short notes: will brady's ruminations

changing appearances

2010-06-12T15:03:00.006-04:00

Dear Readers: From now on, I'll be posting at the new Short Notes blogsite. (http://willbradyjournal2.blogspot.com/)
I hope this does not cause too much confusion.

news blips you can't make up

2010-01-30T05:01:00.009-05:00

•   Police catch Peeping Tom at a nudie show. So, what's the point?

•   Man fined for blowing his nose. In England. Gives new meaning to the phrase "stiff upper lip", eh?

•   Also in England Town's mayor caught stealing women's underwear. At least he wasn't shoplifting, however. He was stealing it from a woman's dresser drawer in her home. [UPDATE: The Mayor had twice been elected mayor of Preesall and Knott End, near Fleetwood, Lancs,] With no statement proffered, he resigned from his post.

•   Rupert Murdoch's Fox the most trusted name in news... according to leaning-to-the-right-wing opinionator Politico.

•   Merriam-Webster's Dictionary censored by Menifee California School district. "It's just not age-appropriate," said school spokeswoman Betti Cadmus to the the Press-Enterprise. "It's hard to sit and read the dictionary, but we'll be looking to find other things of a graphic nature."
     Evidently one—count ‘em, one—- parent complained so, rather than choosing a thoughtful and measured response to calm the histrionic parent, the local district officials instead swooped in and purged all the district’s schools of the dictionary.

•   Censorship again! This time in Culpepper Virginia, banning the Diary of Anne Frank.. Why not just forbid going to libraries? Ban reading [oh, Sorry, Rupert Murdoch - trusted news source notwithstanding - is helping that cause already]

•   Who else censors books? A whole passel of organizations, even Sarah Palin has a list.

•   Wisconsin school district bans "sexual bending" during school dances and requires that "...both feet must remain on the dance floor at all times..." This appears to rule out performances of the Charleston, Electric Slide, the Cha-Cha and virtually every other dance step I can think of.

•   Santa Claus wins Peace Prize. No, this is not lifted from The Onion.

•   Fashion News! Models from the Wal-Mart runways.

•   Dillie the friendly deer likes to share her owners’ bed at night. 48-year-old vet Dr Melanie Butera, from Ohio, rescued her. Dillie started sharing the Buteras’ bed with their dog Lady. ‘It was quite a cute get-together,’ said Dr Butera. ‘Steve liked the way Dillie warmed his feet up when she lay on them.’
     Dillie’s favourite treat is pasta followed by ice cream and coffee, topped off with frozen ice shavings. ‘We just love her to bits,’ said Dr Butera.

•   Naked intruder greeted with meat cleaver.

favorite films

2010-01-03T19:32:00.008-05:00

On Facebook I was challenged to come up with a list of 15 films that changed my intellectual DNA. At first it was tough to come up with more than 6, but it ended up being more difficult to winnow out other films I found of import in my life.
     On top of it, I shared this list with Bruce, who came up with a list of his own. My list is annotated for the first 15; Bruce's list follows in paragraph form; then I've added a list of other films I've found memorable.

Anyway, here's my list:

1- The Shameless Old Lady - Based on a Bertolt Brecht story, when an old woman's husband finally dies, she decides to live a life of pleasant pleasure. While her children argue about who will get her belongings when she dies, she goes about disbursing her possessions, sharing her funds and free time with her grandson and his prostitute girlfriend. It was the first time I remembered going to a film with subtitles without anyone else. Saw it in a suburban Philly PA movie theatre in 1968.

2- Privilege - I saw this in a Times Square movie house ages ago, when 42nd Street was sleazy, and people didn't usually go there to see the films. A much idolized "bad boy" rock star is co-opted by his handlers, big business and government bureaucrats to clean up his act, while marketing all sorts of product but the whole scheme backfires. Strong object lesson - Michael Jackson should have watched it.

3- West Side Story - I was in, oh, maybe 7th grade and went and watched this six times in seven days. I had no idea who Robert Wise, Jerome Robbins, Stephen Sondheim nor Lenny Bernstein were. Not sure if it was the gang warfare stuff, the idea of macho guys dancing in a pack or the gritty fantasy [for me] of urban ghetto life.

4- Animal Farm - [animated] I think the film I saw was released in 1954, which would make sense since I saw it as a kid. It forever etched into my brain the image of Orwellian nightmare societies, the link between corruption and power and the near futility of railing against the same. Even the pro USA agit-prop TV series Rocky and Bullwinkle that I had begun to watch religiously, couldn't over-ride the ecoomic social class warfare components of Animal Farm for me.

5- Babette's Feast - A classic. What happens when a successful restaurateur flees and goes to live in a remote fishing village ...but he still can't get away from his artistry, and eventually fetes the villagers. Later I enjoyed a second pleasure when some dear friends had the feast staged at a nearby restaurant while we all watched the film together between courses.

6- Yellow Submarine - I drove 40 miles in a broken down 1959 orange Fiat with 5 other people to watch this in a barn like auditorium in a booze-free town in rural western New York State. We were all doing LSD and sat in the first row of the auditorium. The townspeople referred to us as "their" hippies.

7- Alone in the Wilderness - At the age of 50 Richard Proenneke went and moved to a wilderness section of Alaska to live there, alone. [well, except for occasional visits from bush plane pilots]. Once there he built his cabin, foraged and hunted for food, gathered firewood and studied the world around him. He filmed a year of his endeavors on an 8 mm camera that later got converted into video.

8- La cité des enfants perdus [The City of Lost Children] - co directed by Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet the film has the eerie quality of the computer game Myst, with a bittersweet story line and a penchant for Victorian era sci-fi technology. And while it wasn't the first time I'd ever seen Ron Perlman on screen, his presence in this film captivated me.

9- Brazil - Terry Gilliam's classic bureaucratic dystopian nightmare, I'd watch over and over again, though not all at once. Too close to the idea of a corporatist/fascistic state for my comfort level; far better than the tedious rendition of 1984 featuring John Hurt and Richard Burton, yet the subject matter was the same.

10- Pollack - Ed Harris as Jackson Pollack. Violent, tempestuous, passionate. I had to buy a copy to keep. First time I recall seeing a film about an artist that seemed real.

11- Metropolis - Fritz Lang 's silent film opus. Worth it for the special effects alone, considering that it was filmed in 1927 long before CGI or conventional color or anything else considered ho-hum innovative nowadays.

12- K-Pax - An arrogant, [though not unlikable] thinks-he-knows-it-all psychiatrist is assigned to work with a new patient, K-Pax, who reports he is from outer space. The new guy is quickly able to help his peers suddenly do better for themselves and confront their personal demons and get ready to go back out in the world. That was something that neither the doc, nor the hospital staff evidently had been incapable of accomplishing. The psychiatrist, stymied, suddenly finds new meaning in what it actually takes to help another soul in trauma.

13- Baraka - No theme; just a rich, lush, sensual movie that kept me captivated. It reminded me of another, similar film I'd seen as a kid, Ecce Homo, which was equally exotic, tho' more ribald. But that was no comparison for Baraka's lushness.

14- The Endless Summer - A lush, color saturated film [as I remember it] about surfing filmed around the world. I think I saw it in February, trudging through snow. Never made me become a surfer, but opened my eyes to exotic places.

15- "Z" - I saw Costa Garvas' dramatic depiction on the dictatorial takeover of a weak democratic government in Greece in a theatre just across street from the University of Buffalo [NY] campus. The street riots in the film were stunning; the manipulation of the newscaster disturbing and the film's message fit the times [1969-70]. Nevertheless, viewing it in no way prepared me [or the rest of the audience] for walking out the front doors into to a real tear-gas riot-squad uprising taking place on the street between the police and college students.

I'm adding one more memory not of a movie - but of a movie house, the Wayne Avenue Playhouse. It was up the street from where I lived as a young teenager. Run by a family, staunchly independent, who chose to show films they liked, the prices were still cheap enough for kids who collected bottles for movie money. Every summer they had an annual silent film festival, at some time each year an operatic film [I still remember first seeing Puccini's Tosca there] along with many films that people in the neighborhood would have seen otherwise. The place surely opened my eyes to watch for original cinematography.

     Bruce's most enduring films list: [the top 3] Carmen Jones; Dangerous Liaisons; All About Eve. [The rest of the list] 7 Brides for 7 Brothers; Gone with the Wind; Now, Voyager; Brazil; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; Chicago; Streetcar Named Desire; La Dolce Vita; Satyricon; Niagara; Is Paris Burning?. Finally, not to be forgotten [what Bruce says is "...the best gay porno film ever made..."] The Gage Brothers' Kansas City Trucking Company.

     Other films that I found memorable [in no particular order]: The Wizard of Oz; Michelangelo Antonioni's Blow Up; Midnight Express; Manchurian Candidate [the Angela Lansbury version]; Seven Days in May; Fargo; Disney's Fantasia; Soylent Green [thought Charlton Heston's character pretty dumb for not having figured it out sooner]; David Bowie in The Man Who Fell to Earth; Kurosawa's Ran; The Full Monty; My Beautiful Launderette; watching Midnight Cowboy kept me from moving back to NYC; Sly Stallone's Rocky [I saw it in Lake Placid, NY, and was briefly startled not to be in Philly when leaving]; Beautiful Thing; The Fisher King; Moonstruck; A little Trip to Heaven, with Forrest Whitaker, an actor who'd I'd watch in anything; To Kill a Mockingbird; Moulin Rouge; The 5th Element; Fight Club; 12 Monkeys; Dangerous Liaisons; Is Paris Burning?; Milk; like Bruce, I, too like Tim Kinkaid's [aka "Joe Gage"] gay porn trilogy [which actually have story lines]. I am sure there are others, but...

human rights alert - electroshock devices

2010-01-03T08:18:00.008-05:00

     This is a reminder that comments are due to the FDA on the safety of electroshock machines by January 8, 2009.
     The FDA Wants to Declare Electroshock Machines Safe without a Safety Investigation. TELL THEM NO!
     It has allowed these machines to be used on millions of patients over the past generation without requiring any evidence whatsoever that shock treatment is safe or effective! This is so even though shock machines are Class III---high risk---devices, which by law are supposed to be investigated by clinical trials as thoroughly as new drugs and devices just coming onto the market.
     In April 2009---20 years after it first ruled the devices high-risk and named brain damage and memory loss as risks of the treatment---the FDA belatedly announced it would call on the manufacturers of the devices to provide evidence of safety and efficacy. The deadline for submissions has passed, but the manufacturers have not conducted any clinical trials, claiming they cannot afford them.
     The FDA is now supposed to require Electroshock machines to undergo the rigorous PreMarket Approval process (PMA) that is required of new devices, including clinical safety trials. These machines, technically known as "devices," are referred to as Electro Convulsive Therapy (ECT).
     If you have personal knowledge or expertise about Electroshock, writing about that can be good. Or you can pull information from various sources. For more information a Briefing Sheet is available, http://psychrights.org/Actions/FDA/FD...

You can make comments in writing to Food and Drug Administration, Dockets Management Branch (HFA-305), 5630 Fishers Lane, Room 1061, Rockville, MD 20852
You can also submit comments by going to http://www.regulations.gov/, and scroll down to complete the form regarding electroconvulsive therapy, or the number of the federal register notice: 2009-N-0392

     If you are not in a position to write something up, then please print out the section below, fill it out and send it in to the FDA:
     To: Food and Drug Administration,
     Dockets Management Branch (HFA-305),
     5630 Fishers Lane, Room 1061,
     Rockville, MD 20852

Re: Electroconvulsive Therapy Device (882.5940), Docket #FDA-2009-N0392

The undersigned opposes the reclassification of the ECT device to Class II by the FDA in the absence of adequate scientific evidence of its safety, and asks the agency to call for PreMarket Approval Applications for the device.

Name: _____________________________

Address: __________________________________________________________

           __________________________________________________________

Signature:_____________________________

SEE: Jim Gottstein's Psyche Rights; Wikipedia's Electroconvulsive Therapy and Terry Messman's Mad in America for more detail.

rumors and speculations

2009-12-27T12:22:00.009-05:00

• 2012 according to NASA/JPL expert. Don Yeomans, the manager of NASA's Near Earth Object office shares the scientific realities of the celestial happenings in the year 2012.

