Water for Elephants

Today is the Eleventh of December. On this day in 1803, Hector Berlioz was born.
In 1882, Fiorello LaGuardia was born.

I've been buried in administrative work around here; it's not very exciting to talk or write about, so I haven't had much to say. When I've had a chance to break from that, I've been doing similarly unremarkable things like pruning the fruit trees, and printing cards. Lots of activity, but not much to talk about.

I did just finish a fantastic book though- Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen. I'll just say it takes place mostly in the 1930s in a train circus, but is told as a flashback. The history is fascinating and vibrant, the present is crushing, and the characters spring right off the page. It'll make you gasp with surprise. It made me cry, but in the end I was crying because it ended so well. I'm now trying to steel myself enough that I can force my way through the last Harry Potter book. No, I'm not one of those who think Rowling's a good writer- frankly I think she needs a good editor, haha, but her stories and ideas are fun, even if getting through them can be a chore. Still, she's the one with seven (oops- now eight) published books under her belt, so maybe I'm not the one to be offering criticism.

I've done a good job this year of not opening too many boxes at once. By 'boxes' I mean projects, of course, and so by limiting myself, I've been able to be much more productive and organized. As a result, I'm looking back at the last couple of years and wondering what the hell I was thinking. All I can say is: Just because I forgot what I was doing ten minutes ago, doesn't mean I was finished ;)

It might look like a deficient memory to you, but I assure you, it's all there. It's just not organized conventionally.

Just the facts

It's the Tenth of December. Happy birthday to the metric system! (sort of). Following a scientific conference in 1799, France adopted permanent standards for the meter and the kilogram as based on models made from platinum.
In 1822, César Franck was born.
In 1830, Emily Dickinson was born.

Ol' Brer Goat

Today is the Ninth of December. In Sweden, it's Anna’s Day. Everyone named Anna is celebrated. Don’t forget to start the Lutefisk now for Christmas Eve!
In 1842, Peter Kropotkin was born.
in 1848, Joel Chandler Harris was born.
In 1872, P.B.S. Pinchback becomes Governor of Louisiana, the first African-American Governor of a U.S. state.
In 1905, Dalton Trumbo was born. He wrote one of the best books I've ever read: Johnny Got His Gun. If you haven't read it, I cannot recommend it too highly. Unlike any other book I've ever read.

Party on Earth, pass it on!

Goo goo goo joob

Today is the Eighth of December. On this day in 1879, Paul Klee was born.
In 1941, Japan invaded Hong Kong, Malaya, the Philippines and Singapore. The U.S. Congress declared war on Japan.
In 1980, John Lennon was murdered (by a Manchurian Candidate?). Immature elements in our society have altered the Wikipedia entry on John Lennon today (harmless stuff- changing his middle name; attributing "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer" to him, etc), so I'm directing you elsewhere.

We sail tonight for Singapore

Don't fall asleep while we're ashore...

Today is the Seventh of December. On this day in 1787, Delaware became the first state to ratify the proposed Constitution of the United States.
In 1917, the U.S. declared war on Austria-Hungary.
In 1928, Noam Chomsky was born. If you only know Chomsky on the basis of his political commentary, you're missing the big story of how he almost single-handedly changed the fields of Linguistics and Psychology in one fell swoop. Not the most stimulating writer ever, but a truly massive figure in terms of philosophy and legacy.
In 1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor.
In 1942, Harry Chapin was born.
In 1949, Tom Waits was born. Rain Dogs remains my favorite of his work, and one of my favorite recordings, ever. Check it out.

This land war in Asia that we're losing... I still don't know what the hell to make of it. Why is Afghanistan so important? Seems it's been 'important' since Alexander the Great tried (and failed) to take it. The British wanted it too (and couldn't take it). Given time, the Nazis would have tried (Hitler had suspicions about supernatural activity in the Himalayas). Lord knows the Soviets tried to control it, and we all know what happened to them. I know we're not there because of 9/11, because I know that we were staging an invasion of the country in June of 2001, three months before the event (I read about our preparations in the India Times in 2001, but can't find the link anymore -and that's to say nothing of the fact that none of the supposed hijackers were from Afghanistan, and that we were in negotiations with the Taliban government at the time). So, what are we doing there, and why are we so intent on staying? It doesn't appear to have any vitally necessary resources; it doesn't appear to be on any major trade routes; it doesn't appear to be key to any material strategy at all. This situation has the potential to break us, in the same way that it broke the Soviet Union. How difficult is it to imagine a post-United States world? It's bound to happen, some day. I'm sure Konstantin Chernenko didn't forsee the collapse of his country, when he turned the reins over to Gorbachev. This is trouble brewing, folks. Mark my words.

