St. Hello Kitty and her Racket of Doom

Hello Kitty, patron saint of eccentric goats. She called to me from the gutter over the door to my shop, which she was guarding with her mighty Tennis Racket of Doom. She guards the shop from the inside, now, so watch your step, mister!

It's the new '60s.

Pakistan: Benazir Bhutto, President Musharraf's wildly popular political opponent, has been assassinated. She had just returned a few months ago to Pakistan from years of exile, after being ousted from power in a coup orchestrated by then-General Musharraf, who promised free and fair elections again and again and again, but never seemed able to allow them to happen. Pakistan is now falling apart, and it's not likely to go alone. Don't worry so much about war with Iran now- US engagement in Pakistan is now almost a foregone conclusion. And that mess is going to make the mess in Afghanistan look like a game of Scrabble. Mark my words.

This makes for a very sticky situation. Pakistan is still very sensitive about outside involvement in their activities, ever since the British left and the UN split the subcontinent into Muslim and Hindu nations (Pakistan and India, respectively). Even before Bhutto's assassination, US troops were expressly forbidden to enter Pakistan, even in pursuit of known Taleban soldiers (even Bin Laden). The government of Pakistan may be on good terms with ours, but the people of Pakistan -including their soldiers-- don't like us much, and certainly don't want us in their neighborhoods. They will fight us as though we are invaders.

A couple of additional things to consider: Musharraf is Georgie's kind of guy (or maybe I should say Dick's kind of guy, depending on who you think does the thinking in the White House). They let their power do the talking, they don't compromise unless there's absolutely no way around it, and worse: they play religious zealots on TV.

Even worse still: this military dictatorship, already facing popular revolt in urban areas and uncontrollable tribal elements on the frontiers, has nukes. An active, fully tested and armed, nuclear arsenal. Which they have already demonstrated a willingness to use.

I don't have a clear idea about how this is all going to play out, but I'm thinking that it's not going to be pretty. Pakistan is a Rogue State. If Musharraf doesn't step down in January as he said he would, then Big Trouble might well come to pass. India might try to intervene (probably the worst case scenario, because it would almost inevitably lead to -if not begin with- a nuclear confrontation). China seems to be courting India, so they might have a hard time staying out of it. Separately, we might try to intervene (it might be seen by some as a way to ensure a Republican victory in November, if we were fully engaged in a real war), but in that case I would expect India and China to try to stay clear of the fray while trying to talk us out of it. Bottom line: No country currently involved in Afghanistan will be safe until Musharraf is out of power. And even that may not be the end of the trouble.

Not yesterday

Don't try this with your real arms. Use your fake ones.

This wasn't yesterday- those are Gabe's hands, as he was working on my shop last summer. He was in town yesterday though- I took him and a friend of ours (old friend of his, new friend of mine) to Oregon Leather Company for their first mind-blowing visit. For all of you non-leatherworking folk, Oregon Leather Company is The Best place in the Pacific Northwest to go for all things leather-related: tools, findings, thread, tack, and yeah, lots of leather. In fact, it's the best leather-related store I've ever seen. It's the place at which I am most tempted to throw all of my money onto the countertop at once and gesture vaguely and widely at the rest of the store and say, "Give me this much worth!"

It rocks.

Boxing day

I was setting up Raoul's new habitat yesterday, and this guy was banging his head outside the window, so I shot him.

Melly Kalikamaka!

I used to hate Andy Warhol. As a kid, I always thought he was just making fun of art-patrons, sort of turning them into the punch line for his own private jokes. I still don't like him, personally, and frankly think most of his well-known work is overrated and overpriced, but you're not likely to hear me disparaging his ideas.

But before I knew who Andy Warhol was, or what he was about, I had a fascination with Pop Art and Op Art. As I came to figure out what the point of Pop Art was, I tried to grow out of it. Maybe I thought I was "above" it, or that it wasn't "serious art," I don't know. I idolized the masters, though, people like John Tenniel, Rembrandt van Rijn, Albrecht Durer, even painters like Greg and Tim Hildebrant or Ken Harris (Ken Harris!), not jokers like Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. But as I grew older and continued to make art of my own, I found that I just couldn't get away from pop art, as much as I'd have liked to, and now I find that I can't make a print without getting playful with colors like Warhol did.

