really, Mr. Vlad, really?

9-29-2013

  Hello and welcome again to Cos’ blog. I know it’s been a while since I’ve graced you readers with my thoughts and ideas……But it has been a rather eventful month in the “real world” for me. Mostly a bunch of melodrama with being unemployed to employed again and trying to transition between the two while keeping the bills paid…….mostly it doesn’t work these days and I’m really struggling to get some meaning behind it all. That aside, the world around me hasn’t been without inspiration for the ol’ cos treatment. I thought this would be a great forum to talk about some recent events in the political world. One event, which made the news waves, struck a chord in my heart and mind and I was driven to write about it. It was during the recent events surrounding the mess going on in Syria.

  Our own leadership was doing a fanatical “pee-pee” dance around the issue to impose a sense of urgency over what decision to make, and then halted, abruptly, mid step for some heated “party line” grand standing. It was almost an embarrassment to have our country’s internal drama played out for the entire world to see. It was like a famous young performer, daughter of some dude who was famous a long time ago, getting on stage at a major award show, and completely debasing herself and her reputation for an audience of millions………….Yep, I went there!

  My focus here isn’t on the misbehavior of giddy dilettantes, or Ms. Cyrus’s foolishness on stage. Shortly after the debates and opinion polls started to get heavy over the Syria issue, we received a letter from an old buddy. A letter, addressing all Americans, was posted in The New York Times from the president of Russia, Mr. Vladimir Putin himself. Good old Vlad, he wanted to know how the wife and kids were doing, right. He wanted to know if the dog was still messing on the rug………..No, not quite. He started off by getting almost sentimental over how long it’s been since we all talked. Call me crazy, but I’ve never had open communication with the guy. Then again, I have hit my head quite a few times in my day, and I am getting a little older. The memory fades a bit……but no never had a sit down with ya, Mr. Vlad.

  After he enlightened us to the fact the United States, and Russia were friends during WW2, he reminded us that we were enemies during the Cold War. This was my first point of contention with Putin’s little essay contest entry……He mentioned the Cold War. He forgets that his side wasn’t the singular country of Russia, but several countries the Russians had subjugated for resources and territory. A conglomerate known at the time as the Soviet Union stood against the United States during those dark years. The Op-Ed, as it was called, went on to highlight the urgency of the situation in Syria. Putin stressed the importance of doing the right thing, and how the decisions of war and peace need to be thought out and developed in a consensus. Putin Mentioned that these were the exact things the United Nations Security Council were developed for. These statements alone are very thought provoking, and make the guy seem likeable in a way. I mean, here is a world leader really wanting to step strong for peace across the globe in our time, right?

  Wrong, wrong, wrong. There was a certain edge between the lines of some of the other things he said.  Putin mentioned the wrong move in Syria would Lead to more violent outbreaks, and attacks. This is where I really got fired up because it sounds like the guy wanted the American people to feel intimidated. Growing up a bit “nerdish” as I did, I was no stranger to bullies. I’ve been pushed around enough to know when somebody starts telling you about all the bad things that could happen if certain events don’t unfold correctly they imply that they will somehow be the cause of the bad things.  This just seemed too obvious like he thought he was getting over on the Americans, or like he just didn’t care. If given the chance, I’d love to ask Comrade Putin if an attempt at intimidation was really his intent.  Oh and one other little add on to this little ballet of political reality T.V……….a few days afterwards, while all the media “expert” analysts were waxing hyper intellectual over the whole thing……they start airing video of Mr. Vlad horseback riding in the country. He’s riding with a close friend and he’s got his shirt off.  Was this yet another attempt to intimidate, or Putin’s audition footage for the Russian musical version of Brokeback Mountain? Well that’s all I’ve got for now. Thanks a lot for letting me share my thoughts and opinions with you. Hey if I suddenly disappear, or wind up in some horrible accident, maybe my own little essay here struck a chord with somebody somewhere.  If not, I’ll talk with ya next time. Please, rate comment, and share this post. Thanks

Cos

Cultivating the expanse!

