, just not the same foot we shot ourselves in. Businesses are the life blood of the country. Nobody else can produce wealth, except maybe the Federal Reserve when they print money, which compounds the problem. Wee need to compete with Europe and Asia on the same footing, not with artificial tariffs to level the field in our favor. Opening the markets might hurt us for a while, but long term, it is our only salvation.

No bailouts: If a company fails, they ought to go out of business. Taking taxpayer’s money to save a business is stealing, clear and simple. Since when does a Republican government use socialist tactics to redistribute wealth? I think they do it because they want a quick fix, a patch that will hold for a bit before cracking wide open, but that will make them look godd right now, until retirement with a bit of luck..

Better news: American news on television is a dog and pony show. How can a nation be aware of it’s lagging behind if it doesn’t look at the countries that are a decade ahead of them technologically. I once had a flat tire on my old Ford near Alachua County Florida. A pickup truck stopped and a guy offered me help (after yelling to his wife “Get back in the fucking truck!”). Anyway, I guess he was nice to me. Hearing my accent he asked “Where you from?” I said “France.” “What state is that?” he replied. “It’s overseas..” “Ah” he said, “do you have power over there?” I’m not making this up! That’s an extreme of course, and I couldn’t resist mentioning the story. We never hear most of what goes on in the world here on TV, except when it affects us directly, and immediately. Did you know that France launches satellites in orbit for cheaper than NASA, and I think more often with it’s Arianne rocket? Stop watching “Desperate Housewives” go to BBC, and even then, I’m not sure their US programs are the same the rest of the world sees.. I have access to about 300 channels, but I can’t hardly ever find an interesting show. Get your news from foreign agencies on the web.

Promote reading books: In 1982, 60% of young adults engaged in literary reading, while in 2002, only 43% do^*. I don’t have recent numbers, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it went down even more. Understanding other cultures and philosophy by reading could probably save us a lot of grief with our foreign policies. Even our politicians sometimes lack basic knowledge of geography and foreign ideology. When was the last time you bought a book or went to the library?

Maybe next time we can also talk about getting rid of the Federal Reserve…

I have heard about the demise of America for decades, never paid too much attention to those predictions. The signs were there, it’s easy to see them now in retrospect. How low it will go is hard to tell, the depression is here. We just don’t want to see it. We refuse to imagine the consequences, and we don’t want to see the solutions. Americans need to get educated and take their heads out of the sand. The United States was a great nation, not so long ago. We have great minds, visionaries, we can do it again.

* US Census 2002.

The heat had been unbearable, making the climb the hardest thing Armand had ever done. Not that it was a difficult rock. It would actually look fairly uninteresting in the eyes of climbers, which was why he had chosen it. That, and it’s apparent geological stability. “It will be here for thousands of years” he thought, and smiled. His feet hurt, and his hands were badly abraded. Twice he had lost his footing and almost fell. And for what? He wasn’t so sure now. It was the wildest idea he ever came up with. Lila had burst out laughing when he told her, and later the tears and rage had come.

“I’m losing you Armand” she had said, “You’re going nuts, snap out of it!”
“People just climb for fun, why can’t I do it with a purpose?” He had asked.
“You know nothing about climbing. And now you want to find some fucking aliens on a rock!”
“No, no aliens, I’ve told you, it’s..”
“Stop it! I’m tired of your bullshit. It’s ridiculous. Step back in reality.”

After a couple seconds of hesitation he had then started saying “I’m just gonna..” she had turned on her heels and stormed out of the house, slamming the door on the way out. The next day, when he had come back from work, all her things were gone.

He bought a Honda motorcycle on his credit card. A trail bike that would be at ease in the Arizona desert. Arizona was nothing like North Carolina where he had taken a few climbing lessons though. It took him a week to find the right rock. A week of riding in the sun and the dust. The location had to be isolated enough that it would remain unvisited for a very long time.

Now, he dared not look down. He had to stop many times to catch his breath. The bike became a small red speck on the ground below. The summit was within a stone’s throw. Armand felt a crack with his right hand, grabbed a piton from his belt and stuck it in the interstice. He made sure he kept three points of contact as he hammered it in the rock. Grab, pull, one move at a time. Progress was slow but inexorable. If only it wasn’t so damn hot, he thought. Finally, his hand reached the last edge, he pulled one last time, swung his legs over and rolled on his back, panting.

Armand had not drunk any water on the rock wall from fear of making a mistake and losing his grip. He reached for one of his water bottles. “I should have bought one of these hydration backpacks with a drinking tube” he said to himself. One bottle was cracked from his rolling away from the edge, onto his small backpack. He had three more. Sitting up, he forgot about drinking for a few minutes. The view was unbelievable. The countryside looked much greener than from the ground. The reddish soil reminded him of Australia where he had spent a couple months hitch-hiking; eons ago it seemed. He thought about time again.. Time was what got him here, why he climbed this rock, hoping that some day, someone would figure it all out. He opened the plastic container and started drinking. Dozens of trillions of cells in his body seemed to get the message and absorb the life giving moisture. It felt like water was pouring into his whole body though thousands of pinholes. Armand finished the bottle and lay on his back.

When he woke up, his face was burning. He checked his watch. One hour. Half of the day was gone. “Time to go to work” he thought, and pulled the chisel and hammer from his backpack. The summit was fairly flat but for an anvil shaped formation on the North side. That is where Armand decided to go to work. There was an eye-level slab large enough to his left, perfect for the task. He took a deep breath, placed the chisel on the rock face and hit it hard with his hammer, closing his eyes at the last moment to protect them. Ten minutes later he had carved the first letter “T.”

