“Whether we and our politicians know it or not, Nature is party to all our deals and decisions, and she has more votes, a longer memory, and a sterner sense of justice than we do.”
~ Wendell Berry
Dec 01
November 2016 – Quote of the Month
Nov 10
Beware of a Deplorable Trump Comb Over
Chump Trump Change
I’m sickened and aghast that Trump won† .
I won’t claim that the election was rigged. Trump is the president elect. (Not that he’d have said the same if he’d lost.)
But that doesn’t mean that I have to support him.
I appreciate and advocate that Obama is continuing the legacy of a peaceful transfer of power, but I can”t get behind his statements that, ‘we are all rooting for his (Trump’s) success in uniting and leading the country.’
No, President Obama. No, I’m not rooting for him. I do not want his ideas, his racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, credulous, isolationist, criminal, warmongering, fascist, mendacious ideas to be remotely successful or that he should unite us, as a country, in the pursuit of the worst of human nature.
I’d thought that Trump was going to lose. I’d thought that the neo-cons / alt-right misinformation campaigns through mass market, corporate controlled media was a snake that was about to eat its own tail. But I underestimated the effects of a generational long intellectual poisoning.
And indeed, it is this generational effect that has me feeling grave beyond the damage that Trump and Pence will do in four years. With the Republican senate instituting a constitutional crisis by failing to even hold hearings on Obama’s respected, centrist nominee to the Supreme Court, we’re now in line for one and likely more Trump / Pence ultra-conservative judges. These judges will almost certainly be in place well after Trump’s other cronies are swept into the dustbin of infamy.
There isn’t much hope for the foreseeable future. Even if Trump dies or scandalously crashes and burns (and that is doubtful since he seems to be made of poisonous asbestos), we’ll still be stuck with far right wacko Mike Pence.
Deplorable
Hillary Clinton famously said that, ‘you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic — you name it. And unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up.‘ (A phrase that she later recanted.)
What is far less reported is that she want on to say:
‘But the other basket — and I know this because I see friends from all over America here — I see friends from Florida and Georgia and South Carolina and Texas — as well as, you know, New York and California — but that other basket of people are people who feel that the government has let them down, the economy has let them down, nobody cares about them, nobody worries about what happens to their lives and their futures, and they’re just desperate for change. It doesn’t really even matter where it comes from. They don’t buy everything he says, but he seems to hold out some hope that their lives will be different.’
For my part, I think that broadly calling a group of people by a label is errant. But Ideas, and individuals, and philosophies, they can be deplorable. Discrimination, racism and those who willfully hold to these concepts are worthy of reproach. But beyond that, who would argue that the KKK or ISIS aren’t deplorable as a group who hold a shared philosophy? And they are a ‘group’ because they share an ideology – a hateful ideology that civilization must rebuke. But to be clear: I think that the vast majority of Trump’s followers do not hold to these ideas.
But Trump himself? He is a promoter of dark, malignant lies and fear mongering hatred and is to be berated every time he pukes out his venom.
Some Animals
And I hold little hope that he’s capable of meaningful, positive change. I won’t be fooled by his attempts to whitewash and comb-over his false statements.
Ever read George Orwell’s Animal Farm? Recall how at night, when the other animals weren’t looking, that the pigs repainted the seven commandments of Animalism? “All animals are equal” became, “All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.”
Well, the attempt to white wash Trump’s history is well underway:
Muslim ban statement ‘removed’ from Donald Trump’s website.
The Trump team appears to have removed the statement, in which Mr Trump said on December 7, 2015:
“Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.
According to Pew Research, among others, there is great hatred towards Americans by large segments of the Muslim population. Without looking at the various polling data, it is obvious to anybody the hatred is beyond comprehension. Where this hatred comes from and why we will have to determine,” the statement continued.
Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in Jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life.”
The only thing wrong with this cartoon is: Trump doesn’t actually say he’s sorry. He just changes the subject to his next obscenity.
My memory isn’t so short. I won’t soon forget what Trump has said and done and I’ll resist his, and his advocates’ efforts to further poison the country: to make America Hate Again.
† (Footnote: And lest we forget, for the record: Trump won the electoral college but like G.W. Bush’s first election, Trump lost the popular vote.)
Nov 08
October 2016 – Quote of the Month
“The trouble is that we have a bad habit, encouraged by pedants and sophisticates, of considering happiness as something rather stupid. Only pain is intellectual, only evil interesting. This is the treason of the artist; a refusal to admit the banality of evil and the terrible boredom of pain.”
~ Ursula K. Le Guin, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
Oct 25
Trumpster Fire
Dump Trump
We’re on the cusp of the election and it looks like Donald Trump is going down in flames.
