A VON ON STRATFORD'S WORLD

A Von On Stratford's Presence On The World Wide Web!

Night-time view of a Vons supermarket using the NEON effect from Ofoto.

Introductory Musings or "Why Bother?"

Someone once said "I may not agree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it." If only more people thought that way! Nowadays free speech is uncool. If opinions that may differ from your own cause physical or mental illness please go elsewhere. If you like new thoughts and opinions...read on!

Hello. My name is Von and my apartment overlooks Stratford Ave. Von is a rather rare name. Men named Von are only about 0.004% of the U.S. population. There's former baseball players Von Hayes, Von Joshua, the actor Von Flores, and Vons supermarkets, to name a few more known ones. There might be another one on the street, though it's doubtful, so I'm A Von on Stratford.
This world we're in don't make much sense to me. It never did. The longer I'm in this world the Less sense it makes.
There's too much violence in this world. I abhor violence, except for self defense, and an ideal world wouldn't even need that much. I ain't an Idealist. There's too much reality in this world to hold on to "pie in the sky" notions like world peace. There's too many morons with piss-poor potty training, who think that strapping a bomb to themselves and killing innocents is a great idea, to EVER entertain the idea of world peace. Then there's those who can't even spell the word LOVE, let alone experience it, who instead lust after the spilled blood of innocents, and revel in hatred. There's really no place in society for those consumed with hate. They produce nothing but seeds for more hatred.
Any REASONABLE person, regardless of religious or secret society membership, would agree that violence is intolerable in a civilized society. There are those who don't like civilization and strike out against it. There are beings that are human in appearance but inhuman in behavior. They seek to pollute the Earth with their presence. Their spirits are not asleep, like some people, but they're really spiritually DEAD. They speak of God as if they had some sort of relationship with Him. Clearly their "god" ain't the same one I know, 'cuz MY GOD don't get pleasure from His children getting blown up into hamburger, and He surely don't condone such acts. Inhuman acts committed by demons in human form. Fueled by hatred and ignorance, they waste their lives and those of innocents, for ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. That's why I ain't a "citizen of the world", 'cuz this world ain't wrapped too tight, and I ain't gonna get wrapped up in it!
I love my country, the United States, and always will. I was born in the former Gadsden Purchase, in Yuma, Arizona, and raised in San Diego 'til age 11, when my family moved to Southern New Jersey.
The way we think as a nation, although with a variety of different thoughts, all come together in some general way, 'cuz there's values we all share. Number #1, to me, is that our rights are granted by God not the whim of government. The United States is the only country in this world to officially acknowledge this fact!--"You have rights antecedent to all Earthly governments; rights that cannot be repealed or restrained by human laws; rights derived from the Great Legislator of the Universe." -- (John Adams) We may not be as free as we once were, but we're still much more free than the rest of the world, and freedom must Never leave the US! We can't let the enemies of freedom cause us to surrender them for a false sense of "security". Ben Franklin once said: "They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
There are parts of this globe that think things we value are WEAKNESSES! A sense of humanity, compassion, consideration for others, and LOVE! Weaknesses or strengths? An the battle of good vs. evil, I want to be counted with the GOOD, where basic human rights and freedoms are valued as STRENGTHS! This freedom thing ain't a recent concept, it's only fairly recently in human history that it's become an issue again. God intends for ALL MANKIND to be free! As the sole leading representative of freedom on this globe, the U.S. has had a pretty poor track record, when we should've been speading it all around! Again, the differences in perceptions between people around the world has something to do with it, 'cuz to most people the amount of freedom they have is just fine, thank you! I pray I'm wrong, but I can't see how Iraq will have freedom any time soon, because it's so foreign to their normal reality that they're scared of it. Every country has at least a base level of freedom. Every citizen of every country has their own sense of personal freedom. What they have is all they know. All anyone really knows is their own experience. A new way of life totally different from one's own naturally feels alienating.
In the USAF I was stationed stateside and really lucked out. Most people went to either Turkey, where you go to jail for possession of a Playboy magazine, or Korea, the war that never REALLY ended with "peace", after a couple years at the base to which I was stationed. Knew a guy that returned after a stint in Korea who was scarred psychologically AND physically from his experience. He'd wake up in the night, screaming an beating the daylights out of his wife, 'cuz he thought he was being attacked in this sleep! I was sent to Panama for two weeks and a month in Norway. Mexico is the only other country I've been to. All three countries do things so differently that I couldn't wait to return to the good ol' USA! EXAMPLES: Nobody at a Dairy Queen in Panama knew what a "milkshake" was. Getting weird looks for making sandwiches with the cold-cuts and bread served for breakfast at a Norwegian hotel. Open air toilets along the sidewalks in Mexico with no walls or partitions.
The purpose of this site is to share elements of my weird world with the world wide web and the even more weird "real" world it represents. Maybe someday all the internet inter-action will lead to better understanding world-wide!

San Diego skyline from the harbor. The wind was blowing ash from the fires and limited visibility on an otherwise beautiful day. Thanksgiving Day, 2003.

Westmont (Haddon Twp.) Mosaic Mural Project

A "Philadelphia Style" mosaic mural is being put up on the wall of my apartment building!

Didn't know about the project until my landlord called and asked when it would be convenient to move my phone line. Why? He told me all about this great big mural made by school children that was going to grace the walls of his shop. Since I live above the Butcher Bloc, and along Stratford, the mural is pratically on the wall of my apartment.
I'm taking pics of the whole thing as it goes along. The 5th grade students of Haddon Township schools made the many sections. The students and many volunteers are working to make the mural a reality. Others have donated materials for the project. The photos are on Webshots...see below in the photography section for a link to my pics there.
Some of my interests (Not in any particular order ):

ABOVE: Sunrise in Pacific Beach. BELOW: Near sunset in Coronado.

Questions? Comments? Mutual Interests? Contact me:

avononstratford@worldnet.att.net

The Cooper River hides behind the greenery to the right and ahead. Haddonfield, NJ

Leaving the desert, Dec. 1st., '03

"When government fears the people there is liberty. When the people fear the government there is tyranny." -- Thomas Jefferson

History

When I first started liking history, I only liked ancient history. In my teens I started getting into the U.S. Civil War. Since then I'm more interested in U.S. history. World history is harder understand, 'cuz people 'round the world see things differently than my fellow Americans and I. I believe it's called "cultural differences". This is my country, and I'm more familiar with the thinkin' goin' on, so the history has more of a "feel" to it?

History has always interested me. The way things used to be compared to the way things are now always fascinated me. Even things that don't particularly interest me in and of themselves are interesting in a historical light.
My adopted homeland of Southern New Jersey is rich in history, but so are all places, if one cares to look into it. Everything has a history.
Although history is considered boring to most people, many people are more interested than they know, since there's so many different aspects. The Foreman where I work doesn't like history in the traditional sense, yet once remarked that the building we work in used to belong to RCA, and that's history, and interesting enough to mention!
There were a couple of events on Fri., June 27th,'03 that I found somewhat interesting due to a historical connection: The showing of movies outdoors. When my Mom was a kid she remembers a small town that didn't have a theater showed movies on a wall of a building. The town I live in, Westmont, has a theater, a big old vaudeville house from the 1920's, but it ain't used no more. (More below!) The Township wants to turn the building into fancy restaurants. Anyway, in the summer they show movies on the wall of a building across the parking lot from the old movie house, and the tradition continues. The same night another movie was being shown at Cooper River Park. Years after the last drive-in theaters in the area dried up and blew away, people are still into the idea of Summertime outdoor cinema, just like in the olden days!
What makes this interesting is the fact that the FIRST EVER drive in theater, ANYWHERE, was located only a couple of miles down the road from the above mentioned outdoor movie shows! The drive-in was located near the Collingswood traffic Circle, as best as I can tell, and it was in operation in the 1930's. The idea swept the nation, and by the post WWII years they were coast to coast, and it all started locally!

Westmont Theater

Read an interesting newspaper article in the Courier-Post about this old building.
It opened on Labor Day, in 1927, back in the silent movie days. It was a vaudeville and "photoplay" house. Live acts preceded the movies. "The Unknown", starring Lon Chaney is said to be the first movie shown there. ("The Jazz Singer" was it's first "talkie".) Must've concentrated more on the dying vaudeville acts than the movies, since it closed during WWII, and Hollywood was going strong!
1949 saw a renovated 1,200 seat Westmont Theater, part of the Milgram chain of first-run theaters! This was probably her high point!
Eugene Orowitz, later known as Michael Landon, is said to have worked there as an usher. His father was the projectionist!
In 1952, a five-year-old boy attended a showing of "The Greatest Show on Earth" at the Westmont, and it changed his life! Steven Spielberg credits the experience as his inspiration to become a director. He lived in Haddonfield at the time, his father working with RCA, in Camden.
The theater closed in 1979 and re-opened as a "twin". She hasn't been a movie-house since 1986. Live performances returned, off and on, but they stopped a few years ago. It sits and rots while ideas are tossed around about what to do with this giant relic of Haddon Township's past.
Below is the wall across from the theater parking lot where movies are shown during the warmer months.