7/30/13 8:10 AM

  It’s crazy to think that this is already the 5^th post to this goofy little blog. I would have never thought it would keep going. But, here we are, after the little trip to Florida, and I still have enough brain activity to slap a sentence or two together.  There was an underlying purpose to this thing……mainly to see if I could do it, in a cohesive manner.  I wanted to prove to myself that I could contain my thoughts in written form, while still being confident enough to keep going.  Now that I know I can stay motivated with this form of expression, it’s time to expand upon the idea a little. Diversity breeds………ok, that sounded a little dirty….What I mean is that I have a very diverse set of interests and hobbies which I do not get enough exposure to because I just don’t focus on them the way I would like to. I started my you tube channel years ago, but I’m never happy with my videos alone.  So, I put together this blog to see if I would stick with it. I’m having a great time typing these little excerpts of my day to day, so I figure it’s time to branch out.  I’m going to be launching a couple new blogs alongside of this one, but focused more on one of my hobbies. Keep reading, because I’d like to give you, intrepid reader, a taste of what’s to come!

  In the blog “cos sharp corner” I’ll take it back to my review roots. This is where it all started for me when I began reviewing pocket knives on my YouTube channel (investigator76). In this blog I’ll cover everything from pocket knives, to tactical folders, to fixed blades. There will be discussion on “every day carry”, and on blade steel, and other related topics. I plan on tying this one together with my ongoing You Tube efforts.

  In “cos tech reviews” I’ll discuss some of the electronic gadgets I get to use. This is the place where I’ll review things like my cell phone and blue tooth set up, or things like my favorite hand held video game system. This isn’t going to be any big hands on with the latest tech toys from the big name manufacturers…..not yet anyway, but I might post some news or rumors I hear about.

  Finally, in “that geek, cos” I’ll write about my favorite board and video games, science fiction and comic book type of things. I might even do a movie review or two.

   There you have it, folks. The whole “cos shebang in a blog”. And, no, I’m not stopping the cos’ blog at all. This will just give me the chance to compartmentalize my thoughts, and spark intelligent interaction with likeminded thinkers…….ok, that was a little bit over the top. Thanks, everybody for reading up to this point, and feel free to check out the other blogs once I get them started!

flight of the cosman

Hey, everybody, through the magic of delayed posting, lets fast-forward a week in time. It’s Monday July the 15^th and I’ve arrived at yet another milestone of semi epic proportions. For the first time in 21 years….they have me on a jet plane! Big deal, right? Straight to the winds it’s a big deal, heights, and closed in tight spaces together in one mix…. Okay, Okay this blog is about adventure…..and excitement, the very challenge of the path ahead should be rewarding and enriching! Onward we go soaring the sky ways this time, and at a far more efficient rate too. The flight time is said to be two hours and eighteen minutes. Not bad next to the twenty plus hours it took to get to Florida in the first place.

  The time is 5:01 PM Eastern standard as I type these lines and I’ve taken to conversing with you all to help me keep my center while in flight. I wouldn’t call this a smooth flight, but we are going nonetheless. I guess I’ll discuss my trek through the airport…..not impressive, just the regular myriad of “no, please go to this line, or that line” Once I got my suitcase checked it was up an escalator with plenty of time before I needed to check in at the gate so I thought I’d wonder and try to find a bite to eat…..I found an airport fast food and pizza place…..and got a cheeseburger meal. My nerves wouldn’t allow me to fully enjoy the meal so I ate what I could and moved along to grab some gum and mints for the impending ear popping.

  The next part of the airport show was really like a theme park, complete with an air tram ride, and an endlessly winding line that lead to my shoes off as I walked through the spooky security metal detector, stripped of all my belongings save my clothes……included in the stripped of list were not only my back pack, but my keys, trusty flat cap, and my spectacles…..I felt like a blinded unkempt goof as I stumbled through the simple metal detector…..without any trouble I picked up my stuff and moved to a more comfortable place to re-shoe myself and be ready for the journey. I would spend the next several minutes finishing up the previous entry in this blog.

