Saturday, August 05, 2006
Friday, August 04, 2006
What to say in court
I am here to register a statement about driving through Homer. I cannot confirm or deny that I was speeding on the day the ticket was issued, since I was driving safely, stopping in fact, and pumping gasoline at the gas station when the policeman approached me. I was not pulled over. I was working on my daily delivery route, delivering individual newspapers to individual rural customers, my job for over six years. Careful driving, personalized delivery, and a clean record are something I want to maintain.
In these years of delivery, I have been stopped by Homer's policeman three times and my hired drivers have also at least once. These were not cases of speeding or reckless driving, but the result of excessive diligence from a policeman with too little to do.
On the day in question, I delivered a paper to the residence of Terry Wolf on the outskirts of Homer. The posted speed limit there is 55, although I am sure I could and would not have reached this speed, because my car was stopped. I drove from Wolf’s to the stop sign on Main Street, where I came to a second complete stop, crossed the street to the Marathon Station that I have regularly patronized several times a week, over the last years. I was filling my tank when the policeman drove up behind me and told me I had been speeding into town.
I also think he was not happy about the bumper sticker that reads IMPEACH on my Prius.
I told him I had not been speeding; he did not claim to recognize me from before. He wrote me the ticket.
I have since stopped driving into Homer at all. I personally spoke with the mayor of Homer and the gas station operator and told them that I would no longer be able to patronize Homer business, since the risk of entering the town -- perhaps more occupied with the routine delivery of newspapers and not the speedometer -- one is likely to exceed the speed limit and the policeman laying in wait is too risky. I don't trust myself enough to drive between the shifting speed limits --- now 55, now 30, now 35, now 20 -- within this short distance. It is better to avoid the town altogether.
And that is what I have done since this ticket was issued. The mayor said sincerely he hoped I would reconsider. I am considering reconsidering, but right now I am not reconsidering. It is easy enough to re-route my delivery route to avoid the town.
I simply wanted to express this officially, to say to the policeman and the court that I was not speeding, that driving is my livelihood and I take much care and personal attention to each and every customer -- 170 in all -- that I deliver too in the four hours and 150 miles of driving I do each day in the rural countryside.
I would ask the court to find me not guilty of speeding. However, if that is not to be, I am content to continue as I have done, avoiding Homer in my deliveries. I am comfortable and do not feel a sense of threat in any other town I pass through or have passed through in delivery. In every other place, in the country or in towns such as Sidney, Villa Grove, Philo, Broadlands, Allerton, St. Joseph, and Urbana that I have regular occasion to drive through, I feel confident in doing so. Since I cannot feel a sense of safety in entering Homer, I have removed it from my delivery route.
Was I speeding on the day I received the ticket? To my knowledge, I was not. I have no further plea.
In these years of delivery, I have been stopped by Homer's policeman three times and my hired drivers have also at least once. These were not cases of speeding or reckless driving, but the result of excessive diligence from a policeman with too little to do.
On the day in question, I delivered a paper to the residence of Terry Wolf on the outskirts of Homer. The posted speed limit there is 55, although I am sure I could and would not have reached this speed, because my car was stopped. I drove from Wolf’s to the stop sign on Main Street, where I came to a second complete stop, crossed the street to the Marathon Station that I have regularly patronized several times a week, over the last years. I was filling my tank when the policeman drove up behind me and told me I had been speeding into town.
I also think he was not happy about the bumper sticker that reads IMPEACH on my Prius.
I told him I had not been speeding; he did not claim to recognize me from before. He wrote me the ticket.
I have since stopped driving into Homer at all. I personally spoke with the mayor of Homer and the gas station operator and told them that I would no longer be able to patronize Homer business, since the risk of entering the town -- perhaps more occupied with the routine delivery of newspapers and not the speedometer -- one is likely to exceed the speed limit and the policeman laying in wait is too risky. I don't trust myself enough to drive between the shifting speed limits --- now 55, now 30, now 35, now 20 -- within this short distance. It is better to avoid the town altogether.
And that is what I have done since this ticket was issued. The mayor said sincerely he hoped I would reconsider. I am considering reconsidering, but right now I am not reconsidering. It is easy enough to re-route my delivery route to avoid the town.
I simply wanted to express this officially, to say to the policeman and the court that I was not speeding, that driving is my livelihood and I take much care and personal attention to each and every customer -- 170 in all -- that I deliver too in the four hours and 150 miles of driving I do each day in the rural countryside.