Historic Designations Are Confusing!

The Collingswood theater, built in the 1920's, is said to be the first building in the Borough to be placed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places.

The oldest house in town dates back to the early 1700's. Instead, a movie theater that had long since ceased to be one, even losing it's marquee many moons ago, gets on the list first. According to The RETROSPECT, a local paper that's been around over a century, "The Collingswood" opened in 1928, at a cost of half-a-million dollars. It was to be the "finest community theater in this country." Over 3,100 people attended the opening, and the picture was a comedy, by Harry Langdon called "Three's a Crowd".
What really confuses me is how historical places come and go. Take the Collingswood (traffic)Circle for instance. Again a historical contribution from the "Roaring '20s". Designed to improve the traffic flow between the White Horse Pike (Rt. 30), Clay Ave., and Crescent Blvd.(Rt. 130) when there really wasn't any, compared to today. It's been a motorist's nightmare for many decades.
Slowly, but surely, these roundabouts will all become a thing of the past(history).
Don't know about the other circles, but Collingswood's is history ALREADY and it ain't been torn out yet! It's listed on the State Register of Historic Places! Been so since 1995!(SHPO Opinion: 6/15/1995)
The former Pure Oil Station, also supposedly a registered historical site (SHPO Opinion: 6/15/1995), once located on Rt. 130, north of the circle, no longer sits with her cobalt blue roof tiles removed, as well as most of her windows and doors. The NJ Department of Transportation owned her and was looking for someone to buy and move the structure. In Aug.'02 the Courier Post reported that an "enthusiast of old architecture" from New York wanted to buy it and move it to NY for her residence. The paper reported that the structure would be demolished in Sept. '02. It survived for about another year. Ironically enough, the "demolition" in Sept. '02 was removal of it's "parts" including:"Approximately 1600 blue-glazed terra cotta Ludowici-Celadon roof tiles, iron railings, copper oriel window and copper canopy over entry door, entry door frame, copper gutters, measured drawings for rebuilding." Posted May 20th, '03, on the classified ad page of a website devoted to old gas stations, is all the above for only $24,000!
Perhaps this "enthusiast of old architecture" will return for the pile of rubble that remains. I discovered it to have been reduced to a pile of bricks sometime before Nov. 2 '03. The circa 1935 English Tudor Revival style service station has become history. Permanently!

Pure Oil Company

An ever so brief history.

The Pure Oil Co. seems to go back to 1887. In NASCAR's early days they provided fuel for stock car racing. In the early '50s they even produced tires for the racers!
In 1965 they merged with the Union 76 company and by 1970 the Pure Oil name and logo had gone away. Union 76 provided fuel for NASCAR until the end of the 2003 season.
It would also be the final season for the Collingswood, NJ representative of the grand ol' Pure Oil Co.!

ABOVE: The former Pure Oil station as she awaits an uncertain fate. BELOW: Although her "parts" and "measured drawings for rebuilding" remain, the "historical" structure has been reduced to a pile of bricks.

Inconvenient Historic Locations?

Sometimes the location of historical structures gets in the way of plans for the future. Sometimes not.

There's the former Pure Oil Station, The Collingswood Circle (see below), and perhaps an old Firehouse that just had the bad luck of being in the way of progress.
The Collingswood Circle's fate is sealed. The former Pure Oil Station's a goner.
It's recently come to my attention that a former firehouse dating back to 1905 is among the buildings that may be razed due to the re-developement of an old diaper-washing facility to it's rear. The rear of the long and lean firehouse is close to the left-rear of the former Dy-Dee Wash. Heck, that place is almost historical, since disposable diapers replaced re-usable cloth ones many moons ago!
As far as I can tell it's not officially recognized or registered as being historic ( the firehouse, that is). It's demolition is not for certain, but it sits in the way of projected plans, and the former Westmont Fire Co. #1 building just might miss it's 100th anniversary of existance.
The Westmont Fire Co. started in 1902, and used a barn as a fire station until the building in question was built, in 1905. I'll keep up on it. (I've taken photos that I'll have either here, or on Webshots, or both soon.)
It's been used as an auto detailing shop most recently.
I ain't against re-developement of the Dy-Dee Wash site. It was long since abandoned when we moved here in 1971. It still sits there over thirty years later, and nobody opened up a cloth diaper museum, or something. There are houses and office buildings that are NOT unused that may be threatened, along with the firehouse. If only another use for it could be found.
According to the Aug.1st issue of The Retrospect, Mayor Park states "I'd like to keep it if we can." It seems there's conflicting reports on the condition of the structure, and that it could be a "contaminated site", since guns were reportedly manufactured there at one time. I dunno know,'cuz I ain't no structural engineer, but the building LOOKS sound. As far as the contamination issue, again, I dunno, but it seems like a stretch. If there IS a contamination concern, it's most likely contained and covered up by the building, and might only become an issue IF it's torn down. (It has come to my attention that there was a machine shop located in the rear of the firehouse, as late as WWII, or later.)
Haddon Township has an identity problem. Back in the day the entire area round these parts was called "Haddon Township". Haddonfield was the big city at the time. (Haddonfield's an olde colonial towne. It predates the War Of Independence by a few decades. The main street is called King's Highway 'cuz the King used it on visits.) Over the course of little more than a century, Haddon Twp has been shrinking. It has gaps in it's continuity, it has several ZIP codes and town designations in it's mail service, and different names of it's sections! Westmont, West Collingswood Heights, Haddon Township, etc. They're all the same Township. History is how this state of affairs has occured.
Haddon Township has started a Historic Preservation Committee! It's a great idea, and every town should have one! We're where we are now because of where we were. I figure we ought to play off the rich history of the area and make a big deal about the Township's history. This new committee should greatly reduce Haddon Township's identity problem! The HISTORY of a town IS it's identity! History...it's how we got here!

The white structure to the rear of the firehouse is the "Dy-Dee Wash".

"Firemens Hall" was built in 1905 and used until 1952. Will it see a century of existance?

Firemens Hall, rear view.

The plaque reads: "First home of the WESTMONT FIRE CO. NO. 1...Built by volunteers in 1905 to provide a meeting hall and a facility to house fire fighting equipment. The hall was enlarged in 1909 with a hose tower and new engine room. It served as the fire house until 1952 when they moved to their present location. This building has been respectfully restored and renovated by (unreadable) Carpenter Jr., who seeks to emulate the dedication and devotion to service of the volunteer firemen who once occupied these premises."

Collingswood Circle, Collingswood, NJ

Photographic Albums Of A Somewhat Historical Nature:

See these and other photo albums at Webshots. See the link below, after the Photography section!

Collingswood Dolphin, Cooper River Park, Collingswood, NJ

Boardwalk, Ocean City, NJ, Summer '03

Photography

Photography is a continuing thread between all my interests!

I've always been very visually-oriented. I've always enjoyed images. Although my first photographs were of billboards, I started branching out a bit, after awhile. I ain't never had the courage to take photos of my favorite subjects...women, unless I'm seein' 'em...heck, I'm scared to ask female friends! Gotta work on that! I am blessed to be able to recognize beauty in ALL natural and some man-made things!
Photography always disappointed me until I saw photos on a computer screen! Photos that are so-so in print form come alive through digitization and the slide-like illumination! The computer re-vitalized by love of photography! I've got the shutter-bug...I shudder at the possibilities!
Virtually all the results of my photographic clicking can still be found on the website "Webshots".
Webshots is wonderful. For FREE one can share up to 240 photos! I'm runnin' outta space there. I'm trying to find a site that's as well-visited as Webshots so I can share more photos. I have over 350 photos from my lastest trip to San Diego lookin' for a free port to be seen! There are some in the "Southwestern United States" section, and sprinkled here and there on this website. If you're interested in seeing some of my other pointin'-and-clickin', go to www.webshots.com and look in the "Community" section and search for "Photovon", or click on the link below. As stated above, photography plays a part in all my interests!

Bloomin' Onion Palm? San Diego

View Photovon's Webshots Photo Albums?...Click Here!

South Park Drive, Cooper River Park, Collingswood, NJ

Victorian homes in Collingswood, NJ

Writing & Opinion

Writing is fun! I took to it easily. Started writing semi-seriously while in the USAF.

