2005 Archives
You lookin' at me?
Good times with a mower in Edmonton
I found this series of photos while tidying up around home. Mostly I was drawn to the gorgeous color of the old film stock. These were taken in Edmonton, Alberta, during one summer's visit there, sometime in the early 1980's I suspect.
36,000 year old timber
A company in New Zealand makes furniture out of Kauri (a native New Zealand wood) dredged out of swamps in the northern parts of the country and radiocarbon dated to be 36,000 year old. We like recycling, so Minette and I got a chest of drawers.
Steamy Puritan romance
Recently I stumbled upon some old computer files, and ran across this one from a high school English class. The only reason I can think of for having to write this would be from assignment following the reading of The Scarlet Letter.
It seemed an oddly appropriate tale for Thanksgiving, and there was at least one surprise find (which I won't spoil here, and you'll be forced to find out out of curiosity).
So Happy Thanksgiving, America. You've come a long way.
Turdus merula
AKA a blackbird. This particular one has been having a field day, literally, in our back yard every since I mowed the lawn. He's been hopping here and there all day, cocking his head to one side and snatching up tasty little somethings. The lawn had gotten a bit out of control, perhaps I exposed a bunch of yummy creepy crawly things.
Back in New Zealand
Minette and I are in fact in New Zealand. We found a place to live and everything; we've moved out of the box from under the highway overpass (which is why you haven't heard much from us in a while) and have successfully integrated back into normal, everyday Kiwi life/style.
I've put some photos up showing some recent activity, including some shots of our new digs!
Minette and I also went for a long-weekend vacation down to Wellington to visit Cecile and William's family there, and I've put some photos up from there as well.
Aaaaaaaahhhhhh!
Bryan took this on his cool phone before Minette and I shuffled off half way around the world.
Speaking of which, we made it! So far, so good.
Toronto / Montréal photos
Minette and I just got back from a visit to Toronto and Montréal with family and friends. It was our first visit to Montréal and we both loved it. It was great seeing everyone before heading out to New Zealand (tomorrow!).
Dylan easily stole the show!
John Muir Trail photos
We've finally got our John Muir Trail photos organized and consolidated from my own, Minette, and Brahm's cameras. I haven't finished sorting out the titles and comments, but that might take me the rest of 2006. There are 347 divided between the 5 segments we did the trail in, down from 4,587 of which 4,000 were of me ol' favorite series: Dead Trees of the Sierras.
If you are interested in those dead tree photos I can easily make them available for your viewing pleasure.
I am
Out of the mountains
Minette and I have made it out of the mountains. Almost, that is. We've traded the Sierra Nevada for Utah's Colorado Plateau. But we finished the JMT, Mt. Whitney and all, and now are relaxing for a week before making our way back home. Since we exited the wilderness, we've been eating like horses and our full bellies are the source of much happiness.
Into the mountains
Minette and I are off tomorrow morning, to hike the John Muir Trail. We plan to finish by the end of July, then we're off for some more vacation in Utah for a week. At least, if the bears aren't too friendly.
Chirp chomp
A couple of weeks ago Minette and I saw this little chick hop across the trail we were walking on over in the Berkeley hills.
It just sat in the trail with its moth wide open, staring at us. Probably in fear, especially when I shoved my camera closer and closer...
Hasta la vista... mate?
Crystal balls
It rained in San Francisco a few days ago. That's unusual for this time of year. Just as the rains were passing, I noticed some mysterious pearls on my lupinus arboreus outside:
And I was happy. Later I looked a little closer at the picture, and was a little surprised at what I saw.
U.S. Sen. Hollings makes atomic bomb joke.
"You should draw a mushroom cloud and put underneath it 'Made in America by lazy and illiterate workers and tested in Japan.'"
Ordinary prisms recalled from igniting hair on woman's head
Apparently the Nanjing Misiland Trade & Development Co., Ltd. has issued a safety warning for it's Corner Cube Prism -- used in children's costumes such as the Arabian Princess -- due to the prism's ability to ignite human hair. The company has issued a press release in which it unveiled their plan to include a new warning sticker with the prism:
How to Stop Worrying and Love the Incendiary Bomb
Recently I read a chapter from Mike Davis' Dead Cities that reminded me of part of Errol Morris' documentary The Fog of War. They both talk about the use of firebombs in World War II: bombs designed not to destroy military compounds but rather to destroy dense, urban civilian populations in order to weaken the morale of the enemy.