Donald Trump Dumpster Fire aka, “Trumpster Fire”
Beyond all of his lies, beyond the misogyny, xenophobia and calls for violence , Trump’s latest trick is to attempt undermining the foundation of our democracy: the expectation of a fair and honest election.
There is no doubt, that we need to keep a weary eye on the fair and legal proceedings of our elections, but making unsubstantiated claims that are elections are rigged is antithetical to a democracy.
George to John and Beyond
I’d once heard it said, that the most important election in a fledgling democracy isn’t the first one – it’s the second. The fact that George Washington peacefully ceded power to John Adams was more critical to our democracy than the election of Washington himself.
But the Donald is prepared to burn the country down with false allegations in order to protect his ego since, he knows, in his dark heart, that he’s going to lose hard. And what’s worse: to a woman!
Sep 29
Guernica and the E Street Band
Friends from work were aware that I had the privilege of seeing Bruce Springsteen from ‘the pit’ (now a great term BTW) a couple of weeks ago. During our lunch conversation, one of my friends said he wasn’t interested. He doesn’t like how Springsteen gets involved in politics; that he thinks artists and the ilk should keep their mouths shut about such things. And to be clear, my friend’s argument wasn’t with Springsteen’s views (although I don’t think it is a coincidence that he doesn’t agree with them), his argument was: actors, musicians and the like should keep their mouths shut.
Springsteen opened with a beautiful rendition of ‘New York Serenade‘ for his September 11th show in Pittsburgh. With no commentary he then proceeded to play a number of songs from his album, ‘The Rising’. – Songs influenced by the events from 9/11.
For those ignorant of the matter, they should understand that Springsteen is famous for telling stories and anecdotes during his show: many humors, some touching, others telling but few explicitly political. Still, during the nights performance he did have two choice words for Donald Trump.
But beyond that, he let the work speak for itself and I’m left to marvel how anyone should think that an artist shouldn’t be involved in politics. I wonder how limited that would make all forms of art. By direct way of example, a significant portion of Springsteen’s best work is political in nature.
That isn’t to say that an artist is right because they are an artist, or famous, or both, nor does all art (or artist) need to be political but throughout history artists and philosophers are often the people who have helped highlight and elevate political discourse the most.
“Artists to my mind are the real architects of change, and not the political legislators who implement change after the fact. ”
~ William S. Burroughs
Picasso’s Guernica is regarded by many art critics as one of the most moving and powerful anti-war paintings in history.
I wish more of our society worked to be both informed and passionate about governance and if that means that Ted Nugent has a voice in the discussion: good. – I’ll take my chances that, over time, the best ideas win out.
Aug 29
The Dreamers of Dreams
I really know next to nothing about the man Gene Wilder who died today at the age of 83.
We are the music makers… and we are the dreamers of dreams.
~ Willy Wonka
But I do know that he left an indelible glowing and warm memory in my childhood: that of Willy Wonka from the 1971 classic Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.
“I can’t go on forever, and I don’t really want to try. So who can I trust to run the factory when I leave and take care of the Oompa Loompas for me? Not a grown up. A grown up would want to do everything his own way, not mine. So that’s why I decided a long time ago that I had to find a child. A very honest, loving child, to whom I could tell all my most precious candy making secrets.”
~ Willy Wonka
And so, for his artistry and in morning of another childhood light that is crossed by shadow, I was sorry to hear of his death. But I hope that the images and sounds of his whimsical, (if sometimes deliciously dark) portrayal of the candy man lights a candle of pure imagination for generations to come.
“Where is fancy bred, in the heart or in the head?”
~ Willy Wonka
Thanks for the memories Mr. Wilder.
“A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men.”
~ Willy Wonka
Aug 03
July 2016 – Quote of the Month
“My attitude to peace is rather based on the Burmese definition of peace – it really means removing all the negative factors that destroy peace in this world. So peace does not mean just putting an end to violence or to war, but to all other factors that threaten peace, such as discrimination, such as inequality, poverty.”
~Aung San Suu Kyi
Jul 31
Camp Cow or Brazen Bull
Buy a Brazen Bull for your next Lawn and Torture Party
I have a fondness for lawn ornaments – as long as they are in other people’s yards and preferably not next door neighbors.
On my drive home from work, I encountered a roadside collection of custom made metal yard decorations and I had to stop to check them out.
I quite enjoyed the 6 foot tall velociraptor but I was really intrigued by the six foot long golden bovine grill: both aesthetically ‘striking’ and functional!
Seeing this grill reminded me of the dark tale of the Brazen Bull: a torture and execution device designed in ancient Greece.