While a Security Policeman in the USAF, I was called in to see the 1st Sergeant because of a journal I was keeping, and sharing with my Flight members. He was all worried I was writing some nasty expose or something. Since it was rumored that before I got there the previous Squadron Commander, a female, and most of the upper echelon of the squadron were involved a scandal, that could explain his curiosity. The rumor was something about drunkenly playing russian roulette with the 2nd shift during a party in the Guardmount Room. Nothin' that weird, and certainly nothing approaching scandal was goin' on, to my knowledge! I was just writing stuff that was in everyone's mind, and that's why they came by each day to see my latest scratchings. It was the usual complaints about how silly things were, and all the weird little things that happen. My opinion.
When I finished my enlistment I wanted to be a writer. I bought the Writer's Market books and started churning out editorials and commentaries on things that interested me on the current events horizon.
Had a "zine" called "Paranois Free Press" in the mid to late 1980's. 'Zines were small, usually photocopied creations of dedicated fans of something or another. It's short for "fanzine". I wrote and did collages to decorate it. Later issues included writings and artwork from others. PFP was in the "rant zine" category, ie "Opinion". It was my place to comment on whatever I thought was weird about the world as I understood it. Current events often make me scratch my head in wonder.
Didn't make anything on it, matter of fact lost money, since it cost more to make it than the $1.00 "Factsheet Five" thought an issue was worth. Factsheet Five was a "review zine" that encouraged "small press" productions. I found them in The Writer's Market, and they were the ONLY publication to respond to my mailings, so I credit Mike Gunderloy's Factsheet Five with inspiring me to write PFP! Money wasn't the object at that point. My efforts were read and reviewed, and that was better than being ignored! It was the inter-action that was fun! I received lots of mail from all over the globe!
My inspiration to write dried up when I fell in love. She didn't particularly like my zine and I didn't like taking the time from her to keep doing it. Paranois Free Press died mid-issue,#29.
Perhaps I should explain the name. "Paranois" is a state, not a physical one, but a state of mind. It's NOT "paranoia", or anything like that. There are REASONABLE fears that lurk just outside our conscious thoughts. The ones we ignore in hopes they'll go away!
Fear ain't no good, nohow, but facing fear can make it get self-conscious for a spell, and sometimes you can hog-tie it then. Calmly dealing with fear is better than runnin' from it. When one stops runnin', one's reached Paranois State Line.
The sub-heading of Paranois Free Press was "Immaterial Reading". The word "immaterial" is demonstrative of a long-held belief of mine that the material world and the spiritual world don't mix. The dictionary defines immaterial as "meaningless" and "spiritual". Spiritual things can be considered meaningless in the material world, and vice-versa. If one's spirit is awake, (sadly, many are asleep!) one realizes that the only things that matter in this world are the only things that can leave it...our spirits! One treats one's fellow humans with respect and dignity. One recognizes that we are ALL connected through our Creator. Regardless of one's race, creed, color, or sexual orientation,... (God, that sounds So dad-gum "politically correct", don't it?!)...we are all equal in God's sight, when our spirits are awake!
This is my belief, it is my opinion that it's true, but I understand that others might not agree. Opinions are like butts, and you best not rub yours in a strangers face, 'cuz you just might offend them! Everybody is entitled to their opinions. Ain't NOBODY got the right to force their opinions on others. That only shuts people up, and freedom of expression is something that should never be restricted. Unless, of course, the expression in question is against the life, liberty, or property of another. This is inviolable. I believe there ARE absolutes. This brings me to the issue of situational ethics, moral relativism, and moral absolutes. I don't know too much about them, but what I do has caused an opinion to bubble up. More on this later!

Newton Lake Park, Haddon Twp, NJ, 10/05/03

Absolute Ethical Relativism, or "Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law"

Don't tell people they're wrong...they'll just get pissed and try to turn the whole thing around so it looks like they ain't.

Those seemingly squeaky-clean religious folks do more damage to their particular beliefs than a library full of unpopular views of them. They ain't perfect, and they ain't never gonna be, yet they pretend their farts never stink. I think they called their kind "Pharisees" in Jesus' day, and the Lord weren't too pleased with them, and I reckon He takes a dim view of the modern-day versions.
I used to buy into that crap. If I went on a religious retreat, or even a attended a particularly good church service, I'd return and try my damnest not to do those things I ought not to do. Maybe I could pull it off at fair success for a couple of days, but the demands of the flesh would creep back, and then I'd give up.
The squeaky preachers always go on about when you get saved you don't sin no more. I figured since I couldn't stay saved for more than a couple of days, a week at best, I wouldn't keep prayin' and just kinda ignore God, 'cuz I reckoned God didn't want to listen to a sinner.
My sins weren't THAT bad, but to break ANY religious law is to break them all, so they say. The whole purpose of the Old Covenent was to show mankind that it's IMPOSSIBLE to live by the letter of the law.
All this legalism causes lots of people to not want anything to do with God, 'cuz they know that they couldn't live like that, all tangled up in Blue Laws. They run away from religion and it's "Thou Shalt Not"'s. After a while they're able to rationalize their behavior so as they don't do nothin' wrong.
It's called situational ethics, and it's all the rage nowadays. Freed from the bonds of moral absolutes, these people are flexible when it comes to right and wrong. Although it's possible an atheist can lead a moral life, it depends on how steadfast in their lack of belief they are, since strong moral beliefs are usually religious-based. I'm sure there's plenty of atheists who obey the Commandments that don't mention God.
The idea that sometimes it's O.K. to do that which is otherwise not good, due to circumstances, is dangerous. It ain't right to kill, regardless of the circumstances, yet allowances are made for it. It ain't right to steal, even if one is starving, yet there are those who say otherwise. One can probably come up with lots of excuses for anti-social acts when there's no moral compass 'cept oneself.
There are those who take their existance in this world so seriously that they think they are "gods". These gods think whatever they do is good, because it pleases them, and they are the only ones that matter. Society is not enhanced by individuals who are the centers of their own universes. You know the kind...ignorant and arrogant to a fault.
Without a base-line common agreement on what is right and what is wrong, human history will be forever filled with news reports of senseless violence and suffering at the hands of "fellow" humans.

Newton Lake Park, Haddon Township, NJ , 10/05/03

Free Speech...or "Shut Up And Sit Down!"

"You have the right to free speech...as long as you're not dumb enough to actually try it!" The Clash, "Know Your Rights"

In an ideal world, everyone would feel free to express themselves, which would lead to more honesty and understanding.
In a repressed world everyone is forced to live a lie. To express oneself could result in imprisonment, being placed in a mental institution, or even torture and death. What possible good can come from that? A fearful and dishonest population ain't no good for anyone.
If everyone felt comfortable expressing themselves, everyone would know each other more fully and honestly.
Short of that, you gotta take your chances, and find out the hard way who's decent and who ain't. You gotta let people play themselves out to find out what they're really about!

Bridge over the untroubled Cooper River, Haddonfield, NJ.

Human Nature Is A Disease?

If your life ain't perfect, see your doctor!

It's amazing how many new diseases there are nowadays. Children acting like children are diagnosed with some disorder or another and medicated. Children have short attention spans. They get restless easy and often. Their childish nature is an illness, according to doctors, but is it REALLY?
Depression is popular today. Seems that not being happy, regardless of your life circumstances, is due to a chemical imbalance in your brain. Imagine that! The commercials tell you the symptoms and tell you to "Call your doctor!" A pill that will turn a life gone sour into a joyous experience? Some people's lives ARE depressing, to even HEAR about, let alone experience first-hand! Due to poor life choices and/or situations beyond their control, some people would NEED to be on drugs in order to cope with their lives AT ALL. One of the many wonders of modern pharmacology. No wonder, since the root of the word, in the ancient Greek, meant witchcraft and sorcery.
Addictions are popular. Always have been. Humans by nature seem to be quite ritualistic. We all do things daily that we ALWAYS do EVERY day. The ones we MUST do can just as easily be called addictions as the ones we LIKE to do. One is considered addicted when others determine you like something TOO much.
Some addictions are considered benign. The "workoholic" is alright, the "alcoholic" ain't, yet both seem to like something too much, and there are oblivious to the negative consequences to excess that would curb a rational person.
The concept of "all things in moderation" has been replaced with "all or nothing". The "addict" is trained to believe that they will always be addicted. They must also always stay away completely from their "crutch(es)". Addiction is a "chronic brain disease" according to the medical profession. It's a sign of giving into weakness of the flesh to the clerics. There is something wrong with you if you enjoy something beyond the bounds set by others. "More fun than humans should be allowed to have!", as David Letterman has been known to say, JOKINGLY!
There are many who make money from the anti-human treatment of human nature. Most believe they are doing the right thing and mean well. The problem is alot of what they know about human nature comes from a man with an exceeding fondness for cocaine and other "narcotics". Figures, don't it?

Janice on the rocks, Newton Lake Park, Haddon Twp., NJ

Women (My Girl Jan)

ALL Women are beautiful, even the ones who don't want to believe it! Who says women have to be young and skinny to be beautiful? It's their feminine nature, their womanliness, that makes ALL women beautiful, regardless of appearance!