And speaking of brewing, I've been trying to distill my thoughts on marriage rights for a long time now. It's a very complex situation, given everyone's emotional attachments to their particular versions of Marriage, but this Newsweek article handles it well, and beat me to the punch on most of the points I'd have wanted to make. Love and respect, people: all we ask is a little love and respect.

Capitalism is bad for children. I've said it before; I'll say it again, and no, I'm not being sarcastic.

We have a President again. I know that's not news, in and of itself, but it's nice to see someone taking charge. I haven't slept this well in eight years.

What this radio really needs is a fuse...

12/6

Today is the Sixth of December. On this day in 1239, Batu Khan’s Mongols swept into Kiev and burned it.
In 1865, the 13th Amendment was ratified, outlawing slavery in the U.S.
In 1933, Henryk Górecki was born.
In 1964, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” first aired on TV.
In 1973, House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford (R-MI) was sworn in as Vice-President, after the resignation of Spiro Agnew.

Too much happening to write about, at home.

Day of the Ninja

It's the Fifth of December: Day of the Ninja!
On this day in 1901, in presumably unrelated incidents, Walt Disney and Werner Heisenberg were born.
In 1933, the 21st amendment was ratified, repealing the 18th amendment. Prohibition was over (except in Kansas).
In 1945, Flight 19, a squadron of Navy bombers, disappeared off the coast of Florida, in what would become known as the Bermuda Triangle.

Lava Canyon

Lava Canyon, Washington. This canyon was created long ago, then hidden for ...who knows how long, under a blanket of ash and mud. When St. Helens erupted in 1980, mudflows from the eruption swept through the area and cleaned out the canyon, making it visible again. No one knew it even existed until then. It's not an easy place to photograph. Challenging. Significant portions of the trail were closed when we were there last week, presumably because of winter. We'll be checking it out again this summer (the road leading to it has been closed since we moved here, three years ago).

Today is the Fourth of December. On this day in 771, following the death of King Carloman of Austrasia, his brother Charlemagne, King of Neustria, assumed sole rulership of what became the Frankish Empire.

In 1866, Vassily Kandinski was born.

Flat Stanley goes to Voodoo Doughnuts

Flat Stanley loves Voodoo Doughnuts (official site here).

Today is the Third of December. On this day in 1803, Hector Berlioz was born.
In 1857, Joseph Conrad was born.
In 1883, Anton von Webern was born.
In 1961, Julianne Moore was born.

chemistry

Today is the Second of December. Happy St. Bibiana's day! It's also Georges Seurat's birthday (1859).

Blow up your TV.

2,700 year old stash http://www.torontosun.com/news/weird/2008/11/27/7557641.html

More natural than alcohol; more natural than corn ferchrissakes*. And no, it doesn't kill brain cells; it actually helps make them.

The closest wild relative of modern maize is "too small and hard to obtain to be eaten directly, as each kernel is enclosed in a very hard bi-valve shell" (wikipedia).

It's NOT a 'bailout,'

it's a loan. The domestic auto industry is asking for a commercial loan, and make no mistake about this: it is essential for the short- and long-term health of our country and its economy.

