Real Life Super Heroes, update

Well, I had a great idea for a story but someone already wrote it. So without further ado, http://www.gq.com/news-politics/newsmakers/201108/real-life-superheroes-phoenix-jones?currentPage=2

Shoe Rants and Raves

So the topic of shoes is really close to my heart. My left foot is a half size shorter than my right foot, but its a half size wider. Both my feet are shaped like a ducks. I seriously have feet that are 5 E's wide...well the right ones 5 E's. I've had trouble finding shoes that fit my entire life. Of course its a blessing in someways, for one thing I think it started me down the road of thinking outside the box. I wondered why, if there were customers wanting to buy shoes in my size, why no one was making them. It's a failure on the part of business in America today, and of course the consumer always shares in the blame.

If Temperance Brenen were here she could determine my nationality by the freaky shape of my feet (which is Pictish, BTW). How? Well as it turns out there's less then ten basic shapes of foot. It makes sense, right, there's a "Roman" nose, why wouldn't there be a "Roman" foot. Well there is, so do shoe makers design a shoe for the Roman foot? Of course not! Because only a small percentage of us shoe buyers chooses a shoe for comfort and durability. The rest of you pick a shoe because Micheal Jordan said to.

Lets run some numbers on Nike. As of 2006 Nike could manufacture a pare of shoes for $7. They paid factory workers in Indonesia and Viet Nam $1.50 a day (cost of living there is $4.50 a day). The average factory worker is female age 17 to 35 and works around 500 hours of overtime each year. Nike paid Micheal Jordan more than they paid all of the workers at all 6 factories in Indonesia. And to top it all off, do you think you can walk into a store with feet the size of Mr. Jordan's and buy a pare of shoes that fit? Nope! They only really sell a small range of sizes. In other industries this is called false advertizing, but...

At the extreme far end of the spectrum is the San Antonio Shoe Company. SAS designs, manufactures and sell entirely in the US. You can't even buy their shoes online because they think you should actually get your feet measured before buying a shoe. I own a pare and they are expensive, BUT, they look as good as new and they are 3 full years old. I think I can probably get 5 years out of them which means they are actually cheaper per year than Air Jordan's, which only last about a year.

Ultimately the problem is far greater than sweat shops and consumerism. In a life time we'll walk the equivalent of circling the globe 3 times. Each step can take our back out of line, cause knee and hip joint wear, or worse it hurts so bad we don't walk, which is a very natural, cheap and effective way to stay healthy. You can now have a custom home built but it costs almost as much to get a custom pare of shoes built.

The ultimate answer may be here soon, but in the mean time buy SAS shoes.

Advice to Writers New to Critiquing

I've been in several writing groups. One of them lasted over two decades. It can be a little nerve wracking to start editing someones writing. I will offer this one piece of philosophy that helped me in critique groups.

At the end of the day you own your writing and I own my critique. I'm offering an opinion based on my experience with reading, writing, sitting through classes and being critiqued. It's still just my opinion and it may not be correct. Treat them as suggestion, but I warn you, a wise writer carefully ways advice before tossing it out. Discerning good advice from bad is a skill we need to cultivate just as much as our writing and editing. In fact, sometimes people just don't get what you wrote. That's fine, not everything can reach everyone.

By the same token when I put my stuff up there for critique, I'm looking for you to help me make it stronger. Take that as an opportunity to gain experience editing. Read my work with your editor glasses on. It will change how you think when you write your next challenge. No one writes a perfect draft. Expect me to make the same mistake I just told you not to make. That's not me being a hypocrite it's just that none of us see the mistakes in our own writing unless we employ a technique to try to see them, and still things will slip through.

Last but not least, tell me what I did right, not just what I did wrong. There's only two kinds of critique I don't like. 1) when they tell me what they think I want to hear. 2) when they trash it for the pure joy of feeling better about themselves. As long as your motive is to make my work stronger, you'll probably succeed.

More on water

Again I say I'm not an environmentalist. It's just that there are somethings that just make sense. So often it seems like the world is sorted into people who trash the environment and eco-nut whackos that would gladly terminate thousands of jobs to try something that ultimately does more harm than good. I'll probably post some examples in future installments but for now here's some good examples of practical devises.

Grey water recapture systems make sense. Rainwater can be captured and stored for tough times. There's no reason why shower water can't be used to flush toilets or water lawns. Here's a couple links to get the ball rolling.

http://www.instructables.com/id/EMERGENCY-WATER-SUPPLY-more-of-a-long-term-fix-th/

http://www.instructables.com/id/WATER-PURIFICATION-SYSTEM-cheap-and-effective/

Bonus article http://www.gizmag.com/source-universal-tap-adapter/21927/?utm_source=Gizmag+Subscribers&utm_campaign=4483461352-UA-2235360-4&utm_medium=email

Libraries of the World

Here's a link to some pictures of the 20 coolest Libraries in the world. I just wanted to share. Nothing cooler than a library.

http://www.vancouversun.com/health/empowered-health/health/6302498/story.html?tab=PHOT

Tactical Body Armor Anyone?

I want one. I love this stuff.

Have you ever thought about how effective modern football/hockey armor would be in real combat? What would you have to add to it? I should pitch a reality tv show where designers make armor out of what's commercially available. They'd be allowed to modify anything they "bought" by 20% and add another 20% stuff they completely fabricated from scratch. At the end of each episode they'd put the armor through modern warrior type testing to determine stopping power vs reflex to arrive at an overall effectiveness number. I think it would be fascinating. Actually I'm probably thinking of something closer to Deadliest Warrior.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003SHBBLE/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_dp_a6JApb17TTTYB

Some more packing tips

Here's a clever idea or two:



One of the most inclusive travel tips video I've found.



I know a lot of chick travel tips...not my usual fair, but they are better videos on the topics than the ones done by dudes. Here's one on eating healthy while you travel.