It took him five hours. His hands were bleeding. Almost all of his water was gone. He had an emergency canteen, but it was on the bike. The sun was setting on the horizon, blending the color of the ground with the sky. The view was breathtaking, but he felt exhausted. “I’m a fool” he thought, “Lila was right.” He had stopped working twice because his chest hurt, and that scarred him very much. Once because a chip of rock embedded itself in his cheek. He had brought a large ham sandwich and a peanut butter and jelly one for breakfast, but working so hard had make him hungry, so he ate them both, then drank the last of his water. He removed a sweater and small jacket out of his bag before putting the tools back in. “I’ll use this one as a pillow” he thought, rolling the jacket and placing it next to him on the rock. He put the sweater on, lay back as comfortably as possible on the hard surface. Armand had never seen that many stars before. Sleep came fast as he pondered on those inevitable questions one asks while stargazing..

The motorcycle was found two weeks later by an ultralight pilot who spotted it from his aircraft, deduced that it must belong to a climber and flew above the rock to check for it’s owner. There was a couple items on the top, hard to discern, but no human. The pilot, afraid that the climber may have fallen into the bushes at the base of the rock, called for help. There was no body to be found, dead or alive. The search team had surveyed the whole area, using dogs and infrared cameras from a helicopter. The mystery deepened significantly when two days later the carved inscription was found on the summit: “TAKE ME THROUGH TIME – SEP 13 2008”.

Photographing a lightning storm is easier than it seems, assuming you have the right camera and a bit of luck and patience. The same technique applies to fireworks. People wonder how I took the photo below right when lightning struck. I’ll let you in on the secret…

I didn’t. No amount of expresso could make anyone that fast! The shot is actually of three different lightning events a few minutes apart.

First, you’ll need a camera that has what is called a pause ‘B’ or ‘T’ speed setting. Yes, that’s what those two you never used are for! Pause B keeps the shutter open as long as you keep the shutter button pressed. Pause T keeps the shutter open until you change the setting. So, pause T is better because you don’t need to keep pressing the button and risking moving the camera, which by the way must be on a tripod.

Choose a low sensitivity film, like 25 or 50 asa/iso. Your exposure will last a few minutes and you don’t want to over-expose the background or get thick lightning looking like a defective lightsaber.. Same goes for digital cameras. A fast setting or film will increase the grain, you’ll lose details.

You’ll have to play with the f stop. I like to start with 4 or 5.6. I tend to avoid lenses that can’t open to at least 2.8. No matter what your lens is, open to at least one stop over the minimum, two is better. Lenses usually do not perform at their best at the extreme of their aperture range.

Get a thick, black piece of fabric like felt to cover the lens. A plastic cap would work, but you risk moving the camera. Make sure no light will enter the lens when you hold it in front of it. Now you just have to wait for the perfect storm! And by the way, don’t expose yourself in an open field or too close to the storm, lightning is a dangerous subject. I took the photo out of an appartment balcony for protection.

Now you’re ready! Lightning all over, your camera is up, you’re standing there in your yellow raincoat holding an old fedora to cover your lens. Open the shutter. Remove the hat! Count seconds (I tap my foot for rhythm). Bam! You got one, cover the lens (keep the shutter open) stop counting. Bam! Shit, you missed that one. Wait a bit, uncover, count… Wham! Number two is in. Close the shutter. Note the exposure time and f stop for future reference. Do it all over again…

With a bit of practice, you will produce amazing photos. There are many other interesting things you can photograph at night with a long exposure, and that are no doubt less dangerous than a storm. Look at the photo below:

The exposure was 20 minutes! I was getting pretty bored, but the result was worth the wait. The light traces are of car headlights and taillights. You don’t see the cars because they were not long enough in front of the camera to imprint the film.

Have fun with this technique! I’d like to see pictures posted in the comments.. Questions are welcome. Merry Christmas everyone

Gil.

I bought my first Cold Steel Master Tanto more than 17 years ago at a gun show in Sydney. I was about to embark on a two month hitch-hicking journey around the country and needed a good blade for peace of mind. The knife looked very well built and felt good in my hand. The dealer explained how a core of hard steel was sandwiched between two layers of softer steel. The tanto tip is really strong and the edge was hair-shaving sharp right out of the factory.

Once, on a canoe trip near Katherine, in the Nothern Territories, I found myself with a can of corned beef and no can opener… Nobody had ever told me you shouldn’t cut a steel can in half with a knife, so I did just that with my tanto. It went right through! No damage to the knife which was still very sharp after the cut, I just had to clean it. It didn’t take much effort at all.

Stupidly, I sold the knife years later on E-Bay. I have never found as good a knife as that one. So, last week, I finally placed my order for a brand new VG-1 San Mai III Master Tanto. The new model looks just like the old one, from memory. The only difference is the material of the guard and pommel, which are now stainless steel instead of brass. I liked the brass better but the steel looks good enough. The grip is the same rubbery material that makes it close to impossible for your hand to slip on the handle. The guard is small but enough to prevent your hand from sliding onto the blade when striking a hard object (like bone..). The leather sheath is very well made and silent to carry. Cold Steel makes a “Concealex” kraton sheath but I wonder if it is noisy.. I like to place the sheath upside down on my right side, where is it very fast to deploy and quasi invisible under an untuck shirt. Remember that carrying a knife like this concealed is illegal in most (maybe all) states without a CCW permit.

Update Oct 09: I now strongly advise against carrying the knife upside down in the leather sheath, as it can fall off! Don’t ask me how I found that out..

Cold Steel has been producing these knives since the 80s and at $169, they are worth every penny. I have owned knives worth hundreds of dollars, and not one was significantly better. I only miss my Mad Dog Atak II.. But you don’t have to wait two years to get your Master Tanto. They come in different sizes, up to a twelve inch blade. Six inches is enough for me. You can’t go wrong with this knife. If you are not sure about it’s strenght, watch the video below…