A shrubbery!

Want some shrubbery? We're hoping to find these a new home.

Priceless: John McCain vs John McCain

It's been so long since McCain knew where he stood on the issues, that he's forgotten how. Oh, silly me- he didn't forget; he just never knew.

John McCain loves him some lobbyists!

If this were ancient Rome, we'd be celebrating the New Year.

Frederic Chopin was born on this day in 1810. Glenn Miller followed 96 years later, and Harry Belafonte followed them in 1927.

In 1431, Joan of Arc announced that an angel had told her that within seven years the English would lose 'a bigger prize than Orleans.' Six years and eight months later they lost Paris.

Armbands are next

Not my photo.

18

When the great Tao is forgotten,
goodness and piety appear.

When the body's intelligence declines,
cleverness and knowledge step forth.

When there is no peace in the family,
filial piety begins.

When the country falls into chaos,
patriotism is born.

Plantations

More splashing from sunday's hike.

The logical result of prisons-for-profit. I guarantee you this: Prisons-for-profit have lobbyists in Washington. They lobby Congressmen for harsher sentencing guidelines and laws, which put more people in prison for longer, thus increasing the profitability of their industry.

As a result, the US has the highest incarceration rate, per capita, in the world.

It's encouraging that this is now finally making headlines, but the fact remains that prisons are still run for profit, and that The Industry keeps lobbyists in our legislatures in order to maintain and increase their hold on their plantations (there, I said it).


Gioacchino Rossini was born on this day, in 1792.

Dord

More from Sunday's hike. I think this is the Wahkeena creek, the first leg of the hike. Waterfalls are surprisingly difficult to shoot. The water itself tends to be bright, while the surroundings tend to be dark; capturing the movement requires slow shutter speeds, which let in a lot of light, which can make the water too bright, etc, but a faster shutter won't show the movement. Always an interesting challenge.

In 1939, the word “dord” was discovered in Webster’s New International Dictionary, prompting an investigation which found it to have resulted from a series of misreadings of editors instructions.

Robot news: Scary and not as scary.

International Bright Young Thing

There used to be a bridge here- we saw the remains of it last year, but even those are gone now. This is Phil and Mark making a crossing on Sunday's hike.

Happy International Polar Bear Day!

Did a large procession wave their torches as my head fell in the basket?

Sunday on the trail. This is Fairy Falls, a small-ish one on the Wahkeena creek, and admittedly not a very good shot of it. You should be able to see more rocks in the water- the water cascades down little staircases, it's very pretty, but the shots that captured the details in the water did not capture the scale of the thing, so I posted the one with people in it. I did a painting of this waterfall before, but it refuses to be photographed. I don't make a habit of painting, but it was a little like taking a poop, somehow: I don't feel like I had a choice. It was fun I guess, but not my thing.

Seriously, it flatly refuses to be photographed. I've tried it in all sorts of light, all sorts of camera settings, and I just can not capture the colors. I used a lot of purples and blues, and the result is apparently a combination of "too dark" and "too shiny" for a good picture. Not that I'm comparing myself to Rembrandt (!!), but if you've ever been able to compare his originals to photographs of them, you might get the idea. The subtleties of his darks just don't come through in photos.

Anyway, the trail we hiked on Sunday is probably my favorite Gorge hike. It's about 5 miles, maybe a little more, and the first part is a long climb up lots of switchbacks, but it's so worth the trouble. You climb up the Wahkeena creek basin, hike a little near the top of the Gorge, and then come down along the Multnomah creek basin, stopping if you want at the top of incredibly beautiful and tall Multnomah Falls. It's a great waterfall hike- one around practically every corner. Breathtaking. There is nothing quite like being surprised at finding yourself at the top of a very tall waterfall.

In 1919, Congress established Grand Canyon and Lafayette (now Acadia) National Parks.

Then in 1932, Johnny Cash was born.

In 1935, radar was first demonstrated.