  •  Egyptian artifacts found in Grand Canyon?. On April 5, 1909, the Arizona Gazette published an article detailing the discovery of a great underground citadel located in the Grand Canyon. The discovery was purportedly made by G. E Kinkaid (or Kincaid as both spellings are used), while he was traveling down the Colorado River. Was it real, or was it Memorex? I was not able to locate anything about this on Snopes the rumor quashing site so ...could it be true? I looked elsewhere.
     According to Ellie Crystal at Crystal Links [who may be a whole lot more freely interpretive than I on matters such as these...] "It is interesting to speculate about ancient Egyptians or Tibetans flying to the Grand Canyon in Vimanas - but that does not seem likely. If this were true - additional archeological evidence would support those facts - photographed and uncovered by 21st century - as humanity searched for its ancient ancestors.
     In any case - without physical proof - there is no evidence to support the hypothesis that ancient Egyptian and Tibets visited the area long ago. Yet for some people - their souls tell them that there is a truth here somewhere".

  •  Multiple Santas observed in distant Nebula. According to Universe Today "...SkyAlert also has some interesting images of where Santa has been — there's evidence of Santa on the Moon; he may have been flying through the Coalsack Nebula and that even in the early Universe there may have been multiple Santas."
     I'm not certain, but I wonder if this discovery speaks about the importance of polytheism, or just that the core message of all religions is the same.
     SkyAlert collects and distributes astronomical events in near-real time. Each event belongs to a stream of structurally similar events that come from a common source, with a common vocabulary of parameters for each event. You can browse event streams and the events themselves, at the links below. You can set up "alert rules" which decide which events you will get, and their format. You get only the events you want -- no more, no less. Email now, other delivery channels soon.
     Please note: "Skyalert is a prototype. Do not expect everything to work. Please help us by pointing out problems to "

sculpture

2009-11-30T01:20:00.003-05:00

Don Gummer's sculpture, North Adams, MA

mental health

2009-11-29T19:31:00.015-05:00

• The Icarus Project and Freedom Center's Harm Reduction Guide to Coming Off Psychiatric Drugs is now available in Spanish.
Will Hall, one of the principals on the editorial team that prepared this booklet said the group's goals included:

"We wanted -- and I think succeeded in creating -- a guide that would accurately represent psych drug risks and benefits fairly, without falling into simplistic pro- or anti- camps. We wanted to give essential lessons about how the coming off process works, without acting like we could predict what people would go through or provide any kind of definite blueprint for action. We wanted to counter pharmaceutical propaganda and psychiatric myths.
"We wanted to explore the helpfulness of meds for some people in the same discussion as we explored the harm of meds for others. We needed to cover complicated issues like biology and genetics accurately, and gather the most state-of-the-art research in a very politicized and confusing area of science. We had to ensure the factual information was all backed up and air-tight (thanks to the British survivor movement for their help in this), and fearlessly swim against the brain-disorder mainstream belief system, while also not making any claims we couldn't support with solid sources."

You can read a more complete account of the making of the Harm Reduction Guide at the Freedom Center's website.

• Health Care Renewal reports the FDA's tacit support to suppress negative findings about drug testing.

"It is worth mentioning that the [US] FDA [Food and Drug Administration] has encouraged this state of affairs, by viewing negative studies as uninformative, due to the possibility of being 'failed' rather than truly negative (ie, the sample may have simply been unresponsive, or dosing might have been too low and so on). Thus drugs could have two positive studies, and 10 or so negative ones (as did a number of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), and the FDA not only allowed approval but it did not require that the pharmaceutical industry publish its negative results."

This appeared in the journal Evidence-Based Mental Health [Gahemi SN. The failure to know what isn't known: negative publication bias with lamotrigine and a glimpse inside peer review. Evidence Based Mental Health 2009; 12: 65-68. Link here.]

  •  In the first half of 2005, pharmaceutical manufacturers spent more on media campaigns than any other industry except the automobile industry. Studies show that when a patient requests a specific drug, doctors may prescribe it even if the drug is not in the patient’s best interest. Your doctor, not a drug company, should be deciding about your diagnosis and treatment. You may not need a drug at all.
     But there are some who work to correct the efforts of BigPharma who tries to deceive people just to get them to take drugs. One group working to counter the propaganda mills run by drugco shills is Pharmed Out. Their goal is to "provide access to unbiased information about drugs. Led by a team of physicians and academics and is contributed to by a diverse group, Pharmed Out provides lectures at Grand Rounds, meetings, conferences, and medical student events. They offer access to free, web-based, pharma-free CME – enough for any physician in the U.S to fulfill annual CME requirements without taking industry-funded courses. Their courses have been given the endorsement of the Federation of State Medical Boards Foundation..
     PharmedOut is funded through the Attorney General Consumer and Prescriber Education grant program, created as part of a 2004 settlement between Warner-Lambert, a division of Pfizer, Inc., and the Attorneys General of 50 States and the District of Columbia, to settle allegations that Warner-Lambert conducted an unlawful marketing campaign for the drug Neurontin® (gabapentin) that violated state consumer protection laws.

  •  Not just mental health, per se, but the Kaiser Family Foundation has posted side-by-side comparisons of Congress's Health Care Bills. The Kaiser Foundation is an independent expert voice in a U.S. health system dominated by commercial, political, and ideological interests; a place where people can turn for unbiased and non-partisan analysis, basic facts, and explanation of the biggest domestic and global health policy issues and public opinion shaping them.
     Kaiser's "product" is information, always provided free of charge — from the most sophisticated policy research, to basic facts and numbers, to information young people can use to improve their health or elderly people can use to understand their Medicare benefits.
     The Kaiser Family Foundation is not associated with Kaiser Permanente or Kaiser Industries.

Thanks to Larry Drain for providing the link to Kaiser Family Foundation.

artwork on display

2009-11-27T11:04:00.011-05:00

This month I've got two exhibits on display in North Adams, Massachusetts until Christmas; the home town of the renowned Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art [Mass MoCA].
     In the first show, examples of my collage and painting work is on exhibit. This is in the Berkshire Artists' Colony Eagle Street Gallery.
     Located in the Flatiron building [that's a picture of it on the right], my work is in a group show that includes artists working in other media including painting, photography, jewelry, lamp glass, fabric and prints. You can see someone about to enter the gallery in the photo.
     The Eagle Street Gallery's current exhibit is open weekends until December 20, 2009. See engravings by Carol Stieger Young, photos by Michael Powers and Ian Grey; Jewelry by Michael Dunn and Isabella Raven [she also does lampwork glass beads]. Bethann Shannon has paintings of various size; Beth Davis works with fabrics,... and Will Brady has put up collage and paintings. Much of it is quite affordable and would make great Christmas gifts.
     The second display of my photography work is at the Eclipse Mills Gallery on Union Street. The picture on the left shows The Eclipse Mills Studio building as you come into North Adams along the Mohawk Trail [Massachusetts Route 2] after successfully maneuvering the hairpin curve down the mountainside.
     The Eclipse Mills Small Works/ Holiday Show, runs November 20 through December 20. This final exhibition of the 2009 season will focus on small works and affordable art and crafts. There will be works by Eclipse artists and invited guests. My photos are with those of other photographers, fabric artists, jewelers, potters and artists working in fresco, encaustic, even photocopier art.

This Google Earth map shows how to get from Eagle Street Gallery, to Mass MoCA to Eclipse Mills Gallery.
View Larger Map

PHOTO CREDIT: Flatiron Building Eric Rudd |

pollyticks

2009-11-27T10:28:00.002-05:00

SOURCE: David Horsey at the Seattle Post Intelligencer

happy thanksgiving

2009-11-26T13:17:00.002-05:00

Blame Society Productions brings a unique Thanksgiving Day message with the help of "Sean Connery", "Jon Madden", "Christopher Walken" and others.

health care debate

2009-11-25T03:59:00.003-05:00

Frank Woods is a man who has to save up money to obtain a prescription. He was at a free clinic held recently in Arkansas for folks without health care insurance. He said that it is "...small minded to argue about a basic right..."

FOUND AT: e-pluribus media with details posted on Daily Kos

pollyticks

2009-11-25T02:28:00.003-05:00

Sarah Palin supporters tell us where she stands and what they know about her perspectives on issues and policies.

SOURCE: New Left Media; FIRST SEEN AT: Bitchy Old Queen

roman catholic "christian" charity towrad gays and poor people

2009-11-15T16:14:00.003-05:00

• Catholic Church in Washington D.C. will shut down services to the homeless and the poor if a gay marriage law is passed there.
     Edward Orzechowski, President and CEO of Catholic Charities of DC, speaking at the October 26 hearing on Washington, DC's same-sex marriage bill. Today, November 12, the Archdiocese threatened the Council to withdraw services to thousands of District residents over gay marriage. At the Council hearing, was answering questions from Councilmen Phil Mendelson and David Catania. As was discussed, Catholic Charities gets 75% of its money from public funds, and according to Washingtonian, Orzechowski has a[n annual] paycheck of $268,000. As Catania stated, that's taxpayer dollars going to an organization that says it does not intend to comply with anti-discrimination laws.
     [for the rest of the story... go here
     ...or you could watch the YouTube hearings where a DC city council member, David Cantina, [who has a long history of supporting taxpayer dollars being given to Catholic Charites] says he ...finds it offensive that DC Catholic Charities is willing to accept 40 million dollars of government funds, but be exempt from providing services in a fair and equitable manner. They arre threatening to shut down ALL public services if the major funding source [i.e. taxpayers] dont do what the Catholic Church wants.

Perhaps this means the church will then have more money to pay off the victims of pedophile priests.

signage

2009-11-14T10:34:00.001-05:00

| |

first seen at: Fernando's Life |

changing ISPs

2009-11-11T20:37:00.002-05:00

Don't try looking for my rondak pages tonight. I am amidst changing ISP's and although I have been assured that the changeover would be seamless, that does not seem to have occurred.
We'll be back as soon as possible.

music videos

2009-11-11T20:20:00.004-05:00

Lady Gaga - Bad Romance

     Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American recording artist. After being signed to and quickly dropped from Def Jam Records at age 19, she began performing in the rock music scene of New York City's Lower East Side. During this time, she was also working at Interscope Records as a songwriter for several established acts, including Akon, who, after hearing Gaga sing, convinced Interscope chairman Jimmy Iovine to sign her to a joint deal with the label and Akon's Kon Live Distribution label.
     Her debut album The Fame, was released in August 2008 and was a critical and commercial success. In addition to receiving generally positive reviews, it has gone to number one in four countries, also topping the Billboard Top Electronic Albums chart in the United States. The album's first two singles, "Just Dance" and "Poker Face", have become international number-one hits, and the former was nominated for Best Dance Recording at the 51st Grammy Awards. In 2009, after having opened for New Kids on the Block and the Pussycat Dolls, Gaga embarked on her first headlining tour, The Fame Ball Tour.
     Gaga is inspired by glam rockers such as David Bowie and Queen, as well as pop singers such as Madonna and Michael Jackson. She is also inspired by fashion, which she claims is an essential component to her songwriting and performances. To date she has sold over 20 million digital singles and more than four million albums worldwide.

FIRST SEEN AT: Joe.My.God. BACKGROUND INFO FROM: Wikipedia

human rights gains

2009-11-11T09:19:00.005-05:00

The Church of Latter Day Saints [the "Mormons"] support anti-discrimination law in Salt Lake City

FROM THE UTAH DESERET NEWS:
     In a rare public appearance before Salt Lake City lawmakers Tuesday night, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints supported two proposed ordinances protecting gay and lesbian residents from housing and employment discrimination.
     An LDS Church representative read a supporting statement at a public hearing before the Salt Lake City Council regarding the ordinances proposed by Mayor Ralph Becker.
     "The church supports this ordinance because it is fair and reasonable and does not do violence to the institution of marriage," said Michael Otterson, managing director of the LDS Church's public affairs office.
     Otterson added that the statement of support is consistent with the church's prior position on such matters, as well as its stance on marriage. Both are found in the church's August 2008 statement titled "The Divine Institution of Marriage."

THANKS TO: Pam Spaulding's Pam's House Blend blog.

knowledge is power

2009-11-10T00:28:00.005-05:00

•   Typo of the Day. Created by a group of librarians from all over the world with a common interest - keeping our online catalogs free of errors. Recent finds include "Away in a manager" and "Treachers."
     We might learn something from that.

•   The Center for Media and Democracy. Founded by John Stauber in 1993 as an independent, non-profit, non-partisan, public interest organization. CMD's mission is to promote transparency and an informed debate by exposing corporate spin and government propaganda and by engaging the public in collaborative, fair and accurate reporting.

•   Source Watch is a free encyclopedia of people, issues, and groups shaping the public agenda that is being written collaboratively on this web site. It catalogs descriptions and details of PR firms, activist groups and government agencies as well as the criticisms that are made of these groups from different perspectives.
     You may not agree with all of the criticisms on the site, and if you think something that appears is unfair, you can fix it! The site is a Wiki, meaning that anyone, including you, can edit any article by clicking on the "edit this page" link that appears in every article in SourceWatch. As more and more people edit the articles, they improve in quality all the time.