The story goes that an ancient greek ruler – Phalaris commissioned a bronze boiler shaped like a bull to torture and execute criminals. The concept behind the device was that some luckless wretch would be tossed into the metal sculpture while a fire was lit beneath – cooking the condemned alive.
As if that wasn’t fun enough, the chap who invented it – a fellow named Perillos, designed it with a series of pipes that converted the screams of the condemned into the sounds of a bull angrily bellowing. (In fairness: remember that this was before TV and Donald Trump rallies.)
Unfortunately for Perillos, Phalaris ordered that the inventor be tossed into the chamber for its trial run. (The National Endowment for the Arts had a much rougher funding and vetting process back then.)
The story also goes on to tell that later, Phalaris himself was killed in the brazen bull when he was overthrown.
I think there is a lesson here about the risks of getting involved in roasting one’s fellow humans in metal farm animals.
Anyway, who wants a hotdog?
Jul 08
June 2016 – Quote of the Month
“While we are under the tyranny of Priests, it will ever be their interest, to invalidate the law of nature and reason, in order to establish systems incompatible therewith.”
~Ethan Allen
Jun 19
Warning: Outdoors May Contain Nature
Personal Tragedy or National News Fodder
On June 14th, 2016, tragedy struck a Nebraska family when their two year old son was attacked and killed by an alligator at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. Five days later and this event is still making national headline news.
As unadulteratedly heartbreaking as this is for the child’s family; as much as they will be scarred for the rest of their live; even allowing Disney’s place in popular culture and footie-pajama memories; this story does not warrant the national handwringing that has been blaring from our media for nearly a week.
News Flash: Alligator’s Live in Florida
Risk Assessment
Just another hunter like a wolf in the sun
Just another junkie on a scoring run
Just another victim of the things he has done
Just another day in the life of a loaded gunThe odds get even, you name the game
The odds get even, the stakes are the same
You bet your life~ Rush
According to the 2005 Scholastic Book of World Records, the majority of the world’s alligators inhabit Florida and Louisiana, with over a million alligators in each state. (Southern Florida is the only place where both alligators and crocodiles live side by side.) There are 1.3 million alligators across the state of Florida ‒ that’s one for every 15 people.
Disney World is built on wetlands – the natural habitat of gators and other Florida native reptiles. In fact, they built the park on a big mound of dirt from the earth that was scooped out to make the Seven Seas Lagoon. The entire property is interconnected via canals and is quintessential alligator habitat.
Disney World covers 43 square miles and hosts 50 million visitors a year. (And there are another 60,000 employees who work at the park.)
A small subset of Disney World’s Waterways surrounding the Magic Kingdom
Nearly 90 percent of all alligator attacks in the U.S. happen in Florida. Florida averages about seven serious unprovoked bites a year, and officials put the odds of someone being seriously injured by an unprovoked alligator in Florida at roughly one in 2.4 million.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission there have been 56 alligator attacks in the Sunshine State between 2010 and 2015, with only one fatality. The main reason is, small alligators make up the majority of the alligator population and don’t pose a threat to human beings.
And yet, for all of the alligators sharing the same space as mouse ear attired tourists, there have only been two significant attacks on humans since the parks inception. – And that is in spite of visitors propensity for feeding them and approaching them for photo opportunities.
Odds on Death
Compare those stats with these odds of death in America:
| Cause of death | Number of U.S. deaths | Rate of deaths |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Cardiovascular disease | 614,348 | 193 per 100,000 |
| 2. Cancer | 591,699 | 186 per 100,000 |
| 3. Chronic lower respiratory disease | 147,101 | 46 per 100,000 |
| 4. Accidents | 136,053 | 43 per 100,000 |
| 5. Strokes | 133,103 | 42 per 100,000 |
| 6. Alzheimer’s disease | 93,541 | 29 per 100,000 |
| 7. Diabetes | 76,488 | 24 per 100,000 |
| 8. Influenza and pneumonia | 55,227 | 17 per 100,000 |
| Drug overdoses | 47,055 | 15 per 100,000 |
| Kidney disease | 48,146 | 15 per 100,000 |
| Intentional self-harm | 42,773 | 13 per 100,000 |
| Septicemia | 38,940 | 12 per 100,000 |
| Liver disease | 38,170 | 12 per 100,000 |
| Transportation accidents | 37,195 | 12 per 100,000 |
| Parkinson’s disease | 26,150 | 8 per 100,000 |
| Firearm assault | 10,945 | 3 per 100,000 |
| HIV | 6,721 | 2 per 100,000 |
| Pedestrian deaths | 6,258 | 2 per 100,000 |
But even if we sift the data to eliminate many of these causes of death (which are often the result of broader lifestyle and hereditary causes) and we go the the extreme – death’s caused by animals, this is what we see:
Average annual animal caused fatalities in the US, 2001-2013
- Alligators, sharks and bears each kill an average of one person per year.