If we were in better times, I might agree that we could let the industry fail, so that the workers might seek employment in other, newer, greener industries. But there are a few problems with that scenario:
1) Times are hard already. There are no other jobs for those millions who work in and support the auto industry (machinists, assembly-line workers, engineers, management, sales staffs in every small town in the country, parts manufacturers, etc). And not only are there no jobs, there is no viable social support network left after eight years of Bushcheney mismanagement. Most of those people are living paycheck-to-paycheck already.
2) Other jobs aren't there for them because these new greener industries haven't been given infrastructure support from government, for the simple reason that we've given all of that infrastructural support to the auto industry for the past eighty years or so. It would be great if all those people could find work making and selling wind turbines, or in recycling, or green energy, but let's face it: there are simply not enough jobs in those industries to go around. Yet, anyway: maybe if our government started showing some long-term support for such industries, this would change, but that's not something we can bank on in the short term. And here, the short term matters. Should these millions of workers suddenly find themselves out of work, it won't be long before they'll be unable to feed themselves and their families, and soon enough they'll be on the street, unable to care for even a common cold. It's not hard to imagine the impact of a potential flu epidemic on a situation like that. Not hard to imagine, but terrifying all the same. Remember 1918.
3) A collapse of our auto industry will affect every corner of the country, no matter how remote. Nearly every town in this country has a car dealership, not to mention automotive supply stores. Every state in this country depends desperately on taxes from new vehicles and vehicle sales. Unemployment will go through the roof, everywhere, while tax revenue will dwindle. That of course means a rise in demand for government support exactly when the government will be least able to provide it.

No one -I repeat: no one- would be served well by letting this industry fail. Don't get me wrong: I'm no fan of cars or big industry. But the magnitude of the short-term disaster would be such that we as a country might never recover. Millions of jobs will be lost. Millions of families will be affected- losing their health care, their health, their homes, their sense of well-being. These CEOs are not asking for a handout. They're not looking for free money. They're asking for a loan, something they can pay back (like Chrysler did, and quite unlike AIG or Goldman-Sachs ever will). How can we deny them that?

Moral compass?

Branch of the Seine near Giverny, Claude Monet, 1897.


On this day in 1263, Aleksandr Nevsky died.

In 1840, Claude Monet was born.

In 1900, Aaron Copland was born.

In 1919, according to the Fortean Times, an inquest in Shoreditch, London, established that a needle had been found in the heart of Rosina Newton, aged 13 months. 'There was no skin wound to show where it had entered the body.' The parents had no recollection of any injury to her.

c'est la vie

On this day in 1381, The Order of Fools was established by Adolphus, Count of Cleves. For centuries the members, mostly from the Flemish upper classes, held a week-long grand court every year and planned acts of charity. They wore the figure of a fool or jester embroidered on their mantles. The last reference to the Order is in some verses appended to Sebastian Brand's celebrated Navis Stultifera (Ship of Fools), published in Strasbourg in 1520.

In 1833, Aleksander Borodin was born.

In 1859, Jules Leotard performed the first Flying Trapeze act.

Smile

I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: "O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous." And God granted it.
-- Voltaire

Ridiculous enough yet?
How about this?

Who is Ted Stevens?

Don't forget to vote. Vote early if you can- avoid the rush.

Going down.

Disturbing. Oy vey... first we ignored them and let them be raised by television and video games, then we relegated them to anonymous slots in over-crowded, under-funded classrooms, then sent them out into an economy that neither had enough jobs for all of them, nor paid them a living wage. So then we trained them to kill while telling them they were being trained as peacekeepers, then sent them to where they were utterly unwelcome and greeted with hostility, ...and now they're home. I'm horrified, but not entirely surprised at what's happening.

Here's the deal: we are all human, and we all need a little love. Maybe I'm being simple-minded, but people only act anti-socially when they feel excluded. Maybe I'm being naive, but it seems to me that -more than anything else-- these people need to remember that we're all human, and most importantly, all in this together. Reach out to someone who's not expecting it, today.

Led Zeppelin without Robert Plant? Um... I've always been a purist, as far as group identities go: minor changes in the lineup of small combos make for major differences. I suppose I see such bands as entities in and of themselves: Pink Floyd without Roger Waters is like watching a headless zombie: you have to admire how it moves, but it doesn't say anything worth listening to. Imagine the Beatles without John Lennon --what?? The Rolling Stones without Mick Jagger? Queen without Freddie Mercury? It's just not the same- it'd be like ...well, it'd be like listening to Van Hagar. I mean, why bother?

Like father, like son?

Rather, like mother, like daughter. Though it does remind me of W's foreign policy...

The bubble to end all bubbles.

When I find I'm not as eloquent as my thoughts and ideas demand, I remain quiet.