And in 1986 Gwen Wilson, 47-year-old mother of four, went to the bathroom after returning from shopping and doubled up with pain on the floor. Suddenly she gave birth to a 5lb 6oz girl. This was the second time she had not realized she was pregnant. 'I just thought I was overweight both times,' she said. By coincidence, husband Howard was downstairs telling the other children about the unexpected arrival of their sister Helen 11 years previously, when they heard their mother scream upstairs. Then she called down: 'I've done it again!' (thanks to Fortean Times for that bit o' news).

Ralph.

Ralph has every right to run for president, just like any other natural-born citizen who has not been convicted of a felony. Go for it.

I actually have a certain amount of respect for Ralph, for his very helpful work as a consumer advocate. Thanks, Ralph. You should have kept that up.

But here and now, he's a tool. As I see it, he is either running independently, as a spoiler, or is running as a paid spoiler, to dampen Democratic chances of winning in November, or at least to confuse the facts of that election to such a degree that Rove-ian agents and their activities might go undetected.

Mark my words.

He wants to be president about as much as Grampa Thompson did. He's just in it for the payoff.

I have to wonder at his timing, though. Was this an attempt, for some reason, to get Don Siegelman off the front page?

How connected is Ralph to the Rove machine, anyway? I'm just askin.'

you say it's (George's) birthday

Went hiking yesterday in the Gorge.

Fucking Ralph Nader. Running for president, again. No, I'm not linking to his site; I don't want to give him any support. Why should I -or any American, for that matter-- support a guy who only wants to play if he can be in charge? How about paying your dues, Ralph? Weren't you an investigator or something at some point, before you got all caught up in yourself? Ever thought about running for a less-significant public office? Perhaps one for which you might be slightly qualified, like building inspector or something?

You're no politician, Ralph; you're a joke. Get bent.

George Harrison was born on this day in 1943. Happy birthday to you!

Let us focus on the crocus

I would have posted pictures of the crocuses that are blooming in the yard, but between the time when I first saw them yesterday morning, and now, I forgot to get a picture. So instead, you get a sunrise.

Some significant stuff going on in the news these days:

Kosovo had a big week. In terms of American politics, imagine Texas declaring its independence, and then having Mexico be the first nation to officially recognize it. Snap! Serbia has claimed that territory for centuries, and Serbs are not known for their willingness to give up, so I don't expect that conflict to simmer down any time soon. But that's only half the problem: the other half will raise its ugly head in a few years, just like Iraq and Afghanistan, and Pakistan, and Indonesia, and the Philippines...

Maybe you've heard something about ex-Alabama Governor Don Siegelman? He's the Democratic governor who fell afowl of Karl Rove and our utterly corrupt Justice Department when he tried to complain about their stealing his election. This is a twisted tale, difficult to follow, and that, my friends, is by design. You are not meant to follow this story. They want you to become confused by all the blame-passing, to the point at which you no longer care, or can even follow the Bouncing Ball of Blame. The GOP counts on you losing interest and turning the channel back to American Idol. Don't do it. First they came for the Democrats, but I didn't stop them, because I wasn't political...

I will even go so far as to say that I think this is a test case for the upcoming election. Four more years!? You just wait.

Who needs democracy, anyway? Read what some Russians have to say about us, our system, and our proselytizing. Fascinating.

Pentagon tells Bush: climate change will destroy us

And finally (and I mean, finally!), could this spell the beginning of the end of the New Gilded Age? Or am I getting my hopes up again? I love the way the article starts: "The wealthy have got away with financial crimes for so long they no longer regard them as crimes." Heh.

"This machine thwarts luddites"

Happy accident? I'm happy with it, anyway. I don't edit my photographs very much- a little cropping here and there, a little digital adjustment now and then. Relative merits of Photoshop aside, I think of photography -even digital photography, malleable as it is-- to be ultimately a record of an event. I am personally not interested in using a computer to manipulate someone else's idea of a paintbrush to manipulate someone else's idea of a color in order to manipulate someone else's emotions. It's just not hands-on enough for me.

