Studio CB's Adventures Blog

As we were recently cruising down the highway toward Miami, Caroline and I started to wonder.  It used to be that we were passed by cars that were going fast but this time many did not only go fast but also tried to dominate the road simply by their looks. Did you notice that the newer generations of cars actually gives you the impression that they are better than the rest?  Well, check your rear mirror.  First of all it seems that newer cars always have their lights on.  Some are actually pretty interesting to look at.  Check out the day-lights from the new Lexus and Audi for example.  It almost appears these cars wear a white eye liner under their front light bulbs. Their message to other drivers seems to be simple, don’t fool with me I am the king of the road… 

Car owners more than ever seem to want to show attitude on the road, which is not possible through tinted windows, therefore it needs to be done via the looks of the vehicle.  A while back Caroline was fascinated by the studies of the psychologist, Clotaire Rapaille.  He has some interesting marketing ideas which he categorizes as “Reptilian Marketing”.  Manufacturers of the Fortune 500 pay him mega Dollars so he can advise them on how to improve to sell their goods. For example, it is our understanding that a few years ago the Jeep Wrangler went through a major redesign.  Apparently sales dropped when this model introduced rectangular front lights.  Monsieur Repaille concluded that the front lights of the vehicle represent the eyes and people tend to relate to that.  He advised Jeep to go back to the previous look of the round lights. Guess what… Monsieur Repaille was correct because sales of the Jeep Wrangler increased that year.  Still today that model sports round lights /eyes. <learn more about Clotaire Rapaille>  

This is Chico our car. Since we drive this one nobody has honked at us. Yeah, I trust Chico, no one wants to fool with him.

It is actually quite fascinating how humans are manipulated by today’s market research.  Let’s face it, whether you like it or not, you guys are pack animals that follow a leader and have very similar behaviors (remember I am just a plastic body that very heavily depends on my human).  Thanks to the scientists and mathematicians Target, for example, figured out a way to know when someone is pregnant, even before the family.  All this and more just by the individual’s purchasing patterns … and you thought you were special. 

Well, as far as I am concerned I think I will have to go to these outfits to find out what makes me tick.  It is always good when you can relay on your neighbors, your friends, your stores to find out what you are up to next. What more can I say, Life is great!

Officially spring starts March 20^th… or at least that’s what the calendar says.  However, for the 126^th year Punxsutawney Phil predicted how the rest of this winter will be. On February 2^nd he came out of his burrow on Gobbler’s Knob and revealed what to expect from the next six weeks. Well, of course, first he had to confer in “Groundhogese”, the language only understood by the president of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club.  After all Phil needs someone to translate his message into English so everyone understands his verdict.

So here is the official announcement of 2012…
“Hear Ye Hear Ye Hear Ye  — On Gobbler’s Knob on this magnificent Groundhog Day, February 2^nd 2012 Punxsutawney Phil, the Seer of Seers, the Prognosticator of all Prognosticators was summoned from his burrow in the old oak stump by the tap of President Bill Deeley.  He greeted his handlers, John Griffiths and Ron Ploucha.
After casting an appreciative glance towards thousands of his faithful followers, Phil proclaimed, “As I look at the crowd on Gobbler’s Knob many shadows do I see so six more weeks of winter it must be!””

Yes, I agree with Phil. I can see my shadow too. Hey Phil if you ever need assistance let me know. I can help!!

I say this is some smart animal this groundhog….  Imagine his first prediction was February 2^nd 1886, and it is said that he was 100% right since then. He still wakes up every year, think about it, many people could definitely learn from that.  But then I understand he has some mystical help too. His handlers are feeding him some magic elixir every summer. Surprisingly they never capitalized on this drink. I see a potential of tons of money to be made, but this is another story.

Wow… all the history Phil has seen (and slept through) from the reveiling of the Statue of Liberty (10/28/1886) through WWI and WWII, not to mention the evolution of technology and so much more…  If I were as old as Punxsutawney Phil I would be glad to see the shadow, this way I could return to my hole and sleep some more…

Yup… this must be it!  We have not really seen any winter this year… and then again I live in Florida.