Beauty comes from within. Perhaps it's in the eye of the beholder. All I know is that I love my girl Jan, and when I behold her I see beauty, and I saw it the first time I saw her! Here's a photo of Jan, and another below, and there'll be more of her, as well as others!
Jan is a sweet kid. She's six years my senior, but a child at heart. She has a learning disability, but is very functional, and very protected. Growing up she gained the nick-name "Rough, Tough Creampuff". She takes no crap, and keeps an eye out for it, always! Jan is more of a creampuff since she met me. When we first started seein' each other, some three years or so ago, she was quittin' her job three, four times a week. The managers were forever pleading with her not to leave, often following her to her car, beggin' all the way!
The woman has surely had the Lord watchin' over her all her life! She don't pay attention to much. Once we went bike riding, with myself at the point, and one of her handle-grips fell off the handlebars. I noticed it when we stopped to rest and I asked her about it. She didn't remember it coming off, even though she maintains she had her hand on it, yet somehow she didn't even notice it coming off! Another time she had NO brakes AT ALL for a couple of weeks, and she rode around regardless, not mentioning it to anyone! See what I mean? Truly Blessed, she is, for sure! I love her VERY much!
Ain't never been a member of the He-Man Woman Haters Club. I've always liked girls, even though I ain't had no luck with 'em! (Like pulling a girls' pony-tail and suddenly seeing stars, or losing my fiance to cancer!) The beauty that is womanhood is one of, if not THE greatest blessing God granted man! (Well, there's Salvation through Jesus, and the Grace of God, they ARE greater blessings, of course, to fellow Christians, but you know what I'm tryin' to say!)
It is my sincere belief that my appreciation of the feminine form is a blessing! It certainly is how God made me!

My girl Jan!

Strange Fruit , Newton Lake Park, Haddon Twp., NJ, 10/05/03

Seeing Stars!

Just like in the cartoons!

There was this girl I was sweet on named Theresa. This was back at Alice Birney Elementary School in San Diego.
She had long hair and sometimes it was in a ponytail. I didn't like it as much as I liked her hair falling free.
Took to flirtin' with her one day when her hair was in tails. I pulled on one and she turned around and kicked me square in the pouch! Ouch!!! Everything went black at first, accompanied by pain beyond imagination, and then came nausea accompanied by bright flashing lights strongly resembling STARS! They were striking in intensity against the black background!
There was more damage than anyone imagined. When I hit puberty one of my stones swelled up to potato-size. Since there was no pain associated with it, and I was scared to tell my parents, I kept that puppy secret. Turns out I had a
"hydrocele", or something like that. It's a protective sack of water. Since I left it go so long, it was dead by the time I sought attention for it.
Unless in self-defense, a man's stones should be off-limits to intentional blows, since life-long injury may occur!

White Heron, Newton Lake Park, Haddon Twp., NJ, 10/05/03

In Memory Of Joan K. Muller

Born June 22 1952. Died February 9 1995. Cause of death: kidney cancer.

Joan Muller was a beautiful and wonderful woman! Her life was a tough row to hoe, yet she never became bitter. Her spirit was VERY strong, as well as her love for her five fine children, and their love kept them all going through the tough times. Joan had more than her share of tough times, yet she always came back smiling, despite all she faced! She was REAL. Genuine. She put no walls around herself for protection. This opened her up for emotional and physical hurt that no one should be subjected to. Especially someone so GOOD.
I met her years before we ever got to really know each other.I was in high school and she was a young mother of three. We made quite an impression on each other when we first met. Years later I saw her at her work in a pizza place. We got to talking and next thing I know I fell in love with her and we got engaged! I went from being a hermit who hated children to living in a house with five, from post high school to elementary age. I didn't want to be the evil step-father-figure so I went in the opposite direction, and ended up not having much of a relationship with her children, AT ALL. I loved them as her children, yet always felt awkward around them, like I was imposing on them by just being there!
(The experience helped me understand my relationship with my step-father. I reckon it's the root of the whole step-father problem. The idea that step-children are the product of another guy bein' with your woman. It don't matter if we weren't part of each other's life at all when they were born. There's a weird jealousy thing happening there.)
Shortly after Joan's passing I was asked by the eldest NOT to remain in contact with them. (Heck, the day she died, they changed the locks and left a note telling me to go to my parent's house.) I only wanted to stay in touch with them 'cuz I really loved them. I didn't know how to show it and so I guess they didn't believe it. They're Joan's children, and she is a part of them, the parts of her that live on in this world. If I truly loved their Mom, I'd love them as well, even more so as her living representatives on Earth!
I don't hold it against them for not accepting me. By trying not to be seen as a dominating figure I was so detached we became strangers.
I only pray that my time with Joan brought her some pleasure in this world of pain! All I know is that losing her was the hardest thing I've ever experienced, before, or since. Her funeral was on VALENTINE'S DAY! That's O.K., though, 'cuz Joan's with the Lord, and I'll see her again someday!

Polaroid of Joan, circa October 1993, six months before she became sick. She was truly a beautiful woman, inside and out!

Von, Jan, Cuda, and Cruiser

Bicycling

Since early 1998 the bicycle has been my primary mode of transportation. It ain't that I lost my license or somethin', ain't never HAD one. Bicycling beats the heck out of walkin' everywhere! Unless the weather's TOO bad, "Cuda", my mountain bike, and I get where we need to go!

My first bike was a Stingray. You know, a banana seat (Had those big STP stickers on mine!) and long, U-shaped handle-bars, every boy wanted one back in '68. I loved it! Never gave her a name, though. We had to part in '71 due to our family moving from San Diego, CA to Collingswood, NJ. She was left in the care of someone who loved her almost as much as I did...my best friend's sister!
My second bike was an old bike from the '40's or '50's that was big and heavy. It had fenders ALL over it, on the FRAME as well as the wheels! I guess it was to make it look like it was aerodynamic. I felt stupid riding it until I got the idea of stripping off all the sheetmetal! Suddenly it looked like a real bike and weighed a LOT less! Then I go and paint it red & white & Petty Blue, in honor of my favorite Stock Car racer, Richard Petty!
The next bike I had for only a few months! It was a brand-new 10-speed my Grandfather bought me. I parked it outside a store, was only gone a couple of minutes, and it's STILL gone!
Didn't have a bike for 25 years when I started collecting "Pepsi Points" to get a Pepsi/Fila mountain bike. Despite the efforts of myself and several other heavy Pepsi drinkers, I still had to shell out $250.00 for the thing. I named her "Road Runner" after one of my favorite Plymouths of the Muscle Car era. She served me well for over 3 years, until SHE was stolen, a couple of weeks before I was to go on the MS 150 City to Shore Bike Tour!
That's when I got my latest bike, 'Cuda. Luckily, Esher's Bike Shop had a used mountain bike real cheap, and I had a ride in time for the MS 150.

Jan's bike, "Cruiser", and my bike, "Cuda" at Newton Lake Park.

The MS 150 City to Shore Bike Tour

Last year was my fifth consecutive MS 150.