•   Diamonds and Toads. Want to know the latest on fairy tales even re-written ones? Here's a place to visit.

about this site

2009-10-28T23:35:00.005-04:00

About "Short Notes"
     The title comes from a column I wrote while working at a small chain of weekly papers in the Adirondack mountains, some 20 plus years ago. As it suggests, my intent is to try to keep to the gist of a subject, reserving more detailed entries to linked pages, either things created by others, or by me.
     Subject matter can and will vary, and may occasionally be all over the place. There is a lot that interests me. More than likely, since I'm a serious kind of guy, you can expect the tone to be serious. What I'm getting at is that you aren't likely to find tabloid gossip fodder here [though may have a link in the right hand column that could sate the needs of someone else ~ give a look at the other sites referenced]. I'm not without a sense of humor, so don't expect the tenor of the site to be completely gawd awful dull. I do want to keep you interested in content.
     Other Blogs I read. They're all over the place politically and philosophically. While one might assume, based on my personal perspectives and points of view, that I stick to the left, I read many from the right as well as others off the charts. Evidence of thinking is my main criteria, not that the occasional addle-brained website doesn't ever get added. Diversity is good.
     Other Links: What you see on the side are a sampling of those I have come across. They reflect subjects that have piqued my interest and about which I wish to share. I also maintain another blog Blogging about Links where I provide an annotated selection of links related to a specific topic.

NOTE: First wrote this when I started this blog; modified slightly. Sems to make sense to periodically remind my readers [as well as myself] what keeps me coming back online.

making social change

2009-10-28T23:00:00.008-04:00

Some thoughts on making productive social change

     Affecting Social Change is much more than mouthing slogans or sound bites. It can mean devoting hours - days - years - spending time with those who are reluctant and unwilling to hear the truths of others or to work at changing existing social policy or considering other ways of living.
     Yet making the fundamental changes in the values that underlie oppressive social policies require interacting with those who oppose us. This must be done before we get to the voting booth, before we get to legislative committee hearings or public forums. We need to get our points across and to affect change in board rooms and private offices; in juvenile and adult corrections, mental health, the courts, in educational, cultural, legislative and personal spheres ~ where ever decisions affecting all our lives are made regularly and daily ~ and we need to do this now!
     We must infiltrate the meeting places of adversaries and decision makers who oppose eliminating wrongs. We must insist upon and make impact by directly negotiating policy change, laws and directions for the future. Once there, being heard, we have to make our points clearly enough to be effective advocates for change. Now, affecting change doesn't necessarily make for chit chat or small talk at parties. You won't be making friends with those you meet and confront at policy plannings or while negotiating change, nor will your own friends necessarily want to know about the details of your efforts.
     Even if we cannot immediately make changes to oppressive social policies or practices, our mere presence in some of these meeting places can prevent additional harmful policies from being implemented. Also ~ remember to stay in touch with others who know what you say to be true, and to refresh and replenish yourself from behind-the-scenes battles rather than burn yourself out. Stay healthy to battle successfully.

HISTORY: Written 11 November 1993 for a presentation at an Abuse Survivor's "Speakback" held in Waterbury, CT

blogger news items

2009-10-28T12:42:00.017-04:00

•   The Courage Campaign pushes for marriage equality. Having now been legally wed for a couple of years now, I fully support the initiatives elsewhere.
     On Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009- less than a week away- there will be critical votes on on LGBT equality in three states: Washington State, Maine, and Michigan. With so much attention devoted to other issues in the political realm, bloggers have banded together to ensure we don't forget the ones with a firm deadline next week.
     For that reason, Courage Campaign staff have put together a summary of who, what, and how about these three campaigns. If you haven't heard of these campaigns, and/or haven't done anything yet to support them, please consider helping out. If you are a blogger please feel free to grab this content whole cloth and use it for your blog posts.
     Last year, as Obama and Democrats were winning across the country, we lost marriage equality in California. It was a bittersweet victory. Pitch in to make sure 2009 isn't a bittersweet year. Take action to support LGBT equality TODAY. Find out more about phone banks and getting supportive voters to the polls at The Courage Campaign website.

•   Absurd Inventions is the subject of a Planet Oddity entry. Everything you never thought to ask for including a bulletproof bed [the "Quantum Sleeper"]; piercings to hold eyeglasses to one's face [how's that for ick factor?]; the "Fish and Flush" toilet [the fish get a panoramic view of the sitter's back]; a hurricane proof house [a refurbished jumbo jet - the rationale being that the shape can already withstand high winds].
     My hands down favorite, though, is "the human car wash." According to the blurb on Planet Oddity,

Hospital patients [and prisoners, as well] need bathing and to speed up this process, may we suggest the Human Car Wash? The HCW eliminates slipping and falling because the washees are strapped into a hanging harness and merely need to stand or dangle in a fixed position while the conveyor belt moves them from station to station. First the wetting station, then the soapy spray station, next the rinsing station and at the end, no towels are needed because there’s a blow drying station!
Developed in 1969 during the cold war, the inventor suggests the Human Car Wash can be built into a mobile trailer “to cope with the mass bathing requirements after an atomic bomb”.

Yeah, there's a few things that might be said about violations of personal dignity and the like, but with a contraption like this, it may cut down on rapes in the prison shower.
     All said and done, I'd guess that these inventors marvels are not really the most absurd inventions of all time.

•   Web Urbanist's Abandoned Wonders of the World.
     There really is no shortage of abandoned buildings in the world and they are exciting. They stoke the imagination of many an urban spelunker. Websites such as Infiltration and Opacity freely offer advice to any neophyte explorer of abandoned buildings, sometimes with disclaimers suggesting not to traipse on property not technically your own.
     The batch of sites noted at Web Urbanist provides a glimpse of the many kinds of sites that get abandoned. Most curious to me is the Chapel to Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester, NY. Such famous persons as Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglas are among those buried there in everything from lawn crypts to family mausoleums. It seems strange, then, that the chapel at such an historically significant location would be abandoned to the elements, though it remains elegant even in its disrepair.
     Of special interest to me is the Bethlehem Steel factory in Lackawanna, NY, located just south of Buffalo, I worked there for about a year as a laborer in the bricklayer's department. It would indeed be a treat to wander about that complex once more. The plant traversed the entire western edge of Lackawanna, and across a highway that separated that city from a most likely very polluted part of Lake Erie. At the north end were the coke ovens where we'd work on relining one oven just next to others that were operational. It was hot work.
     I understand that much of that plant is no longer explorable and has, in fact, been demolished. In place of the old coke ovens are a small, and growing assortment of tall wind generator mills. Thankfully, people did manage to explore the plant before it was torn down.

•   At Nightmare Hall, blood pressure rises with a TV diet of "...apocalyptic and tin foil helmet conspiracy news." This erstwhile blogger does no believe in conspiracies noting, aptly, that "...The powers that be are right in the sheeple's faces, but nobody seems to notice or care."
Arriving at a conclusion that TV can be toxic is nothing new, of course. My favorite film version of TV poisoning is the creepy Canadian produced 1983 social sci-fi flick Videodrome written and directed by David Cronenberg and starring James Woods and singer Debbie Harry. The premise is that that Videodrome is the public "face" of a political ideology movement with unspecified but apparently violent goals. Sound familiar? I'll stop here.
     Universal Studios announced, last Spring, they will do a remake of the film.
     Harking back to Nightmare Hall's recount, he references Druid Journal's 8 reasons why TV is evil [It is Plato's Cave "...now in Hi-Def"] and check his other links to doing away with the one-eyed face-changing monster from your home and your life.

IMAGE SOURCES: Equal Rights map from The Courage Campaign; bulletproof bed and human conveyor shower found at Planet Oddity; Rusted doorway is an entry to a building that once housed the "criminally insane" and the rocking chair was in the basement of the same building. Those photos I took myself; Intestinal TV from Running Downhill

hallow'een

2009-10-24T10:22:00.003-04:00

art exhibition

2009-10-05T09:12:00.002-04:00

Some of my collage is on exhibit at the Berkshire Artists' Colony Gallery, 46 Eagle Street, in North Adams, MA.
My work is there together with that of "angel Artist" Bethann Shannon [who work expresses a fascination with Mexican "Day of the Dead" imagery and Frieda Kahlo, as well as recent permutations of the works of photographer Ian Grey.
46 Eagle Street, North Adams, MA, 01247. HOURS: Mon - Sun: 12:00 pm - 5:00 pm

lost in translation

2009-09-25T19:23:00.005-04:00

While traveling along a back road in Northern Maine, I come across an old honey spreader festooned with patriotic bunting. Who would have guessed?

dreaming house

2009-09-22T08:16:00.002-04:00

FOUND AT: White Noise of Everyday Life, a weblog about photography and contemporary visual arts

maine bound

2009-09-22T04:10:00.005-04:00

Moonrise in the Brooks Range in northern Alaska at the Chandler Shelf
Photograph: Rolf Hicker/Barcroft Media, one of a series of ten images

BillP and I are headed to Maine. We hope to see the Aurora Borealis. Predictions for sighting are low. According to the Ruby Range Tours Aurora Borealis Forecast "Weather permitting, low-level displays will be visible overhead from Barrow to Fairbanks and visible low on the northern horizon from as far south as Anchorage, Juneau and Whitehorse, Canada."...still way too far north but just getting to Ashland will be worth the ride alone. I know the weather temps are predicted to be chillier but that's what coats are for, eh?

MORE ON AURORA: Wikipedia on Aurora; Aurora Information + Images; U of Alaska's Geophysical Predictor; Ah, for the money... Arctic Odyessy's Aurora Sighting Trip set for March 2010 - only 5,200 dollars Canadian. PHOTO CREDIT: Rolf Hicker/Barcroft Media.

local scene

2009-09-14T04:58:00.010-04:00

Some shots from the Ray of Light Farm annual auction

space exploration

2009-09-12T12:23:00.002-04:00

I've always been fascinated with space travel. Even when people cry out for cutting budgets I believe that these kind of endeavors should be financed. For more on space travel, ad outerspace in general, check out Universe Today.

collage

2009-09-01T18:34:00.003-04:00

Oracle

the newest work

protection rackets

2009-09-01T04:01:00.008-04:00

Those new patriots who began rationing health care options years ago [that is, the Insurance Industry] by forcing us to "join" HMOs now want us to believe that "big gommint" is going to make things worse.

...and let's not forget the valuable contributions we provide to the execs running Big Pharma. If you are healthy, take a pill and chill out.

SOURCE: Nightmare Hall, a reliable source of thought-provoking videos and links |

web surfing finds

2009-08-31T08:56:00.007-04:00

the mind

Make better use of your brain. With the right balance of meditation, exercise, diet and recreation, we can discover easy ways to tap into more of our brains || SOURCE: Online Universities

Richard Lakeman's Hearing Voices and other extraordinary experiences. While searching for images to illustrate an earlier blog entry on this phenomena, I came across his page. I was particularly impressed with the articles he's published || SOURCE: Google Image Search the "testandcalc.com" image

Tidal Model, a philosophical approach to the discovery of mental health. By philosophical we mean, a way of thinking about how people might reclaim their personal story, as a first step towards recovering their lives || SOURCE: Richard Lakeman

commentary

Joe Bageant discusses How Health Care got lost in order to pay homage to Insurance company profits and executive perks || SOURCE: My own list of favorite links at Short Notes

Michael Crawford on Hearing Voices. One of the folks who speaks from experience. Quote:

"Everyone has an inner voice that they talk to themselves with in their thoughts. Hearing voices is not like that. You can tell that your inner voice is your own thinking, that it's not something you're actually hearing someone saying. Auditory hallucinations sound like they're coming from "outside your head". Until you come to understand what they are, you cannot distinguish them from someone actually talking to you."

|| SOURCE: Google web search

visual artists

Josh Simpson, Contemporary Glass Design || SOURCE: My friends Ian + Isabella told me about this man's work

Zach Hyman, Photography. Zach has gotten a name for himself snapping nude shots in public venues. Recently one of his models was arrested for "lewd display" after stripping down at the Metropolitan Museum's Arts + Armour display. Not to worry. Zach was carrying bail money || SOURCE: Ron's Log

Cesar Alfonso, a Cuban born artist with disarmingly simple images || SOURCE: Google Image Search while looking for images on hearing voices, came across this Hearing Voices/ Oyendo image

Create TV, instructional programs provide advice on cooking, arts & crafts, gardening, home improvement and travel. || SOURCE: My friend Nick ["the Voice"] told me I just had to see the shows on painting wildlife in watercolor.

environment

DeZeen design magazine article: Shell by ARTechnic architects. Hyper modernist construction in the woods by a Japanese design team. Beautiful stuff. Quote:

“Being in sync with nature isn’t about yielding to nature – it’s about coexistence,” explains Kotaro Ide of ARTechnic. “The existence of the structure depends on its power to endure nature.”

|| SOURCE: Found while conducting an image search for decorative letter-faces

Hell on Earth. Deviant Art contributor Vitaly S. Alexius captures gripping images from the dead city where rusted shipping vessels are torn apart. Quote:

"There are places on our planet, which literally resemble hell on earth... a place that you’d think was conceived by minds of apocalyptic science fiction writers… but is however quite real…
A place, closed off to the tourists, a place where no photographers are allowed to go… and those that do, get their cameras taken away and arrested by the police…..
Today we shall travel to Bangladesh, Chittagong. Chittagong has a territory of 144 000 км² and population of 144 million people."

