“It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence, to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words: “And this, too, shall pass away.”
~ Abraham Lincoln
Oct 20
September 2021 – Quote of the Month
Sep 18
Gun Shy
Security Theater amuses and frustrates me.
Today’s random photo from the vault was taken at Bangalore Palace, October 31, 2015.
Here is a simultaneously funny and scary example of Security Theater: an unattended rifle, leaning, rather precariously against a shrub. I watched for some time: no sign of the guard. What could possibly go wrong? The best case scenario is that the rifle wasn’t ever loaded.
I also like the sad little details of the taped and broken plastic chairs.
India is a fantastic place. I highly recommend a visit for those who are open minded. But in a country of over a billion people, it is often evident that safety is very, very laxed, because, I’d guess: there is an underlying, unspoken philosophy that have plenty of back-up people.
Sep 13
August 2021 – Quote of the Month
“Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth – more than ruin, more even than death. Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habits; thought is anarchic and lawless, indifferent to authority, careless of the well-tried wisdom of the ages. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid … Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man.”
~ Bertrand Russell
Aug 24
Flamenco Raccoon Kitsch
When writing a post title, I try to think of something witty, or at least punny while also being succinct. Alas, I couldn’t think of how to encapsulate this post with anything pithy. Maybe, my difficulty stems from the fact that I’m writing this with an insomniac brain starting at 3:30am. But I’m going to console myself with the idea that in the entirety of history of spoken language, the words Flamenco, Raccoon and Kitsch have almost certainly never been combined before in an attempt to communicate something.
I’ve noted a few times, that I enjoy yard Kitsch. (At least when it’s not one of my immediate neighbors.) So, here are a few more gems for the collection. Both of these adornments are found in the front yard of a single house: within a few feet of the road. I pass them semi-regularly on the way to a local park until finally, one day, pulled over to get a couple of quick photos to share with the world.
The first figure is probably 15 feet tall and evidently was created from the remains of a tree. As I’d drive by it at speed, I was always left with the impression of Jack Skellington, from the movie, The Nightmare Before Christmas.
It wasn’t until I started to examine the photo closely, that I started to perceive that this figure may be intended as some sort of Spanish Flamenco dancer due to the belt sash and Cordovan hat.
Looking closer, at the design and craftsmanship is interesting.
The arms were branches, I’d guess. But the arms and hands also seem to be covered in rubber cloth. So, the creator had to fashion sleeves, of just the right length and created little cuffs with buttons. The hands, or gloves, appear to be filled with some material that gives them a real roundness. I wonder how the glove hands are attached. – It probably wasn’t easy.
The head appears to be made out of plastic or metal and has been customized with a notch to fit neatly around the left arm. The eyes are black Xs. – Kind of an international indication of someone who is either dead or drunk.
The next shot reveals a background with the house and property . – All neatly manicured and in no way exceptional except for the these two giant, permanent figures in the front.
This second sculpture is about 12 feet tall and as far as I can figure, it’s a grey raccoon riding a bike. Let’s look at the details.
The figure also appears to have been carved from a giant tree, but as I examined the bottom of the figure, I started to have my doubts, at least about the base. I circled in red what appear to be pipes, and the eclipse at the bottom shows what appears to be a seam. These items and the odd textures made me question that this wasn’t some sort of artificial base. – I don’t know what to do with that information, but it adds a wrinkle to the story of its creation. Was there some functionality? Did the pipes in the front connect to the pipes sticking out of the ground? Perhaps a fountain at one time?
Stepping back a little, we can observe some interesting details ranging from giant novelty sized sunglasses, a black top hat, peace sign and a license plate on the front that reads, ‘United States Marine Veteran’. Taking up the rear of the bike is a flag. And, a recent addition is the Covid compliant face-mask.