But now and then our camera will make an image on its own. I was trying to shoot a sunrise through the car window here, but various factors interfered and this is what happened. I like it because -as far as I know, anyway-- I could not have achieved this effect with digital manipulation.

Birthdays today: Samuel Pepys (1633), Georg Friedrich Handel (1685), W.E.B. Dubois (1868), and Kazimir Maleevich (1878).

In 1940, Woody Guthrie wrote "This Land Is Your Land."

And in 1905, The Barmouth Advertiser (Wales) reported that two men, one of them a prominent farmer, had seen a 'gigantic human form rising over a hedgerow. Then a ball of fire appeared above and a long ray of light pierced the figure, which vanished.' They had been returning from a religious service conducted by the visionary preacher Mrs Mary Jones of Egryn, Merionethshire, a figure at the center of the religious revival of that time. Many observers, including sceptical reporters, saw mysterious aerial lights which seemed to follow Mrs Jones around.

Desert waterfall

Saw this out the window of the car while coming up out of the Yakima valley, a desert waterfall. The rock wall was probably 150m from the road, maybe 20m high? Maybe something to go back to look for, someday.

George Washington was born on this day in 1732, and in 1810, Frederic Chopin followed suit.

White wigging

Mt Hood, seen from above the Gorge on the Washington side. We were on the way home from Yakima at this point.

On this day in 1803 at around midday a strange 5-meter wide glass-topped round object was seen off the coast of Harayadori, Japan, by some fishermen who went to inspect. Inside was a red-haired woman, with a white wig, who did not speak Japanese but only smiled at them. She clutched a box, and they noticed rugs, a water bottle and what looked like fruit and meat. Not wishing to tangle with the authorities they pushed her back out to sea. There are two accounts of this event, in the Toen-shoesetsu (1825) and the Ume-no-chiri (1844).

In music history, Leo Delibes and Andres Segovia were born (1836 and 1893, respectively).

Democrats

Little flowers I found growing under a big bush in our yard. I don't know what they are, but let's call them Democrats, because we're keeping them when we get rid of the bush.

I had a little epiphany yesterday regarding Work. I had been stressing over the notion of Marketing: how to do it, where to do it, what to do, who to aim at, etc. So many choices, so many options, so many possible directions. ...OK I'm still a bit overwhelmed, but at least I feel like I have a new handle on the situation.

Today is the feast day of St. Paula the Bearded.

It's also the birthday of Karl Janacek (1903).

And in 1943, the Paricutín volcano began to form, in Mexico.

knob or toad

As I recall, this is the road coming out of the Yakima valley. The mountain picture is of Mt. Adams, taken from the valley itself.

Sometimes, I feel like a knob.

Today, I feel like a toad.

One of the tricks to successfully working for oneself is to clearly demarcate the boundaries between personal time and work time. So it seems to me, anyway: otherwise, everything turns into Work.

It's Copernicus's birthday today. I had a goat named Copernicus when I was a kid. We had a lot of fun. I miss him.

It's also the birthday of Luigi Boccherini (1743), Constantin Brancusi (1876), and Smokey Robinson (1940, same day as Turkmenbashi, RIP).

And in 1954, an elderly German decided to commit suicide. He took a lot of sleeping pills, tied a brief case full of stones round his neck, rowed out to the middle of the Rhine... and was found sound asleep in his boat. (from Fortean Times)

There ya go.

Today in history, Italian football hunk Roberto Baggio was born in 1967.

And in 1973, a 54kg octopus (7m across!) was found in the Hood River Canal, in Washington.

Yakima

Yakima.

Ok, not as boring as my picture might lead you to believe, but close. This was the view out the back window of the hotel room.

Our trip took us through the Columbia Gorge to The Dalles, where we crossed the river heading north across some low mountains into the Yakima river valley. Fruit trees and grapevines for miles. Imagine eastern Wyoming, but with orchards. But of course, it's winter, so paint it all brown, and there you have it.