- Venomous snakes and lizards kill six per year
- Spiders kill seven
- Cows take out twenty people per year on average
- Dogs – man’s best friend – takes out twenty-eight people
- Bees, wasps and hornets kill fifty-eight
Caution: Signs Up Ahead
In spite of these facts and the incredibly low odds of getting hurt, let alone killed by an alligator, this event has led to some criticize Disney for not having proper signage.
Although Disney did in fact, have signs meant to discourage swimming, I think it is fair to say that given the beach like property, wading into the water was not an unreasonable thing to do and so the family can’t be blamed for being reckless.
But because the family and unfortunate child weren’t careless, that doesn’t mean that Disney is culpable for the actions of all indigenous animals on its property.
But still we’re told: signs would have made a difference, even though it would take quite a sign to list the causes of death at Disney World. If not signs: perhaps fences around all water. If not fences, walls…
Everglades National Park sign warning not to approach alligators.
A number of years ago, I did a bike tour of the Everglades National Park. Mammoth alligators would often sun themselves on the bike trail. One either rode around them (our option), or turned back. Seeing these great animals was a fantastic experience.
My friends and I talked to a park ranger about the gators and tourist reactions. We were told stories about tourists who would lay down next to 10 foot long alligators so that they could get their photo taken by their family. One tourist had even climbed on the back of an alligator for a photo opp, all in spite of the numerous signs to be found warning people not to approach alligators.
If signs weren’t good enough to keep people from approaching the actual alligators themselves, how effective is a sign going to be to keep people from simply wading into water?
We react to untimely, visceral death more emotionally than the everyday variety, even if we’re far more likely to give up the ghost from a car accident than an attack from a reptile. We may die in our lazy boy recliner at the age of 90 or we may be a bear’s breakfast when we’re 16 years old. But in the end, given enough time, life is 100% fatal and there aren’t enough signs in the world to keep nature at bay.
For my part: if I ever get taken out by a wild animal, either by my own stupidity or by the chances of life: please don’t post any signs or erect any guardrails in my name.
On the other hand, I would take a nice trail name. Perhaps something like, “Glen Green Grisly Grizzly Memorial Scenic Sunset Trail“.
Disney: You’ve Been Warned
Sign, sign, everywhere a sign
Blockin’ out the scenery, breakin’ my mind
Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign?~Five Man Electrical Band
May 28
Big Screen TVs Squashed by UHD
Bigger is Better if You can Stand it
When I was a kid, the “cool” place to sit in a movie theater was in the very back row. As I got older, I realized that defeated much of the purpose of going to the movies: a larger than life BIG screen experience. By sitting at the back of the theater, one essentially makes the 35 foot screen equivalent to watching a 50 inch screen from ten feet away. You can hold up your hand and block out the screen if you want.
I’m now of the philosophy that to fully appreciate the movie going experience, the screen should be just shy of comfortably filling my peripheral vision.
So, it should be of no surprise that, as something of a home theater aficionado, I buy the highest quality big screen I can afford. Currently that means a 75″ 1080p Samsung Series 8 8000 that I bought a year or two ago. If I had my way, I’d have at least a 120″ TV.
I’ve also been working to upgrade my home theater speakers, which included transitioning to Definitive Technology speakers. Having tastes that exceed my budget, I haven’t bought a full compliment yet but I did buy a Definitive Technology center speaker.
And here is where my 1st world problems start: my legacy Ikea TV stand (from the days when I ‘only’ owned a 65″ Sony Vega), is barely large enough for my Samsung, but more to the problem: it does not accommodate my center speaker, so I’m forced to sit my speaker in front of my TV. This is only barley tolerable when I’m watching a letter-boxed movie and the image isn’t blocked by the speaker.
I’m not prepared to wall mount my TV or speaker for the time being, for various reasons, so this problem sent me on a hunt for a TV stand or entertainment center that would accommodate both my center speaker, components and TV without my image being blocked.
This issue is further exacerbated because my speaker not only fires sound forward, but up towards the ceiling as well, so I don’t want to trap it inside a cabinet or under a shelf. So, I’ve spent a good bit of time trying to find an attractive solution and have been surprised to find that there are few good choices to accommodate TVs larger than 65″.
Where Have All the Really Big Screen 1080p TVs Gone?
