No motive + no note = no suicide

No motive given, either for his 'suicide' (has anyone seen a suicide note? or read about one? I have not heard a thing-), or for the initial crime in which he's now being implicated. What does that tell us? He is (erm, was) a Patsy.

Cryptic post today: do the math yourself. I'm afraid of naming names and pointing too directly.

I'll tell you what's going on here: Certain powers-that-be want a President McCain, so certain "loose ends" are going to be tied up over the course of the next few months. This one's clearly first, but look for a captive Osama bin Laden soon. It's too bad they suicided the wrong guy though.

Anonymity and secrecy help no one. An attempt was made to erase this interesting article from history. Interesting.

Don't forget that George and Dick started taking Cipro (the anthrax vaccine) the night of 911. That's right: long before any anthrax threat had been sent, or any threats made public.

Some posit that it was a threatening gesture toward a counter-coup in Washington, as per this entry on a blog I read:

My take on the anthrax episode was that a certain faction felt left out and were kind of hurt by that. Sort of like, "hey, i thought when the coup went down i was going to get to be a part of it! waaah!!"
When a group pulls off a coup, the first thing they want to do after is restore order, their order , as soon as possible. It always felt like the anthrax episode was one group telling the coup group, "we know who you are, and we want in, now, otherwise chaos might continue for a while. and who really wants that?"

But maybe i have been watching too much "Sopranos"...

Last thing I'd say about this today: There is still no coherent chronology of the WTC disaster. That is NOT ok.

Secrets

FORMER NASA astronaut and moon-walker Dr Edgar Mitchell - a veteran of the Apollo 14 mission - makes a startling claim.

On August 1 in 1291, the Everlasting League was formed, later to become the Swiss Confederation.

And in 1972, the Washington Post published the first of Bernstein and Woodward’s stories about a break-in at Democratic National Headquarters in the Watergate Hotel. If you haven't seen "All the President's Men," I highly recommend it. Excellent film, and a very interesting version of What Happened. Follow that up with Oliver Stone's "Nixon" for a really interesting picture of American politics. Anthony Hopkins is nothing short of amazing as Nixon.

Spider mandala

Spider mandala.

Oh no, spiders don't have consciousness. Don't be silly. These items just arranged themselves on its web. Of course. Of course.

Not.

The extraordinary artist is the second 'unit' from the top. Kinda hard to see, because like most of us he's a bit shy and, naturally, afraid of creatures more than 100x his own size.

Consciousness. We humans believed for the longest time that we were the only ones with 'it,' but I disagree, and none too respectfully either. I see evidence of consciousness almost everywhere, and yeah, I'm prepared to argue with you about it if you don't. It is imperative that we treat the rest of the world -all of it-- as conscious. And consciousness deserves a little respect. It's not an easy ride, as you know.

What is consciousness? If you make a decision, you are experiencing it. If you're aware -of anything-- then you're experiencing it. Beyond that, it's difficult to define. That bug you see crawling around- it's making decisions about where to best find food, a mate, or shelter (just like you). Conscious, deliberate decisions. Sure, maybe they're bad decisions, maybe they don't get him anywhere, maybe he even forgets them ten milliseconds after he makes them, but I assure you, he is conscious. If he wasn't -if he was just crawling around randomly responding to random stimuli-- evolution simply would not favor his species' reproduction unless food and population density was so high that reproduction was inevitable (which is not the case for any species of any kind of which I am aware). And even if food and population density was that high, he'd still have to be aware enough not to eat his own kind (i.e. cause his own extinction) before mating (i.e. providing for his own replacement). He is here: he is conscious.

It seems funny to me that Scientific Materialists -those people who believe that Everything That Is, Can Be Measured-- are often the first to dismiss the idea of Consciousness in non-humans. They will assert that even we humans are nothing but the sum total of our physical parts + electricity generated by chemical reactions within us, and that our Consciousness is a special result of -or even a by-product of-- intelligence.

The Null Hypothesis here is illustrative: if Consciousness is the result of intelligence, then it follows that the unintelligent are not Conscious. Some humans, therefore, are not Conscious. This is an unacceptable conclusion in the international Scientific community, so their hypothesis, that Consciousness is the result or by-product of intelligence, is void. The narrowest possible conclusion to draw from this is that Consciousness is not solely a human experience.