On this day in 1787, “Don Giovanni” premiered in Prague. In 1884, Bela Lugosi was born. In 1923, Turkey became a republic, with Mustafa Kemal Ataturk as its founder and first President. In 1929, this was Black Tuesday, the worst day of 1929's stock market crash. In 1969, the first-ever computer-to-computer link was established via ARPANET.

Lollipops and moonbeams

Our economy, our entire material culture really, is a tower with a roof of solid gold, built on a foundation of balloons and soap bubbles. Now we're supposed to be surprised that it's collapsing.

You probably don't remember this, but for years and years and years, nobody called what happened in VietNam a war. "No no," they'd say. "It wasn't a war, it couldn't be; America doesn't lose wars." No, it was just a conflict. The VietNam Conflict. Isn't that nice? Nice.

I wonder when we'll stop calling this mess in Iraq a "war"? We're not winning anything there, and we never will, because of course it's not a war, it's an occupation.

Why didn't we call our engagement in SE Asia a 'war'? Lots of reasons: we had just recently fought a real war with real enemies (WWII) and the pain of loss was still tangible; we were still mired down in Korea (that other 'conflict'); we had just suffered a series of horrible tragedies (all the assassinations of the '60's- JFK, MLK, RFK, Malcolm X, plus the attempts on George Wallace and others); ...but primarily because it just wasn't war, and we knew it. It was an occupation, plain and simple (and that's what all those Hippie protests were about- not anti-war: anti-occupation).

On this day in 1838, in response to what he termed "open and avowed defiance of the laws, and of having made war upon the people of this State,” Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs declared that “... the Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the State if necessary for the public peace—their outrages are beyond all description." This came three days after disaffected church leaders Thomas Marsh and Orson Hyde attested in an affidavit to Joseph Smith’s intention to conquer the world. Theodore Roosevelt was born on this day in 1858, and John Cleese was born in 1939.

A cautionary tale

Where your $700 billion in bailout money is going:
banker's pockets
other bankers' pockets
And not at all to where we need it.

This is a fun one- I laughed out loud. Just scroll over elements and click on them ...you know the routine.

And this is just ...interesting. And I mean really interesting.

Today is St. Crispin’s Day. Saint Crispin is the patron saint of shoemakers! *cough*

In 1825, Johann Strauss II -the Waltz King- was born.

In 1838, Georges Bizet was born.

In 1881, Pablo Picasso was born.

In 1917, Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky seized power in Moscow, from the provisional government of Alexander Kerensky, who had assumed power in July, indirectly following the abdication of Nicholas II in March. Nicholas turned power over to his brother Michael, but even as early as the 1905 uprising, all hope for the ruling Romanovs was lost. Michael hoped to hold an election, with “universal suffrage,” in which he would be elected leader of Russia, but the dice had been rolled long before. Historians differ as to whether Michael was ever actually Tsar. If he was, it would have been for only a day.

In 2002, Senator Paul Wellstone was killed under mysterious circumstances in the midst of a hotly contested election.

In 2005, Vice President Dick Cheney was revealed to have been the leak of Top Secret information regarding the identity of deep-cover CIA operative Valerie Plame.

Our country is ill.

It has cancer.

Is this what 'victory in Iraq' looks like? 'Coz it looks an awful lot like ignominious defeat, to me. Or maybe more like a dog running away from a fight with his tail between his legs.

From the New York Times:

As tough as the times are, the selection of a new president is easy. After nearly two years of a grueling and ugly campaign, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois has proved that he is the right choice to be the 44th president of the United States.

Mr. Obama has met challenge after challenge, growing as a leader and putting real flesh on his early promises of hope and change. He has shown a cool head and sound judgment. We believe he has the will and the ability to forge the broad political consensus that is essential to finding solutions to this nation’s problems.

In the same time, Senator John McCain of Arizona has retreated farther and farther to the fringe of American politics, running a campaign on partisan division, class warfare and even hints of racism. His policies and worldview are mired in the past. His choice of a running mate so evidently unfit for the office was a final act of opportunism and bad judgment that eclipsed the accomplishments of 26 years in Congress.