My search took me both online and to brick and mortar stores like my local Best Buy, and it was here that I was surprised to find 65″ Ultra High Def TVs are now as cheap, or cheaper than my 75″ 1080p TV was a couple of years ago. Perhaps with the release of UHD Blu-Rays and some streaming content starting to be released, it will finally be worth buying an UHD TV. This was a new temptation and I started to fantasize about moving my 75″ TV to another room, thinking I might be able to forego the Ultra High Def and instead get a larger 1080 big screen.
So, I perused the TVs in Best Buy and then later, at home, online and to my dismay, I started to learn that big screen TVs – bigger than 65 inches, have started to disappear. My search finally lead me to this article “Where Have All the Really Big 1080p TVs Gone?” that explained the disappearance: Ultra HD happened. In terms of TV pricing, the race to the bottom has run its course; right now, manufacturers are now looking for reasons to charge more for their televisions, not less.
So, I’ll probably be forced to commission a custom TV stand that fits my needs and I’ll likely be making for UHD TVs to become both big and affordable.
Oh, how shall I ever survive?
Apr 30
Trumped Trump
Donald Trump could almost qualify as a cartoon character, except for the dark rancor that spews from his round, orange mouth. What at first might have seemed like an extension of one of his reality TV shows has long crossed the border into scary fascism.
Here is why I think the man is a danger based on his own words:
-
Donald Trump is xenophobic
“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending the best. They’re not sending you, they’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bring crime. They’re rapists… And some, I assume, are good people.”
“Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on. According to Pew Research, among others, there is great hatred towards Americans by large segments of the Muslim population.”
“I have a great relationship with the blacks. I’ve always had a great relationship with the blacks.”
-
Donald is antithetical to the values of liberty and justice
“I would bring back waterboarding and I’d bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding.”
“We’re losing a lot of people because of the Internet. We have to see Bill Gates and a lot of different people who really understand what’s happening and maybe, in some ways, closing that Internet up in some ways.”
“I would certainly implement that. Absolutely… There should be a lot of systems, beyond databases. We should have a lot of systems… They have to be. They have to be… It’s all about management.” (In reference to supporting a database and ID cards to track Muslims in the U.S.)
-
Trump’s willful ignorance which includes science, history and world affairs
“I am totally in favor of vaccines. But I want smaller doses over a longer period of time. Same exact amount, but you take this little beautiful baby, and you pump–I mean, it looks just like it’s meant for a horse, not for a child, and we’ve had so many instances, people that work for me. … [in which] a child, a beautiful child went to have the vaccine, and came back and a week later had a tremendous fever, got very, very sick, now is autistic.”
“Just so you understand, I don’t know anything about David Duke, OK? I don’t know anything about what you’re even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacists. So I don’t know. I don’t know — did he endorse me, or what’s going on? Because I know nothing about David Duke; I know nothing about white supremacists.” (fusing to condemn former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard and noted white supremacist David Duke, who endorsed Trump for president)
-
Donald’s sexism
“You’re disgusting” – said to a female lawyer during a court case after she asked for a break to pump breast milk for her 3-month-old daughter.
“26,000 unreported sexual assults [sic] in the military — only 238 convictions. What did these geniuses expect when they put men & women together?”
-
Donald Trump’s pandering
“I love the poorly educated.”
-
Trump’s arrogance (and insecurity)
“All of the women on The Apprentice flirted with me – consciously or unconsciously. That’s to be expected.”
“My IQ is one of the highest — and you all know it! Please don’t feel so stupid or insecure; it’s not your fault.”
“Look at those hands, are they small hands? And, [Republican rival Marco Rubio] referred to my hands: ‘If they’re small, something else must be small.’ I guarantee you there’s no problem. I guarantee.”
“I think apologizing’s a great thing, but you have to be wrong. I will absolutely apologize, sometime in the hopefully distant future, if I’m ever wrong.”
-
Donald’s immaturity
“I never attacked him on his look, and believe me, there’s plenty of subject matter right there.” (On Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul)
“You know, it really doesn`t matter what [the media] write as long as you`ve got a young and beautiful piece of ass.”
“A person who is very flat chested is very hard to be a 10.”
-
Trump maligns, bullies and incites violence
“He’s (John McCain) not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured, OK, I hate to tell you.”
“There may be somebody with tomatoes in the audience. If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously. Okay? Just knock the hell — I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees.” (Encouraging violence at his rallies)
“That was so great. Who was the person who did that? Put up your hand, put up your hand. Bring that person up here. I love that.” (Praising two audience members who tackled a protester at his rally in South Carolina, Feb. 16, 2016)
-
Donald Trump is avaricious
“The point is, you can never be too greedy.”
“The beauty of me is that I’m very rich.”