We toured some local wineries on Saturday, with some friends who were also in town for the weekend (their son, a student of Phil's, was competing in the state singing competitions, or whatever the singing event was that weekend, I'm not real clear on that part...). They're great folks, Jerry and Geri.

I have to say at this point that I came back with so many new ideas that I might have to hibernate again, to give myself time to process it all. But then I wouldn't have time to work on anything, so I'd end up even further behind... Jeesh! I need a golem! (to whom it may concern: I'm kidding!) Where are those damn elves?

It's only a paper moon

This is the beach, last summer, just south of Newport OR. This weekend though, we're going in the opposite direction: to Yakima, Washington, for a choir-thing (I'm not sure exactly what- convention or something).

I've never been to Yakima, so I don't know what to expect. Hopefully I'll return with new pictures.

Here's some shocking stuff you might not have heard about the housing finance crisis. Governor Spitzer's article is linked from within- I find WinterPatriot's annotation of this one to be more readable than the original though, fyi.

In music history, today is the birthday of Michael Praetorius (1571) and Harold Arlen (1905- "Paper Moon," "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," "Stormy Weather," etc).

It's also Matt Groening's birthday.

And in 2002, some 300 corpses were found in buildings and woods on the property of Tri-State Crematory, in Georgia. The parent company in question would later receive a no-bid contract to dispose of the victims of Hurricane Katrina, in 2005 (exact number of dead still unknown- are you surprised?). I kid you not.

V-Day

This photo-a-day thing is harder than I thought! I'm trying to follow these criteria, in this order of importance: 1) Use only my own work. 2) Don't repeat. 3) Try to provide contrast day -to-day (i.e., try not to use things like studio shots of tools, two days in a row). 4) If taking a picture that day is not possible/feasible/whatever, try to find a recent picture that's interesting.

I've been delving deeper and deeper into last summer, lately. Hopefully that will change soon.

Today is the feast day of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, patron saints of Europe, evangelizers of the Rus, and legendary fathers of the Cyrillic alphabet.

Idyll

Another from last summer. This is on Mt. St. Helens.


In 1959, Barbie hit the shelves for the first time.

In 1996, "RENT" opened off-broadway.

Presumtion of guilt

Say whatever you want about torture, but this fact remains: We are innocent until proven guilty. Using torture to prevent a crime is therefore unethical and unconstitutional.

You cannot punish someone
before they commit the crime
for which you are punishing them.

Scalia talks about a hypothetical situation in which a suspect has hidden a bomb in L.A. But he's pulling a fast one, like every one else involved in the Bushcheney torture fest. Follow me here:

We're in L.A. Suddenly, the news reports that "a credible bomb threat has been reported... bomb... somewhere in the train system...." Or something like that. Cops run out to round up some suspects (Problem 1: seven years later and we're still looking for Osama bin Laden, so how effective will this round-up be? Dubious at best). The cops bring in some guys, maybe legitimate suspects, maybe not (doesn't matter for our game today), and proceed to interrogate, but find that the subjects won't talk (they claim they know nothing... right!). Interrogation continues, with no progress, and the cops get agitated. There's a bomb under the city, and people are about to die! The FBI is called in, and serious interrogation begins.

But wait, full stop- no crime has been committed. An anonymous bomb threat was issued. No bomb has exploded, or even been found. No one in custody is guilty of anything, but someone is being tortured, punished for crimes they not only did not commit, but may not even have planned. This is punishment before a crime; punishment for thoughtcrime, if the people being punished were even the ones who planned the thing (presuming there is a bomb at all). Let this sink in a second: Someone, possibly your friend, has been stripped of their humanity, has been strapped to a table and subjected to things you wouldn't do to your worst enemy. Remember: the suspect is innocent. It might well be you.