January 2012, what a month!  I am glad I finally was able to convince Caroline to continue my adventure tails.  Believe me, I am having a lot of fun and this year is starting out great with this wonderful boat trip on “Cat Inn Around”.

Good thing I can see through the stearing wheel. So all I have to figure out is how to reach it.

The trip was a quick but a very neat decision. It turns out that the boat had to go from Oyster Bay to Green Cove Springs, FL for maintenance.  The group decided to meet early in the morning since there was some concern about fog and we had to pass the railroad bridge in Jacksonville before 12pm.  That bridge is in the process of being renovated and has only two very narrow opening windows per day.  Luckily there was no fog to deal with. However, it was a bit on the cool side (68° F /20°C)… well, at least for us Floridians.  Yes, I am a Floridian and believe me; my little plastic body gets cold too.  I bet you guys from up north call this the perfect weather to go boating.  What can I say we are spoiled around here during this season.

Caroline is busy following her passion. She captured beautiful images.

It was a quiet day on the river, a little overcast and the water was slick as oil.  Caroline enjoys that kind of light since she believes that the most beautiful images are made under these conditions.  Needless to say while I enjoyed the ride, mostly in the bag, since it was rather windy, she captured some very spectacular photos of the marsh, bridges, downtown Jacksonville and later, back at Oyster Bay, the Yacht Club in the sweet light as the sun started to set. What can I say, Life is great!

The dock at Oyster Bay Yacht Club around 7pm. Sweet!

It has been a while but I did mention to continue my vacation adventure in the Southern part of Switzerland.  What a great time I had.  Check out the YouTube clip.  Needless to say Switzerland, even in January, is very special and beautiful.  Of course for someone from Florida the cold may be a bit of an issue but not impossible to handle.  Yup, my plastic body got cold and next time I’ll make sure I’ll have other protection than just the coat pocket where I liked to hide most of the time, even thought this way I got to see a lot.

One the many highlights in Switzerland of course was attending the Picasso exhibit in the Kunsthaus  Zürich.  This collection was originally shown in 1932 at a unique and crucial moment in the history of modern art.  Pablo Picasso himself selected the pieces at the time and this made this particular show even more special.  There were canvases from his blue and pink period, cubist pieces, works from his “urban” classical period, encounters with surrealism and a series of portraits.  These pieces came together once again after being all over the world for over 70 years.  It was quite amazing to see the original pieces hanging there and we quickly realized that reproduced art is just not the same.  A printing press never can duplicate what a paint brush, lead by a human hand can do.

After we admired this once in a lifetime exhibit we decided to go to the modern art wing of the Kunsthaus.  That is where I started to ask what exactly is art?  Patiently Caroline tried to explain to me that art is differently perceived by everyone.  It is in the eyes of the beholder. Some like classical art, others like to push the envelope and some  just want to say that they own a very expensive piece that currently is exhibited at a museum. Many people that deal and are into the arts scene apear to be from a different planet with a higher understanding than the average folks, especially the ones made of plastic, like me.  They definitely see something I don’t.  Sure, I can find some bird sh… droppings (I know some trees under which you can find tons of it), collect them, call it art and sell it for a horrendous amount of money.  The strange thing is that there may be someone that would actually purchase it and display it.  Now…. that is a piece of art …. conceived of by an artist made of plastic.  “?????????????”

In the modern art exhibit we looked at a piece where a single female breast pops out of a canvas (I actually think it resembles more my tail); an arrangement of life size gypsum people, one that looked at another one that appeared to be dead; a skeleton that seemed to do stretching excercises; paint splashes on a wall with a TV showing the “artist” creating them over and over again; paintings that are upside down; etc.  Did we get it? Most of it not. I guess I really felt behind the moon. What exactly does all this have to do with capability not to mention beauty, arrangement of colors, forms, and materials?  I was always under the impression that one had to be able to create a piece that also appealed to the eye.  A unique piece, one that deserves to be called art.  Guess no longer…. We probably could go on and on trying to understand and analyze, but I think we prefer to admit that we just don’t get the “bird dropping” kind of art. Looking at all this we feel a little bit like that TV at the elevator in one of the exhibits that continuously mumbled “HILFE” (help)” over and over again… oh by the way that was called Video-Art.