Absolutely haunting || SOURCE: Wood's Lot, still one of my favorite weblogs

comments re-opened

2009-08-31T08:17:00.001-04:00

....but they shall be moderated before being posted.

animatronics

2009-08-30T22:25:00.001-04:00

FOUND AT: Panopticist, cultural surveillance

super slow motion action

2009-08-30T22:04:00.003-04:00

SprintCam v3 NAB 2009 showreel from David Coiffier on Vimeo.

FOUND AT: Joe Windish Blog

separate realities

2009-08-30T00:52:00.016-04:00

part of an ongoing series

"I was at that time living like many atheists; in a whirl of contradictions.
I maintained that God did not exist. I was also very angry with God for not existing.
I was equally angry with him for creating a world.
Why should creatures have the burden of existence forced on them without their consent?"
CS Lewis

Hearing Voices || In and of itself, hearing voices is not an unusual phenomenon. Alexandra Lupu, Health News Editor at Softpedia.com notes that "...as many 1 of every 25 people here voices on a regular basis, therefore it is a rather common symptom among people. Researchers also added that a person who hears voices is not a crazy person, despite the common misconception.
     "Some who hear voices do not seek medical help, because they feel this is natural and a positive thing to happen. They may even engage in conversation with the voices inside their heads and state they benefit from the open conversation." But such is not the case for all who here voices.
goodly number of the people with whom I work, as well as a couple of my dearest friends, find that hearing voices can be very disturbing. Oft-times, I am sought upon to translate, or at the very least, to provide some counterpoint to the reality they live with and that of my own.
     This is not an easy task, for I do not personally know what the other person(s) hears. Furthermore, when each person gives narrative to what they hear [and, on occasion, sees] each reality is quite unique; thus any attempt I would have made to translate would serve for naught.
     Yet even though I don't experience the voices myself, I recognize the realness of the experience. Perhaps because of this, some whom I know who live with hearing voices feel free to speak with me about the phenomena. Sometimes hearing disturbing voices is a common and understandable reaction to troublesome life events.
     In Western cultures, particularly in North America, the lived experience of voice hearers is typically invalidated, dismissed as a delusional disorder that can only be treated with massive amounts of psychiatric drugs. Voice hearers are quick to be labeled "Schizo," "Psycho" "" and placed in a locked facility, often in conditions [such as solitary confinement] which only make the voice hearing experience worse.
     One critic to the western disdain towards people who hear voices is clinical psychologist Pat Deegan. A voice hearer herself, she notes that

"...as a general rule, most mental health staff feel it is taboo to inquire into the voice hearer's experience... Of course such stigma and taboo only serve to further isolate those of us who hear voices that are distressing".

In truth, we don't have to accept the so-called clinical biases against hearing voices. Indeed, in other cultures [as noted by author and psychologist Richard Lakeman] voices are "...a valued and sought after experience... For example, the ‘matakite’, or visionary in New Zealand Maori society is held in high regard, and prophets as described in sacred texts such as the bible are often credited with hearing voices or experiencing visions."

FOR MORE INFO: I hear voices; Famous people that hear [or heard] voices; William James' Varieties of Religious Experience; Richard Lakeman Making sense of the voices || SUPPORT: Are support groups effective?; Patricia Deegan Self-Help Strategies - Part I and Self-Help Strategies - Part 2; Sussex Hearing Voices [UK] || ABOUT THE ART: William Blake - Ancient of Days; Edward Munch - The Scream; Will Brady - Man is a Spiritual Being

performing arts

2009-08-28T00:42:00.003-04:00

Golden Power

They are Sandor Vlah and Gyula Tahacs who call themselve "Golden Power" and they are Hungarian (not Polish, as some will tell you), currently at the Lido in Paris. www.golden-power.com

music

2009-08-27T23:18:00.002-04:00

Baz Luhrmann's "Wear Sunscreen"

world hunger

2009-08-24T01:56:00.003-04:00

Oh children on comfort let us not assume too much. We are only as rich as the poorest among us.

Thanks to MYST 3

art exhibition

2009-07-30T09:41:00.008-04:00

you are invited to see

an exhibition of
Will Brady's

Interior Worlds
collage | photography
paintings | illuminated text

Sunday, August 2nd, 2009
1 pm to 5 pm
Riverbend Gallery
89 Main Street | East Haddam, CT | USA
and Sunday afternoons the rest of August

"...absolutely refreshing!"

land preservation

2009-04-29T00:52:00.004-04:00

Our town is moving forward to keep a 280 acre farm dedicated to farming; as well as looking to put another 120 acres or so in other parcels to be maintained as open space.. This is a good thing. More to follow.

closing the comments section

2009-04-25T00:37:00.001-04:00

Due to some repeated postings from scam spanners who want you to think they are selling gold, I have blocked the comments section of this web log Sorry.

still life

2009-04-18T10:30:00.002-04:00

laws + legislation

2009-04-17T12:51:00.003-04:00

Don't be the target, be on target!
Your legislators need to hear from you regularly!

On the downside: the effort to ban leg hold traps is still alive and active. On the up: saving trapping has positive economic benefits to the state

In Haverhill, Massachusetts, a sewage pipe sustained damage as trees fell on a beaver dam, causing it to collapse. [Ron Trainor, KC8CEV, Photo]

Thanks to some deceptive emotionally based lobbying, anti-hunting activists have been pretty successful pushing to ban trapping, including prohibiting Conibear traps, which are not leghold traps. Presented with strong approval before the Connecticut Environmental committee Senate Bill No. 994 "An Act Concerning Leghold Traps." In essence, the bill effectively proposes to ban trapping altogether.

If enacted, the ban would take effect on July 1, 2009.

Banning trapping would have an almost immediate impact on the environment, especially where beaver populations build dams. A late entry to the discussion deals with adverse economic impact on state revenues and costs associated with varmint control.

We cannot afford to have wildlife management tools banned because of ill-informed emotional appeals. It is vital you let legislators know what impact such a ban would have on good land conservation management practices.

If you don't know who your legislators are, click on the Connecticut Sportsmen's Association link learn who to contact and how and let them know NOW! You can also find your legislators, and what committees they serve on at the Connecticut General Assembly web page.

Massachusetts has already had the experience of finding out the immense cost of removing traps as a wildlife management tool. The state is now trying to find other ways to deal with beaver damages. Since the habitat range of the beaver is widespread, the potential for damage is extensive.

Read more about the impact of this proposed legislation, as well as more on the Conibear trap at Jeff Serena's Nature Examiner web page.

UPDATE : As of Wednesday, 15th April, I'm told that "...The leghold trap bill died for lack of action in the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday afternoon. There may be an effort to revive it as an amendment, but legislators REALLY don't want to vote on it..." Let's remain vigilant, for the session is not over until it's over and you never know who will tack parts of this bill onto something else as a "Rat" amendment. [A legislative "Rat" is a bill or an amendment slipped in quietly to favor a friend or special interest].

THANKS TO: Bob Crook with the Coalition of Connecticut Sportsmen for keeping us all informed about this subject. I also want to thank another, unnamed, lobbyist for additional tracking of Bill 994.

This has been cross-posted at the Moodus Sportsmen's Club web blog

holiday greetings

2009-04-12T13:54:00.003-04:00

     Tis' still nippy the airs that waft across our home
     But the sun brings promise for renewal

     we prepare the hearth for feasting
     and give thanks to the Great One
     much admired by Einstein and St Francis alike
     our thoughts are with you and yours

     Even if we cannot be together for our celebrations
     We are, in Spirit, right with you.

     Much joy for the return of the
     sparkle of Spring
     and Renewal

The crane and the turtle represent longevity and felicity. The turtle carries the world upon his back. It is not a burden

guerrilla theatre

2009-04-11T22:54:00.005-04:00

A conspiracy to commit a not so random act of kindness was held
on March 23, again sounded the tones of 'The Sound Of Music'
in the Antwerp Central Station.

Below, a second tape gives you a unique look behind the scenes how this action was established
[discussed in Dutch, but it is relatively easy to get the idea what is going on].

Produced and shown on VTM as part of their Maria performances.
If only American Media were even half as creative, it would be a breath of fresh air.

recent photos

2009-04-10T14:37:00.014-04:00

My travels take me all over; things seen disparate and apparently disconnected.
But they are all part of the composition of the day.
supplies

the day begins

interstate transport

mmm! fresh milk!

Not Close Enough

old house / new beginnings

Permanent Position

...th-th-that's all for today, folks!

FWIW Department: [...and in response to a couple of life's persistent questioners...] 1- You are entirely correct; the third, fourth and fifth photos are actually afternoon shots, not morning ones; that's what I get for having viewers who live in New Britain; and 2- No, NONE of the photos have been cropped.

fraud alert

2009-04-04T20:23:00.005-04:00

Recently I was "invited" to check out a website claiming to sell a wide array of electronics equipment. I didn't bite, instead deleted the e-mail. Around the same time I heard from them, a couple of other people I know got e-mails claiming that thus and so was recommending the site. That's a total lie.
     You will note that I have not provided a hyperlink to them. But the web page for the outfit is: www.topstrade.com. That is their phony certificate of operation on the right. The logo on their site, and on e-mails they spam send looks like the image on the left.
     Topstrade does business under the name of Shenzhen Kaisiter Electronic Co., Ltd. Their website has posted an address as: 1818 Room Business Center No.96 Yan Nan Road Shenzhen, China.
     Today I got a call from one friend in another state who made the mistake of contacting them from their site. She told me that, once registered, you are invited to chat and discuss the products that interests you.
     The chatters present as friendly and cheerful, and they are hard sell; their web page is designed to appear as though they are legit, complete with active links to major shipping companies [UPS, FedEx] and pay sites [Western Union, PayPal, Visa]. But once your order is in, they forward you a bogus tracking number. Your money is lost. You have been scammed.
     Later, my lady friend learned that some internet connectionion services, such as AOL.com, warn people about Topstrade, and even block their site. My friend doesn't dial in thorugh AOL, she learned this too late. I am posting this at her request to alert others.
The company claims its motto to be:

If you have some suggestions about our products or our service, please tell us ,and we must accept and improve ,and appreciate you very much. hope sincerely that we can cooperate happily for a long time.

Of one thing I am certain, they probably are happy to get your money. I wonder, if money scammed by Topstrade can be used by China as a reduction in the USA bonding debt to them. [LOL]
Lacking that, if you have gotten their e-mails, then buyer beware, those too low to believed sale prices are just that. Let you own state's Attorney General know if they have contacted you.

will's art photos

2009-04-03T11:39:00.005-04:00

A little bit of Maxfield Parrish colors and a stare at the granite steps. Both from last autumn

will's art

2009-04-03T11:32:00.003-04:00

When we went to but spot lamps for the ceiling a visit into the lamp store show rooms was and exercise in visual information overload. I'm also quite glad I don't have to pay the shop's electric bill, but that bill was reflected in the cost of the boxes for our halogen spots.

art + artists

2009-03-27T01:49:00.008-04:00

"...the principle of collage is the central principle of all art in the twentieth century." -- Donald Barthelme (1931-1989)

City Lights Gallery in Bridgeport CT held the opening reception for its latest exhibit, "This and That". The works of twenty artists [yours truly included] who create art in collage / assemblage efforts / media are on display until 15th May 2009. It's a pretty exciting show, and I say this not just because I am in it. It was great to be able to compare one's personal style, the choice of media, the materials from which each of us worked, and the approaches to the theme.
     The formats and materials included photographs; kid's toys; bandages and masks; torn paper; kitchen utensils; stained glass; encaustic; light boxes; reclaimed cd's; as well as fabric and other found objects.
     The styles are quite varied, from a Louise Nevelson style piece, boxes reminiscent of Joseph Cornell, two dimensional photo collage, clean graphic design layouts, over to quilt/embroidery storytelling.
     The audience, a mix of artists and appreciators of art, were lively and animated. I'm proud to be in show of this quality.
     Since this is my weblog, I include a final picture of my own works most of which was hung in one corner.