So this being the case then, all living things share consciousness -not just us "higher" animals-- because all living things operate more or less the same way: on the basis of these electrochemical impulses. You see something funny, and you smile, though you don't know why or how it happened. In the exact same way, the sunflower experiences sunlight and turns to face it, though it doesn't know how, or why. It just "likes" the sun, in the same sense that you like to laugh or smile or eat donuts.

One conclusion is inescapable: Consciousness is everywhere, though nowhere quite the same. Embrace it -embrace yourself- in all its -all of your-- forms.

On this day in 1942, American musicians went on strike, in a struggle with record companies over royalties. Contractual obligations would keep the then-very-popular big bands off the road (and out of the studios) effectively stopping the Big Band era in its tracks, until Columbia and Victor records succumbed more than two years later. Musicians got around their band contracts by playing in small ensembles in small clubs. This intimacy encouraged self-expression, in contrast to a big band setting with a conductor, and thus be-bop was born.

GOP: rotten to the core.

Froggie went a-courtin'

Cascades Frog. Phil spotted him on the trail the other day. I stopped to take a pic, but Phil was in a better position, so he got this one. Amphibian population are in sharp decline all over the world, so I always get excited when I see one in the wild. I was never the frog-catching kind of kid, but I liked watching them whenever I was near a pond, creek or river, and now they're increasingly hard to find. Not too long ago, apparently, the tree frog population in this area was as loud on summer nights as the cicadas are in the midwest, but we've been here two years now and I have yet to hear one.

McCain on health care: Go to the doctor. Never mind how to pay for it, right Senator?

Orang-utans on health care: Do it yourself. Raises one of my favorite unanswered questions: How do we know what plants are good for us, and how to use them? Or maybe, "how did we know, in the first place?" If these orangs found this plant by trial and error, then that says a LOT about their ability to observe and reason (and that's pretty damn significant). If we found it first that way, and they found it by observing us using it, then we have even more questions: how did the humans know about the plant in the first place? How did the very reclusive and solitary orangs observe them? How did the orangs know that the humans were treating pain? And if the orangs knew that the humans were treating pain, then that implies that the orangs enjoy the knowledge that other things are sentient as well. And Established Science doesn't really accept that possibility, at this point. In other words: if the easy answer is right, then we have to answer the even-harder questions.

This tells me, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that we humans are not the only sentient critters on the planet. The only significant difference between us and anything else, is procedural: at a molecular level, we're all the same. The differences only appear as a result of following different instructions from the same DNA.

Me on health care: If my neighbor is sick with something contagious, then I am at risk too, no matter how good my doctor is. In a sense: if one of us is sick, we are all sick. The public health is as much an element of the Public Good as a police force, fire department, and usable roads. Medicare for all is essential.

Healthy individuals make a healthy society.

Flying

On this day in 1977, two giant birds swooped down on Lawndale, Illinois, and one seized 10-year-old Marlon Lowe and carried him about 30 feet before releasing him. Marlon weighed 65 pounds. The birds were dark with white rings around their long necks, curled beaks and a wingspan of around eight feet.

Videogames cost a bit more than you know....

Obama vs McCain: a side-by-side comparison from Council for a Livable World

That does it! I'm done with flying. Amtrak here I come.

i rey!

Phil and Mark atop Big Huckleberry Mountain. That's Mt Hood in the distance. Not the most spectacularly scenic hike ever, but very pretty and accessible, and yeah obviously one or two really beautiful views. Lots of critters, too- we saw lots of track and scat on the trail, and scared up a grouse on the way out.

On this day in ancient Rome, they'd be celebrating Neptunalia. Get wet!

And it's the anniversary of Haille Selassie's birthday. Celebration is highly selassie! Jah!

Big Huckleberry Mountain

Spotted Coralroot (albino variety). Not all orchids are the showy, pin-it-on-your-prom-date pretty type that grow only in the tropics and in rarefied greenhouses. Several varieties can be found in the western U.S., including a handful in Cascadia, like this one. All the species I've seen have had small flowers, but their shy and diminutive nature means that spotting them can be a fun challenge. I dig it, anyway. Phil and Mark and I hiked to the top of Big Huckleberry Mountain yesterday, and saw a couple of different species and varieties on the way.

The trail itself is a section of the Pacific Crest Trail, the length of which I'd like to hike one of these summers. We met a couple of hikers who were doing long-distance hikes, both separately; one guy apparently came from California. What a trip! I don't know when I'll be able to do it, but I look forward to the day when I wake up on the trail and know that I'll do it again the next day, and maybe the next, before I see another car, or phone, or streetlight. I don't have the equipment to do it right, alone, yet, but I will. I will.