Finally we arrived very early in the morning at Airport Kloten in Zurich, Switzerland… our final destination.  Arriving there feels a little like being part of a science fiction movie.  Imagine, a huge hall with two three  story high escalators, one on one side of the room and another one on the other side.  It seems that all the U.S. flights land at about the same time so there are masses of people traveling down these escalators to get to the transfer rail that will bring you to the baggage and customs areas. Once you are eased into the compartment of the rail you are welcomed by a male voice informing you that you should hold on to the poles followed by the sound of cows and an ‘Alphorn’ playing.  The ride and this entertainment only last about 2 minutes which also includes some Swiss Yodeling.  I guess this is the first impression for many travelers of Switzerland or maybe this is designed to calm down the passengers before they are eased in a very orderly Swiss fashion to the next step… the baggage pick up.

Hurray.. Caroline got a destination assignment and she decided to take me along to this adventure.  On this 7 day adventure we traveled very much and I even got to play in fresh snow and saw real mountains….  I bet you were wondering where we were since you had not heard from us in a while.

Should have brought my ball. I could have played some basketball while we are waiting…

 Let’s start at the beginning….

 We started out very early in the morning to get to the airport in Jacksonville, Florida to travel to Zurich, Switzerland.  We had a stopover in Atlanta which was a little long but ok.  We always know how to amuse ourselves and there is always something fascinating about airports. 

In comparison, Jacksonville is just a little airport. There were only a few people, mostly business travelers when we arrived around 8 am.  The airport which saw major renovations and additions in the last few years sports grand transfer rooms with large surround windows. Unfortunately it was dark and it rained. Caroline feels that this airport is nice and very easy to navigate.  After checking our bag in we directly steered toward the gate.  We really had no idea how security will work out and had some concerns since we were carrying a lot of photo equipment.   We read lots of horror stories about airport security but we soon found out that this was really not a great deal. We knew that this airport sported the latest in scanners which is always an interesting adventure.  Well, as you know my little plastic body never has any problems going through metal detectors and Caroline came well prepared.  She removed anything metal, even her watch, but then forgot to take off her eye glasses.  The scanner did not seem to have a problem with this and before we knew all our hand luggage, photo equipment and computer made it efford less through the check point. 

So why is this computer not showing our flight??? Is there anyone who could help???

We were very relieved that this process was that easy but now we had a lot of time to kill.  Our flight to Atlanta was scheduled for 10.36 am. This was my first time on a plane and this is pretty exciting… I could not wait to get on board. Unfortunately the flight was very full and I had to stay the entire flight to Atlanta in the bag.  Bummer… luckily we arrived on time. Not long ago Caroline was mentioning that she really would enjoy flying directly from Jacksonville to Europe.  A direct flight to Zurich would only take 8–9 hours compared to our travel time through Atlanta which was around 15 hours and 9 minutes.  We hope that the campaign of the Jacksonville airport to attract some international airlines turns out to be successful.  Lufthansa, British Air, Air France, Swiss, KLM…  Jacksonville is a great place to embark from and we know a lot of people who would be very interested, so please come here soon.

Oh well, so we had to wait 5 hours in Atlanta for the connecting flight to Europe which actually turned out not to be the worst thing. 

(to be continued…)

These guys do an outstanding job.