Here they both are, fascinating glimpses of history that show war becoming distilled from the unimaginably terrible horror that it is into statistics and ratings of efficiency.
Stuck in reverse
Nuclear-powered cars, real leopad-skin seats, and the "reptilian brain" of American car consumers. All part of the story of how Detroit's Big Three are stuck in reverse.
What is... Henrietta?
Rocky Mt. elk friends
Last week I was in Colorado, up in the Rocky Mountains west of Denver, and ran across these guys all over the place!
This New House
The American Dream just keeps growing. Since 1970 the size of the average new home has ballooned by 50 percent. "Great rooms," Viking ranges, 10-acre lots -- can moats and turrets be far behind?
-- Mother Jones March/April 2005
Spring in the City
Spring is in full force here in San Francisco and I've been getting to know a new camera. I've posted some photos of my spoils. I can be a little obsessive about nature close-ups, but what the hey, I never tire.
Social Security: A Question of Numbers
This article presenting an interesting brief history of Social Security is almost a month old, but I've just now finally got around to posting it.
Bloody Fucking Oil Wars
This billboard is around the corner from my house. Maybe not my exact choice of words, but close enough.
What's the matter with Long Island?
I was watching Capturing the Friedmans recently on DVD (which, by the way, I highly recommend, even if you saw the film, because of all the interesting extra footage on the DVD) when I realized I have seen, over the past year, a string of films that take place on Long Island, NY. Together they seem to make Long Island out as the Orange County of the East Coast, that is strange things abound (but without all the sex).
It all started with the chauffeur's daughter who runs off to Paris and returns to watch two men duke it out for her. Luckily she never bumped into Speedo while driving around, or her Rolls Royce certainly would have been damaged. And watch that you don't get caught between crazed citizens dueling with day laborers, you wouldn't want to set off the waiting time bomb.
I knew New York City was unruly, but figured Long Island for a quiet, peaceful sort of place. I guess next time I fly into JFK I'll pay more attention instead of sleeping on the LIRR.
Consumers to Car Companies: Innovate, Don't Litigate
I wrote an email to several auto manufacturers regarding their lawsuit against California's latest greenhouse gas emissions law:
As an industry you have resisted law after law that does not immediately provide an increase to your profits, from seat belts to increased fuel efficiency standards. Please take a moment to consider yourselves human beings that must survive not only from corporate profits but from the preservation of humanity itself. After all, in the future you will need some humans left to purchase your products in order to continue to make those profits that you seek.
Read more at Environmental Defense.
Into Thin Air
Only 6 or so years late, I finally read Into Thin Air. Wow was this ever hard to put down. And wow have I changed my mind for even visiting Everest Base Camp. Sorry Jeff & Sofia, I'm out!
Saudi PR campaign
Speaking of full-page ads, the government of Saudi Arabia has been running full-page ads in The New Republic for months, which I find quite interesting. Also interesting are the full page ads by Exxon Mobil and Shell, but those are a whole different story...
Icelandic democracy in action
I've wanted to visit Iceland for quite some time, mostly from the perspective of exploring the fantastic landscapes. The Icelandic people have taken the time to place a full-page ad in the New York Times explaining their view on their government's participation in the war in Iraq. It's nice to see democracy in action. You go, Iceland!
Ostrander Ski Hut
Last weekend Minette & I joined up with some friends and ran out to Yosemite to snowshoe to the Ostrander Ski Hut out in the wilderness above the Yosemite Valley. We lucked out with some awesome weather (especially considering the weather in California lately) which made the 10 mile hike rather enjoyable.
Maybe we'll gather the courage to try this trip again, but on skis. Being out there certainly made me want to take up telemark skiing, especially when telemark skiiers glided by!
Don made his photos available here.
What to Do with Old Electronics
Found a handy page with info about what to do with old electronic gear.
Food Grows Where Water Flows
These signs are scattered up and down the California Central Valley. If you've read (or seen the documentary) Cadillac Desert, you know how true those words are!
Dismantling America's weapons of mass destruction
I finally got around to reading an article on tearing down an anthrax production facility on Fort Detrick, Maryland, in 2003. "Between 1954 and 1965, Army scientists there turned out more than three tons of the microbes that cause anthrax, tularemia, brucellosis, and other deadly diseases -- some of the same types of pathogens the United States was planning to remove from Iraq."