Think about it all as one picture. – Some rural country-dweller who maintains all of their house and yard along cultural standards decided that these two giant statues would add value in their front yard. They spent considerable time making them by chisel or chainsaw or plaster-cast. The got cloth and buttons and fashioned clothes and a mask. They formed hats and heads and painted them. The got a large bike, cut out the midsection and then figured out how to attach it so as to create the illusion that the giant raccoon was astride the bike. Then the creator put on a giant pair of sunglasses; added a peace-symbol to their Veteran American Marine raccoon, and then stuck a flag onto the back of the bike. Finally, after how many days or weeks of work, they stood back, arms folded and nodded approvingly at their handicraft and said to themselves. There! That is what was needed! They then went back into the house and turned on a gameshow.
Aug 18
July 2021 – Quote of the Month
“If we offer too much silent assent about mysticism and superstition – even when it seems to be doing a little good – we abet a general climate in which scepticism is considered impolite, science tiresome, and rigorous thinking somehow stuffy and inappropriate. Figuring out a prudent balance takes wisdom.”
~ Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
Jul 29
Pro God Pro Gun Pro Life
Spotted in the parking lot of a local store:
I especially like the extra special logical incongruity of the ‘Pro Gun’ pistol barrel pointing at the ‘Pro Life’ heart.
The woman who (apparently) owned the vehicle was about mid-30s. White. She had a huge bag of dog food that I helped her heave into the vehicle. Not sure why that matters, but context is often interesting.
Jul 11
June 2021 – Quote of the Month
“Formerly, when religion was strong and science weak, men mistook magic for medicine; now, when science is strong and religion weak, men mistake medicine for magic.”
~ Thomas Szasz
Jun 28
Monuments for Slavery and Holidays for Freedom
Facebook, like most social media, has been a disappointment to me and I’ve taken to staying clear of it. But recently, after more than a half year’s absence, I did have an occasion to login and wish a friend well on a project. Naturally, I got sucked in…
It wasn’t long before I came across some attrocious posts. The most startling of which was one that reads, ‘So you tear down monuments that remind you of slavery… Then create a holiday to remember slavery‘. – Presented below with poster / commenters names redacted. (Although, I’m not entirely sure why I bothered, since, after all, they clearly shared this publicly from their accounts already. [I suppose, I want to make it less about the individuals and more about the flawed, ‘thinking’.])
I was tempted… SO TEMPTED to leave a comment to break down what is wrong with this, but wisely, I decided to not feed the trolls… Still, the stupidity of it was so overwhelming and the sentiment so sickening, I feel that I needed to vent somewhere, so… here we are.
The poster had written, ‘SMGDH’ = Smack my God Damn Head. – I volunteer for the duty!
I guess, for starters, I need to note how cock-sure the poster (and vast number of commenters) were, that this was a clearly an obvious sentiment and logical conclusion. And I’m struck about how cock-sure I am that this is unfathomably stupid and evil. But I’m going to outline the arguments and let the reader decide.
For starters, the poster seems to think that the confederate monuments are testaments against slavery, as opposed to being favorable memorials for the white supremacy, the confederacy and their traitorous and loathsome advocacy and support for slavery.
And / or, they seem to think that, the newly enacted federal holiday of ‘Juneteenth’ is an avocation in favor of slavery.
And / or that commemoration of liberty is equivalent morally to the celebration of the villains that tried to take away said liberty.
And / or that people simply want to, ‘forget that whole slavery thing already, so why are we making a holiday about it if we don’t also want statues… (?)’
When the reality is: the confederate statues are analogous to people erecting reverent statues for Osama bin Laden in the country’s town squares and then arguing that they’re there for the sake of ‘history’.
In this ever so slightly alternate world, not only would we have statues of Taliban leaders, nobly captured on bronze plinths and Taliban flags hanging from state capitals and as stickers on the bumpers of pick-up trucks, we’d also have memes that joked anyone who supported their removal couldn’t also, be advocates for the 9/11 memorial.
So, class, from the top:
• Statues to the confederacy are championing the leaders and concepts of people who advocated for the violent overthrow of the country, the subjugation of people, and in support of slavery.