* * *
If this coming election was a matter of issues, I think Obama would have it sewn up by now. But instead, the media have again managed to sideline the issues in favor of a (rigged) popularity contest. I say it's rigged because The Media gladly admits to having one of those publicly secret love affairs with John McCain. Why? Because he kisses ass.

And yet: The man has no principles. The man has no moral compass. The man has no compunction about taking money from lobbyists or special interests. He is Bought and Paid For, and has no time or need for the likes of you, unless you can help fund his campaign. Just- don't expect any favors later.

Would you trust someone with your life, who left his wife for a younger woman while his current wife was recovering from surgery in hospital? Seriously: how could you possibly trust someone to protect you -or anything, honestly-- if he doesn't have the balls to stand by his word? His chosen mate? What kind of "leadership" is that? How could you possibly expect him to stand by his country (a far more abstract concept than "wife" or "spouse") in the face of temptation?

Adrift

John McCain vs. Reality
John McCain vs. Women ...because this isn't racism, it's sexism. And don't forget how he called his wife a cunt ...on stage, in front of an audience ...which included the press.
John McCain on the C-word

And best of all:
John McCain vs himself

Today in our Republican economy.

On this day in 1762, Russian monarch Peter III was (conveniently?) murdered, paving the way for his power-hungry (and former Latvian peasant) wife to assume the throne as Catherine II (“the Great”).

In 1816, the Medusa, a French ship on a diplomatic mission, ran aground off the coast of Senegal. In a preview to the Titanic disaster, the wealthy passengers rushed to the lifeboats, leaving 149 of the crew and poorer passengers to fashion a raft for themselves from the remains of the ship (17 stayed on board the Medusa). The dignitaries aboard the lifeboats attempted to tow the raft to shore, but it proved too flimsy, and was left adrift -four miles from shore-- with no food or fresh water.
Aboard the raft, things quickly went south. Twenty people were killed or took their own lives the first night. By the fourth night, people had resorted to cannibalism. On the eighth day, those remaining healthy began to throw the sick and injured overboard, alive. Thirteen days later, when the raft was accidentally found by the passing Argus, only fifteen survivors were aboard. Of these, five died within days of their rescue.

And in 1917, the British royal family changed its name from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor.

This machine kills fascists

Tiger lily. The thing I love most about being in/near the mountains, is that the seasons progress at different rates, depending on elevation. It's summer here at the house, but it's still spring in the mountains. Almost berry season!

Rumors abound of the Fandoana (Fandroana? Fandriana?)Bathing Festival in Madagascar, celebrated on this day, but I haven't been able to find any direct documentation of it.
In Britain, it's Emmeline Pankhurst Day.
It's also Woodrow Wilson “Woody” Guthrie's birthday.

And on this day in 1990, the small uninhabited island of Eynhallow in the Orkney Islands played host to 88 tourists. According to the ferry crew, only 86 returned. A thorough search by police, coastguards and helicopter failed to find the missing people. No, really. The island has long been regarded as a spooky 'vanishing isle', a sort of marine Brigadoon. Locals speculated the couple may have been mermen or mermaids, returning to their ancestral home; it is reportedly easy to mistake the Fin Folk for ordinary humans.

Worms

Mt Hood, from somewhere on the north side. No, I don't know where: if you must know, we were lost. We had followed a familiar road toward a familiar trailhead, but suddenly found that we weren't on familiar ground anymore. Suddenly we were seeing forks in the road which we both swore we hadn't seen before, and then not so suddenly we realized that we were nowhere near where we thought we should be. It's all so improbable- roads don't just pop up overnight, or even in the course of a year (with the forest service budget the way it is, we're lucky to have roads at all, and these "new" roads sure didn't look new to us), but there it is: we followed the same old trail, to find that it did not lead to the same place.

Of course you don't believe me. I wouldn't either. You try navigating up there, though, and get back to me (if you make it back). If you're really eager, we were trying to find the Vista Ridge trailhead. We've hiked that trail four times in two years- you'd think we'd be able to find it again....

Anyway, I liked this picture because I framed Mt Hood between two Cascadian icons: the Western Hemlock's droopy tip on the left, and the Douglas Fir's spiky top on the right. Other trees (some cedars and cypresses I guess) also have slightly-droopy tips, but you can tell this is a Hemlock because of it's fuzzy character. The other droopy-tipped trees all have needles that lay smooth like cedars.

