Nobility, shmobility....

So I have been playing on-line footsie with this local guy: chatting, giggling, flirting.. you know.. the fun stuff...(We have actually met in person before, but I don't think he remembers). He works for one of the big (maybe THE biggest?) recording companies, and in the course of our banter, during which I was making fun of one the artists his company handles, I mentioned that I had illegally downloaded some of her stuff. Ha! Ha! Me naughty!! Tee hee, giggle, right?? Yeah.. Not so much... His response? He may lose his job of 19 years because of illegal downloading.... SMACK! Right in the face with a real world consequence..

Now mind you, I know that the entertainment industry is a multi bazzillion dollar industry, and this particular silly, vapid, yet danceable Latina pop sensation with an awesome voice and belly shirts to die for is not exactly going to go hungry from my poaching of two lousy songs from limewire, but there are principles at play here. I am the guy that does not buy new things because of the exploitation of labor... I am the guy who rallies against corporate greed and the damage that it does the environment and to humanity. In my neo-hippy, stick-it-to-the-man way of thinking, pirating music was tantamount to being a digital Robin Hood, right? Two problems with that line of thinking....

Robin Hood stole from the rich and gave to the poor. In those days, rich meant nobility, an insulated caste of folks who lived on the backs of peasantry who had no rights... You think we got it bad these days, folks?? HA! I am not sure it ever really was, but FOR SURE in this day and age, there is no way to steal from the Lords (industry) without it having direct effects on the common dudes and dudettes.

The second problem with that logic?? Yeah.. Robin Hood stole from the rich and gave it away to help the poor. Me? Yeah... I stole from the music industry and gave it to my iPod; which, despite my best efforts at anthropomorphizing, is really not giving it away at all. It's keeping it... Where's the nobility in that??

I removed Limewire from my computer. Lesson learned.

The further adventures of a tree hugging dirt worshipper...

I did it. It has been two weeks since I have driven a car. I wanted to see how I would get along without one here in this mass-transit friendly city, and the conclusion that I have come to is that I can do this.. I just need a bike.. So... Daisy goes on Craig's List again at a lower price and I am buying a bicycle. Since you can take them on the trains and the buses here, there is no where I can't get to. I have left Daisy parked in rain, icy cold, night, day, etc.. I have done my grocery shopping, entertainment and commuting on foot or on the Train/bus and I am ready to make this step. Everytime I get up a mere 30 minutes earlier and take the train, I am happy. I am happy becuase I can relax and read and watch the traffic stopped on the freeway. I am happy because I am saving money on gas. And I am happy because I am not adding to the pollution problems, the wars for oil, or the destruction of our environment. If that makes me a hippy, so be it.. Pass the hemp clothing.


And you know what else? I finally managed to get my garbage down to one paper grocery sack a week. I am bucking for enviromental sainthood... In all seriousness, I thought it was time I started really practicing my Earth-based pagan principles.

Now.. Can someone give me a ride?