Last Wednesday Caroline and I were invited by the Nassau County Economic Development Board to a presentation given by John Delaney, president of UNF. I did not really know who John Delaney was but Caroline knew all sorts of things about him.  Look… I am still young and I am just starting out.  At any rate, I was looking forward to going and was very happy we got an invitation.  Hey… I always am looking forward to go on an adventure especially since this presentation was given at the Oyster Bay Yacht Club. That is a very nice spot that has lots to offer.  I was a little surprised that many of the attendees never were at this beautiful yet hidden place.  Granted, it is a bit challenging to get through the gate and then to navigate the curvy road that ends up being a 2 way street but looks like one of these narrow mountain roads in Europe.  Did I say mountain… hmm yes, we are in Florida and there are no mountains.  Well a few, but this is another story.

Noelle from the Nassau County Economic Develpment Board is so nice… I think I am in love.

Back to the “Evening with John Delaney”, we arrived there without getting lost and as usual entered the backdoor. Seems to be a habit, but people generally don’t seem to mind.  After some mingling with some very important locals we all were treated to meet the speaker.  He made a lot of sense and reminded us that there are two top drivers to the economy; Agriculture and Tourism.  He continued to explain his utopia exercises which made lots of sense.  Some people call this type of exercise “best case/worst case scenarios” but the main idea is to aim high which is a good idea in any area.  We also were reminded that we should not wait with plans but make things happen. Very good advice.  He went on talking about UNF and its local impact and seemed to be proud that since the University of North Florida opened in the fall of 1972 that students have benefited from individualized attention and small class sizes. This allows closer interaction between students and professors. This seems to result in high-achieving students that are sought for by all sorts of national and international organizations.  Of course we cannot forget to mention that UNF is nationally known for their outstanding Jazz program.  But then we knew that since we have the annual Amelia Island Jazz Festival and instructors of the UNF Jazz program are part of the advisory board.

I enjoyed listening to John Delaney and found him a very wise well-spoken person.  Of course later on I also had fun since Caroline, as well as many others, got lost getting out of the labyrinth; Oyster Bay.  But then this is not really the worst place to get lost in.

Last week Caroline found a little paper announcement saying that one could bring old computers, televisions and all sorts of electrical components to a pick-up location at the local Home Depot for recycling.  This event was organized by the local Sierra Club.  We both looked at each other and thought what a great idea.  Finally here is an opportunity of getting rid of all the old, none operating equipment that has accumulated over the years in the garage.  Hey… we are no different than others; our first step of recycling is moving electronics that no longer function to the garage, where it waits, sometimes for years to get to its next step…  

Wow, Look at all these computers, screens and televisions. I bet they could write adventure stories as well.

I was always fascinated to think about the life span of stuff that people accumulate.  Some items are luckier than others, they become sought after antiques. Looking at an antique I tend to wonder who came up with the idea to create it?  Who created it?  What about all the good bad and “uglies” the item saw during its lifetime; what will the item see or experience next?  Will it end up in a garage or be treasured on display.  After all, most things that are created tend to live way much longer than the average human being.  And yet, often things are neglected and exposed to the elements where they corrode and cause an entire new problem for the future of the environment.  

From box to truck for recycling.

 An electrical component, for example, is born in a factory, assembled from many parts that hopefully came from recycled materials.  Once the unit is put together and tested and briefly made the acquaintance of many mechanical claws and maybe some human hands it ends up in a box and is shipped to a distribution center.  There it waits to be shipped to a vendor.  Then it waits again to be purchased by the end-user.  A happy new owner will use the unit for about two years.  I am told that a computer that is more than two years old is an ancient machine.  But never the less, after the equipment was used and hopefully enjoyed during its lifespan the owner gets tired of it because now there are newer and better gadgets out there or simply because it no longer works.  People seem to be conditioned to always go for the latest and newest.  Now what…  The unit ends up hopefully in a recycling bin.  But there is a small problem… electronics as well as many other things may not be allowed in the recycling bin you place at the curb every week.  