• The Juneteenth holiday is in commemoration of the ending of the ugliest chapter in American history and is in celebration of freedom. (Editor’s note: I greatly prefer the other names for the holiday including Emancipation Day, Freedom Day and Black Independence Day which are far better ‘branding’.)
• Summary: Advocates for the holiday do not want slavery forgotten. They want to celebrate its defeat. They do not want to put slavery’s champions on literal pedestals.
“These statues are not just stone and metal. They are not just innocent remembrances of a benign history. These monuments purposefully celebrate a fictional, sanitized Confederacy; ignoring the death, ignoring the enslavement, and the terror that it actually stood for.”
~ Mitch Landrieu
Savvy?
Time to logoff of Facebook again and read a book.
Jun 23
May 2021 – Quote of the Month
“If you want to save your child from polio, you can pray or you can inoculate. … Choose science.”
~ Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
May 24
20 Years of GlenGreen.com
I’m a couple of days late in posting, but on May 22, 2021: This website turned 20 years old.
I’m sorry that I did not get to the post on that day, but life has been busy. – Good busy. – So: I’ll forgive myself.
When I started the site, I had some hopes that it might become, ‘something‘. – That hasn’t happened and yet, I’m glad I started and maintained the site. It’s been a good hobby. I’ve watched other people’s sites come and go or fall into neglect and yet I have persevered: which is something I take pride in.
Cheers to you old website. Happy birthday. Happy anniversary. May we have 20 more years or more together!
“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.”
~ William Wordsworth
May 18
April 2021 – Quote of the Month
“We are no longer happy so soon as we wish to be happier.”
~ Walter Savage Landor
Apr 27
It’s Just the Flu
In the last year, Covid has almost become the new, go to small-talk default subject, like weather. And so it was, that in talking with a work colleague, the person I was speaking with balked at the notion of getting a Covid vaccination. The person said, Covid is, ‘Just the flu’. And went on to brag about never even having a flu shot.
The lack of science literacy (much of it, willful), and poor societal risk assessment is getting a lot of people killed.
So, here are some facts and analysis to chew on:
Covid vs Flu
Influenza (Flu) and COVID-19 are both contagious respiratory illnesses, but they are caused by different viruses. COVID-19 is caused by infection with a new coronavirus (called SARS-CoV-2), and flu is caused by infection with influenza viruses.
R Nought
R0 is the reproductive rate of a contagion. Flu has an R Nought value of ~ 1.3; whereas Covid, has an R Nought value of 2 to 5.7. (And new versions are becoming more contagious. Because the disease is fairly new to medicine, researchers are still tabulating the data required to calculate R0 more or less in real time.) – As a historical comparison, the R0 of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic is estimated to have been between 1.4 and 2.8, according to an article published in BMC Medicine.
What’s more, unlike the flu, for which there is a vaccine, until just recently, everyone in the population is theoretically susceptible to COVID-19. That’s the difference in susceptibility between the flu which affects 8% vs 50% and 80% of the the population could be infected with COVID-19.
Long Haul
The attempts to mitigate the risk and the deaths get most of the headlines, but if people don’t care if they and their loved ones (or, fellow humanity), dies, then maybe perhaps they might be concerned with the potential, crippling ramifications of the disease that is affecting many.
Long COVID (aka Long-Haulers) is estimated to affect 10% to 30% of people who get symptomatic infection. According to new research shared by the medical journal “BMJ Open,” one or more organs are impaired for up to four months in 70% of long haulers.
I take this personally, as I know of a dear friend who took all of the precautions but still got Covid. He was not hospitalized, but now, a year later, he’s still handicapped by the disease with debilitating brain-fog, chronic fatigue and other quality of life crushing symptoms.
Vaccinated
I actually understand that some people are going to look at a disease, and say, ‘death happens’. – I get that instinct. To quote a friend of mine, ‘Over a long enough period of time, life is 100% fatal.‘
But it’s not a matter of unavoidable fate. Just on stats alone, the number of deaths and illnesses are exceptional and global: this isn’t the ‘just’ the flu. (Which would also be a lot worse if it wasn’t for mitigation.) In a perfectly logical world, we could probably erratic Covid. Alas, we don’t operate that perfectly. But we can mitigate the suffering and death if we cooperate more and take what measures we can.