On this day in 1984, a street in Fort Worth, Texas, developed a 20ft long, two-foot-wide bulge. It moved from side to side like a giant worm before disappearing after about an hour. 'It seemed almost alive,' said fireman Charlie McCafferty. 'What spooked me was that there wasn't even a crack in the road.' Street crews used jackhammers to break through two inches of asphalt and four inches of concrete, underlying silt layers intact, and no evidence of a gas build-up that might have caused the bulge.
Shortly after this a similar mound was seen on Calvin Lang's homestead at the outskirts of Ft. Worth, and after prodding it with a rake it disappeared. Reportedly it had left some buildings torn apart, fences torn down, and shrubs and trees uprooted. Later Jeremy Boiter spotted what appeared to be a giant tentacle erupting from the ground in a shower of gravel and dirt about 2 miles away. It seized a cat and her kittens, devouring them in seconds as well as two growling dogs which it swallowed in its "slick dripping mouth". His friend Phil Dewar also found scraps of birds, rabbits and other while animals among the rubble of a destroyed hut. source: THE GAZETTE, Schenectady, N.Y., 16 July 1984; NATIONAL EXAMINER, 12 Feb. 1985

For want of a scapegoat

What's so wrong about torture?
Simple: it presumes guilt.

Almost universally on this planet (and increasingly since the 20th century), two ideas are central to the notion of Justice: 1) the presumption of innocence until proof of guilt, and 2) the right of the accused to a robust defense. Can you imagine a trial without those assumptions? What a joke! Can you imagine being on trial without those assumptions? What a nightmare. Kafka, anyone?

In a normal world, my country would sanction, or possibly even organize international action against a country which operated its justice system like this. In Bushcheney's post-Raygun Amerika, we join them.

By definition, the victims of torture are not yet guilty: people are tortured to get information that would allow others to prevent illegal acts from being planned or executed. There is no trial, no opportunity for defense; guilt is presumed, and the victim is immediately punished for either Presumed Guilt By Association or Presumed Thoughtcrime. Torture after a trial would be considered "cruel and unusual punishment." Doesn't that say enough, by itself? Hello?

Fear is the mind-killer. Fear of ill-defined "terror scenarios" made many of us inclined to allow "whatever's necessary" to prevent said ill-defined scenarios. For want of a scapegoat, the Constitution was lost.

I can't imagine why anyone would want anyone else to be so afraid that they would allow such mistreatment of other humans, or such distortion of Justice, but apparently some people think they have their reasons.

I can't imagine how anyone, given the order to waterboard, could do so knowing that the victim was never given the presumption of innocence, or a robust defense. This blows my mind.

But in the face of colorfully-described but poorly-defined terror scenarios, we ran like children to the neighborhood bully* for protection. And now he's come for us.

We are all innocent until proven guilty. This is as fundamental to this planet's idea of Justice as is the right to a defense (which is also, incidentally, abrogated in the case of torture). Justice demands this presumption. Justice requires it.

I can't believe we're still talking about this. Why is this concept so difficult to grasp? Why did your congressman and senators support this crap? Why did mine? I keep asking, and still keep getting unsatisfactory answers. Rep. Baird, YOU WILL BE FIRED for this. Pack up your shit; you're going home.


On this day in 1864, George Washington Carver is believed to have been born. Thanks for the peanut butter!
In 1895, Buckminster Fuller and Oscar Hammerstein II were born.

The following two are apocryphal; I cannot confirm their validity. I found them in the Fortean Times.
In 1738, a strange creature was fished from the water around Exeter. It resembled a man about four foot tall, 'with a Genital Member of considerable Size - with Fins at his thighs, and larger ones like Wings - at his shoulders - and two spout holes behind his eyes.' And in 1978, a garage in Galax, Virginia, was bombarded by nails of various sizes for the third day running. Many were observed flying from the front and back doors, sometimes from both at once. Mechanics collected almost 400. The police were completely baffled.


*They f*cking redacted their own biographies!?!?! It's significant that they didn't just edit them- no, they had to leave the blacked-out parts there so we would know that there are things we're not allowed to know.

Bawm that thorn!

7-11 day! Most 7-11s offer free 7.11 oz smoothies today. It’s Bawming the Thorn Day in Appleton, Cheshire, England. It's the Feast of St. Olga in Russia. In 1656, Ann Austin and Mary Fisher became the first Quakers to come to North America, and were promptly arrested, to be deported to Barbados five weeks later. Let freedom ring!