I would ask the court to find me not guilty of speeding. However, if that is not to be, I am content to continue as I have done, avoiding Homer in my deliveries. I am comfortable and do not feel a sense of threat in any other town I pass through or have passed through in delivery. In every other place, in the country or in towns such as Sidney, Villa Grove, Philo, Broadlands, Allerton, St. Joseph, and Urbana that I have regular occasion to drive through, I feel confident in doing so. Since I cannot feel a sense of safety in entering Homer, I have removed it from my delivery route.
Was I speeding on the day I received the ticket? To my knowledge, I was not. I have no further plea.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
escape velocity (guest blog by bubbles)
refer to this video
"take your work today
was good
greg.
i like when the horse turns into an elephant and the scary truck on
the dirt road you must get repetitive strain injury all that leaning
out to the side you should have a special vehicle that lets you be
in the middle of the car and can reach easily r or l
i watched it with interpol on and it was beautiful. was there a
hitchhiker in the cornfield with his overalls down to his waist. it
went by so fast,
i watched the movie sipping valerian tea washing down ambien cr, it;s
nice when make you clumsyf lumsy.sort of like drunk but clean like
your not going to throw up and your not bloated and you don't have to
keep drinking your set as soon as you swallow.
it's real sticky and hot here but the only time i feel yucky is in
the air condition places, they bring me down. just lets not have all
this air conditioning. i sit by a fan on a towel on a chair and a
wife beater and am cool. need another spot of tea.
my schedule this summer is what i have chosen to do orkind of what i
do without pretense. possible that some ambition is not there. i
write these little tidbits of journaling and throw in a photo and
think i am doing art. i don't have any story to tell. for a rocket to
get past the earths orbit, it has to go 25thousand miles an hour, its
called ev escape velocity. i need to get some ev going somewhere in me.
i see there is yet another allen johannsen movie coming out.
the smartest thing allen did in matchpoint was not be in it. this hew
movie looks like match point except he gets a chance at her. it looks
really embarrasing. wonder what that child he bought and married
thinks of this,"
for more of bubbles, see Scout Loves Bubbles at scoutlovesbubbles.blogspot.com
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
movie thoughts
scoop: it's hard to adjust when woody allen puts on a new face. instead of fawning over scarlett johanssen, he makes fun of her and how she looks. says she looks like petunia pig! he is a good magician, not a schmuck for a change. that's really quite funny. was that hammersmith palais in the background? he's great at location shots, whether manhattan orlondon. nice extended, choreographed shot early on, with characters walking on and off, interacting. no cuts. he could have used more of that. when he makes a comedy, we anticipate there's a punch line or pay off in each scene. there isn't one in the poker playing scene, for example, no joke there. ultimately, it's a subtle and funny and -- like Lady in the Water -- ultimately watchable. it's too hot to judge and criticize. every movie doesn't have to be a blockbuster or masterpiece. both those movies are serviceable, enjoyable experiences. kudos.
clerks II: pasolini pere ubu homosexual donkey sex jesus t-shirts joyful michael jackson dancing a movie of philosophy light years better than average teen movies
(excerpt: lord of the rings trilogy is walking even the trees walk. first movie, walk. second movie, walk. third movie, walk and drop ring)
(review: when spontaneous laughter can be generated, one must immediately suspend judgment and go with it or be a grinch)
miami vice: nice shots of colombia.
no desire to be any of these people, to do what they do or have what they have
what is their motivation? they already have enough, don't they? why keep on?
how much money do you need?
isn't about the money, it's about the life of crime itself that propels them?
everybody has to work, even criminals.
nobody knows how to smell the roses.
not enough brakhage for my taste
the digital video photography either not compelling or abstract enough to engage by itself, i guess the mark of a good narrative filmmaker
(review: preferred clerks II)
clerks II: pasolini pere ubu homosexual donkey sex jesus t-shirts joyful michael jackson dancing a movie of philosophy light years better than average teen movies
(excerpt: lord of the rings trilogy is walking even the trees walk. first movie, walk. second movie, walk. third movie, walk and drop ring)
(review: when spontaneous laughter can be generated, one must immediately suspend judgment and go with it or be a grinch)
miami vice: nice shots of colombia.
no desire to be any of these people, to do what they do or have what they have
what is their motivation? they already have enough, don't they? why keep on?
how much money do you need?
isn't about the money, it's about the life of crime itself that propels them?
everybody has to work, even criminals.
nobody knows how to smell the roses.
not enough brakhage for my taste
the digital video photography either not compelling or abstract enough to engage by itself, i guess the mark of a good narrative filmmaker
(review: preferred clerks II)
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