Dumb Dumb dee Dumb

I promised I'd rant this weekend.

Amidst trips to the office to help my SO determine the source of my computer problems, trips to BestBuy (who, by the way, no longer carry motherboards), and to the kitchen to make food, I've found a story that makes me just sit here and shake my head.  Normally, I probably wouldn't find such a story rant-worthy, but ... I guess with the demise of my motherboard, I can rant about just about anything at the moment!

Grace Bergere, a 12-year old rock 'n' roll drummer (yeah, they start young, nowadays.  Thanks, Disney), fell 14 stories.  Down a chimney.  Oh, and this was at her apartment--well, her family's apartment.

See, she was showing her friend the beautiful view from the rooftop deck.  Then decided to climb a 25 foot ladder to the highest point...which happened to be at the chimney, which she happened to fall into.

Don't worry, she's fine.  Injured hip is all that she got from the ordeal--and a covering of soot.  The ash pile at the bottom of the chimney was about two feet thick, so it broke her fall.

Well, praise be to the Twelve Gods of the Northern Realm!  She'll live another day and Darwinism has, once again, proven false.  But, as we know, if her father is a true American, he'll sue his apartment complex for something ridiculously stupid--like not putting a sign up saying that, "Hey, if you're an idiot and you climb the 25 foot ladder, you could fall down the freaking chimney!" Or some other such nonsense.  

At least this kid's found something constructive to do with her time.  Her dad's a jazz guitarist and she'd preformed with the kids' choir for the symphony, but...that was too "angelic" (and clearly, not dangerous enough).  She likes playing the drums.  That's excellent!  There is a lack of female drummers in the world.  And at least she's not out tagging places or causing other rock stars to make life miserable for the rest of us peons.  

Hey, I promised I'd rant.  I didn't promise it'd be stellar.   

Hetfield's At It Again

I'm not one for entertainment news, but every so often, there's a gem of a story that comes along. And anything involving James Hetfield of Metallica is sure to get someone's dander flying.

The man is made of money, at this point in time. But, in 1999, he purchased some acreage in Marin County, specifically, San Rafael. The problem isn't that he purchased a great deal of land there with the intent to build a home, studio, and caretaker lodgings. The problem is, he recently put up a barbed-wire fence which cuts off access to a fire trail that has been open for public access, according to the writer of the article, "for decades."

If you think I'm about to go off on Mr. Hetfield... you may as well stop reading. I will sorely disappoint you.

People, get a clue. James Hetfield is not out to ruin your life. He has his own life and is pretty pre-occupied with it. He's sold himself on the fact that he is James Hetfield. He doesn't care about you and your life. Harsh as it may seem, really, he doesn't.

Sooooo what's my point? "He's cut off a public accessway!" I hear you cry.

It's PRIVATE PROPERTY that he GRACIOUSLY allowed you to access for the past nine years!

The phrase in that article that says the foot path has been available "for decades" really bugs me. Why? Because I'm a writer. I like to report fact (believe it or not!) and, though I have made some errors in previous blogs that I'm just too lazy to fix, I like other people--especially reporters--to be as accurate as humanly possible.

Just how long has that path been there? Hetfield has owned the land for nearly a decade, according to county records. What about that path? How long has it been there? Decades! The fact that it's a plural indicates at least 20 years. But, I take issue with this because if I were to ask anyone there how long the path's been there, they'd say, "As long as I can remember."

...as long as I can remember, I've been a writer. I've been writing for decades. Which is a feat since I barely have 3 of those under my belt. I could be a bit more accurate and say I've been writing short stories and poetry for two and a third decades. Or, I could actually make sense and say I've been writing short stories and poetry for 23 years. Yes. I started at 7. I was a creative brat. Get over it.

So, if it's a fire trail, it falls under county jurisdiction and there would be a record of it being carved out. Oh, and it would be illegal even for Mr. Hetfield to block it off. If it's a convenient foot path, he is well within his rights as a home-owner to block it off.

Especially since he's not trying to be a twat and is actually concerned about vandalism. That's right, even Mr. Hetfield has to put up with the idiots who think tagging and breaking windows is a swell past time. Get a job or something, kids. Find something constructive to do with your time. Maybe take up a musical instrument and be better than James Hetfield. You're not going to get millions of dollars by stealing it from him. You'll actually have to earn it. Like he did. Imagine that.

Love him or hate him, Hetfield's still a person with the same Constitutional rights as you and me. He's entitled to his opinion, just like me! You may hate it, but he has a right to it. He has a right to put up a fence on his own property, regardless of the inconvenience to you. Suck it up and make another path.

He's donated land to worthy causes in the past. Your short cut does not equal an emergency on his part. Does it suck? Yeah, it does. Is there anything you can do about? Whine and complain. Will anyone care? Probably those that think Hetfield is Satan incarnate.

...then there's the rest of the world that says, "BIG DEAL!" So, you get a little more exercise than you bargained for. Oops! Heaven forbid you fight against that disease of obesity. I think the real disease is the one of American Stupidity.