This year, 2003, will be the 23rd Annual MS 150 City to Shore Bike tour. It was started by veteran Philadelphia news anchor Larry Kane. He also does the ride, but I ain't never seen him, 'cuz there's THOUSANDS of cyclists at these things!
The ride begins at the Woodcrest Patco Station in Cherry Hill. Bicyclists of all ages and descriptions fill the parking lots of the train station.
I like to start at the earliest time, since I can take my time, and STILL find all the rest stops fully stocked with provisions!
The route usually changes from year to year, but it always leads us through farmland within 30 minutes of riding. Not only our wheels, but our route goes in circles, 'cuz it ain't no 75 miles from Cherry Hill, NJ to Ocean City, NJ! A lot of the route looks and feels like it's below the Mason-Dixon Line.
Although it's officially frowned on, a Walkman of some kind is ESSENTIAL, for one's sanity. Even if you're riding with somebody who's talking your ear off, you'll still need something for your sanity! My first year I was going crazy. I began hearing imaginary sounds from my bike, and dwelling on how many strokes my legs were making, and will the bike AND my legs make it?! I'd been riding less than a year after 25 years of not even touching a bike. I made it, but vowed to bring a distraction next time, and that makes all the difference.
It's usually about 15 or 20 miles between rest stops. The stops are well stocked with everything you can think of that would replenish your fluids and energy. There's lots of brand name food products that are sponsors and provide all kinds of free food! How about Subway hoagies for lunch? No? There's also peanut butter and jelly! Plenty of water and Gatorade to wash down the feast!
There are several sponsoring bike shops that provide essential minor repairs free of charge, at ALL rest stops and between, with roving mechanics! There is also SAG support for those whose legs give out along the way. Bike and rider receive transport to the finish line.
The Tour goes on, rain or shine, and regardless of the conditions, I've always had fun. One time it rained like crazy ALL the way to O.C., and I was pruned-out when I got to the hotel and showered. Y' know what I mean. My hands looked like I'd spent too many hours in a pool! Another time it rained all the way back. The rain never seems to dampen (poor pun...sorry!)anyone's spirits much.
At the last rest stop, about 15 miles from Ocean City, riders can take the Century option. If you want, you can tack on another 25 miles to the 15 you got left, or you can just go on. I ain't never done it, but I probably could, it's just the whole psychological aspect of never having done it before leading to doubts. Many take the challenge, and my hat's off to them, 'cuz by the time I get to the last stop I'm about sick of riding and just wanna get off the thing!
Once you get to Ocean City, and then all the way down to the start/finish line, there's all kinds of free food and drink and lots of people cheering on the participants as they come in. In the evening there's a pasta dinner at the Music Pier, and an award ceremony for those who raised the most donations and/or participated above and beyond the call of charity.
Early Sunday morning a "continental breakfast" is served in the Music Pier. There's cereal and milk, juice, and Dunkin' Donuts galore. I usually just grab a couple of donuts and some orange juice. something to hold me over 'til the first rest stop.
The routes are well marked, and there are people stationed at all the places where it twists and turns, to ensure everyone goes in the right direction. Along the route the bikes spread out according to speed. This brings me to my only complaint about the tour. The speed racers, or "Carbacks". The route takes back-roads with light auto traffic, but they're not blocked off, and riders are supposed to take to the shoulders of the roads so as to not interfere with traffic.
Carbacks are those with racing bikes who ride in big packs out in the middle of the road. They are always yelling "Car Back" to us riding on the shoulder of the road. WE'RE not in the way of the cars, THEY are, but they believe they are providing a service by telling us. Ain't nothin' worse than a pack of bikes flying by like you're standing still! It ain't a RACE, it's a RIDE. The trouble is the incredible sense of speed a racing bike gives it's rider. The Carbacks think that the 35-40 MPH they're capable of enables them to ride IN traffic WITH cars without being in the way. They apparently think us turtles on the shoulder are in the way of the cars instead of themselves. There must be some kinda prize for being the first one! They're reckless and dangerous to themselves and everyone else. ALL the accidents I've seen along the way involved Carbacks! Sometimes they involve the cars back of them! Some of their crashes are spectacular due to the fact they travel in packs. One has a problem and there they go!
That's really the only problem I have with the MS 150. If everybody uses their heads everybody can have fun!
When the ride is over, back at the Woodcrest Station, there's food and drink, live bands, and another crowd of friends and family cheering on the riders. Last year I got a plaque for having completed 5 MS 150's. I'm a member of the Alumni Club.
Want to try it? You can register by calling 1-800-445-BIKE, or by visiting their site, using the convenient link below.
www.ms150biketour.org

A New Bicycle For Christmas! Introducing: "Challenger".

What a wonderful surprise! Riding bikes for transportation, it's helpful to have a back-up, but I sure didn't expect to get a NEW one! "Challenger" is a Roadmaster Mt. Fury 26" 15-speed mountain bike. She's on the road now and is a joy to ride. There'll be more photos, soon, I'm sure.

ABOVE: The beautiful Cooper River, Haddonfield side. Cherry Hill, NJ, is on the other side. BELOW: Newton Lake Park from the Oaklyn, NJ, side of the Bettlewood Ave bridge.

The Alligator Zydeco Band performs at the Fall State Craft Festival, Richboro, PA, 10/19/03

Music

I've always loved music, but lately I ain't as into it as much as I used to be, for some strange reason.

As long as I can remember music was a strong interest. As a kid in the late 1960's Cold-War world, My favorite radio station was "KGB", in temperate San Diego. The irony was lost on me at the time, of course!
KGB is San Diego's oldest continually licensed radio station. It dates back to 1922. In 1974 a KGB radio promotional idea hatched into what became known as the infamous "San Diego Chicken".
Used to stay up late to hear "In A Gadda Da Vida". Iron Butterfly was considered a local band. I remember seeing record stores with the album cover covering every inch of window space.
"Whole Lotta Love" by Led Zeppelin was another early favorite. When I found out a GUY was singing, though, I wasn't too sure of 'em for awhile!
A visit to New Jersey a couple of years before we pulled up stakes and moved there changed my musical tastes forever. My cousin Dave, now sadly passed on, introduced me to what would become my favorite band of all time, the Pink Floyd. Unlike ANY music I'd enjoyed previously, I instantly loved every groove of the band's 1968 LP, "A Saucerful Of Secrets" Knowing I'd forget the bands' name, my brain being the sieve it is, I asked him to write down the group and album name for future reference.
When we moved to Collingswood, NJ my schoolmates made fun of me and my Pink Floyd until the 1973 release of "The Dark Side Of The Moon" turned their scorn to praise! Previously some friends maintained I had made the whole thing up! There is one friend that liked the Floyd as much as I did. He's a musician who plays bass. He's damn good and has a band. Perhaps a photo of his band can replace the image below!
My friend Dan likes ALL the Pink Floyd albums. Even the ones without Roger Waters. I call the band without Waters "3/4 Floyd". To me, they lack direction, and meander all over. Roger had a forceful personality. The kind one needs to be a leader. Someone had to step in as leader after Syd Barrett's departure, and that was Waters. The more the rest of them balked, the more Roger had to shoulder the burden of making it all work, while the others resented his authority in doing so. That's why they broke up.
The result was a band with three former Pink Floyd members, more than twice their number in back-up musicians, and 100% of the name. My calling the re-formed band 3/4 Floyd is rather charitable.
That's all Waters under the bridge. The fact remains that Pink Floyd produced some of the finest music I've ever heard.

An attempt to replicate the feel of the old "Hipgnosis" album cover photography.

Other Bands & Artists I find entertaining...

There's Robyn Hitchcock. He's like a Syd Barrett that didn't freak out. Like Syd, he sings with an English accent, and writes songs that are pleasant yet leave the listener wondering what the words mean. He was with a band called The Soft Boys and wrote nice tunes like "I Wanna Destroy You" and "Sandra's Having Her Brain Out". He also had a group called The Egyptians. The album "Respect" is delightful, with such tracks as "When I Was Dead" and "Driving Aloud(Radio Storm). The later is my favorite. The whole album is great, in my humble opinion, and so are any I've come across. The first time I heard him was on a college station, WXPN, and the song was "Winchester". It's haunting.
Then there's King Crimson. KC is Robert Fripp and a collection of musicians who have impressed Mr. Fripp with their musicianship. There were several incarnations of the band, all with a decidedly different yet similar flavor. I like 'em all. As I write this I'm listening to a live double-album from the last of the '84 tour. I love it! It's literally stirring. It's called "Absent Lovers".
The first King Crimson album, "In The Court Of The Crimson King" starts off with a song called "21st Century Schizoid Man".
Probably one of, if not THE most intellectual rock outfits ever. I've often wondered why Robert Fripp wasn't a classical musician instead of a rocker. The answer is obvious! He IS a classical musician who LIKES rock & roll! KC is still alive and well!
Van der Graaf Generator(VDGG) and Peter Hammill are entertaining. I'm a sucker for lyrics with depth, and that Hammill fella can write deep songs. I don't know too much about VDGG, since I only had one recording, and it was a composition of live tracks. My favorite was "w". It's a wonderful song about waking up one morning twice as unhappy as you ever were in your life. Then you realize you're dead!
"Life is a succession of waves...you're happy and you're sad...and you don't appreciate the good times...until you're in the bad..." VDGG was a band that lasted a decade, from '68 to '78, and Peter Hammill was with 'em, if you ain't figured that out yet! There's also a song about the whole Horus and Osirus thing for Ancient Egyptian religious fans! It's called "The Boat Of Millions Of Years". I'm only real familiar with one Peter Hammill solo album, "Enter k", and it's a fine one. The song "Accidents" has wonderful word-play. "I know by place in the story...a line of blank verse...all part of the accident". The cut "Happy Hour" ain't about racing practice, it's about the artificiality of the social scene:" Put on the grease-paint...it's time for happy hour!" By now you're thinking this artist is depressing. Realistic is more like it. Reality can be depressing if you want it to be.

"Archguitar" demonstration at the Fall State Craft Festival, Richboro, PA, 10/19/03

Outdoor Advertising (Billboards!)

Since I've always had poor vision, and I was diagnosed pretty late, this may account for my fondness for billboards. Their size made them readable when smaller signs were fuzzy blurs.