In 1881 George, Prince of Wales (later King George V), as a 16-year-old naval cadet on HMS Bacchante off the Australian coast, wrote in his log book: "At 4 a.m. the Flying Dutchman crossed our bows. A strange red light as of a phantom ship all aglow, in the midst of which light the masts, spars, and sails of a brig 200 yards distant stood out in strong relief as she came up on the port bow, where also the officer of the watch from the bridge clearly saw her, as did the quarterdeck midshipman, who was sent forward at once to the forecastle; but on arriving there was no vestige nor any sign whatever of any material ship was to be seen either near or right away to the horizon, the night being clear and the sea calm. Thirteen persons altogether saw her...At 10.45 a.m. the ordinary seaman who had this morning reported the Flying Dutchman fell from the foretopmast crosstrees on to the topgallant forecastle and was smashed to atoms." In 1975, Chinese archaeologists began to excavate a large burial site with 6,000 individualized terra cotta statues of warriors. The site had been discovered by local farmers the previous year. It's now believed that the site is over 3 acres in size, and probably contains more than 8,000 distinctly individual sculptures of warriors, their weapons, horses, chariots, commanders, and associated personnel. In 1995, Srebrenica –a UN-declared safe zone-- fell to the Bosnian Serbs. As many as eight thousand people disappeared; witnesses reported tremendous brutality, including mass executions.

pending a bending

A judge ruled that Google subsidiary YouTube must provide Viacom, which is suing over copyright claims, with details of the viewing habits of everyone who has logged in and watched a video. Is that OK with you? It's not with me. Anthropology be damned: we document too much of our lives already. Leave a puzzle or two for the future already. Geez.

Lots of UFOs over the UK lately. Someone else noticed, too.

Psychologist Himanshu Tyagi claimed that children raised to use online social networking sites will "put less value on their real world identities" and may be in danger of "impulsive behavior or even suicide." Almost exactly what I've been saying about them, myself: that they denigrate the idea and nature of friendship. When 'relationships' begin and end with the click of a mouse button, they're probably not very fulfilling or rewarding.

What's Karl Rove up to these days?

Why, you may wonder, am I not all bent out of shape over Bushcheney's wiretapping plan? Because I've presumed that the USGov't has been listening in on our phone calls and mining our data since Reagan was in office. Why haven't you? What possible reality-based reason could you have, for trusting our government? Pray tell.

This attitude of mine does leave me wondering, though: how naive do our senators think we are? I appreciate the work of people like Senator Levin, but really- isn't this like offering an aspirin for a broken hot water heater or something? I mean- nice gesture, but ...how/what is this supposed to help?

Today is the Melon Holiday (Turkmenistan). Muskmelon for everyone!
On this day in 1040 CE, in an early precursor to Melon Day, Lady Godiva rode bare naked, sidesaddle one would hope, to force her husband Leofric, the Earl of Mercia, to lower taxes. Some say she did it on a dare from ol' Leofric, irrelevant of the tax issue.
In 1509, John Calvin was born. History began to slow down, and eventually reversed itself entirely as Calvin's ideas became religious doctrine.

No, really.

In 1856, Nikola Tesla was born. A truly amazing intellect.
In 1850, Millard Fillmore assumed the Presidency, after Zachary Taylor’s death.
In 1895, Carl Orff was born.

Somebody's gettin' sloppy. Simple exhaustion, or has the preponderance of lies finally destroyed their ability to communicate?

Bristly insects

I went to the Antir-West War (SCA) over the weekend. These guys in the picture were my good neighbors. They were quiet, didn't block the road (or the entrance to my tent, ahem) with their tents, and didn't make any pretense of being friendly when I tried to be friendly, myself. They also didn't snore, have sleep apnea, or vomit in full view of my front door. Like I said, they were the good neighbors. I'd have been more careful about where I put my tent, but I was among the first people on site. I thought I'd end up in the suburbs, but it turned out to be the projects.

Eh, I had fun anyway! It was my second event in An Tir; my second SCA event ever at which I knew exactly no one. I half-expected to see a familiar face or two (Avery, Alyx, Idanthrysus, maybe Cire or Elizabeth...?), but no dice. All told, this made for a very different experience of the SCA. Hard to put my finger on it exactly, but I like it. 'Tis da bomb. Look for me on merchants' row from now on: that's where the fun is.