Time makes fools of us all. Now I'm the joker ...but at least you're not the butt!

p.s. I have to give my respect to the rest of the great Looney Tunes artists, Robert Gribbroek, Philip DeGuard (background artist for Rabbit Fire and Rabbit of Seville), Peter Alvarado, and yeah of course Chuck Jones, because I never got the chance to tell them myself. Their work -with color, shape, texture, dimension, perspective, -hell, everything-- affected me so deeply that it took me years to realize where the influence had come from. They shaped the way I see the world. I would not be the same person, without them.

Foothills of the Cascades.

Ceci n'est pas une Magritte.

I looked out the window and was reminded of a painting by Rene Magritte, the surrealist painter, called The Empire of Lights. I love his work, but never really got that painting. Still don't, I guess. Hats off to him, though.

Vino!

I had creme brulee last night, for the first time ever. I didn't even know what it was until I saw Amelie (which, if you haven't seen, you really should). Last fall, at the annual choir benefit auction, a group of parents sold their services as cooks (they sold a seven-course italian dinner with entertainment by Phil), and last night was the dinner. Turns out, the cooking was probably as much fun as the eating: a bunch of parents crowded in to the Roper's big kitchen and gabbed and cooked and baked and laughed and talked -and drank a lot of wine.

ITMFA (with a nod to Dan Savage)

Rep. Robert Wexler wants impeachment hearings for Dick Cheney, now, and so do I! Sign his petition to put pressure on Rep. Conyers to bring impeachment to the Judiciary committee.

Why is this so important? If you really need the reminder, it's because we live in a constitutional republic, and not a monarchy. As citizens, we reject the notion that one person should be able to rule on a whim on matters of who or what is legal. Instead, we accept that our constitution, as written and amended by committee, will be the basis of decisions on the law, which will in turn be made -in some sense- by committee. No one person ever gets to say what is legal and what is not. That's democracy (lower case "d").

No one -at all, ever-- should be allowed to break the law without fear of consequence. Especially people in positions of power, simply because they set the example for the rest of us. If they flaunt the law and get away with it, that tells us proles that it's OK to break the law. If you doubt me on this, take a look at the rising rates of violent crime among children, following the president's decision to use force instead of diplomacy in Iraq.

Happy Solstice

I noticed yesterday that the lilac bushes behind our house are budding. A nice Solstice gift. The apple trees are also budding, and that's not such a nice gift, because it reminds me that I need to prune them before they get out of hand. "Getting out of hand" with these trees might mean their end: they're probably as old as the house (which is closing in on 100 yrs), and the old limbs might not be strong enough to support all the new growth PLUS this year's new apples. All of which means that I need to learn about pruning.

So, add that to my plate of Things I Need To Do.

It's a big plate.

Life, for me, this year, has been all business. Businessy business, house busyness, self-analytical busyness, all kinds of business. Having got the financial and legal end of the leather business established, now I'm finally closing in on another goal: getting my web site set up. I've got the skeleton in place, but I need pictures to fill it out. For those pictures, I needed new merchandise, so last winter I started designing and making new stuff. In the fall I started finding some guys who want to model for me, and now it's just a matter of finding time to work with them.

It just happens

One of those things I do.

Vancouver December

Rare cat captured on film

Socrates is very shy. Few of our friends have ever seen him, because he hides whenever he hears a strange voice, or -god forbid-- the doorbell. His mom was a Maine Coon, and based on his markings, we think his dad was a Bengal. So, he's probably got some growing to do yet. Last time we measured (about a year ago; it's not easy), he was 36" nose to tail. That's a big housecat.

Life is a work in progress

Yeah, I drove up to Seattle yesterday (Renton, to be specific) and saw Gabe and Tawnya and some friends. It was overcast most of the drive up, but the clouds were really high, so the mountains were in clear view. I'm kicking myself now for not stopping to shoot Rainier, or even the mysterious snowcapped peak I could see over it's shoulder to the north. Traffic was heavy, though, and drivers on I-5 mean business! As an added bonus, Gabe showed me the first couple of episodes of a great new BBC crime/mystery/sci-fi kinda show called Torchwood. It's like the bastard offspring of "X-files" and "Kolchak the Night Stalker," in the best possible way. Good stuff! I'm hooked. This is not the BBC I remember from those old Dr. Who shows!