Thank you Pat for the last photo.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT COLLAGE: Collage Art and Artists | The International Museum of Collage, a [very] short history of collage |

moving day

2009-03-10T07:49:00.000-04:00

news blips

2009-02-23T07:25:00.006-05:00

  •  Comet Lulin Approaching Earth. Space scientists from the University of Leicester are keeping a close eye on a ‘green comet’ fast approaching the Earth - reaching its nearest point to us on February 24, that's tomorrow!
     Comet Lulin will streak by the earth within 38 million miles – 160 times farther than the moon -and is expected to be visible to the naked eye. Discovered only a year ago, the comet gains its green colour from poisonous cyanogen and diatomic carbon gases in its atmosphere.
     This will be the comet’s first visit to the Earth’s inner solar system- and will enable the team from the University of Leicester to gain valuable insights into the comet.
     They are using NASA's Swift satellite to monitor Comet Lulin as it closes on Earth. The spacecraft has recorded simultaneous ultraviolet and X-ray images of a comet.
     Read the entire article at Science Daily.

  •  The Lancet, a widely-respected international medical journal, published an essay sharply critical of the psychiatric industry that reviews two books: "The Myth of the Chemical Cure: A Critique of Psychiatric Drug Treatment" by Joanna Moncrieff and "Side Effects: a Prosecutor, a Whistleblower, and a Bestselling Antidepressant on Trial" by Alison Bass.
     The essayist/reviewer is Athar Yawer, who has written other items for Lancet including essays on the social impact of torture [Nov 29, 2008], whether or not doctors are capable of thinking [Oct 11, 2008], and an evaluation of how much time psychiatrists actually spend with their patients [Jan 26, 2008]. The opening of the last article speaks thus:

Jonathan Radcliffe and Roger Smith reported an observational study of how patients spent their time on psychiatric wards in the UK, during working hours (0900–1700 h, weekdays).1 6% of the patients' time was spent in what might loosely be termed therapeutic interaction. Despite the intense enclosed nature of the ward, 84% of their time was spent interacting with no one at all.

     An article in the New York Times noted that, perhaps, this is no different from doctors in other disciplines, citing docs as "...arrogant, abusive and disruptive..."
     How to combat this? The Mayo Clinic conducted a survey in 2006 asking people how should an ideal doctor act?
     The difference, unfortunately, is that in psychiatry, forced treatment is considered so acceptable, hardly anyone questions it.

The Lancet and The New York Times make articles available by paid subscription.

PICTURE CREDITS: Comet from Science Daily; Doctor picture from About.com. As an aside, I found it oddly amusing that the file name for the stock photo of the physician is "evil doc".

oscars

2009-02-22T23:46:00.002-05:00

Sean Penn as Harvey Milk is best performer

art + artists

2009-02-22T22:57:00.007-05:00

LUG

Industry

Star Formation

These are three of four works I look forward to entering into an exhibit coming up soon in Connecticut

charity

2009-02-22T06:03:00.008-05:00

More proof that the rich are different from the rest of us. We should never forget the truly needy. Remember only $3,700 daily donation is less than the cost of a thousand lattes.

Of course, there's another way one might look at the plight of the wealthy. At Fortune Magazine, no less, there has been talk of sending some corporate executives to jail and, for others, putting the heads of CEOs on pikes. Elsewhere, social scientist Holly Sklar believes the richest Americans are far overpaid and extremely undertaxed.

     In today's mad world, underpaid workers are bailing out banks and corporations run by overpaid, undertaxed bosses who milked their companies and our country like cash cows.
     While workers across America were losing jobs, homes and health insurance, Merrill Lynch paid nearly 700 employees more than $1 million each in bonuses last year, amounting to a $3.6 billion bonus bonanza as Merrill lost $27 billion.
     Workers have been sacrificing for years. Average worker paychecks are worth less now than in 1973, but CEOs and other rich Americans not only make much more, they pay less in taxes.
     Average full-time workers made $41,198 in 1973 and $37,606 in 2008, adjusted for inflation.
     CEOs made 45 times as much as workers in 1973 and more than 300 times as much as workers now. The top tax rate was 70 percent in 1973 and it's just 35 percent now; taxpayers pay the top rate on the portion of taxable income that falls within the highest bracket and pay lower rates on income below that. The top rate for capital gains on the sale of stock and other assets was 36.5 percent in 1973 and 15 percent now.
     Irrational pay and tax cuts have generated a massive redistribution of income and wealth — from everyday workers to CEOs, hedge fund managers and others in the richest 1 percent.
     By 2006, the richest 1 percent had increased their share of the nation's income to the second-highest level on record. The only year higher was 1928 — the eve of the Great Depression.
There are some who think, regarding the rich,
that maybe the French had the right idea
     According to the latest IRS data, excluding tax-exempt interest income from state and local government bonds, the richest 400 taxpayers had an average adjusted gross income of $263 million each on their federal income tax returns in 2006 — up from $221 million in 2005 and $67 million in 1992, all adjusted for inflation.
     Remember, that's annual income, not accumulated wealth — $263 million comes to more than $5 million a week.
     In 2006, the 400 ultra rich were taxed at an average rate of 17 percent — down from 26 percent in 1992. The ultra rich get most of their income from capital gains. The capital gains tax was cut from 28 percent in 1992 to 20 percent in 1997 and cut again to 15 percent in 2003.
     To make matters worse, the rich cheat more on their taxes. Forbes recently reported on a study using IRS data showing that taxpayers with income between $500,000 and $1 million a year understated their adjusted gross incomes by 21 percent in 2001, compared to 8 percent for those earning $50,000 to $100,000, and even lower rates for those earning less.
     We should raise taxes at the top so the nation's richest bosses no longer pay lower effective rates than workers and we can start reversing the obscene rise in inequality rather than reinforcing it. President Barack Obama's plan to cap CEO cash pay at $500,000 for senior executives at companies on the government dole sounds better than it is, affecting few firms and being full of loopholes.
     At the very least, Obama should not delay restoring the top tax rate to the 39.6 percent that prevailed in 2000. The Bush tax cuts saved the top 1 percent nearly half a trillion dollars between 2001 and 2008, reports Citizens for Tax Justice.
     The $79.5 billion in tax cuts for the top 1 percent in 2008 was more than the budgets of the Department of Education and Environmental Protection Agency combined. In 2008, it took an annual income greater than $462,000 just to get into the top 1 percent.
     Even better, we should add a top rate of 50 percent on income above $1 million, as advocated by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, among others.
     People for whom $1 million and above is an annual paycheck should pay more so people for whom $1 million is an unattainable lifetime fortune don't have to.
     If we don't start taxing the wealthy more now, then you can be sure that the mountain of debt created by tax cuts and the bailout will be used to drive "entitlement reform." Workers' last forms of security — Social Security and Medicare — will be on the chopping block to pay for the wreck the truly entitled made of our economy.
     Holly Sklar is co-author of "A Just Minimum Wage: Good for Workers, Business and Our Future" and "Raise the Floor: Wages and Policies That Work for All of Us." She can be reached at hsklar@aol.com or P.O. Box 301045, Boston, Mass. 02130.

history / society / neglect

2009-02-18T09:40:00.009-05:00

The Suitcase Exhibit was born from the chance discovery of personal possessions in the attics of Willard Psychiatric Center in New York's Finger Lakes when it closed in 1995.
     Workers discovered hundreds of suitcases in the attic of an abandoned building. Many of them appeared untouched since their owners packed them decades earlier before entering the institution.
     State Museum Curator Craig Williams brought the suitcases to the Museum's storage facilities. He contacted Darby Penney and Peter Stastny bringing the suitcases to their attention.
     They, in turn made the effort to once again breathe life into the spirit of those souls long neglected after their hospitalized imprisonment ~ for warehousing is nothing less than that - imprisonment. A website memorializing those souls whose lives were unjustly frozen when confined into long-term institutional custodial placement speaks to what they found:

The suitcases and their contents bear witness to the rich, complex lives their owners lived prior to being committed to Willard. They speak about aspirations, accomplishments, community connections, but also about loss and isolation. From the clothing and personal objects left behind, we can gain some understanding of who these people were before they disappeared behind hospital walls. We can picture their jobs and careers, see them driving cars, playing sports, studying, writing, and traveling the world. We can imagine their families and friends. But we can also see their lives coming apart due to unemployment, the death of a loved one, loneliness, poverty, or some other catastrophic event.
The suitcases and the life stories of the people who owned them raise questions that are difficult to confront. Why were these people committed to this institution, and why did so many stay for so long? How were they treated? What was it like to spend years in a mental institution, shut away from a society that wanted to distance itself from people it considered insane? Why did most of these suitcase owners live out their days at Willard? What about their friends and families? Are the circumstances today any better than they were for psychiatric patients during the first half of the 20th century?

     The project has included: an intensive study by Peter, Darby and the photographer Lisa Rinzler; a major exhibit at the New York State Museum viewed by more than 600,000 people in 2004; a portable traveling version of the exhibit, on tour since 2006; and a book, The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic, by Darby Penney and Peter Stastny. It was published in hardcover by Bellevue Literary Press in January 2008, featuring Lisa's wonderful photographs along with historical photos. The paperback version was released in November 2008.
     Would that this was an isolated phenomenon, but it isn't. For well over a century people who died in mental hospitals across the North American continent were buried in unmarked, sometimes numbered graves. The "conventional wisdom" of the mental illness treating establishment erroneously believed that being labeled "insane" was so shameful that people identities were masked, hidden, rendered confidential!
     Too bad the perpetrators of this gruesome myth could not see - indeed they still cannot see - that the real shame here is to hide from society the lives of these souls captured and confined and put away in psychiatric facilities.
     This injustice is still done today, albeit more subtly - it is now called "STIGMA" but, in truth, stigma's face is still irrational prejudice and bigotry held against those of us who get labelled as mentally ill.

FOR MORE INFO SEE: The Lives Left Behind, and learn about similar efforts like The Eastern State Hospital Project, caring for Patients' Graves and the Disability Rights Center's Augusta Mental Health Institute. PHOTO CREDIT: Lisa Rinzler from the The Suitcase Exhibit Team

crime : famous murderers

2009-02-15T21:06:00.007-05:00

Maricopa County Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio rode into power by running against a fellow Republican and incumbent Maricopa County Sheriff, Tom Agnos, by bad mouthing Agnos and arguing that the entire Maricopa County Sheriff's Department needed to be cleaned up. Five terms and seventeen years later, he has not accomplished his stated goal.
     Instead, publicity hound Sheriff Arpaio has used his post to foster his own agenda, namely that of a bigoted, hostile yahoo now in power. Although his racist, anti-immigrant opinions are well known being in power, I suspect, is his most important priority, not serving the citizens of Maricopa County Arizona.
     So I am heartened that members of the US House Judiciary Committee are calling investigation of his crimes, if not is ouster, just yet.
     Now, in case you are wondering why I calls him as a "murderer" when he has not been found guilt of such an act, it's simple; because, while under his watch he and his minions took part in, and over saw the deaths of three unconvicted detainees, Scott Norberg, Charles Agster and Clint Yarborugh.
All died while in strapped into a restraint chair. In the case of Agster, a mentally retarded man arrested for trespassing. A report conducted by the US Department of Justice found that "...Detention officers at the Madison Street Jail pulled a hood over his head and slammed him into a medieval-looking restraint chair. The hood around Agster's throat smothered him to the point that he became brain dead."
     The weblog Firedoglake stated

" It should be noted that neither Norberg, Agster, nor Yarbrough were ever tried or convicted for the charges they were arrested on; none of them lived to see their first court date and died innocent men under the law. Those are just the deaths associated with the medieval restraint chair, there have been numerous deaths from improper or complete lack of medical care, neglect and other perils."

So I think of Arpaio the same way I regard the circumstances of Ronald Rajcok, the guy who drove Mary Ann Measles to her assault, gang rape and death, even though he didn't hold the weapon. Arpaio is complicit in the crime, and, as such, deserves time in the same institutions he should proudly and brazenly lords over.

film review

2009-02-14T03:53:00.027-05:00

The Wal-Mart $1 and $5 DVD bins provides a mixed bag of goods. In the past I've often passed them by, but not long ago, on a whim while at one of the self-service check out lines, I grabbed a copy of a one dollar double feature that included Gone with the West and Molly and Lawless John. For pure amusement value it was worth more than the buck I spent.