As of this writing, an estimated ~ 575 thousand Americans have died from Covid in the course of about a year. Compare that to 500,193 Americans who were killed in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. – And all of those deaths are after the lock-downs and masks mitigations have reduced the severity. Imagine if those contingencies hadn’t been taken.
And sadly, so much of this anti-science, anti-reason rhetoric is political. I’m quite willing to bet that there is a correlation between the number of people who are feverishly anti-terrorist, gun hoarding, freedom-fry loving, flag waving, canned food hoarding zealots with those who balk at the notion of wearing a mask to protect themselves and their fellow citizens.
Forget basic humanitarian concerns, where are the profound Make America Great Again Patriotic™ concerns? Imagine if 500 MILLION Americans were killed in a year by terrorism. (Between 1995 to 2016, there were 3,393 facilities in the US. [3,005 of those occurred on 9/11]. We’ve seen that number of deaths in the US per day from Covid.)
(Not that we should ever forget the suffering in the rest of the world, because as the world burns, so shall we.)
For my part, I got vaccinated as quickly as I could without cutting line. I did my research before I got it. – With any medicine (and, frankly, anything in life), nothing is 100% risk free but I found that the risks associated with a new vaccine vs Covid were inconsequential. I acknowledge that science and human endeavors are often fraught with unintended consequences, and this could, hypothetically, be the case. But, as in all things in life: we are at our best when we weigh the evidence. And the evidence clearly demonstrates that the probability risk easily falls in the favor of a vaccination.
“We’ve arranged a global civilization in which most crucial elements profoundly depend on science and technology. We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster. We might get away with it for a while, but sooner or later this combustible mixture of ignorance and power is going to blow up in our faces.”
~ Carl Sagan,
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
Apr 13
March 2021 – Quote of the Month
“Our life is March weather, savage and serene in one hour.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Mar 31
Merchant and Urns
I spent a good deal of timing writing posts to the Friends and Family section of the site this month, and so: all I have time or energy for here is a quick and lazy sharing of a nearly random photo from my collection.
This is a merchant on the streets of Mandawa, India taken on November 11th, 2015. It’s one of my favorites from the trip because of the depth of the textures and the character of the man caught in some minor, passing moment.
Mar 26
February 2021 – Quote of the Month
“Groundhog found fog. New snows and blue toes. Fine and dandy for Valentine candy. Snow spittin’; if you’re not mitten-smitten, you’ll be frostbitten! By jing-y feels spring-y.”
~ The Old Farmer’s Almanac
Feb 28
Gleam Your Evening
Some text spam makes you feel like you’re missing out. I’ve never been ‘gleamed” before. It sounds so dirty and erotic. But it is nice to know that three strangers (Lippke, “I” and Layla) can surely sense that this link could gleam my evening. And it’s cute that they have a pet name for me, ‘Pauline’.
Feb 11
January 2021 – Quote of the Month
“But he that sows lies in the end shall not lack of a harvest, and soon he may rest from toil indeed, while others reap and sow in his stead.”
~ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion
Jan 31
Trump is Flushed but the Stink Lingers
The year that was 2020 was so challenging, it apparently decided to leak into January 2021 with an encore act called, ‘violent sedition in America in the interest of overthrowing a free and fair election’.
I could vent and storm on Traitorous Trump and his minions until my fingers bled onto my keyboard. But after more than four years of the Trump dumpster fire, I feel exhausted.
But in short:
A) I’m not remotely surprised.
B) The magnitude of the act should chill the blood and nauseate the stomach of every person who supports democracy. It is a topic that should not be washed from the forefront of our consciousness in a month, in a year or a decade.