Sure, to do the right thing one should do some research and find out more about what and where to recycle things.  By doing so you find out that there are many places throughout your local area; so many that it becomes confusing of what to bring where.  Not only is it confusing it is almost like a secret.  For example did you know that you can recycle Fluorescent Bulbs at Home Depot or Lowe’s?  Or that you can bring rechargeable batteries to Radio Shack, Best Buy, Home Depot, Sears, Staples Verizon Wireless, Wal-Mart and Lowe’s?  We also learned that old Tennis shoes are recyclable.  Who knew that? 

So why not come up with one central place that takes everything.  Personally I think people are willing to do the right thing as long as it is not too complicated and  does not require too much of their valuable time.  I think they would even be willing to make a contribution in many cases so why not plan a home pick-up of all larger recyclables once a year, you know, like paint, used lawnmower engine oil, electronics, chemicals, batteries, etc.?  

So many ideas, such a big challenge….  

I had the honor to meet Ray from the Sierra Club. He was up until 3am and still showed up at the collection point at 7am. What dedication… Thank you!

Me? I am happy I found Caroline, who tries to do the right things for the environment.  She, as well as many people, realizes how fragile and beautiful Nature is and that it is our responsibility to keep it so.  So, we congratulate the Sierra Club for a great idea to bring E-Scrap to Nassau County Florida to collect some of the electronics that used up their purpose.

The first week of the year is usually busy in a different way than the rest of the year.  It is time to stick last year’s receipts and paperwork into a Bankers Box and stash it away with all the other boxes from previous years. After all taxpayers are advised to keep their paperwork for at least 3+ years … indefinitely to be on the save side.  So in our case these boxes became part of the decoration.

The oldest box probably has an entire mini city inside… spiders, creepy crawlies, mildew … plus who knows what.  I assume to them this is like living in a fancy metropolitan high rise.  I wonder if anyone in the boxes is collecting rent. For all it matters there could be some sort of a hierarchy going on in there.  Every time a new box is stacked on top, the invisible habitants must be celebrating; new rooms, fresh food….  Maybe they have a lottery of who can move into the newest floor first. Of course living that high up comes with dangers. The bottom box which is probably the most overpopulated one is more exposed to the elements.  Everyone knows that moisture and paper are not a good combination.  Plus, with all the partying that must be going on in that box it definitely is losing strength to support all the weight above.  It is a well-known fact that if the foundation is not solid the entire building is in danger to collapse.  As a matter of fact that applies to everything in life.  A collapse would be disastrous. 

And this is the sixth floor of “Box Tower”. I wonder who lives in there…

Imagine 9 boxes high, filled with all sort of papers and stuff…   what a night mare.  We don’t even want to think about it and yet year after year Caroline carefully stacks these boxes up in that corner.  She tries to outsmart nature by stacking the boxes in a way that they would fall toward the wall. The wall is a good support and therefore there is not a lot of danger for all the creepy crawlies to loose their housing.  Let’s be realistic, it is not a question of if the paper high rise collapses the question is when.  Caroline hopes that she never will have to go into any of the bottom boxes to research anything, especially the one all the way on the floor.  It is probably the most populated one and I am not talking only paper here.   Me?  Noooo, I definitely will keep my clean, white plastic paws out of any of these boxes.  I don’t even want to be close to them and I am really not interested to go back into the record history. 

Actually, in my opinion these creepy crawlies better count their blessings for now because with todays advanced technology they will be looking at a potential housing shortage very soon. More and more records are kept electronically.  So in our case we will probably no longer stack boxes but collect CDs and DVDs which require a lot less space to keep.  There are a lot of advantages in the electronic record keep; no major space requirement, no weight, only one item (the CD/DVD) to deal with etc..  However, the question is what if that CD/DVD becomes corrupt?  How many years will this CD/DVD be good?  Will computers in 20 years be able to read today’s files? What can be done during an electrical outage?  So many questions…

Well,  personally, I think there are plusses and minuses in both the old fashioned way and modern way of keeping records or anything for that matter.  So for now we are stacking our life’s history into that corner and will deal with whatever is required in the future. 

Let’s not forget we live today (the present) and Life is great!

Meet my ex-box. Today I am a happy guy who enjoys living outside the box…