     For the record, I'd watch a film with Sam Elliot in it even if it lacked a story line [has one], had incomphrhensible dialogue [clever, actually], and the image grainy at best [this copy was clear]. Molly and John Lawless was a minor gem that apparently passed me by. The film got an R Rating, perhaps due to Sam Elliot twice uttering the word "shit" and one scene where he climbs on top of a whore, and both of them are bare chested.
     It is commonplace for one to watch an Oater where the two principal characters are on the lam from the law, but while carrying a papoose with them? I've never seen that catch before. Vera Miles and Sam Elliot are an odd-couple pairing, a proper sheriff's wife runs away with a sociopath bank robber killer who had smooth talked her into helping him escape the hangman's noose. It may not be what most would consider a proper western, and while it is comic in it's delivery, I'm not certain if it was intentional, or if 30 years passage since production [1978 release date] has rendered it somewhat camp.
     The conventional western fan might be uncomfortable with what seems to be an actual intimacy between the two characters. But it's a rather decent watch throughout.
     I'll refrain from spoiling the ending, just in case you want to see it yourself. Now relegated to knock-off bins at places like Wal-Mart, still worth it.
     Of the two, when taking into consideration things like clever dialogue, awareness of social issues perhaps not considered in the time period shown, but may have been a draw to contemporary viewers, Molly and Lawless John was the better of the two. All in all it provided a rather quirky take on the history of the old American West while the other... well, I'm about to get to that.
     Which brings me to my thoughts on Gone with the West, for which it was impossible to find a review [It receives mention on both Rotten Tomatoes and the IMBD websites, but I found no write-ups] so I suppose mine is the first one online. [correct me if I am wrong on this]. For a friend of mine and I we found the film was an entertaining debauched romp.

Re-released in 1978 as Little Moon and Jud McGraw: Plot Synopsis: "Somewhere in the mirage-laden distances of the Southwest is a ghost town called Black Nullar. Jud Mc Graw, a tarnished hero, and Little Moon, a not-so-innocent Indian maiden, have scores to settle"

     Released in 1975, and starring James Caan, my guess is that Mr. Caan likely doesn't have it high on his resume list. Neither, I suppose would Stephanie Powers. As for Aldo Ray [who went on to do a quasi-porn film, Sweet Savage, a year later in 1979] he might not have cared but his filmographies don't list it. Sammy Davis, Jr. often appeared as a comic foil, so maybe would not have minded the credits.
     The film got a PG Rating. how the film makers got that when there is a cockfight, a simulated rape scene -- these both early in the film -- and lots of pawings about in a brothel/saloon is beyond my understanding but, oh well.
     In some measure, the review is more about the writing, direction, even the musical score, than about the acting, which is ham-handed and [sometimes] silly.

The villain played by Aldo Ray exposed he hairy chest several time in "Gone with the West." The image to the right is from an unrelated flick. Aldo Ray was a George Cukor "discovery" - I leave you to ponder that one.

     There is precious little dialogue. The principals - Caan as a wronged cowhand Jud McGraw, and Ms. Powers as Little Moon, a Spanish speaking half-breed [it is she who gets gang raped] - don't understand what each other is saying so body language becomes a more important communication tool. With other characters, much of the talk is almost guttural, and often drowned out by gun shots, fight noises and TNT going off.
     With such sparse dialogue, it is odd to see two writers assigned to the project. Both with histories in television series writing; one apparently toward the end of his script writing career [Monroe Manning - Lassie, Flipper, The Witnesses], the other [Douglas Day Stewart - Bonanza, Room 222] went on to write and co-produce An Officer and a Gentleman, so this piece of celluloid shrapnel didn't kill his career.
     Then there was the music: From the 1970's brassy urban jazz overture [the soundtrack from the film Shaft comes to mind] to the plaintive theme song; at least three times the hymn "Abide with Me" was sung be a scruffy looking counter tenor, always as a preface to a funeral, none of which were maudlin. The theme song about "What a Man has to be," with repetitive inane lyrics that spoke to the unfairness of life, and how men had to be men and deal with things in a manly way, even if it was unpleasant. [perhaps this was to help explain the many bar brawls as well as a wrestling match that showed me from where some of the World Wrestling Entertainment moves were born].
     Finally, I want to say a little about the print copy I watched. Although the movie was originally filmed in color this copy was a dark, grainy, sepia-toned version that could pass for intentional but every now and again a strong red or blue would stand out. This somber and, at times, almost opaque quality of the image, actually served to increase its unintended humor aspect for my friend and I.
     I am guessing that it is bootleg from the "Digiview Entertainment Made in China. The folks in China were likely violating copyright protections to burn the DVD. The copyright protection is carefully written to extend only to the DVD cover art.
     Would I watch it again? You betcha! Am I glad I didn't pay full price to see the film in a theater? You got that right. But for 50 cents per film with the viewing cost to go down each time it's seen, as they say at VISA, "priceless !.

art + artists

2009-02-13T11:24:00.010-05:00

Nicole Duennebier describes what she does as "cataloging textures" of those "under dwelling malevolent creatures...[while depicting a world that is]..a combination of textural pleasure and textual disgust."
     Yesterday, she talked with an audience at the New Britain Museum of American Art about her work, which is on display at the NEW/NOW gallery space until April 26th.
     She turns to nature for inspiration. While living in Gloucester. MA she would go down to the tidal pools to study the flora and fauna living there. She found she was both fascinated and repelled with the beautiful and the grotesque lying abed together. This dual fascination, as applied to her renderings, results in showing everything she sees.
     James Baker, President of the Maine College of Art, in Portland ME, observed of Nicole that the variety of studies required when she went to college benefited her then budding art trajectory

Nicole ...[explained] that what surprised her most in her education was the role of liberal arts courses, which she admitted she at first tried to avoid. A course in coastal ecosystems presented an unexpected resource of materials to inspire her and “changed my whole body of work.”

At last night's reception I asked her if people, upon finding out that her inspiration is drawn from what she finds in nature, if the people are surprised about this. She indicated that they were. She went on to talk of the distance humans maintain from nature, and commented on society's lack of awareness of what is acually out there and surrounding us all the time, but added, now that she's aware of the elements of nature herself, she has to depict it. for "when you are in nature and you see something beautiful, you have to accept the things around it..."
I've got to agree.

Images: left- at the NBMAA receoption; right- Treacle Monster, 2008 || FOR MORE ABOUT Ms. Duennebier: Nicole Duennebier paintings 2005-2008; James Baker's weblog entry on Nicole or Days and Nights in the Forest

moving the links list

2009-02-12T03:05:00.006-05:00

In the coming weeks and months I plan on moving my all too cumbersome list of links to Will's "Short Notes" Links page. The objective being is to make it easier to navigate than the cumbersome column on your right. Ultimately, the long term goal is to make the site by friendlier to the eye and improve its readability.
Currently, the only thing I have posted is a list of reference sites
It will also be an interesting challenge to keep the second site more distinctly focused; unlike the olios that both my Blogspot Short Notes and the Rondacker LiveJournal sites tend to be. Comments, opinions, and opposing perspectives are wlecome.

memes: 25 random things

2009-02-10T01:35:00.019-05:00

01- I almost didn't get into college because a financial aid officer said he "...didn't think I was culturally deprived enough" to receive financial aid.
02- I've never known what it was like to not be able to draw
03- I have no idea where my birth mother might be. Here maiden name is/was Mary Selma Evans. If someone knows her whereabouts, please write me
04- The family once had a cocker spaniel named Brandy. She was stolen within a week of getting her.
05- Learned how to drive a vehicle using standard shift. It's still my favorite way to drive.
06- Montreal is my favorite city.
07- In general, I'm not terribly fond of cities, and [unless I was enormously wealthy] wouldn't want to live in one but I do enjoy visiting them.
08- It's been over 25 years since I lived there, but I still think of the Adirondacks as my home.
09- Many of my favorite music CDs include compositions, songs and groups that most folks have never heard of.
10- I was present in a crowd of angry college students when Nelson Rockefeller saluted us by raising his hand and showing us his middle finger... here's a grainy news photo of this historical gesture to your right -->
11- I learned far more from Gretchen Westervelt than I thought I did when I knew her.
12- I'm a vegetarian when there is no meat available to eat.
13- I once had to tell Sammy Davis Jr that he could not smoke in his hotel room.
14- When travelling to stay with my father while he was dying, I thought of hundreds of things I wanted to say to him. When we were alone together I couldn't talk. I still regret this.
15- Rockwell Kent's widow, Sally Kent Gorton, once left me -totally alone- to peruse RK's collection of prints for hours.
16- I really like doing crossword puzzles.
17- On two separate occasions I saw a hotel or dorm room completely vandalized by a renowned Olympic speed skater while it had been occupied by him.
18- It took me about 10 minutes to figure out how to properly use chopsticks for eating. The guy who showed me said I must have lied about having never used them before.
19- My favorite foods include venison, rabbit, okra and eggplant. I dislike brussels sprouts.
20- An acquaintance of mine once purchased an original Rembrandt print at auction for only $5. The auctioneer held it up describing it only as a "...picture of a windmill." My friend was the only bidder.
21- I passed my first kidney stone in a hotel room in Paris.
22- If I were 20 years younger and single, I'd think seriously about moving to live in Bisbee Arizona.
23- I never feel alone, nor lonely, when walking solo in the woods.
24- Once purchased a brand new Coleman Scanoe for only $35 dollars.
25- I'm not afraid of the dark.

IMAGE SOURCES: Montreal - from my own collection; Nelson Rockefeller - found at Charles Eicher's Disinoftainment; Return to Asgaard, by R Kent, in the Hermitage Collection, St Petersburg, Russia; Bisbee, AZ from Trip Advisor

music videos

2009-02-10T00:16:00.003-05:00

I came across this while visiting David Gwynne's weblog Other Stream. The band is known as November Group and David describes them as "Boston-based, vaguely lesbian band who also recorded “We Dance”, and "Put Your Back To It"." This is "Homeland."
All these works described are videos from the early 1980s. The video here is somewhat dark and haunting. It's DEVO with a grim edge. Given the group is named after a contingent of radical artists and architects perhaps that is exactly the right tone. I've also seen them noted at Not Rock On.
Does anybody out there know if they are still peforming, either as a group or individually?

barriers to growth

2009-02-09T09:17:00.006-05:00

Large bureaucracies are often barriers to change. People have known this for quite some time yet we do little to allow for adaptation. The video hits close to home for me since I can recognize many of the same traits and stale responses seen here, in people with whom I work.
     So it is frustrating to have to listen to dense dittoheads more concerns about keeping the turf beneath their feet stable than in recognizing that sometimes change is necessary for stability.
     I want to make one more thing clear while writing about this phenomena; while the examples shown [and linked to] refer to government bureaucracies, these traits and practices are not limited to government. Insurance and bank lending giants, major corporations [look at the automotive industry] and private health care practitioners are equally as guilty.
     We need to change these stultifying practices in order to make some headway at resolving the various [and varied] crises facing our society today.

THANKS TO: Bill Pierce for the link to this YouTube presentation. Much of the "script" comes directly from bureaucratic dictates. Apparently, you can not make this up.

MSC Fishing Derby - Today

2009-02-08T10:58:00.007-05:00

Rain and shine the Derby is on

antiquing

2009-02-01T11:54:00.013-05:00

The following images were all captured in the New London area during a trip to the New London Antiques Center yesterday.