My family moved to New Jersey in 1971. We drove across country, and saw billions of billboards, and that was my favorite part of the trip. Trees are pretty, sure, but a long stretch of roadway with nothin' but them is very boring to a youthful passenger! Born too late to enjoy the famed Burma Shave signs of yore, I was a billboard fan as far back as I remember. The eye-catching graphics and positive messages did something for me.
We used to go on Sunday drives into the countryside and when we'd come home I'd commence to turning more of my baseball card collection into miniature billboards by glueing popsicle sticks to the back and cutting out magazine ads for the front! When I got my first camera, billboards were my favorite subjects, and I'd check on the local ones regularly for changes. I was lucky enough to catch one being changed, and took six or seven photos of the process.
When we moved near the Collingswood Patco Speedline station, I kept records of the twenty or so billboards there, and noted the dates of changes, as well as the advertisers.

NEW Billboard installed on the Rt. 130!

A brand-spanking-new billboard owned by Viacom now is located on the way towards Collingswood, NJ, on the Rt. 130, just a block or two before the bridge over the Cooper River!

Her First Advertisement!

She's the first billboard I've ever seen with lettering so small as to be unreadable in a photograph taken this close!

It's her first attempt, so I can't be too critical, 'cuz she did a pretty good job.
From a distance it appears to show a pickle slice and an egg. Generally the product or service is identifiable from a distance. The pickle-lookin' thing is some skin-scrubbin' device used with soap (the egg-like object). It seems the bar does the work of the scrubbin' thing. The message is "Exfoliate by Scouring, or Polishing. New Dove Exfoliating Bar."
The use of tiny delicate lettering is fine for other forms of print media, but NOT billboards, 'cuz of the limited exposure time. There's also too many words, which is another traditional no-no, for the same reason. They just don't make billboard ads like they used to!

Wanna see some funny billboards and other humorous things?

Click here for www.dribbleglass.com!

Stock Car Racing

Channel-surfing during a rain-delayed baseball game brought me back to my old interest. After almost twenty years of no interest, I was hooked again. This was three years before Ray Evernham spearheaded Dodge's return to stock (car) racing with NASCAR.

When I was a wee lad I loved cars. My Mom and Grandad were amazed at my ability to tell one car make from another. Roughly half my life I loved cars. Especially Plymouths and Dodges. Loved 'em!
Finding, by accident, a book in the public library about NASCAR started my interest. Richard Petty was having the checkered flag waved over his Plymouth more often than not. I became an instant fan!
My favorite Plymouth NASCAR story is the time a Plymouth beat a Cadillac. The loser claimed foul and demanded that NASCAR take the Plymouth all apart, 'cuz he was SURE it had to be tricked. After a night of checking serial numbers with the nearest Plymouth dealer it was determined that the car was 100% stock!
At the time, I was sitting on big ol' STP stickers, on the seat of my bicycle. A few years later the #43 car was fully sponsored by STP! He wasn't runnin' Plymouths anymore, due to her retirement,King Richard was going with her sister, Dodge!
That was cool, 'cuz I liked anything that Chrysler produced, and the now red, white and Petty Blue #43 Dodge was still givin' those Fords' and Chevys' fits! The 1974 Dodge Charger was the last model that made serious attempts at competition. Mother (Chrysler Corp., to Moper fans!)decided to pull the plug on her participation. NASCAR permitted the '74 body to be run for two, three years, even changing the rules to give the King more miles in his Mopar product. Since the Petty Racing outfit was a distributor of Mopar parts for the majorty of those using them, they could operate virtually independent of Mother for a spell. The Pettys' also helped the other independents until the parts ran out.
According to Allpar.com, a website dedicated to Mopar products, Plymouth has 190 career wins vs. 160 for Dodge. Plymouth raced from 1949 to 1973. Dodge from 1953 to 1977. There's lots of other Mopar facts available on the Allpar site. There's a link below, after the Plymouth section.
Eventually the King started running GM products. When I'd see the race standings lose their last intrepid Dodges, I was sick, 'cuz The Big Three was no longer represented, and it was my Mopars that were missing! Seeing Richard Petty in Chevys' was too much! Meanwhile, Chrysler Corp. was on real shaky ground!
The mid seventies was the time I started to lose interest in cars altogether. ALL the cool cars were gone, 'cuz the few that hung on were mere shadows of their former glory. Big engines were gone. The "Gas Crisis" and environmental considerations caused manufacturers to produce little fuel-efficient shoeboxes that resembled the sterile foreign makes of the time.
It was twenty years that I ignored NASCAR completely. Four years in the USAF stationed in South Carolina, and never once thought about it, though I was virtually in the heart of NASCAR'S fan-base at the time.
It was during a rain-delay in a televised Phillies game that I channel-surfed right into a Winston Cup event. I searched the field for Dodges and found none. The Pontiacs, with their trade-mark split grille, reminded me of the '74 Charger. Seeing that the #43 car was a Pontiac, and still wore STP sponsorship, I was getting into NASCAR again! After a couple of commercial breaks when I checked up in the baseball game, I forgot all about the game, 'cuz I was hooked!
Dodge WAS active in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Their reasoning for limiting their involvement was that they only wanted to race what they sell. They don't sell eight-cylinder, rear-wheel-drive CARS. They DO sell TRUCKS in that configuration!
When Chrysler re-introduced the 300 series, with the 300-M, I thought it would be cool for them to race again. The 300 series was pretty successful in NASCAR's early days. Lo, and behold, the announcement came of the return of DODGE to NASCAR!
Toyota is coming to NASCAR. Actually, they've been in the Goody's Dash Series, a NASCAR touring series, for a few years. Toyota will be participating in the Craftsman Truck Series in 2004, and the series currently known as Winston Cup, in following years. At first I wasn't too pleased with the idea of foreign makes in a traditionally American make-only form of racing. The Japanese love stock car racing? Great! More power to them! Just like they took to baseball, why couldn't they also have their own racing series, instead of joining an American series? It wouldn't be popular to have Japanese baseball teams in the National and American leagues. I thought the "N" in NASCAR stood for "National".
Like I said, it used to bother me, but I've gotten over it, and now think it might inspire even more competition. The part I don't like is a Winston Cup team was accused by Chrysler as helping the Toyota truck effort. They're a Dodge team, and Dodge is VERY successful in the Craftsman Truck Series, so the fear that Toyota might be trying to get some trade secrets is very real. That's VERY uncool, and the last thing a new manufacturer should be interested in, unless they ain't intendin' to play fair!

Big NASCAR Pics By Big John!

Ryan Newman, #12, started on the pole and finished 5th in the Coca-Cola ("Co-Cola") 600 on 5/25/03. Notice the "smile" on Newman's Dodge Intrepid as it crosses the start/finish line!

"If you can't DODGE it, RAM it!

Click above to go to Dodge Motorsports!

Check out NASCAR's Website! Click here!

Plymouth Automobiles

My love of cars has always been visually oriented. The cars that Chrysler made always looked better to me. The Plymouths were my favorites over all. Naming a car after a kid's favorite cartoon character sealed the deal! Sadly Plymouth is no longer. Gone but not forgotten!

When I heard that DaimlerChrysler was to phase out the Plymouth make I was shocked. The local Chrysler/Plymouth dealer told me that Plymouth wasn't going away, they were just going to be called Chryslers from now on.
Then I read somewhere that the redundancy of products in the Chrysler/Plymouth/Dodge stables caused DaimlerChrysler to sink Plymouth's ship. Redundancy among different divisions is as old as the automobile industry itself. The first year of Plymouth featured virtually the same models as the low-end Chryslers, at nearly the same price range!
Once I read that the original Plymouths rolled out of a factory that was shared with Chrysler/Desoto because the new factory wasn't anywhere close to being finished. The constuction of the Lynch Road, Detroit, plant was during the dead of winter, and steam locomotives were used to provide heat for the workers, both construction and assembly!
Introduced in 1928, the same year Chrysler bought Dodge, Plymouth was intended as a PLAIN, INEXPENSIVE FAMILY CAR to compete with Ford and Chevrolet. Chryslers were luxury cars and the Dodges were pricey as well. There were only four models (of 18) less than a thousand dollars in Dodge's 1928 line-up. The most expensive 1928 Plymouth was only $65.00 less than the most expensive of the BASIC Chrysler offering of the same year! (The first Plymouth to cost over $1,000 was in 1934!)
By the end of 1933, one out of every four cars in America was a Plymouth, and by 1936 there were more than 500,000 made. Plymouth sailed right through the Depression!
Generally, Plymouths were cheaper than any other MOPAR products, but you could pretty much get one as fancy and expensive as you wanted.The real reason Plymouth is no more is her getting away from her founding principles.
This being said, the 2000 Plymouth Neon was somehow $30.00 MORE than the comparable Dodge one. Once the less expensive division, Plymouth eventually became less competitive price-wise, and has gone the way of the Desoto and the Imperial.