Holy canoli, I haven't written that much about a TV show ...ever?

I love Benjamin Britten, what can I say

Phil conducted the Salmon Creek Singers last night at the Grotto, a Catholic chapel in Portland, for their annual Festival of Lights. They were spectacular! Palestrina and Britten, baby!

Say a little prayer

I'm trying something new, starting yesterday: a photo of the day. This one is from Skyview High School Choir's Winter Concert, and for the record, has absolutely nothing to do with the comments below.

Now, let's talk baseball.

Yes, as you might imagine, I have a few problems with the Mitchell report, and its raison d'etre.

Years ago in the SCA, I was witness to a conflict similar to this one. Some fighters were said to be using 'magic' before a tourney, in order to increase their chances of winning. In reaction to this, some other fighters started using herbal performance enhancers. As a result, a LOT of people got pretty bent out of shape over it. It got me thinking, and now here we are again in the same kind of bind.

First, I wonder: Why baseball? Are we supposed to believe that those cows playing football are not doped-up? Gimme a break. And basketball? Oh yeah, even though the average height of Americans is going down, basketball players just 'naturally' keep getting taller. Suuuure, that makes sense. Whatever.

Secondly: Is there a problem with performance enhancement, in general? Clearly not. Players practice in order to perform better, and even try to practice more than the competition. Should their practice-time and routines be standardized? Of course not. Players eat well; some even try to eat more nutritious meals than the competition, making them able to perform better. Should their diets be standardized, then? Of course not. Genetic diversity is something we celebrate everywhere else; why not baseball?

This term we're throwing around -"drugs"- is not very well defined. Any substance which you introduce into your body will have an effect on your body. Heroin will slow you down. Sugar will speed you up. Alcohol will depress you; potatoes and chocolate will cheer you up. Some herbal compounds will help you think more clearly, others will help you stay awake; some will help you gain muscle mass, others will increase your stamina. Marijuana will help you focus on certain kinds of tasks, while steroids will help your body focus on others. How do we draw the line between acceptable and unacceptable?

And if it's wrong to use physical/pharmaceutical performance enhancing substances, why is it OK to pray before a game? I think that's a pretty telling distinction, and what it has to say would not please the faithful.

Now with that out of the way, I'll say this: The rules were public, and the players accepted them implicitly when they signed their contracts. Therefore, I don't think that any players who are convicted should get into the Hall of Fame. Sorry, guys: you cheated, and that's way worse than anything Pete Rose did, if ya ask me. Leave 'em out of the record books? Nah, I just think the books should indicate that sports -all sports-- changed significantly with the introduction of steroids. It's as if robots were allowed to play: there is no way to compete fairly anymore.

A new day

Looking out the upstairs window.

Moving on

I hate to do this, coz Blogger worked so well for so long, but: my blog is relocating. I've been trying to log in to this damn site for what seems like weeks now, with no luck. So, screw 'em.

If you still follow my occasional rants, follow them now through my MySpace blog, which you can reach via this link.

Good night, and good luck.

Rogue elements

This is likely to get messy. As you know, if you've been reading this blog for long, I don't have a lot of faith in Putin's commitment to democratic principles. So you might think that Mr. Berezovsky and I are on the same page.

We're not.

Berezovsky might 'rescue' Russia from ex-KGB thug Putin, but poor Russia would be going from frying pan to fire. Berezovsky -ubercapitalist that he is- would likely turn Russia into a neocon free-for-all. And given the amount of nuclear weapons and fissionable material that went (and is still) missing after the USSR fell, this would make for very unstable, very unpleasant times for many of us here on Earth.

Hi ho

Kurt Vonnegut dies at 84. Rest in peace, sir. Obituary.

We the ...people

BBC: Should apes have civil rights?