-
Donald’s creepiness
“I’ve said if Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her.”
“My fingers are long and beautiful, as, it has been well documented, are various other parts of my body.”
-
Donald Trump is a conspiracist
“An ‘extremely credible source’ has called my office and told me that Barack Obama’s birth certificate is a fraud”
“I watched when the World Trade Center came tumbling down. And I watched in Jersey City, New Jersey, where thousands and thousands of people were cheering as that building was coming down. Thousands of people were cheering.”
“It’s really cold outside, they are calling it a major freeze, weeks ahead of normal. Man, we could use a big fat dose of global warming!”
-
Sadly, ‘The Donald’ might be right about at least one thing…
“I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot people and I wouldn’t lose voters.”
Mar 30
Clown and Pig have Bad Intentions
Have you ever watched a horror film that depicted a possessed or evil doll and thought that it stretches credulity to think that anybody would ever buy such a creepy looking toy in real life?
Annabelle the doll from the 2014 movie says, ‘Take me home. What could go wrong?’
Chucky from the 1981 movie “Child’s Play” has eyes that only a serial killer could find enticing.
Well, wonder no more. I spotted these two evil stuffed toys leering out from the bin of an arcade claw game in a local Steak ‘n Shake, just waiting to dine on the flesh and soul of some foolish suburban family.
Stuffed Clown and Pig will drink the warm blood of your children.
“Here you go kids. – Enjoy your new stuffed toys and sweet dreams!”
Feb 29
Fit to be Tied
Trying to increase my fitness, I’ve been working out six to seven days a week, for 30-90 minutes a day. – A pretty respectable workout routine. And yet, in spite of the fact that I’m going out of my way to pick up weights and run, I get very irritated anytime I forget my water bottle or music and I have to walk a single flight of steps to retrieve them so that I can start my exercises.
Jan 23
Elven and Hobbit Power Tools
Amazon recommendations for me under, “Power & Hand Tools”. Oh Amazon! You know me so well!
Jan 07
December 2015 – Quote of the Month
“The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is reason.”
~Thomas Paine
Dec 28
India Observations Redux
I’ve been back from India for over a month and thought I’d share a few more observations from the trip to compliment my Bangalore Vernacular post from October.
- There are many road-side options to buy motorcycle helmets, and although drivers often wore them, passengers (which are very common), seldom do. – This lack of head gear includes children and women who often ride on the same bike with the helmeted man driving.
- Many women ride side-saddle in saris as passengers on motorcycles (usually without helmets – as noted above). – A very scary sight: I kept dreading seeing a woman’s dress get pulled into the spokes of the bike – yanking her hard onto the road and into the fast moving, chaotic traffic.
- Even though there is an over abundance of garbage piled along the roads, there is almost no graffiti to be seen.
- Although male-female Public Displays of Affection (PDA) are not to be seen, men platonically hold hands, hug, and walk with arms around each other in spite of the fact that there seems to be strong cultural currents of homophobia.
- Traffic speed is controlled by large speed bumps.
- Motorists drive the center of the road – apparently to maximize the options available to them in terms of lanes and passing.
- Given the very poor state of road maintenance, tire repair and replacement stands are common road-side sights.
- At night, the vast majority of people street-side are men. – Women go missing.
- People seen along the roads, squat as opposed to sit: this includes older people.
- The areas around the India airports of Bangalore, New Dehli and Jaipur (at least), are kept relatively tidy and are complimented with extensive gardens.
- There are swastika (svastikas in Sanskrit) – an ancient symbol of auspiciousness in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Of course, India had the symbol before the Nazis, but it still catches the eye and one realizes how deep and dark the Nazi symbolism is to the Western eye.
- In spite of the ever-present refuse, markets areas smell good with the scents of flowers and food – only occasionally punctured with something more pungent.
If I had to sum up my experience in India into a bumper-sticker, I’d say that it isn’t always pretty but it is always interesting. Poverty and pollution are realities of India and likely to shock those who have not previously visited a developing nation, (or ventured outside of their Caribbean vacation resort compounds). However, the open minded traveler is well rewarded with a country full of vitality, amazing sights, warm hospitality and countless pleasant surprises. Just don’t drink the water and you’ll be more than fine.
Nov 13
Travel Tip for Parents
A traveling tip for parental units: When the airport luggage carousel is jam pack surrounded with adults trying to get their bags, you’d be wise to move the little kiddies away from the machinery instead of letting them play with it, occupying a much needed spot. Alternatively: keep your mouth shut if your spawn gets clipped by an adult heaving a 50lb suitcase off of a conveyor belt when there is no more than 6 inches of space on either side.