Given the particularly ugly nature of Mr. McCain’s campaign, the urge to choose on the basis of raw emotion is strong. But there is a greater value in looking closely at the facts of life in America today and at the prescriptions the candidates offer. The differences are profound.

Read the rest of that here.

Another intelligent conservative endorses Obama

Maybe, finally, a step in the right direction for the economy?

And some fun video:
Jon Stewart on Republican divisiveness
Ron Howard shows his stripes
The ultimate (un-)endorsement

On this day in 1260, Chartres Cathedral was dedicated.

In 1929, George Crumb was born. Economists call it "Black Thursday," but not because of Crumb; they wouldn't have heard his weird music yet.

In 1945, the UN was born.

Priceless

Oh yeah, Reagan "won" the cold war. What's all this, then?

This kinda bothers me. How is it going to be helpful to erase memory? What will that do to the lessons learned from the experience? "This occurred without impacting the animal's ability to recall any other memories, the scientists say." How do they know? Did they ask the mouse? How would it know what it didn't remember? This is not only dumb science, it's dangerous: more like tinkering with your calculator to see what it'll do when you drag a screwdriver across the circuits than anything actually resembling Science, or intellectual analysis. The brain is not a toy. Not even a mouse's brain. Respect, people: R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Respect consciousness in all its forms.

In 1752, Nicolas Appert was born. He would live to invent the bouillon cube, and develop a new method of storing food, in cans.

In 1940, Pele was born. 1,281 goals in 22 years of soccer.

In 1958, Belgian cartoonist Peyo introduced the Smurfs.

In 1959, “Weird Al” Yankovic was born.

In 1998, Swatch Internet Time was introduced.

Apples

Warm wishes to the Senator's grandmother and family.

Al-Qaeda endorses McCain while Ben Bernanke goes with Obama

Alaska funded Palin kids' travels

Keith Olbermann on fire

REPUBLICAN voter fraud ...the only kind anyone can find.

On this day in 4004 bce, at 6pm, God created the Heavens and the Earth, according to Bishop James Ussher.* Creation began at nightfall, around 6pm, but wasn’t official until the next day, a Sunday, natch. And in 1811, Franz Liszt was born.

We have apples coming out of our ears. These trees are dropping apples the size of volleyballs (well ok, not really volleyballs, but easily the size of croquet balls). I did not know apples would get that big. They do! We've tried two apple pie recipes so far, and made more applesauce than either of us thought we would eat (but we did, already). Admittedly, most of them have a bug or two, and a lot get nibbled by critters before we can get to them, but that still leaves us a LOT of apples to deal with. The city picks up yard waste every other week in a 60-gallon barrel- we've filled ours probably six times this summer, it's full now, and there are probably another 20 gallons of apples on the ground, and that's to say nothing of the big bucket of good apples I've picked that are just waiting to be made into something. I had been thinking that we might want to spray the trees for bugs next year, but now I'm almost afraid of getting more apples than we could even get rid of. As Phil said- at least they're not hedgeapples! Mmmm hedgeapplesauce....

No, still no pics of the new work yet: I've been busy takin care of more urgent business. Soon though, soon. I'm working on it!

El Dia de la Nacho

Feast day of Saints Hilarion and Ursula (and her 11[000?] virgins).

International Day of the Nacho (U.S. and Mexico).

In 1760, Katsushika Hokusai (printmaker: “Thirty-six views of Mt. Fuji”) was born.

In 1772, Samuel Taylor Coleridge (“Kubla Khan,” “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”) was born.

In 1805, Vice Adm. Horatio Nelson, leading the British fleet, defeated a French-Spanish alliance at the Battle of Trafalgar. Nelson was injured, but just lived to see the end of the battle, after which his crew preserved his body in rum.

In 1917, John B. “Dizzy” Gillespie was born.

I had the privilege of seeing Dizzy play once, in a park near 12th and Vine streets in downtown Kansas City. He had probably played in clubs within blocks of there, fifty years earlier when it was still the heart of the city (the neighborhood was just beginning a renaissance at the time I saw Diz). He walked slowly; you could tell the stairs to the stage weren't easy, but once he got up there, he smiled and lit up like a firework. It was a great time.

I'm still working on shooting my recent work. It's hard to do without proper lights!