The office - I love this shot. Evocative of some Renaissance painting interior picture.

left: Maytag wringer washer || right: Office chair missing a wheel

Lamps and "fire extinguisher"

Gilbert chemistry set

Anita Bryant - "Provocative Stereo" [even at a cost of only 90 cents I still didn't buy it]

Luggage - lots of things in which to take my new bought goodies home

And just in case you are wondering, yes, I did buy things. Two books - Andreas Feininger's TREES and Birds of Prey by Alan Richards; three 33 rpm vinyl records [Seals + Crofts - "Diamond Girl", Simply Red's "Picture Book" and a quirky album of covers of Beatle's tunes from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the performers everyone from Peter Frampton, Earth Wind and Fire, Steve Martin, Alice Cooper and [this last one a surprise] George Burns [the comedian] doing "Fixing a Hole"] Can't wait to play it. Oh, I almost forgot, the photo I submitted to the Hygienic Art Show as "Missing in Action".

recipes

2009-02-01T11:39:00.003-05:00

This step-by-step cooking video made by Chef T Cooking School teaches you how to make Wonton Soup in your own kitchen. A lot easier then I'd thought. I also found the presentation style interesting, and much easier to swallow [and, dare I say this, more palatable] than Ana Berry and Steven Day's video on the same subject.
Visit Chef T Cooking School for other cooking tips.

hygienic art show

2009-02-01T10:57:00.006-05:00

The Hygienic, in New London, Connecticut holds it's annual non-juried show this week.
It is well worth the trip if you live near by. It's worth the experience even if you don't. This year, it's also worth it even if you only want to see Glenn Hart's "The Lady Hygienic" [based loosely on Eugène Delacroix's painting "Liberty Leading the People"]. That's a small version of the picture on the left.
I posted some photos I took yesterday at the hanging of the show. They are on my Rondacker Live Journal blog. They are posted on the other site because I have more control on determining the size than one has on the blogger site. Even entered something myself this time. That's a first.

plays on words

2009-02-01T10:49:00.004-05:00

From Johnny Hart's BC

street scene

2009-02-01T09:31:00.007-05:00

This is from Ian Grey's Street Photography series. I particularly appreciated the "Medicalize the Mideast" though I can interpret it in at least two ways. There is the short term obvious one related to the Israeli/Palestinian, Iraq/Afghanistan War debacles.
My second thought of the flier in his hand takes a non linear second logical step and has my synapses interpreting Mideast as Midwest. In that mental scenario, I think of Big Pharma giant Eli Lilly Corporation who conducted their clinical trials of the so-called wonder drug Zyprexa using street people staying in homeless shelters in Indianapolis. These hapless souls "volunteered" to take this drug now proven [without a doubt] to aid in sero-converting someone to diabetes, even people who have no family history of that malady. Lilly corporation played down the connection

"Lilly’s own published data, which it told its sales representatives to play down in conversations with doctors, has shown that 30 percent of patients taking Zyprexa gain 22 pounds or more after a year on the drug, and some patients have reported gaining 100 pounds or more. But Lilly was concerned that Zyprexa’s sales would be hurt if the company was more forthright about the fact that the drug might cause unmanageable weight gain or diabetes, according to the documents, which cover the period 1995 to 2004." QUOTE SOURCE: Alex Berenson, Washington Post, November 2006

What else should we expect from any big drug dealer trying to make a decent profit while hawking their harmful wares.

recent photos

2009-02-01T08:36:00.011-05:00

limonite outcrop

Night photo # 1. Yes, I know it is blurry. I chose it for that quality; same goes for the second night shot found below.

holidays

2009-01-24T21:25:00.005-05:00

Let us Celebrate the Year of the Ox

The Year of the Ox is ushered in tonight. It is a portentous year; a year for hard work and perseverance. According to an article in the Manila Bulletin "...this year is seen... as a time that has room for some modest reaping despite the flood of dismal forecasts of a global economic meltdown." Author Brenda Piquero Tuazon write further:

     Joy Lim, a recognized Feng Shui consultant, said 2009 is a "resilient year" for the country’s economy. He sees an inward wave of substantial market prospects which should push productivity and add to the country’s stability.
     She said that the No. 9 flying star, which in Chinese legend is claimed to be the carrier of a lucky multiplier element, has flown into the Year of the Ox, which bodes well for industries related to metal such as computers, mining, chemicals, car manufacturing, and repairs.
     In the New Year, she said, obstacles and even failures must be embraced, because it is in facing them that business and livelihood barriers can be overcome.
     Hard work and endurance in taking advantage of business prospects and opportunities will play a major role in one’s becoming a winner "in any endeavour one sets his heart in."
     The Chinese New Year is all about symbols of prosperity, good fortune, and good health. Hence the scramble for lucky charms, golden Buddhas, and tiny golden bells to ring in the good luck of the new year.
     According to Chinese legend, it is good to display the mark of the character "fu" on doors and walls for an extra bit of luck.
     Also in the year of the Ox, anything in jade is certain to attract the good fortunes in the coming year, while keeping water flowing is said to bring in great wealth.

Now let us join in celebration.

PHOTO CREDITS: Dragon and Parade from Manchester [UK] Evening News; Paper cut art - Chinese character FU China Art World |

news blips

2009-01-21T00:37:00.004-05:00

  •  The White House weblog. The White House's new website will serve as a place for the President and his administration to connect with the rest of the nation and the world.
     WhiteHouse.gov and the rest of the Administration's online programs will put citizens first. Initial new media efforts will center around three priorities: Communcation, Transparency and Participation
     The White House would also like to hear from you -- what sort of things would you find valuable from WhiteHouse.gov? If you have an idea, check out the White House website and focus on the future.

  •  New Jersey says that Civil Unions are "separate and unequal" from marriage. The New Jersey Civil Union Review Commission unanimously concluded that the alternative status is simply not as good. Rather, the report asserts, because the civil union alternative "invites and encourages unequal treatment of same-sex couples and their children," the legislature and governor should change the law to permit same-sex couples to marry. Moreover, the Commission implored the state to act "expeditiously because any delay in marriage equality will harm all the people of New Jersey."
     There are two ways in which same-sex couples still will not be equal, even if a state authorizes full marriage rights.

1ST: because of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), same-sex unions are not recognized under federal law, meaning that couples must file separate federal tax returns, and that entering into a civil union with a non-citizen does not affect the latter's immigration status, nor provide any other federally-conferred benefit.
2ND: most states have passed statutes or constitutional amendments prohibiting the recognition by the state of same-sex marriage, even if validly celebrated elsewhere

.
• Hubble telescope images of a planetary nebulae. Only some 10,000 light years from earth, viewable from the Southern hemisphere, in the constellation Pyxis. This spectacular structure contains the outer layers of a sun-like star that were sent off into interstellar space during the star's final stages of life. These glowing gaseous shrouds were shed by the star after it ran out of fuel to sustain the nuclear reactions in its core. Our own sun will undergo a similar process, but not for another 5 billion years or so.

not so random acts

2009-01-20T11:18:00.013-05:00

Smiling Buddhas and Friends

Portents of Spring

Our Happy Meal

Yankee Doodle Dandy

End of the parade

My friend Pat and I went driving about yesterday talking about everything from hiding brie in the fridge's beer bin to the rights of Pagans in prisons and the military.
     We did our civic duty by almost shopping at Circuit City. Seems to me that Management of Circuit City must be working on the premise that "he who dies with the most toys, wins" since few people were buying due to the non-sale level prices on things. We both agreed we could get better prices at Wal-Mart, Kaplan's Computers, maybe even Ocean State Job Lot, but at least we went and looked.
     We went to A Dong Supermarket in West Hartford [here's how to get there] and supported the Asian food business. I bought several items I'd not previously heard of, along with powdered lemongrass [for cooking] and Gunpowder Tea [which I already knew about]. Just walking the aisles was a visual treat.
     We ate at a small pasta and pizza place in Newington, where we were served much more food than we could eat in one sitting. This resulted in the competing scents of star anise seeds and Italian steak sauce hitting our noses once in the confines of the truck cab. Far worse things could happen, eh?
     We committed a couple of random acts of kindness, including shoveling out cars for the infirm without their prior knowledge. Afterward, we commented to one another of the marked propensity of the mews media to pander to fear at the cost of letting the world know of all the good, often selfless acts done by people on behalf of one another [and yes, I realize that just by mentioning that we dug out the parked cars, the act ceased to be a selfless one].
     But, really, when violent, scary, disgusting actions taken by others are no longer notable because they seem everyday for hearing of them so frequently, then they are no longer news. The positive actions, in my opinion need to be more frequently headlines, and not in a condescending or pandering manner.
     Our sojourn ended where it began, at the sanctuary that is Pat's place, a small but strangely spacious cottage situated atop a huge boulder; a feat of engineering that most town zoning boards would probably disapprove of these days. ...oh, and I can't forget, Pat finally washed her car so that the black color it long had is now a dusky gray ...or is it a new car altogether?

regime change

2009-01-20T10:30:00.003-05:00

Farewell to the flounderer

Can't say I'll miss y'all

awakened at 0300 hours...

2009-01-19T05:12:00.009-05:00

...and still awake at 0430 after fire dept trucks came and left, having responded to an alarm going off at a neighbor's house.

<<<--the house in question, during the summer months

     Turns out the pipes burst in two bathrooms upstairs bringing cascades of water down two stores into the cellar.
     The sub-zero temps of the past few days probably did it.
     Actually, it was the sound and blinking lights of snow plows that awakened me around 030 hours. They were acting odd, or so I thought. Turns out they were stopped at the house - it's the big one that overlooks the river - a roaming about it peering into windows with flashlights. Half the road crew guys are also on the volunteer fire dept and they got called to find out what was the matter. Not knowing this, I got up and dressed and went out to find out myself why the three road crew trucks out front and was about to go outside when the first fire truck arrived.
     As things would have it, I have a key to the house. It opens a lock in door to the kitchen. The lock that is really

the kitchen as it looked in the 1940s-->>>

difficult to disengage, but it worked. Once the door was opened it took only seconds to determine that the problem was burst pipes; you know, a familiar trickling dripping sound and streamlets of water coming from the ceiling.
     As is reasonable to expect I wasn't allowed to enter until after the fire guys did a through search of the house to see if there was any fire happening. Once that was done, they were okay with me coming in.
     So I call up the owner, who lives in NYC with his 100 year old mother, to give him the news.
     The owner uses his cell phone to talk with the alarm company, but can't remember the pass code to shut off the alarm. It's been years since he had it installed and he's reduced to guessing. Without the pass code, the alarm people refuse to give anybody the instructions to shut off the noise maker.
     After the firemen turn off the water heater, the well water pump and shut off water to the house they leave with the alarm still going.
     I re-lock the house, and head back home. I'm awake now, so I shovel off the sidewalk and outside stairs and begin to clean off the vehicles.
     The house owner calls back. The alarm company tells him the alarm is still ringing; he explains the circumstances and they say since he cannot remember the code [mind you they are calling NOW well after things have been resolved they are calling about the alarm going off] they refuse to tell him how to shut down the alarm, but they do say they would be willing to instruct the fire guys how to disengage the alarm so it stops ringing. Later, when someone is at the house, they can send a representative to the house to reset the alarm system.
     The owner asks me to go back and talk with the alarm company to get the thing shut off. I'm wide awake so why the hell not?
     When I get back, I call hm back on my cell phone, then call the alarm people. They start waffling about even telling me how to disengage the system since I am not a fire company guy.
     I point out that this is a rural area with a volunteer fire company who have already left and they have other work to do anyway at this hour [I tell them these are road crew guys out plowing and unlikely to come back just to reset a noisy alarm when they know there is no problem at the moment].
     I'm walking through the house with two phones on my ears, the alarm dispatcher talking to me in one ear about how there is nothing they will tell me since I'm not an actual fireman, the owner of the house giving me directions on how to get to the alarm box and open it.
     When I explain to the dispatcher that he should call the owner on his cell phone, he starts "...the cell phone is not the number of record of the owner so I could just be trying to..." I interrupt, unwilling to hear the rest, figuring out where he's going with this. Meanwhile, I find the box and open it. I disconnect the outgoing phone line but don't know what to do next.
     I tell the dispatcher what I have already done, that I have the owner on the other phone, that I am standing in a pool of water, so he might as well tell me what to do before I electrocute myself on their equipment. A sigh, then he says that I have to unplug the transformer [you know, one of those little 7.5 volt things] before I disconnect ONLY negative wire ["it's the black wire" he says] which ought to shut off the alarm. I do this. It shuts off.
     Oh yeah, and just as I complete disengaging the alarm, the owner remembers the pass code. Lotta good that did.
     By the way, all the while I was skulking about the cellar, and so the alarm company dispatcher could hear me, I was describing the water damage in the basement to the owner.
     Once the alarm stops ringing, the dispatcher tells me that the owner will have to call the company to get the system back and running.
     After that, I do a reconnaissance of the house describing to him what things do and don't look like. Lots of wet foors, but some parts of the kitchen are dry, with stacks of books and magazines, even a jar full of matchbooks all dry. Turns out the heat was set at around 55 F which was clearly insufficient for keeping thin sink pipes situated on

A frozen toilet. Not at all like those I found in the house filled with with frozen water in the bowls, fortunately-->>>

outer walls, from freezing and - later- bursting open. Most of the damage is contained to two rooms, plus the broken plumbing, but I do notice that two toilets have frozen water in their basins. Never saw that in a heated house before. At the owner's request, I reset the heat to 70 degrees.
The owner's getting ready now - it's 0515 hours as I write this sentence - to come and see the place.