Unfortunately, being away for the 4th meant that I missed some really interesting anniversaries:
July 4th saw the birth of Stephen Foster (1826) and Louis Armstrong (1900), as well as the retirement from Baseball of the great Lou Gehrig (1939, my number-one hero).
Also, in 1845, Henry David Thoreau took up residence at Walden Pond.
And in 1862, the Rev. Charles Dodgson told a little story to some young friends while on a boating excursion- a little story which would later be known as Alice's Adventures In Wonderland.
And in 1946, the Republic of the Philippines achieved independence from the United States (though our forces still occupy the country in spite of their constitution's strict doctrine forbidding foreign forces on their soil. Go figure).

On July 6 1855, Andrew Crosse, electrical experimenter, died. He is remembered for at least one experiment in which dissolved flint and potassium carbonate were subjected to an electrical charge, which apparently resulted in the birth of “bristly insects.” Amazing, and a little frightening.

Now on to today: it's Percy Grainger's birthday, so if you see him, wish him well. Raffi, Anjelica Huston, and Kevin Bacon also celebrate their birthdays today.

And for one second, it was 1234567890 (12:34:56 on 7/8/90).

Many, many projects underway in goatland...

Let the sun shine in

Happy Canada Day!

On this day in 1899, Indiana Jones was born.
In 1915, Willie Dixon was born.
In 1944, the Breton Woods conference opened. It would establish the contoversial IMF and the World Bank.
In 1982, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon "married" 2,100 couples simultaneously. He met Jesus, you know. Interesting fellow, to say the least.

Happy accidents

Happy accidents. See what happens when you don't mow your lawn?

Seriously- I haven't mowed the north side of the yard this year because grass doesn't grow there. Last year, I mowed the weeds there, but started late enough that I discovered the little maroon trillium that likes to bloom by the stairs to the cellar. This year, thanks to the wet weather, I waited even longer, and lo and behold, more flowers! I have no idea what they are- I think the yellow ones are Peskius weedus, but the purple ones are so remarkable that I suspect they were planted intentionally by the previous owner. The neighbors all say that he was crazy about flowers. We also get volunteer tulips and other bulb-sprouting flowers in the spring, all over the yard.

I have been initiated into a revolution in bread-baking. I may never knead again. I resisted so hard: how can so many thousands of years of baking tradition be wrong? Well, it's not "wrong," it's just not the easy way. Stand ready to be amazed.

On this day in 1908, something as-yet-unexplained happened near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Russia.

The majority, by their silence, will pay for days like these

Perhaps needless to say, I did not take this picture. That's me on the log, Phil behind the camera. Happy birthday to me!

It's Tobey Maguire's birthday, too. Happy birthday, Tobey!

In 1905, the crew of the battleship Potemkin mutinied. Sergei Eisenstein made a fantastic film about this- if you can handle silent films, do not miss it. One of my Top Ten Best Ever Films.

And in 1969, in the wee hours of the night, approaching or perhaps even past midnight, NYC police raided the Stonewall Inn, an event which led to the Stonewall Riots.

Someone on the Fortean Times site pointed out the striking similarity between this UFO filmed in 2003, and the one seen over Cardiff the other night. Very, very interesting.

Strange things going on over Australia, too.

Ishmael

Seriously, photographers: how would you deal with conditions like this? This is the best shot of Ramona Falls that I was able to get on the spur of the moment. You can see Phil in the lower left if you look close. I wonder if this little digital camera of ours can even do it; maybe it's a matter best handled by using a different film? All I can control is F-stop and shutter speed (I think, anyway... I hate reading instructions).

On the SCA front: This metro area is really active. Last weekend I went to an event in Kalama, about 30 miles north of here, Shire of Riversbend. They host four annual kingdom-level events, have for years, and are working on a fifth. And that's not including their regular shire functions, which also draw people from Portland. Yesterday at an A&S-oriented get-together I heard about two annual Portland metro-area wars which draw attendance in the thousands. I've never lived in such a group; I don't even know what to do with myself now. And then there's the Seattle area, and the Eugene area, which are both apparently as active as the Portland area, and maybe more so. Yowza!

On the home front, my garden is lame. Lame as in 'injured,' somehow- I planted and planted and planted some more, and the only thing that's come up is some legumes. All the peas I planted have sprouted, but I also planted peppers, broccoli, lettuce, and some beans, and of all of that, I only have two bean plants to show for it. Two bean plants from over 20 bean-seeds planted. Something must be wrong with my soil, 'coz it's not like we've been short on rain: the garden plots aren't even growing weeds. The apples look more promising this year, though- last year every single apple on the Red Delicious tree was withered and brown on the tree. If that happens again, I guess I'll have to call a doctor.