You deserve a break

So, no political news today.

Horse stuck in a tree. No kidding.

You got yer Neolithic, and yer Paleolithic, and then you got yer stone age...

On this day in 1890, Ferdinand “Jelly Roll” Morton was born. In 1973, President Nixon, in a last-ditch, selfish attempt to save himself from exposure to “the whole Bay of Pigs thing,” that the Watergate investigation threatened to reveal, overstepped his reach and ordered the dismissal of Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox. Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy AG William Ruckleshaus resigned in protest. Solicitor General Robert Bork later did the dirty work. This was the Saturday Night Massacre.

Coming up

Why do scandinavian countries have smaller prison populations?

On this day in 1973, helicopter pilot Laurence Coyne and three crew noticed a bright red light that seemed to be pacing them. Then a cigar-shaped metallic grey object with a red light in the 'nose' hovered in front of them. From the bottom emanated a green beam which suddenly filled the cockpit with green light. Then the object shot off and made a 45 degree change of course. The sighting had lasted about five minutes, and the object had appeared on the radar screens at Cleveland Hopkins Airport.

Let the sun shine in

About this Acorn thing.

Look for pics of some of my recent work tomorrow. I've been having some fun, playing in my scrap pile. I guess that means I need to shoot some pics today, though. I'll do that while the bread is rising. At some point, I have to climb up onto the roof and take a branch off the neighbor's walnut tree which is rubbing on our eaves.

We made a bunch of applesauce and a beautiful apple pie the other day. Yum! This year's garden was a bit of a dud, so it's been nice to have some produce come in. I hope next year's garden is half as productive as these apple trees have been: we'll be swimming in veggies! I've already gathered enough apples (in the three days since we baked the pie) to make as much applesauce again, and two more pies. We almost have to use them, too, because the yard-waste bin is full already (with bad apples and trimmage from some out-of-control shrubbery) and doesn't get picked up again for another week. Having found some plans online, I hope to build a small cider press next year. In the meantime, I expect to spend at least half the winter pruning the trees into a more manageable shape.

A major, major redesign of masteristvan.com is underway as we speak. It's finally in the hands of a professional. I have no idea what to expect, aside from something better/more functional/more accessible than I have now. I'm excited! Not only is it exciting to have the benefit of someone else's point of view; it's one less job I have to worry about doing by myself. She even understands marketing. Hallelujah!
Time for a new hobby!? HAHAHAHAA

On this day in 1931, Al Capone was convicted of two counts of tax evasion and sentenced to eleven years in prison. In an unrelated incident, Arthur Miller celebrated his 16th birthday.

And in 1967, "Hair" opened in an off-Broadway theater.

Un-FOX news

Palin revels in her popularity among the base

Judge sez "Not so fast, Gov'nor, there's some unfinished business here..."

The Republican Legacy, or, How Trickle-Down Economic Theory Came Home To Roost
Lower federal tax rates lead to higher local tax rates, because the money's got to come from somewhere. Just because Congress or some President says we can pay less, doesn't mean it costs less to make roads, move your garbage, provide clean water, police your street, protect your house from fire, protect your children from avaricious capitalist thugs, or insure your bank deposits. I'm so tired of harping on Reaganbushonomics. TAXES MAKE THE SYSTEM WORK. Pay your damn share already, geez.

Thomas Friedman is a hard-right Conservative, bordering on Neo-Con. So the harshness of this criticism -by him, of Sarah Palin-- is more than a little surprising. Refreshing, even.

It's Grover the muppet's birthday today. Happy birthday, Grover!

On this day in 1066, Saxon King Harold took an arrow in the eye, losing his life –and his kingdom- to William of Normandy at the Battle of Hastings.

In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt, former president and the Bull Moose Party candidate, was shot at close range by anarchist John Schrank while greeting the public in front of the Hotel Gilpatrick in Milwaukee during his campaign for the presidency. He was saved by the papers in his breast pocket and still managed to give a 90 minute address in Milwaukee after requesting his audience to be quiet because “there is a bullet in my body.”

In 1930, Ethel Merman held a high “C” for sixteen bars of “I Got Rhythm,” in her Broadway debut in George Gershwin’s “Girl Crazy.”