  Now on to something that really bugs me about this world we are in…..In case you don’t know me that well, I am accustomed to certain comforts when I go wandering about….no I don’t need a special pillow, or even certain music to set my mind at ease. Over the years I’ve joined the many who feel comforted when carrying some type of folding knife or multi tool on my person. Unfortunately the current state of things does not allow these items on mass air travel. Those are the rules, and I understand that people wiser than I came up with them. But, I will never be settled with it. The end results have me leaving a couple trusted implements behind to be mailed at a later date. Not my idea of “friendly skies” if I am accused of some bad act before even getting on the plane!

  After all that ranting, I find amazement in the idea of clouds seemingly reaching up to me as I look out my window over the wing.

Thanks again, all, for taking this little trip with me. Stay tuned for more of my antics and philosophy as I continue to catalog the day to day.

Secrets revealed!

  So here we are…..the Triple Crown, the hat trick….Ok, it’s just blog post # 3. When last we spoke, I was describing the first leg of a trip I am currently on. So, without any adieu, on to the second leg of the trip. Part two of the quest…..or whatever you like to call it started with breakfast. The great part of being crammed into the driver’s compartment of a car and sitting for upwards of 18 or more hours is the chance to take at least one meal in a unique location that is just slightly out of sight enough from your daily routine to be exotic. In this case a “Cracker Barrel” (yes I’ve heard there is at least one that may be close to where I live, but this was only the second time I’ve had a meal there). And, yes, I did enjoy it!

  The next part of the drive would be an endless parade of highway……simply endless. Well, I guess I should finally clue you all in…. Breakfast was actually in North Carolina….we were well on our way to the west coast of central Florida.  The warning I’d been given by my travel companions was that the roughest part of the trip would be the three state lag of the Carolinas, and Georgia. I found this to be one of the easiest steps of the way southward. There was one exception……we made a pit stop somewhere in South Carolina or Georgia…….the weather was simply oppressive. The humidity could have leveled an elephant. But I got out of it with a turkey sandwich…….and I now know that I can eat while driving 78 to 80 miles per hour. This truly was becoming a journey of self……..ok that’s not exactly a revelation of the soul there but sometimes little steps become great antidotes.

  The most difficult part of a journey like this becomes that point when you feel the sleep creeping up on you……You start to wonder if you should pull off at a rest stop for a nap….or are you the true “road warrior” the one who continues on to the end of the path……or a screeching end all together. Moments like this there comes an inspiration…..and I call that faithful muse “5 hour energy”! This little elixir would pull me through to the end of my trip.

  The truly unique thing about the second leg over the first, the thing that set it apart as its own adventure can only be summed up by saying I rode with Giants……literally hundreds of miles of large tractor trailers. Sometimes this got creepy, as I’d try to weave into the passing lane in a desperate attempt to keep a position that wasn’t in the way of the behemoths, and yet not trapped behind them.  I even played quarterback and used one of them as my several to lineman….this driver must have been in a hurry because he spent several miles in the passing lane to move around the slower trucks. I even did my best to keep annoying pests from riding his tailgate while maintaining a polite distance myself. And while this brutish version of the raceway’s finest set himself to a comfortable spot in the right lane, I made sure to pass with a courteous salute…..and away we went.

 On now fellow travelers to the last leg of the trip….the unending treadmill, the proverbial hamster’s wheel…..We got into Florida well into the afternoon with plenty of daylight to go…..my GPS told me a tale of arrival well into the evening, but it was hard to conceptualize. After a gas stop, and some pretty familiar type highway travel…….we were led into something a bit more rural. Speed limit would settle in at 65, drop down to 45…and include 3 to 5 traffic lights…go back up to 65 mph…and start the whole process over again. This would go on what seemed like forever. But after all of this the sun began to set, and we found ourselves back on high speed road ways, and what would lead to a little bit of smooth sailing….until we got to Tampa, then the congestion on the road got like a bad case of the flu, non-stop, and ever moving. This would give way to slightly less business, and more “urban” driving.