More UFO action over the UK. Interesting to note that the UK also seems to be the focus (though not exclusively by any means) of crop circle activity. I'm not about to say they're connected in any way but circumstantially, but it's still interesting to consider. And don't let anyone tell you that all crop circles are hoaxes. Some are, to be sure, but many still defy explanation. This recent one in particular simply blows my mind. I repeat: blows. my. mind.

Spain extends civil rights to our cousins. Making amends for the Inquisition, perhaps, or maybe just finally looking forward instead of back.

Help me get rid of Turncoat Joe!

On this day in 1284, the Pied Piper led the children of Hamelin away. Legends differ as to exactly where he led them, and what happened next.
In 1819, W.K. Clarkson patented an improvement on the velocipede, which led to what we now call the bicycle.
In 1959, Father William Gill and 38 others witnessed a disc-shaped object with four legs hovering over the village of Boianai, Papua New Guinea. Four human-like figures were standing on it, and they returned the waves of the witnesses. The object remained intermittently visible for some hours, and returned the following two evenings. It was one of the best witnessed close encounter cases in the annals of ufology. At the time, Gill had assumed the objects to be new American aircraft. There had been a UFO flap on the island that year: 61 UFO sightings, mostly in June and July.
In 1970, Paul Thomas Anderson was born. Director of such excellent films as Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and Punch Drunk Love (which, frankly, takes my breath away).

La Sagrada Familia

Yes, again. We made it this time, though. We were better prepared, and there was less snow this time. Still, I singlehandedly turned it into Grand Adventure when the map (which I had carefully stashed in a side-pocket of my pack*) fell out of my pack along the way. We discovered the map's absence when we decided we were lost. Yay!

Obviously we found our way again (you can't get too lost when you know that the point at which you left the main trail was the point at which you entered the riverbed...), but it was still a shock. We even found our destination- Ramona Falls- and it was -well- pretty stunning. I tried to get pictures of it, but to be honest, I'm not sure how. The water falls from about 100' up, cascading down a rock wall to the floor of an old pine (fir?) forest that resembles nothing more than the inside of a cathedral, with the trees being the columns and the waterfall being the stained glass behind the altar. Seriously: How do you not overexpose the light part, while still capturing some detail in the foreground?

On this day in 1178, five monks from Canterbury reported having seen something explode on the moon.
In 1852, Antonio Gaudi was born.
In 1977, the discovery of three mysterious discs was reported. They were exactly 1.4 metres in diameter, 46cm thick at the centre and perfectly circular, and were found in an open-cast coal mine at Leigh Creek, South Australia. Michael Lowrie, an Adelaide marine expert, said: 'I've never seen anything like these objects. They appear to be rusty on the outer casing and are believed to be millions of years old. One thing is certain, they are not fossilised shells.'

Lots of interesting UFO activity over SW England lately. More info here.

Flying

Pot calling whom, what? I really don't think Mr. Dobson has much room to be using the word "fruitcake" at all. At all. The hypocrisy is just staggering. I do love watching the GOP tear itself apart, though.

On this day in 1947, experienced pilot Kenneth Arnold spotted strange lights flying in formation near Mt. Ranier, Washington.

See for yourself

I miss George Carlin already. As you might imagine, even though I'm not funny, he was a mighty influence on my development and philosophy. Apparently I paid more attention to what he was saying, than how he was saying it.
On religion
On language

In part because of him, I am not an Obedient Worker (and I suggest you not be one, too). He helped me see through the veil at an early age. Hats off to you, Mr. Carlin.

In other news: Important reporting from the ever-eloquent and insightful Chris Floyd.

St. Jonas’ Day (Lithuania)

And on this day in 1626, a Mr. Mead of Christ's College, Cambridge, passing through the city's market, noticed a battered book which had just been found by a fishwife inside the belly of a plump codfish from King's Lynn. Mr. Mead bought the book, a religious tome written by John Firth, who had spent some time imprisoned inside a fish-cellar in Oxford for his religious beliefs.

John Dillinger died for your sins

On this day in 1812, Napoleon (leading pretty much all of the rest of Europe, Switzerland included) invaded a vastly-outnumbered Russia. Russia pulled troops back to the Neman river, but could not hold it, and eventually fell back to Moscow. By September, the eve of winter, Moscow’s governor realized the city could not be saved. He decided to abandon the city to flame before Napoleon could have it, so they burnt the city to the ground on their way out, leaving nothing for the 'conquerors.' The Europeans were left to march home in the winter, tired, poorly fed and barely clothed. Of the original 450-600,000 Europeans, only some 200,000 made it home. Serves 'em right.

