From Your Book to Your Back

Once, when I was in the management game long, long ago i was reading about the poor state of quality in American products. One of those mentioned was Harley Davidson Motorcycles. The quality of Harleys have improved since the days when new models would drip on the dealer showroom floor. Upon reading this I began to realize an image in my mind. But what if the fluid leaking from the motor was blood instead of oil.

How could this be? If the engine was biological then a puddle of blood under the crankcase would not be unrealistic. What organ to better represent something living that the heart. It would also represent the very soul of the machine. With a few colored pencils I made a quick sketch. Many years later when I was introduced to image editing computer programs I created the same effect by photo editing. I felt that the term "Thumper" properly identified the motorcycle. Why not use it as and advertisement for a particular motorcycle brand. Hence, Thumper Motorcycles were born. What better method to advertise such machines than with tee shirt.

The tee shirt is available for sale at this link http://t-shirts.cafepress.com/item/white-tshirt/276028712 Remember: "Thumper Motorcycles Have Heart"

Sketching

Of all the creative things I do, sketching remains my favorite. It is second nature to me. I've kept sketch books for many years. They are like an illustrated journal of my life.

They act as a visual information repository through the years. But sometimes I'm not just recording what is around me, I also record what is going on within my mind.

A sketch book makes it possible to think visually. Frequently, when I view some mechanical device, I discover the operation by drawing the various components and discovering how the parts are related thereby revealing the operation of the mechanical device.

And of course it allows you the opportunity design paintings and work out the problems before attacking the blank canvas.

Unwinding

Find more videos like this on www.truveo.com.

Perhaps the copy has nothing to do with the video, but then maybe it does. Since I found out that my oldest son is destined for Iraq, I've been giving a little thought about what it means to be an American. Well, regardless, it's still the greatest country on earth. But, you know, sometimes I think that he folks in and around the wedding cake building have lost touch with reality. Look at some of the current goings on. Businesses are now being rewarded for being bad businesses. Billions of dollars are earmarked for failing banking institutions and those banks use the money to buy more banks. Let's not forget the infamous junkets of the top executives. I'm amazed at the lengths people will go to achieve sub-human status. And auto execs flying to Washington for a hand-out in their multi-million-dollar executive jets. I tell you, the folks working at McDonald's and Joe's Tire Shop are getting ticked off about this. This country was built by men with dirt under their fingernails and women that sweat. The average wage-earner is being crapped on by the government. How about those auto workers making $73 per hour. Now Detroit is trying to hide behind the fact that federal regulation is causing them to be less profitable. Not so! They pay their help too much. For those of you that remember, the auto industry used to say that cheap labor from overseas made the Japanese cars more popular. That was partly true, BUT the big reason was that the imports were better made. Better quality. The American auto business would never have lost their competitive edge if they had offered the buying public less expensive quality product. I don't think that the American auto industry is dead. It's probably not that easy to fix, but if they cut out half the management and cut wages by 50%, that would be a start to a recovery. Let bad businesses fail!. If people buy something they can't afford to pay for, let them lose it. The economy can fix it's self. The government is not the organization to repair business. It's still the greatest place in the world to live.

Sometimes you gotta rant!

TW3

That was, the week, that was. I used this title for this post. Actually, it was the title of a television show of many years ago. A show of political satire I believe. It was cancelled. Political satirist don't seem to last very long on commercial television. It was an interesting week.

1. I caught a sever cold
2. my big screen TV crashed
3. a volunteer project became a nightmare
4. my oldest son has military orders to Iraq
5. my ex-wife wants to be my friend on facebook!

Nuff said.

TW3