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Oct 29
Bangalore Vernacular
I’m a few days into my first trip to Bangalore (Bengaluru), or for that matter: my first trip to India.
A few initial, random observations:
- People are very friendly (but then again: I’m of the philosophy that you find what you’re looking for when you travel).
- Plugs tend to spark a bit when you stick them in an outlet.
- Driving on the road involves extra dimensional spaces that did not exist a moment before your car somehow, wondrously, did not collide with an oncoming auto, motorcycle and pedestrian.
- Vehicles use their horns as a form of echolocation. The regularly send out beeps, testing if the coast is clear and letting others know they are there. Pedestrians, motorist and cyclist do not seem at all perturbed by the regular blasts and few honks seem to be in anger.
- The city is exceedingly vibrant and forever in motion. There is a continues stream of street vignettes: each different from the last.
- Service is top notch.
- There are a lot of street dogs. (A lot more than there are street cows.)
- People tend to be sharp dressers – and women’s outfits are often particularly striking and beautiful. – Makes me wish that we could see some of those fashions take hold in the US.
- Apparently, Indians can’t recognize an American accent when they hear one. Compared to Greece, when every person could identify an American from a block away before ever opening one’s mouth. Indians can have a conversation with you and then ask what country you’re from.
- As we drive on the right side of the road in the US, we also tend to walk down the right side of hallways and rooms. Conversely, in India, everything is reverse. This results in regular confusion and near collisions as I walk down the inappropriate side.
Sep 28
An Absolute Monarchy in the Minds of Men
For all of the humanistic conventions and relative progressiveness of Pope Francis*, that is enchanting the people; here, at the bedrock is what continues to disturb me: the fostering of supernatural, magical beliefs. If the disservice and damage that this magical mindset does among the everyday individual is disturbing enough, it is downright scary when found in the halls of power.
*(Although not reflected in change of doctrine.)
In his congressional office, Rep. Bob Brady, D-Pa., drinks from the glass of water Pope Francis used during his speech to Congress.
As reported in “The Blaze“:
Brady took the glass to his Capitol Hill office where he sipped some of the water. The Pennsylvania Democrat passed it around to his wife and staffers.
“Anything the pope touches becomes blessed,” he told The Post. “I think so and no one is going to change my mind.”
According to The Post, Brady invited Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) to his office to dip his fingers in the remaining water. Brady’s wife and mother apparently also took part in that practice.
And so, one is reminded of Francis Bacon:
Atheism leaves a man to sense, to philosophy, to natural piety, to laws, to reputation; all of which may be guides to an outward moral virtue, even if religion vanished; but religious superstition dismounts all these and erects an absolute monarchy in the minds of men.
– Francis Bacon
Sep 03
August 2015 – Quote of the Month
The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend.
~ Abraham Lincoln
Aug 30
Based on Your Browsing History, Amazon Recommends…
I take a perverse satisfaction in these screen captures from my Amazon account.
Taken as a group, they paint quite the picture.
- A motion activated light
- A dustbuster
- Wireless video camera with night vision
- A life sized animatronic clown
- 12 D-Cell Batteries
- Mask Latex
- Cable Splitter
Sounds like the making of a hell of a party if you ask me!
Aug 02
July 2015 – Quote of the Month
The world is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.
~ Bertrand Russell
Jul 31
Drive-in
I hadn’t been to a drive-in since my early twenties. That’s some time ago. With summer at hand, and a plan to take Friday July 24th off of work, we found ourselves free to stay out late on a Thursday night (avoiding crowds), so we headed out to the Moon Township ‘Dependable’ drive-in.
We drove about an hour, sat in lawn chairs in fleece jackets in the cool summer air, endured neighboring cars shining headlights into our eyes, watched the Minions movie in a distant screen and listened to thin, tinny sound through old speakers mounted on a pole next to us. My 75 inch high-def TV and surround sound offers far superior visuals and sound.
We had pizza, a corn dog, popcorn and funnel cake buried under powdered sugar. Drive-in health food.
Sunset on the drive-in snack bar.
A wonderful, vintage snack bar intermission between the double features.
… And yet it was wonderful. – A slice of Americana; a dream of summer internal; a heartfelt pull of childhood nostalgia. I salute the proprietors the ‘Dependable’: the staff was friendly, the food was good and they clearly had a love of the vintage heyday of drive-ins.
I’ll happily do it again.
Jun 04
May 2015 – Quote of the Month
Long stormy spring-time, wet contentious April, winter chilling the lap of very May, but at length the season of summer does come.
~Thomas Carlyle
May 31
Only the Essentials Vending Machine
Spotted in the men’s room of the Toronto airport – everything you need for an evening out.
