tend your garden or shoot for the stars

I know it's not the intent of those Report Suspicious Activity announcements to make people afraid, but what I was wondering if that was the effect.  We all know Nervous Nellies who get all worked up by, oh Ebola for example, and I wonder if hearing these announcements all the time increases their nervousness because frankly I don't see what they are so nervous about.  They should be nervous when driving their cars and smoking their cigarettes rather than fretting over nutballs.

I see where Michigan has open carry without a license or permit, so I guess it would be no trouble at all for a bunch of terrorist guys and gals to carry semi automatics over their shoulders along the route.  Why bother to conceal something on a bus when you can carry your firearm outside your pants for all the honest world to see? 

I don't think either of my colleagues flies very often, but the airports ring with messages of warning.  Used to be they would warn you to not leave your bags out of your sight, and people with stacks of bags around their seats who had to take a leak would say, yeah right.  I think they say something different now, but i am not sure, they are so ubiquitous that I never listen to them anymore.

I have noticed a few Hilary ads, and maybe one Trump one.  This would have been on CNN so maybe it was nationwide otherwise why would they broadcast into true blue Illinois.  You know Old Dog and I could fuss and fret about our votes and maybe consider Ben and Jerry or Jill The Green, but of course it doesn't matter at all.  We could vote our consciences or the lesser of two evils, or toss it away, or bury it deep in the dark garden of Whatshisname the Anti Trump guy, or we could just stay home.  Either way Illinois's 20 electoral votes go for the big girl.

Hum, Michigan's too, according to some internet map, where I was surprised to learn that Michigan gets 16 electoral votes which makes it the 8th most populous state in the union.  Where do all those people live?



That movie I saw, where I heard the announcement to watch out for folks setting fire to their shoes or underwear was about this improv group, kind of just barely getting by.  They all have rich parents or have to work these low level jobs to support themselves while they follow their dreams.  For all that they are a jolly group joking with each other, having each others' backs etc.  But as the movie opens their theater is being bought on and the new owners are giving them the boot.  Then word comes down that there will be a talent scout from a Saturday Night Life show in the audience.  The best of the performers hogs the stage and gets the big gig, and the rest of the troupe are bitter, before the sappy Hollywood ending.

So who was right?  The big star who essentially sold out or the loyal troupe who, let's face it, is going nowhere?  Sometimes my improv group gets the idea of going beyond our quarterly senior citizens show, but then it kind of sputters out on the rocks of Who Is Going To Pay Real Money To See Us?  I was sitting at the bar a few weeks ago and one of my fellow exhibitors, who had the current show, had this notebook and was making big plans to promote his art to rich people he knew.  Lots of luck, I thought, and ordered another Daisy Cutter.

R Crumb of underground comix fame also plays in kind of a turn of the century band, The Cheap Suit Serenaders.  He got to pontificating about it in this really great movie about him, and what he was talking about was that before Edison invented the record player if you wanted to hear music you had to pay a band.  Since a lot of people wanted to hear music this meant a lot of work for a lot of bands and music reigned throughout the land.

But then when people could listen to record players they didn't need to pay any bands, and a lot of them had to find day jobs and stop playing.  And also, because some bands got recorded and some didn't, some bands were considered great and some not so great, which was probably happening before recording but not so much.

Beagles used to be involved with the Bliss Music Festival, which I gather was kind of a nice little folksy group, but then the guys running it got big ideas to increase the audience and started letting in rock and roll bands which offended Beagles and he no longer is involved in the festival.

Old Dog is one of those tech guys.  He has a 3d printer and other devices, invents various things, and posts them on the internet and gets responses, but has as yet, not hit in big in the tech world.  Maybe if he got the ear of money guys or something he could hit it big,  Maybe not.

I've simplified the roles of Beagles and Old Dog, for the convenience of my argument.

Which is something like are you the better person for just plying your art and following your own course, or should you try to promote because otherwise it will just die with you.  Myself I am generally in favor of the latter, but I have my doubts about it.

So I'm looking for your opinions on this nebulous speculation.