In 1847, the doughnut may have been invented.
In 1858, Giacomo Puccini was born.
In 1903, John Dillinger (he died for your sins!) was born.
In 1936, Kris Kristofferson was born.
In 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union, breaking the pact Hitler had made with Stalin before the war began.
In 1947, Don Henley was born.
In 1948, Todd Rundgren was born.
In 1949, Meryl Streep was born.
In 1958, Bruce Campbell was born.

Maury Island Incident

If I say I'm going to do something, and then I don't, what does that mean?

If it's a short-term thing, it seems to mean something different than if it's a long-term thing. Let's say I agree to meet you for lunch but I don't show up. That's a personal affront to you, whether I meant it that way or not. I might have forgotten; might have been killed or something on my way to meet you; might have just been so late that I missed you entirely, etc. The end effect is the same: I said I'd do something, and I didn't.

Now presume I say "next week, I'm going to make an ark," but I don't. No one's affected by this except me, but still, I said I'd do something, and then I didn't do it.

Now presume I say "after I graduate from college, I'm going to go to grad school."

I suppose that at different times, we speak with different voices. Sometimes it's a friend-voice (I'll meet you for lunch on Tuesday at noon), sometimes it's ambition (next week I'm going to build a boat!), sometimes it's hope (grad school, here I come!). I've dealt with a lot of liars and blowhards in my day, and I tire of them quickly.

Maybe that's why I'm so sensitive about the things I say, myself: I don't want to make promises I can't keep, don't want to make plans I can't follow through on, don't want to sound like some overambitious catterpillar who dreams about becoming a fish.

So, I don't talk much.

Today is Fête de la Musique

In 1947, Harold Dahl saw six UFOs near Maury Island (now part of Vashon Island, in Puget Sound). Artifacts (slag) dropped from the UFOs killed his dog and injured his son. The next day, Dahl was visited by a man dressed in black who knew details of the event, though Dahl had not publicized it yet. The man in black suggested that Dahl’s family might be in danger if he did not keep the sighting a secret. This is thought to be the first encounter with the Men in Black.

The wheel turns

It's Igor Stravinsky's birthday (1882).

In 1960, Ted Williams hit his 500th home run.

In 1972, five White House operatives were arrested for burglarizing the offices of the DNC in the Watergate Hotel. Supposedly, they were planting bugs, but some authorities assert that none were ever found by investigators. Some theorize that the burglary was actually a false flag, designed to draw attention away from “the whole Bay of Pigs thing,” (Nixon’s euphemism for the Kennedy assassination and its aftermath).

In 1982, Roberto Calvi, “God’s banker,” (the head of Banco Ambrosiano, closely tied to the Vatican, when it went bankrupt) was found hanging by his neck beneath Blackfriar’s Bridge in London. His clothing was stuffed with stones, and he was carrying around $15,000 in three different currencies. He had just spent a short time in an Italian jail, where he attempted suicide, but his death was ruled suspicious because he was a member of P2, members of which referred to themselves as frater negri (black friars). An independent forensic report in 2002 determined that his injuries were not consistent with hanging, and that he had not handled the stones in his pockets. Calvi said shortly before his death, “the only book you’ve got to read is The Godfather. That’s the only one that tells how the world is really run.”

Chop water, carry wood

My new awl. It's already a little darker than when I started on it- Hedgeapple wood is lemon-yellow when you first cut in to it.

Chop wood, carry water. Metaphorically speaking, it's what life's about. Work gives us meaning. We start to get distressed -or depressed-- when we don't have enough to do. Our brains are very complex; they can handle a lot more than we give them credit for, and when they don't have enough going on to keep them busy, they weave stories of their own which lead to problems like obsessiveness, compulsiveness, depression, etc. If life was harder, we just wouldn't have time to worry about whether or not we turned the all the lights off seven times before we left the house, or to sit around being depressed. Chop wood, carry water.

Of course I'm oversimplifying, you're much more complex than that. I'd love to hear your counter-points or arguments.

In 1219, Dannebrog (the national flag of Denmark) fell from the sky during the Battle of Lyndanisse (now Talinn, Estonia), and turned the Danes’ luck.

In 1843, Edvard Grieg was born.
In 1937, Waylon Jennings was born.

In 1956, The Quarrymen played a church dinner. Paul McCartney (13) met lead singer John Lennon (15).