Trust me, this isn't the first time I've talked about something on Blogstream that I know very little about.
No, I'm not writing about love...or women...or any combination of the two.
I'm writing about cars...electric cars, to be exact.
I like to think of myself as more of a social trend spotter than a social engineer (or an engineer of any kind), and I've recently noticed that people are getting sick and tired of high gasoline prices.
No big suprise there, but I've also noticed some are talking about ways to deal with the problem, that does not involve killing all the Saudis, and that Chavez guy in Venezuala, and stealing all their oil.
This, I suspect, is the Bush White House plan, but I'll save that for another post.
The first thing I noticed was a movie playing at the local "art house" cinema called "Who Killed the Electric Car?". It's a a documentary about a technology that was here twenty years ago, before being smothered by the big car companies.
Electric cars.
Not "hybrids" as a younger generation is familier with, but actual "plug 'em in at night and run 'em in the morning, gasoline and oil free" electric cars. Zero Emmissions. Capable of highway speeds, and 80 to 100 miles on a single charge. Quiet, efficiant and deadly to the bottom line of Big Oil.
If you want the technical stuff, a guy in California, writing in the Baltimore Chronicle has put together the relevant information.
So, just imagine for a minute what it would mean for the US, if even half of the personal vehicles on the road today suddenly went electric. (I say half, because there would still be a need for gasoline powered trucks to haul stuff, and to massage the egos of men with "adequacy issues".)
It might save the struggling American Auto Industry, while simultaniously reducing the bloated American Oil Industry. In addition, the oil fields of the Middle East would no longer be of such strategic importance, worth spending American lives over.
See? Everybody wins!
Oh, and don't hand me that "ethanol" crap.
Despite what Midwest corn farmers and Archer Daniels Midland spend millions to tell you, corn squeezin's just ain't the answer.
I'd rather bet our country's future on Herr Professors Fischer und Tropsch!

I have a very dear friend, whom I've known for decades, who is a very talented astrologer.
She is very serious about both the science and the artistic aspects of the manner in which the planets (and other celestial bodies) line up to affect the goings-on of our lives here on earth.
If you believe the Moon can affect the ocean tides, you really can't dismiss astrology out of hand.
I mean, astrologers use ALL the freakin' planets!
Yet, it is days like these that seem to fling a middle finger at the sun-sign part of the science of astrology...the part that appears in newspapers and in small books posthumously written by Sidney Omar.
Today marks the birthday of John Lovitz (1957), Robin Williams (1951), Cat Stevens (1948), Janet Reno (1938), Don Knotts (1924) and Ernest Hemingway (1899)...put 'em all together, and you have all the makings of a literate musical comedy that would set records on Broadway!
Or an out-of-control melee involving jokes, folk music and gunfire.
Yet, being born on June 21st is not always a ticket to stardom, as most of these people will tell you.
On the really down side, Basil Rathbone would likely tell you that it isn't a very good day at all.
The South African born actor, remembered for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes, was 75 when he died on this day 39 years ago.

The true baseball fanatic, if there are any left, will spend the Winter months engaged in what sportswriters call the "Hot Stove League".
Apparently, this is where guys in Boston or St. Louis or Chicago sit around a primative heating device talking baseball, while the snows of November pile up outside their door. The League takes place in pubs in Worcester, Mass, Monticello, New York or Mars, Pennsylvania (near Pittsburgh) where real fans talk about the season that ended in October (if the BoSox, Yanks or Pirates did well), or of another shot in the season to come, if it's a cold night in Akron, Hamilton or Trenton (for Indians, Blue Jays or Phillies fans respectively).
In other words, the "Hot Stove League" is the very first rumblings of the new baseball season, even before Spring Training.

Here in Florida, you might call it the "Hot-as-Hell" league, for those of us who are fans of politics and looking ahead to the season.
You see, thanks to term limits imposed by a Republican Legislature, Jeb Bush has to finally stop being the Governor of Florida, and this November, we have a chance to replace him. While he's generally more competant than his older brother at running things, Jeb still has the family "jones" for cuttin' taxes. You think that would be tough to do, since Florida has no state income tax.
Yet Jeb managed to cut something called the "intangibles" tax.
In short, he eliminated a tax paid by millionaires on windfall profits from fluctuating property like stocks and bonds. It generally benefits people who's homes I have glimpsed through the gates of Heathrow or Winter Park, but whom I've never actually met. Personally, I've never been subject to any intangibles tax.
But, I digress.
As I mentioned before, Jeb is on the way out to bigger and better things, and the two major parties in the state each have two major candidates gearing up to take over the Governor's Mansion in Tallahassee next year.
If name recognition is a factor, the Dems are Doomed.
We are talking guys with names like Jim Davis and Rod Smith. Apparently, they couldn't find a John Doe to make the Democratic Primary really competetive.
Yep, Smith and Davis...Rod and Jim...they sound like aliases.
On the Republican side, it's Charlie Crist (dig the shot with Jeb) and Tom Gallagher.
Obviously, the names alone will guarantee the redneck imbecile vote.
"DAMN, it's hard to choose...that feller Crist almost sounds like Christ, our-lord-and-savior...but that Gallager feller always cracks me up when he smashes watermellons with that big-assed hammer!"

In case you're wondering, I have made my decision as to who I will support, and who, today, gets the coveted endorsement for Governor for the Great State of Florida from the Blogstream contributor formerly known as Gobshite.
Mr. Tom likes Rod Smith...(polite "golf clap"), mostly because he promises to restore the intangibles tax. Rod will likely get my vote, unless he turns out to be a bigger jerk than Jeb.
But that's pretty hard to imagine.

Actually, nothing violent is going on here...it's that I just got tired of the nickname "Gobshite", is all.
In the back of my mind, I guess, I was looking for something a little more dignified...
Blogstream wants at least 5 characters, so my preferred T.C. is out.
So, I ended up settling on "Mr. Tom".
So, it's still me overlooking orlando...only now I've got a new nick name...dignified...yeah...that's it...Mr. Tom...

Sounds like a redneck hair stylist...

It's heading towards 11pm, and I have gone back to Blogstream in the way I used to...staying up late, writing whatever comes into my mind and listening to radio from far away.
Tonight it's Oscar Brand's Folk Song Festival on WNYC in New York. The guy's been doing a weekly program of folk music since 1945. He must be in his 80's, but his mind is still sharp, even if he talks a little slower than he used to.
When it comes to writing, I Usually have an idea synapsing around for a day or so, and I finally sit down and type it out when it has begun to gel.
Not so this time.
I hadn't offered a post since May, so I figured part of getting back in touch with my fellow Blogstreamers would be to see what they've been doing for the past two months.
Sadly, many on my favorites list have been away longer than I have. One has even been (ominously) "deactivated"!
So I began to expand my circle of friends, letting one person's favorites list lead me to another's, who would lead me to someone else. I haven't commented on any, but I have noticed one interesting thing.
A lot of people are putting their secrets on their blogs.
There are secret relationships, secret desires, secret problems and secret triumphs that no one but the Blogstream reader knows about.
The exceptions, of course, are the love affairs. Yet, even here, I get the impression that the reader may know more than the lover. They are fascinating to read, because the feelings expressed are so staggeringly genuine.
They may not be polished, but they are very real.
Personally, I don't reveal too much about myself.
When I first got involved with Blogstream, my ego got in the way, and I was quick to tell friends and family what I was doing and where I could be found.
Yet, tonight, I noticed a small notation at the bottom of the "My Account" page.
It said, simply, "Add A Blog To Your Account."
Hmm...a whole new blog...that nobody knows about...with a whole new name.
Should I?
After all...we've all got our secrets.