From a vending machine in the Toronto airport – only the essentials – pain killer, condoms, breath mints and tattoos
May 02
April 2015 – Quote of the Month
It is a curious thought, but it is only when you see people looking ridiculous that you realize just how much you love them.
~Agatha Christie
Apr 27
Princess with Medium Skin Tone
I often use Apple’s iPhone Siri to read texts to me. When receiving an emoticon, she describes it. And so I was greatly amused when I received a text with an Apple princess emoji and Siri described her as, “Princess with Medium Skin Tone“.
I think that should be the title for the next Disney princess movie.
Apr 04
March 2015 – Quote of the Month
No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn.
~ Hal Borland
Mar 30
Smithfield Street Bridge on a Foggy March Morning
Smithfield Street Bridge on a Foggy March Morning – iPhone photo by Glen Green
(Click photo for a larger view)
Sharing a quick iPhone photo from a beautiful, foggy March Morning as the sun rose behind Smithfield Street bridge. – No crop, no filters and unprocessed.
Mar 02
February 2015 – Quote of the Month
Of winter’s lifeless world each tree
Now seems a perfect part;
Yet each one holds summer’s secret
Deep down within its heart.~ Charles G. Slater
Feb 21
January 2015 – Quote of the Month
Man is the only kind of varmint sets his own trap, baits it, then steps in it.
~ John Steinbeck,
Sweet Thursday
Jan 24
Too Bad Boko Haram Didn’t Deflate a Football
A ridiculous amount of national news cycles has been spent on America’s favorite tax dodgers – the NFL and their latest sports cheating scandal, “Deflate-Gate“. – I’ve watched the story either lead, or take second on the TV news all week.
As if there weren’t already entire series of channels devoted to covering sports, such petty concerns dislodge any number of real-world problems. Take the Boko Haram as a single example. The moment that these barbarians would touch one blonde hair of a white American girl, then we’d have a new war to go to. – But until then, we can hardly concern ourselves.
Protesters march against the killing of over 47 students of Potiskum Government Comprehensive School in Yobe State, Nigeria, Nov. 17, 2014.
Jan 24
December 2014 – Quote of the Month
For disappearing acts, it’s hard to beat what happens to the eight hours supposedly left after eight of sleep and eight of work.
~Doug Larson
Jan 12
November 2014 – Quote of the Month
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone.
It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.
The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities.
It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population.
It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals. It is some 50 miles of concrete highway.
We pay for a single fighter plane with a half million bushels of wheat.
We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people…
This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.
~Dwight Eisenhower
Dec 30
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Whereas others have decorated their house for the winter holidays – namely, christmas, we’ve kept the arachnid Halloween decorations up in our entryway – Cirith Ungol (Sindarin for Spider’s Cleft, or Pass of the Spider).
All Photos by Yours Truly – Glen Green. Click on images to see larger versions.
In a ravine she lived, and took shape as a spider of monstrous form, weaving her black webs in a cleft of the mountains. There she sucked up all light that she could find, and spun it forth again in dark nets of strangling gloom, until no light more could come to her abode; and she was famished.
– J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion, Of the Darkening of Valinor)
Shelob
Glow in the dark spiders in the windows
Spider feeds on a painted Dollar Store Hand
Skeleton Hand caught in the Web
Silhouette of Spider back-lit against Halloween Lights
Cocoon Corpse Covered in Newly Hatched Spiderlings
Spider Infested Skull Hanging Inverted from the Ceiling
Spider with Glowing Eyes and Baby Glow in the Dark Spiderling
Cocoon Corpse
Cirith Ungol – The Spiders Pass in the Daytime
Shadow Casting Webs
Giant Spider, Prepared to Drop Down on Unsuspecting Halloween Guests
A Hall of Spiders and Their Victims
Cocooned Corpses Strung from the Ceiling
Dark Shapes, with Many Legs and Webbed Corpses
One of the pleasures of adulthood – you can pretty much do whatever makes you happy insider your own home. For me, that means a hallway of giant spiders will continue haunting and hanging all winter long, because, why the hell not?
Nov 29
Halloween Hands
According to the calendar, Halloween is over, but it lingers in my heart. – I had quite a lot of fun decorating this year. The following iPhone photo is an example of one Halloween project where I took cheap, boring, Dollar Store hands and gave them various treatments to jazz them up. Procedures included painting, stains, melting plastic and gluing on plastic insects. (Also acquired at the Dollar Store.)
The top hand shows the basic, untreated $1 dismembered hand acquired from the Dollar Store.
$1 dismembered hands from Dollar Store – jazzed up
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