  We eventually made it and crashed out very quickly…the rest of our caravan, having opted to go warp speed somewhere in South Carolina, only beat us by about twenty minutes. The rest of the trip would combine to be a drama on one end, and uneventful on the other side. But that, fellow travelers, is a tale for another day. Hey thanks, everybody, for taking the time to read this, and please let me know what you think. Take care, everybody!

The Ice Cup Chronicles

7-7-13

2333 hours, Sunday

  So here we are again. If you are reading this you are either incredibly adept at spotting talent and genius…..Or you are just really bored, and figured that following the link might entertain you for about a minute or two.  Some might be here because I hinted at a spot of mystery when I posted on the facebook. For all who don’t know I’m on something of a trip, and currently my location is undisclosed.  Some already know my destination, and some of the reasons for this trip. Neither is a factor here, as I wish the next few entries in this blog to be a log of my travels.  So sit back, faithful readers as I tell you a little of the first leg of my trip.

  The day started routinely enough for such a trip…very early…….before 6 am early……..but we do what we have to….partially out of necessity, and partially out of the anxiety that you feel when you just want to get on with it. Here is where the quest goes awry. When I met up with the other members of the quest that we shall call the “Fellowship of the cup of ice” this name will become apparent later.

  Now don’t get me wrong, we were all prepared and ready for the journey ahead. It would be fun.     Calamity would strike, however in the form a nasty power outage. We didn’t see it at the time but this would be a prelude to the dangers and mysteries that would follow.

  The travel would start with a side adventure in what I call “breakfast sandwich, the new hope” followed by perplexing petrol problems being solved……Next we would be left guessing by rest stop coffee that would not pour into the cup……the fellowship was surely in over their heads…..Adventure and excitement would continue as I was faced with the riddle of steel……oh wait, no that’s the wrong riddle….it was the riddle of self-service gas pumps…I was almost defeated, but the creepy combustible delivery system would not stop this flat cap wearing jersey boy!

  Next we have the inspiration for the name of the questers…..I was trying to select a fountain drink (it is much easier to drink from a cup with a straw while driving). I was troubled because there were a lot of soda flavors, and I’m trying to cut down. I made my choice, and commenced filling my chosen cup with ice. A woman then grabbed a cup, and while reaching across me to fill her cup with ice before could get my iced tea. She then asked me something very odd. She asked if the cups were the cups for ice…..At first, I didn’t know how to respond, but quickly I found my wits, and with a completely blank stare, I said “ I don’t know, I’m not from here.” She asked again, and I just said I think they will see that ice is all that you have, she seemed satisfied, and that riddle was solved.

  We would go on to cross mighty rivers and pass giant hills. We out drove several devious vagabonds who sought to split the group. We shared good food, and boisterous stories. We finally took a break and came to a rest in parts unknown. 

  Now, you were probably thinking I was going to tell you where we stopped for the night…You will have to wait to further chapters in the story. Then again, there might be a clue buried somewhere in this blog.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more.

The starting line

So, here it is. My first real attempt into a fully realized web log. I've thought about starting something like this for a long time. Way back in my High School days (Go Bulldogs), I tried my hand at some of the more creative aspects of writing. But I did not put enough focus or energy into it to cultivate into anything that could be taken anywhere. Many years later, writing would take a central position in my daily life. I worked in a job that would alow me the chance to become a practiced informational, and investigative report writer. I started thinking it would be great to take my skills as a writer and apply them to things I had an interest in outside of the job. Of course, I ran headlong into never having any time, or energy left after work. Now, many years later at 2:25 AM on July 4th, 2013, I'm finally able to make my own little declaration of independance. I'm at that unique intersection of having the creative energy, the time, and a fair bit of knowledge and wisdom to turn this into something. Thanks for taking a little time to read these musings of a madman from Jersey.

So let me know what you think, or if you have ideas you'like to see me write about in here,  or even what ya think of the title of my blog...drop me an email at costanzo4858@gmail.com