In another scenario, let's say there IS a bomb, and that it goes off. NOW a crime has been committed. But if the suspects have already been tortured, then we have a problem on our hands: their constitutional rights were seriously breached, and the whole case will have to be closed because the evidence was soiled by improper collection methods.

Scalia is a nutjob. For this interview, for this stated position on torture (and therefore legal ethics and our Constitution in general), he should be impeached and removed from office.

Torture IS unconstitutional: it presumes guilt.

Specifically, it contravenes our fourth, fifth, sixth, and fourteenth amendment rights (protection against unreasonable searches and seizures; due process of law guaranteed to all; right to a speedy and public trial; guarantee that all citizens are protected by same), not to mention any number of ratified international treaties.

Our constitution may not survive Antonin Scalia. Our country -our freedoms-- will not outlive the constitution. Brace yourselves.

***
In 1924, George Gershwin premiered "Rhapsody in Blue."

Miracle Max

Today is the traditional anniversary of the founding of Japan (663 ce).

In 1858, Bernadette Soubirou saw the figure of a woman in white, whom she later identified as the virgin Mary, near Lourdes, France. The two girls with her at the time reported that they saw nothing.

St. Scholastica's Day Riot

I have a lot of work to do! It never ends! Like this is news...
Administration, marketing, production, website maintenance/development, and did I mention production? And gardening season approaches... I think I need to add a day to the week, at least for the duration of spring and summer. That, or eschew sleep entirely. Yeah, I said eschew-- when was the last time you used that word in a sentence?!


In 1355, the St. Scholastica’s Day Riot broke out in Oxford, England, after a dispute which started between students and locals over a beer, escalated into armed conflict. The riot raged for two days, leaving 63 scholars and almost 30 locals dead. The dispute was settled in favour of the university with a special charter, according to which, on February 10, the town mayor and councillors had to march bareheaded through the streets and pay to the university a fine of one penny for every scholar killed. The penance ended in 1825 when the mayor refused to take part.

Oh! And as I predicted, the GOP seems to be entering full Self-Destruct Mode. Go, boys, go!

Hope you like jammin' too

Kansas winter. That tree, were it still alive, would be standing in a lake. I thought the image was poignant.

It's a big day in music history: Alban Berg, Carmen Miranda, and Gypsy Rose Lee all share a birthday (1885, 1909, and 1914, respectively). And The Beatles made their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, in 1964.

And in 1913, a group of three or four luminous bodies with tails moved across the sky with a 'peculiar majestic deliberation', according to the Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. Another one followed, and another. There were 30 or 32 in all, according to one observer, in strict formation. Some compared them to a fleet of battleships in the air. They were seen in Canada, USA, Bermuda and from the sea. There was another procession over Toronto the next day, only this time there were seven or eight dark non-luminous bodies, which moved across the sky and back. I repeat: 1913.

In the news today

Still got it

Happy Birthday to Jacob Praetorius, Jules Verne, and John Williams!

I've been sewing, yes. It's so meditative, that my mind is still in that state, even after sleep. It's all I can do to type coherent sentences. Five pounds of flax!

Charles Dickens and the earthquake

Building this bad boy was one of our first home improvements. It takes up the whole wall (we like our books). It's not a new picture by any means, but I've been busy doing things that don't photograph well, so I don't have any new pictures.


It's John Deere's birthday, though (1804).

And in 1812, the strongest in a series of earthquakes centered near New Madrid, Missouri, struck. The Mississippi River flowed backwards for part of the day. Charles Dickens was also born that day.

One hundred years later, Roy Cleveland Sullivan was born. He became a ranger in Shenandoah National Park, and was struck by lightning seven times: in 1942 he lost a big toenail to lightning; in 1969 his eyebrows were blown off; his shoulder was seared in 1970; his hair set on fire in 1972; the 1973 bolt hit him on the head through his hat, set fire to his hair again, knocked him ten feet out of his car, went through both legs and knocked his left shoe off; there were two further strikes in 1977 and 1978. He committed suicide in 1983.