"Show a gibbon a mirror and the reaction suggests he or she thinks the reflection is another gibbon. But all the great apes have passed the 'mirror self-recognition' test and soon begin checking their teeth or examining parts of their body they couldn't see without the mirror. This self-awareness surely suggests that they know they exist." [Gibbons have tails, so they are monkeys, not apes -ed.]
...
"Apes also share a range of human emotions, says zoologist Charlotte Uhlenbroek, who thinks they should be afforded legal protection enshrined in law.
...
"Chimps and humans share similar DNA... and a sweet tooth.
...
"They have a similar lifespan to humans and form strong family bonds which they maintain for life, she says. And apes have displayed a tenderness which could be described as love, anxiety when separated, and fear, jealousy and trauma.
...
"If I was an alien from Mars and looked at human society and a society of apes then in terms of the emotional life I would see no distinct difference, although we live very different lives because of language and technology."

And in unrelated news, a message from Gov. Bill Richardson.

Where have all the leaders gone? Great essay from Lee Iacocca.

Schadenfreude

Reagan "won the cold war" like Buscheney "won" Iraq. To Russia, it must seem more like an "insurgency."


And here, the first good news in robotics in a coon's age. Does this mean someone is actually considering the possible consequences? Could we be so lucky?

Cleaner than soap

Al Gore's energy consumption is cleaner than soap. He purchases enough energy from renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and methane gas to balance 100 percent of his electricity costs. And he and his family buy carbon credits to offset their vehicles. Also interesting is that the organization that accused him of hypocrisy never actually contacted the utility company, and therefore made up their numbers out of whole cloth: Nashville Electric Service company spokeswoman Laurie Parker said the utility never got a request from the policy center and never gave it any information.


Rudy Giuliani claims to have "cleaned up New York," but that credit should actually go to Bill Clinton. What people are forgetting is that President Clinton made it possible by putting more than 100,ooo new cops on the streets of American cities. Remember? Yeah, that's the president's job: he's the head of the Executive branch, which oversees law enforcement.


And in other news,

In a videoconference with Hong Kong investors, former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said that America might sink into recession by year's end; a frenzied worldwide sell-off ensued. The Shanghai Composite lost 8.8 percent of its value in a day and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 3.3 percent, its worst drop since September 17, 2001. "Alan Greenspan really needs to sit down," said one economist, "and be quiet." Others marveled at the ability of "the Maestro" to cause upheavals even in retirement; Greenspan later held another videoconference, for which he charges fees of $150,000, and said that a recession was "not probable."

Thanks for the clarity, Mr. Greenspan. Shut up and retire already. Aren't you wealthy enough? Or is the income gap not large enough for you yet?

we like sweets a lot

Would you continue to use a cell phone, if you knew that your cousin's property had to be destroyed to make it possible? Of course not. What if his place of business also had to go, in order for you to use your cell phone? Again, of course not! But cell phones use a dull metallic ore called "Coltan", found in major quantities in eastern areas of the Congo. Coltan mining occurs in the middle of endangered gorilla and other African animals and their habitats. Gorillas then die for lack of food and shelter, and refugee gorillas are murdered in the process, every day. Intelligent, sensitive, family-oriented, and nearly-human creatures, driven out of their houses and murdered on their lawns. Your cousins. The only available ringtone should be the bloodcurdling scream of a dying gorilla baby.

And speaking of cousins, Rudy Giuliani once married one of his.

And for those of you who aren't convinced that apes are really that closely related to us, check this out. This is more than just genetics, folks. Where is your compassion?

The very least you could do, is recycle your old ones.

Waiting for the other shoe to drop

Bushcheney's plans to attack Iran, exposed

Bush, Blair, and Putin- all two-termers, all lame ducks. Who wins their little game of one-upsmanship? Probably China, in the long run.

Is anyone else following election news yet? Right now I like Bill Richardson. He's got executive experience as Governor of New Mexico, very relevant domestic policy experience as Secretary of Energy under Clinton and as a Representative to the U.S. House, as well as foreign policy and diplomatic experience as Ambassador to the UN. But headlines trump experience any day, and ultimately -as much as I hate to say this- money is the only thing that matters. In other words, at this point, I think Obama or Clinton will get the nomination.