C) It isn’t over yet. The body of the American democracy has been poisoned and I can’t hardly gauge how long it will last, how bad the reverberations will be. Although Trump was flushed from the Whitehouse, he, his offspring and cronies will continue to pollute our country for the foreseeable future. We now have something analogous to nearly half our population who say the world is flat. That is not the traditional, ‘loyal political opposition’. – That is a fundamental fractured world view. We are not a country that looks at the same facts and come to different conclusions. We are a country where almost half of the populace have ‘alternate facts‘.
“Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.”
~ Voltaire
On the plus side: Trump is no longer president. The so-called GOP are diminished in power in both houses. Some righting of wrongs can be undertaken. Hopefully, the foundations of our democracy can he be shored up so that they can better weather the next assault.
Jan 09
December 2020 – Quote of the Month
“The point of modern propaganda isn’t only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth.”
~ Garry Kasparov
Dec 31
Christmas Kitsch
As I’ve noted before, I’m rather a fan of yard Kitsch. (As long as its in other people’s yards, not mine and not my next door neighbors. [- It’s more of an, ‘admire from afar’ appreciation.])
So, it was with some enjoyment that I share this house. Every year, it’s good for some amusement. But finally, this year, we pulled over and took a couple of quick pics.
On an initial, quick review, one might find pleasure in the overall random color chaos. But if we zoom in, and pan around, we’ll see some real gems.
Starting on the left, there is a standard Santa alongside what appears to be a gingerbread house with a Santa hat wearing ginger man popping out of the chimney. Next to this is a gingerbread princess. Surrounding the princess are a large candy cane, a small candy cane, a couple of cut-out gingerbread me, an American flag and a nutcracker.
Panning right, we see some sort of stair critter peering from a melting snow mound. I can’t tell what species, but whatever it is, I think it has an eating disorder. I suspect that this is not a seasonal decoration, but intended as a year-round improvement to the yard aesthetic.
Tucked along the porch edge is a bright blue Eeyore with one blue hoof on the head of what appears to be a rabbit holding a lamp (or the glass elevator from Willy Wonka). And if you look in the left corner of this image, in front of the mini-stone bird bath, there appears to be a Mickey or Mini Mouse face-planted in the mulch.
As we continue our journey along the bedding, we find a small collection of Disney Dwarves and a Snow White (whose head is covered under a garbage bag). I wonder if all the dwarves are there, but some are hidden beneath the garbage. In front of the dwarves is a Pepsi can.
Panning further back, and up the fence, we see two Disney decorative plates: a Tinker Bell and a Beauty (of the Beast fame.) I suspect (or hope), that they are not official Disney merchandise given the fact that they are extra garish.
Now, let’s zoom out a bit to appreciate the right side of the image more holistically.
The top windows of the house have 3 light-up plastic wreathes. The porch, the tree, and part of the sidewalk path are garnished with different sized lights.
Tucked on the porch are colorful remnants: some decorations that did not make the cut. One wonders what the criteria is for failing.
Framing the stairs are two large ‘Noel’ candles and a rather puffy candy-cane.
An inflatable Micky monitors the sidewalk and a maliciously grinning Grinch closely inspects the dormant grass in front of the dirty snow. To the right of the Grinch is a stray garbage bag that might be suffocating some additional, unseen dwarves.
To the far right, we see a light-up faux pine tree scaffolding, topped with a star. Behind the tree is a bench painted with the American flag.
Now, let’s zoom back in to the centerpiece…
The pièce de résistance is the plastic Nativity scene which includes an orange cow; a porcelain-white (and yet-somehow middle-eastern) Mary (who seems to be staring into the void, contemplating her life choices); a pink shawed Joseph; two wise-men and a donkey with alien eyes kneeling in reverence over a cradle-less baby Princess Leah (who apparently lights up but is currently unplugged).
Behind all, the gingerbread man seems really delighted at having knocked out the third wise-man who lies supine behind Mary.
It delights me to think of the owner putting down the last of the decorations: the final touches. Standing back, hand on hips, a pleased smile and a knowing gleam in the eye. ‘There. That’s it!‘
I hope they had fun decorating, because I, at least, had fun looking at the decorations.
Happy New Year.
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