Plymouths love to race. They've always been big on performance. In 1929, a Model U broke the world's endurance record by being driven non-stop 632 hours, 36 minutes before being voluntarily stopped. The car covered 11,419 miles and was serviced "on the go".
In 1966, Richard Petty won the Daytona 500, with a Plymouth Belvedere hardtop with a 404-cid HEMI! Over 550 horses gave Petty an average speed of 160.627 mph!
The Plymouth Superbird, a Road Runner on steriods, accounted for 21 of 38 Chrysler victories on NASCAR's Grand National circuit until the rules were changed in '71. Didn't matter, though, 'cuz The King was driving a Petty Blue HEMI powered Plymouth Road Runner to his third Championship in 1971.

As a kid I used to take a different way home from school just to stop by the local Chrysler/Plymouth dealer and ogle the latest offerings...again...and again! Used to get the promotional booklets for all the models.
Road Runners and Barracudas. GTX's and Dusters. To me they were works of art! I'm not the only one who thinks like that, luckily, and ALLPAR is a site for us who LOVE MOPAR! Click on the link below!
TOP: The Plymouth muscle car collection for 1970 included: 'Cuda, GTX, Sport Fury GT, Road Runner, and the Valiant Duster 340. BELOW: Plymouth introduced their six-cylinder engine late in 1932, for the '33 models.($9 million in developement cost!) Photos courtesy The Museum of Automobile History.

1965 Dodge racing Hemi. Photo taken at the San Diego Automotive Museum.

Click here for Plymouth and ALL Mopar information!

Beach Cruiser with surfboard!

Why I Don't Drive.

As much as I loved cars while growing up, by the time I was old enough to be buggin' my parents to let me drive, I couldn't be bothered. My favorite cars had been killed off by the "gas crisis" and air pollution concerns.
Sure, I took the written test for a license, I just didn't want one. I NEVER asked to drive the family car!
When I joined the USAF they wanted to teach me. Since I worked 2nd and 3rd shifts, it was the best time to try, but I was only taken out once.
It was about 0100hrs, and here I am trying to drive for the first time in my life, scared, 'cuz I was a cop, without a license, fixin' to drive a patrol car!
It was the oldest in the fleet, a circa 1974 Plymouth Volare, but both I and the sergeant tasked with schoolin' me knew she had to return unscathed!
The first thing I noticed was I had to keep my foot on the brake to keep it still. When I took my foot off the brake she'd start to runnin' in no time, so I didn't even need to use the gas pedal! I drove the Perimeter Road around the inside of the fence at about 30-35 without any gas pedal action to speak of for about 45 minutes.
(Another thing I didn't like was the play in the steering. I had to turn the wheel a quarter-turn or more to get her to respond!)
The fella ridin' with me didn't say a word the entire trip. Turns out he didn't say anything 'cuz he was scared I was gonna hit something! I was trying to line it up with those lines in the road, but I reckon I wasn't doin' too good of a job, 'cuz he said that he thought we were gonna take out the fence! He was seeing his stripes disappearing before his eyes! I didn't hit anything, but apparently came close enough to count! I have poor depth perception, so that's probably why, 'cuz I thought I was doing fine until the post-drive de-briefing!
Needless to say, Uncle Sam never sent someone out to teach Von how to drive again!
To be fair, the ol' Plymouth wasn't in the greatest shape, and most cars probably ain't as wild. I could most likely get used to the odd feeling of automotion, but my depth perception problem, I ain't so sure of! Besides, I ain't got to get no special permission from the State to do something which is otherwise illegal-(i.e. License)-to ride my bike!

1941 Chrysler Windsor.

Old billboard for Dodge Trucks. Courtesy of The Museum of Automobile History.

The Southwestern United States

Yuma, Arizona was my place of birth. Lived in San Diego 'til age 11. I'll always love the Southwest! Someday I hope to re-locate there!

Ahhh! The beautiful Southwest! I ain't been out there since the mid-1980's, when I went to Phoenix to see a boyhood friend, the first I ever had. He don't remember me though, 'cuz he took a nasty spill on a dirt-bike, and lost all his childhood memories.
My family's trip to San Diego was fantastic. I took over 350 photos. (Once I find someplace on the web to host 'em all gratis, I'll share 'em. My free Webshots account is about full. I ain't rollin' in Federal Reserve notes!)
We used to live in S.D. until 1971. The house we used to live in has been replaced with apartments. That was happening all around when we lived there. I guess it was inevitable that the old family homestead would be torn down. It lasted longer than I expected it to. We were renting the house, (for the same rent I paid when I moved into my current apartment),and the owners wanted us to buy it. They said that if we didn't they were gonna take it out and put in apartments. Sometime in the '80s or '90s the ol' house became rubble and apartments were built.
Sure liked that house. It had a lot of land compared to the other houses in the area. The backyard stretched back to the alley. Most lots had two houses on them. One facing the street and one facing the alley. Another nice thing was the fireplace. It was real. I've lived in three houses with fireplaces, and two of the three were fake, and both fakes were in NJ! We used to fire it up on Christmas for effect. Didn't need it for heat, 'cuz the winters are usually mild, but it was nice during Christmas!
Ain't been there since 1980. Went there in October '79 as a graduation gift. The idea was that I'd stay with my Grand-Dad 'til I got my own place. The problem was I was a nineteen year old child suddenly expected to just jump blindly into adulthood. My Grand-Dad thought there was something wrong with me. When he was my age he'd been on his own for four or five years! In his day, if you lived with your parents at age 19 there WAS something wrong with you!
I didn't know diddly-squat about anything! The concept of offering to pay "board" was foreign to me. Heck, at home I still got an allowance if I cut the lawn, whilst I worked for a landscaper before the California trip.
Only got a job 'cuz a relative who worked with Pacific Bell hooked me up with a temporary gig that could've turned into a permanent one. Could've if I could've got to work on time on a regular basis. My Grand-Dad's apt was on 51st St., and my job was downtown, about a hundred blocks away. The busses ran regular except when you're waiting for one. The schedules were worthless. You couldn't outfox them, either, 'cuz I tried! I thought getting to the bus stop before the bus BEFORE the one I was supposed to take got there might work...early is better than late! Nah, the one I was waiting for never showed, and the one I usually tried to catch was LATE! So much for showing up on time! So much for getting permanent employment with Pacific Bell!
The temporary job was as an "intercept operator". They were switching from live people to computers for the calls that don't go through. "What number are you calling?" I'd tap it into a computer and read out the info on why the call won't go through. The idea was to do a hundred or so an hour, so you weren't supposed to argue, which was hard not to do 'cuz everyone's angry!
There were weird events going on last time I was in San Diego. Being young and dumb I found myself in stupid situations. The job had split-shifts. There'd be a three-hour break after three or four hours of work. Since I'm downtown, a couple of blocks from Balboa Park, I decide to try to find a spot where we used to go for picnics back in the '60s. I find it and sit on a picnic table. Across the clearing was a couple kissing. Soon it dawns on me they're both female! I was paying a little too much attention when I was surprised by a Mexican guy walking up. In heavily accented English he asks me if I like watching the girls. I said "Yes!", and out of the blue he asks me if I wanted fellatio. Taken a-back, I tried to calmly say "No thanks!" I got up and started walking away and the guy follows me, repeating his question. I started walking REAL fast and never looked back 'til I was out of the park!
There was another event that was very weird. After work one day I was waiting for a bus outside a bar. There were a lot of people there, and I assumed they were also waiting for busses. A drunk gets thrown out of the bar and entertains the crowd. This guy starts talking to me, about the drunk, and then asks where I'm goin', and offers me a ride. I shoulda got suspicious, but didn't, even when he invited me to his apartment, picking up beer on the way! He asked me if I wanted to "party", and being a greenhorn fresh outta high school, I figured why not? Beer and herb were not foreign to my experience.
When we got to his place I noticed several diplomas from hairdressing schools adorned the walls. A second of confusion when I tried to square the fact that this guy didn't talk or act the least bit effeminate with the fact he had a hairdressing career. For some reason I gave him the benefit of the doubt. He didn't seem gay at all! We drank and smoked and talked like two straight dudes. We were sitting on opposite sides of a long couch, and we sat like that for a long time, until he starts moving over! FINALLY warning signs lit up. Suddenly I realized that I'd been played for a fool!
Suddenly I leaped up, and in my best Monty Pythonesque English accent, rattled off something about having to get back to care for my elderly Grand-Father, and stormed out the door! NOTE TO SELF: Don't trust strange men who are friendly!
Of course, I don't hold these things against San Diego, 'cuz it ain't her fault that the free and easy atmosphere inspires some people to think everyone's like them!
Then there was this college kid who lived in the same apartment complex as Grand-Dad and I. I met him as he was cultivating a seedling in the planter in front of the apartments. He had a big curly hair, like in the '60s, real hippie lookin'. His room-mate was a clean-cut serious type. Somehow they seemed to get along alright. He once quit his job to go to the beach with his friends. "It is a beautiful day!" he said as an excuse. Uh, dude, virtually EVERY day is beautiful! This is San Diego!

Description of the photos above and my memories of my first school (above).

Sure miss the missing house at 4485 Alabama St., San Diego! Don't miss ol' Alice Birney, though...well, maybe a little bit!

These photos were taken by my parents on a trip in '98. The top two show the apartments that replaced the house we lived in and a view across the street. There used to be a big fat palm tree on the corner.
The third is a view to and from the corner, from the front of 4485. The fourth is the view of it from the corner. (I remember when a stop sign was first placed on that corner.) The large white structure is the current 4485 Alabama St.
The fifth one is of an island created by the intersection of Monroe and Mission Aves. with Alabama St., from the corner of Alabama (foreground) and looking west on Monroe. The last pic is of what were the offices of Alice Birney Elementary School when I attended many moons ago. It was my first school, and I went from kindergarten to fifth grade there. I learned to dis-like school there. School boy memories include: Gettin' kicked in the privates... earthquake drills instead of fire drills...the girl who made it to the door before painting the inside of it with vomit...discoverin' my lunch missin' and later findin' it's remains in the bathroom, with the apple in the crapper!
There were even more positive memories too! Like the day I decided to cut school. I remember thinkin' that they'd get along just fine without me for a day. If the teacher asked me the next day where I was, I'd just tell her I was sick. I'd just pretend to go to school and find some place to hide out 'til lunch. I ducked down an alley and hid in some thick bamboo patch behind an old garage. I played with the bamboo and read newspapers and anythin' I could find to read 'till I was bored outta my skull and lunchtime arrived.(I had a watch!)
I took my lunch and went down the alley toward El Cajon Blvd. The alley ended behind the row of stores on the blvd. There was a Fox Photo developing place that had a little patio for their employees. Several of them were there as I walked in an sat down. They all pelted me with questions about why I wasn't in school. I told them I hated school and was takin' the day off. They all got a kick outta that.(I didn't know why!) I hung out with them 'til they had to go back to work and then returned to my bamboo fort with fresh readin' material for the remainder of the day.
To make a long story shorter, I didn't count on needin' a NOTE to be "absent". My punishment was to come home for lunch for a while. (This was an odd punishment, 'cuz lunch was my favorite part of school. There was a nice "Lunch Arbor" there.)
One day I was late goin' back to school, and slipped on the front steps, doin' a header on the concrete. Chipped a tooth as well! Never cut school again!
The "New Math" of the time taught me that mathematics and I don't get along. A teacher, Mrs. Welch, even came over on a Saturday to help me with the dreaded multiplication tables! I appreciated the thought and effort, but hated the intrusion of math into my otherwise non-mathematical free-time!

Aunt Eleanor's Snail Encounter.

A snail returns home in the mornin'.

If one is up and about outside, before 9 or 10 in the morning, in San Diego, you've seen these fellas! They're all over the place. They leave shiny trails on sidewalks and roads. Livin' there one takes 'em for granted. I figured they had 'em everywhere. They don't!
Once back in the '60s, my Aunt Eleanor was visiting us from New Jersey. She hated to wear shoes, and went barefoot as much as possible. One mornin' she went into the backyard to do somethin' and started yellin' and ran back inside. She didn't know about snails, and none of us thought to warn her, so of course she got scared! I couldn't stop laughin'! I reckon that it WOULD freak someone out, especially BAREFOOT, to unexpectedly step upon these crunchy and gooey creatures!

President Kennedy visits San Diego, June 6th, 1963.

A mere five months before another motorcade would prove to be his last, JFK visited San Diego, and gave the commencement address at SDSU. He also received an honorary doctor of law degree. ABOVE: JFK waves to the people lining El Cajon Blvd. BELOW: JFK acknowledges the "PT 109" sign my family displayed!

Photovon Points & Clicks In San Diego & Environs, November 26th to Dec. 3rd, 2003!

Octopus Mosaic, Pacific Beach. "Watercolor" effect by Ofoto.

During the trip I took 400 pictures! I wanted to capture the beauty and the feeling of the trip in case I never return. I'd LOVE to return to the Southwest and live there!
There is a "feel" there, that's hard to describe, but is VERY real. When I used to live there I was oblivious to it. It was all I knew. When we moved to the East Coast there was a totally different "feel". It's alright, but it ain't the same! I missed the old feel and passed it off as homesickness 'til subsequent visits proved that it was real.
The REAL test would be going back after many moons have passed. Would San Diego still have a magical feel to it? Would I still love it?
I was not disappointed in the least! In fact, San Diego was MORE magical than I remembered! We had a wonderful trip!
Even her beauty was more than I imagined! There is beauty everywhere. I'd love to return and capture MILLIONS of images!

Octopus Mosaic, Pacific Beach. "Neon" effect by Ofoto.

La Jolla & Balboa Park!

ABOVE: The beautiful and lovely village of La Jolla's shores. Great place to watch the sun sink into the Pacific!
You just gotta love the Pickleweed topped, rocky cliffs, and the tidal pools. Caves, too, are among La Jolla's charms.
BELOW: The equally beautiful and lovely Balboa Park. The ornate architecture shown is often found in many buildings in Balboa Park. Two Expositions, one in 1915-16 (Panama-California Exposition), and the other in 1935-36 (California Pacific International Exposition) left San Diego many of these fancy structures.

The Anza Borrego Desert State Park

The Beautiful Anza Borrego Desert State Park, a couple of hours outside of San Diego, is well worth the ride. December 1st 2003

Two photos with odd white spots taken at the reputed former Orowitz residence in Collingswood, NJ. I've attempted to crop & zoom in on the biggest ones. They are often called "Orbs". Ain't got a clue as to what they REALLY are!

The Odd, The Weird, and The Mysterious

It started with ghosts and went into UFO's. Then there was disillusionment.

There was a book on ghosts that had photos of 'em in it. That book fascinated me so much I kept on checking it out of the library. Full of great stories illustrated with some realistic pictures of ghostly images. It was then I realized I liked weird things.
Shortly later I found out about flying saucers, and proceeded to go through the library's collection and more. I read books pro and con on the subject, although my preference was the former, like the poster the X-Files character Fox Mulder had in his office, I want(ed) to believe. I still believe there's life out there, in space, but I believe they keep a wary eye on us and surely wouldn't COME here. After all, they're supposed to be intelligent!
Today, I'm more inclined to believe UFO's are real, but that they're man-made. If the Nazis had working prototypes 60 years ago, and if commonly known technology is fifty years behind the cutting edge, it's entirely possible the UFO's are Earthly in origin.
Several times President Reagan said that the only thing that would bring world peace would be an threat from outer space. The "Star Wars" space based defense system technology was to be shared with the (then) Soviet Union. If it was to protect us from evil, than the Soviets were the ones we expected trouble from, so why would you give them the keys to our defense system? Makes you wonder who the intended enemy was (is).
Nowadays the odd, the weird, and the mysterious category is enormous. There's all kinds of weird things I ain't never heard of. Orbs, Rods, and the cult favorite "Chemtrails". A wonderful source for more info on stuff like this is a late night radio program called Coast To Coast AM. It was formerly hosted by a fella named Art Bell. The current host, George Noory carries on the tradition of weirdness, and does a pretty good job.
Click here for the Coast To Coast AM website!

Strange Artifact?

The water was brown when I took the picture. Perhaps there was something wrong with the film. The reflection of the trees on the other side and the shadows appear to be more than that!

Unexplained personal experiences:

Things that make one shake one's head in wonder!

While returning from work after 1AM, I was passing through a parking lot when a carload of young women circled the outside of the empty lot once, chanting in unison something that sounded like "TEAR IT UP!" There was no music audible, so they weren't singing along to anything, so I have absolutely no idea what that was all about!
A cricket on the windowsill of my bedroom. I live on the second floor! There are no trees outside the window in question. It was chirpin' so loud at first I thought it was INSIDE, since the window was open. I was unable to find it for two days until it either died or otherwise left the area. It chirped day and night!

The reputed former Orowitz residence in Coloring Book style.

I used to be into subliminal images. This enlarged version of the enhanced photo above is full of faces and images if you use your imagination!

Ain't no spider web!

Just outside the Westmont Theater , Haddon Twp. NJ...The hazy image was not present when the photo was taken. Taken with a film camera, and therefore not a digital artifact.

Odd Photos From San Diego! The Whaley House and The Star Of India!

The Whaley House in Old Town San Diego. Reportedly a very haunted place. It's the first brick structure in San Diego, built in 1856. The photo below has a smoke-like image arising from the bed and across the upper-edge of the photo.

The "Star Of India", an 1863 tall-masted sailing ship. Below is a photo taken in the Captain's quarters. There was no flash-back and nothing to reflect it.

Beautiful Bird Of Paradise at Aunt Naomi's in La Mesa, CA.

Thank You for visiting A Von On Stratford's World! It changes often, just like the real one, so feel free to visit anytime!