I love bureaucracies like the alarm company runs. They really help people hired to make critical decisions to, instead, fail to be responsible for their inactions. Lucky it was only water damage and it has been contained.

the star spangled banner

2009-01-17T11:20:00.005-05:00

Watch more YouTube videos on AOL Video

We have come a long way from the days when people were seized from their homes, changed and shackled into ships as if they were inanimate cargo, sold into slavery and subjected to abuses and wrongs that are almost unspeakable in their horror.

These abuses were - and are not - unique to Americans. But perhaps Americans are uniquely suited for being in the forefront of eradicating slavery and injustice from the planet. Not because of the hatemongers amongst us, but in spite of them.

In recognition of the anniversary of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr's birth, and the inauguration of Barak Obama as our nation's first non-white president, I post up this rendition of our national anthem by the Dells.

websurfing

2009-01-03T17:21:00.004-05:00

  •  Feral Cats. I believe it would be a nicer place to live if there were properly funded Catch / Neuter / Release programs for oft abandonded animals. And while it's well nigh a stereotype that one tosses a boot out the window at the alley cat but some treat felines left behind to fend for themselves in a more caring manner. Such is the case when people make winter shelters for feral cats. IndyFeral's website is particularly helpful providing practical pointers on proper bedding materials. One of my favorite shelter plans is a hideaway made of sheet foam insulation which is relatively easy to make, requiring few tools and adaptable to do right in the field. But be certain to raise it and weigh it down afterward.
  •  What time is it? World Time Zone will tell you - anywhere as contrasted to Greenwich Mean Time. As I type this it is almost midnight in London, England. Looking at the chart one sees quirky variants like Venezuela and Labrador, both of which post their times half-an-hour off from adjacent time zone denizens; then there's the norther hemisphere almost all of which observes Daylight Savings Time, save Iceland, New Mexico and parts of the province of Alberta. A boffo resource if you want to call someone on the other side of the planet, but don't wish to abruptly wake them up, since they might want to toss a shoe at you.
  •  Speaking of which, at Sock and Awe you, too can have your chance at tossing one of your size tens [but you only get to toss it at Dubya] in the privacy of your own home and without worrying that the local gendarmes will get to torture you for your efforts. Then again, it may depend on what telcom you use to log on to the internet, what with protected illegal surveillance and all that.
  •  Just in case the ordinary shoe doesn't meet suit your fancy Pennagalan and Hot Boots offer a selection of fetish footwear that is not to be dismissed. And for those so inclined amongst my viewers Pennegalan offers a variety of Vegetarian boots, just as queer and kinky as the rest of their assortment. The site says that they are "...synthetic leathers, made from animal free materials and glues...[and they are]...Approved by the UK Vegan Society. Of the two sites, Hot Boots offers stuff more mundane and common, workmens', biker and engineer boots; stuff that would make a gal like Elaine Miller [not to mention a passel of gay guys into rough trade types] happy. Says Elaine, of men's work boots

Here's something I love about all my butch boots. It's the sure-footedness, and the steadiness. It's the jingle of spurs and the steady clomp clomp sound of one's own stride echoing down an alley late at night. In contrast, high heels make a nervous ticking noise, accompanied, in my case, by a little "yeek yeek yeek" noise at the end of a night because my feet hurt.

But back to where this started, a good hefty chunky boot would be much more effective at making a mark on some pompous outgoing warlord's forehead ...make it memorable.

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LITERACY

2009-01-02T08:03:00.002-05:00

Four times a year it is Buy a Friend a Book Week [BAFAB]. One of those our weeks is in January.
Celebrating BAFAB is easy. Just get yourself to a real-life or virtual book store during Buy a Friend a Book Week (the first weeks of January, April, July, and October) and, well, buy a friend a book! But here's the fun part: you can't buy your friend a book because it's their birthday or they just graduated or got engaged or had a baby or anything else. You have to give them a book for no good reason. In fact, this present out of the blue from you should shock the pants off of whomever you decide to give it to. And it'll make them happy. And that's the point: promote reading, promote friendships. Just make sure to let them know about Buy a Friend a Book Week, so they can spread the joy in turn. Find Out More

whimsey

2009-01-01T11:11:00.005-05:00

Saurians at work

I particularly like the saurian pulling the cart. In the background are an oil pump rig, street lights and power lines; the psychic aftermath of the saurian geologic era and humanity's connection with that time.

happy new year!

2009-01-01T11:05:00.001-05:00

May your year be one of promise fulfilled

holiday background

2009-01-01T10:42:00.006-05:00

Here is the tree on which the one in my 2008 Holiday card [posted below] is based. And here is the story about that tree in detail.
     Some updates - from this year - to our tale. I recently met a man from Stonington and told him about the tree. He commented that the tree has locally always been an enigma, and burst out "Oh! So you are the Tree People!" I was quick to point out that we have never been the first to put decorations on the tree, so we could not make that claim.
     This year, we were the first to arrive to add decorations to the tree. We also brought a stepladder to reach higher up into the branches. So I suppose, now, we have become the tree people.
     From the number of folks who drove past us while we were there, honking, smiling and waving, I think it an honor to now be a part of local lore, even if Lorraine and I don't live there ourselves.

Here's a close-up of our handiwork, combined with decorations put up on the tree in years gone by.

holiday greetings

2008-12-21T16:22:00.003-05:00

No matter what one calls the season's holiday: Winter Solstice, Christmas, Hanukah, Kwaanza, Saturnalia, or something else, my best to each and everyone of you.

film shorts

2008-12-09T23:22:00.002-05:00

From Future Shorts Phil and Olly / UK / 2008 A sleep-deprived office worker accidentally discovers a black hole - and then greed gets the better of him...
Thanks to YouTube, lost of true Independent videographers are getting exposure.

racism

2008-12-07T14:19:00.003-05:00

White separatist and supremacist groups grow. The mainstream media don't discuss it, but some do. This is from the American News Project.

recent photo

2008-11-19T09:28:00.004-05:00

Looking back

4 X 4

news blips

2008-11-19T08:29:00.005-05:00

Double click on the lead sentence of each article for the complete story quoted

  •  Dick Cheney, Alberto Gonzalez indicted in South Texas! Charges related to alleged abuse of prisoners in federal detention centers. A South Texas grand jury has indicted Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on state charges related to the alleged abuse of prisoners in`Willacy County, Texas federal detention centers.
     Cheney's indictment on a charge of engaging in an organized criminal activity criticizes the vice president's investment in the Vanguard Group, which holds interests in the private prison companies running the federal detention centers. It accuses Cheney of a conflict of interest and "at least misdemeanor assaults" on detainees because of his link to the prison companies.
     The indictment accuses Gonzales of using his position while in office to stop an investigation in 2006 into abuses at one of the privately-run prisons.
SOURCE: Houston Chronicle

  •  FDA questioned about widespread use of psychiatric drugs with children. Powerful antipsychotic medicines are being used far too cavalierly in children, and federal drug regulators must do more to warn doctors of their substantial risks, a panel of federal drug experts said Tuesday.
     More than 389,000 children and teenagers were treated last year with Risperdal, one of five drugs known as "atypical anti-psychotics". In many cases, the drug was prescribed to treat attention deficit disorders.
     But Risperdal is not approved for attention deficit problems, and its risks — which include substantial weight gain, metabolic disorders and muscular tics that can be permanent — are too profound to justify its use in treating such disorders, panel members said.
     Food and Drug Administration officials wanted the committee to endorse the agency’s routine monitoring of the medicines in children.
     But committee members unanimously rejected the agency’s proposals, saying that far more needed to be done to discourage the medicines’ growing use in children, particularly to treat conditions for which the medicines have not been approved.
SOURCE: New York Times

  •  Milky Way's Black Hole Sending Out Flares. Two different telescopes simultaneously observed violent flares from the supermassive black hole in the center of the Milky Way. The outbursts from this region, known as Sagittarius A*, reveal material being stretched like bread dough out as it orbits in the intense gravity close to the central black hole.
     Sagittarius A* is located at the centre of our own Milky Way Galaxy at a distance from Earth of about 26,000 light-years. It is a supermassive black hole with a mass of about four million times that of the Sun. Most, if not all, galaxies are thought to have a supermassive black hole in their center.
SOURCE: Universe Today

  •  Oil price dives under 55 dollars per barrel in London. Oil prices sank under 55 dollars a barrel on Tuesday to strike a 21-month low as fresh recession jitters fanned fears about slowing global energy demand, traders said.
     On London's InterContinental Exchange (ICE), Brent North Sea crude for delivery in December plunged to 54.92 dollars per barrel -- a level last seen on January 30, 2007. Brent later stood at 55.94 dollar, down 3.14 dollars from Monday.
     "News that China's crude oil imports jumped by 28 percent in October from a year ago and that militants are threatening to renew attacks on oil facilities in Nigeria failed to lift prices," noted Sucden analyst Michael Davies.
The oil market was also undermined by the strengthening dollar which tends to dampen demand because dollar-priced crude becomes more expensive for buyers holding weaker currencies.
     OPEC president Chakib Khelil indicated over the weekend another round of production cuts may occur should oil prices remain below the cartel's preferred range of 70 to 90 dollars.
     The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which pumps more than 40 percent of the world's crude, announced in October that its daily output would be cut by 1.5 million barrels per day to 27.3 million barrels per day from November.
SOURCE: Energy for the Future [blog]

recent photos

2008-11-13T08:13:00.013-05:00

Along the River

Popeye

Fire Station backyard

Too Much Partying?

Feral cat shelter

Pack Rat Haven

politics: the know nothings

2008-11-13T07:37:00.003-05:00

Now that the US Presidential election is over and the 21st Century version of the Know Nothings have completely overrun the Rethuglican Party leadership we can get back to work at solving our various social, economic and political ills.
     There are some notable replacements from the Catholics, Irish and Chinese immigrants with Muslims, Arabs and "the Gays", but I expect the new know nothing leadership [still up for grabs but could include Rush Limbaugh, Lou Dobbs, Ann Coulter, maybe even Sarah Palin?] will be able to improvise.
     Formally named The American Party, the Know Nothings had some basic tenets which included:
     • Severe limits on immigration, especially from Catholic countries
     • Restricting political office to native-born Americans
     • Mandating a wait of 21 years before an immigrant could gain citizenship
     • Restricting public school teachers to Protestants
     • Mandating daily Bible readings in public schools
     • Restricting the sale of liquor
     Thanks to the persistent dumbing-down of public education that has taken place since the Reagan Era, the evisceration of the Fairness Doctrine [You know, that FCC policy that mandated broadcast media had an obligation to provide for for discussion of contrasting points of view on controversial issues of public importance], the odd promotion of "home schooling" [with precious little oversight as to whether or not the teachers were even prepared], Dubya's so-called "No Child Left Behind", the upsurge of violent thought numbing video games, and the proud braying of opinionated propagandists to blot out any opinion save their own [the Fairness Doctrine's reinstatement could help counter that], the social atmosphere for a new generation of intolerant uninformed know nothings is ripe.
     Can't say I'm happy to see this resurgence, but now we know it's there, I do think one of the Obama Adiminstration's goals ought to include re-examining and rebuilding the engine that successfully provided universal education for USA citizens more than half a century.

politics

2008-11-04T23:34:00.002-05:00

This is what we are losing:

We are nce again no longer "fringe"

politics

2008-11-04T23:24:00.003-05:00

Regime Change!

Regime Change!

Regime Change!

WELCOME Regime Change!

gay marriage

2008-11-04T07:35:00.003-05:00

The Mayor of San Diego speaks out in favor of gay marriage. His comments are clearly from the heart and in his statement he asserts that as times hange so must social practices.

election 2008

2008-09-04T04:12:00.004-04:00

With such a staunch "Family Values" mom in the race this is not going to be a boring final two months
     Ms. Palin's distortion laden screech on stage did nothing to clarify in what ways or how the GOP Plutocrats intend to actually help working class Americans but she proves a powerful Rovian performer.
     As a side note, I was betting on - and I won - that Rudy Guliani would not be able to make it through a speech without at least one mention of New York and Nine-Eleven. I was not disappointed. Having a urban, patrician pro-abortion, pro-gay rights, anti Second Amendment kind of guy doing the intro for Ms. abstinence now was curious however.
     She sure sounded like the typical ReThuglican corporate whore that I'me accustomed to hearing from Washington, however. And all that crap about raising taxes on Joe and Jane America, what a bunch of hooey! Watching multi-millionairess Cindy McCain gloating smile made it clear, however, that she did her run for the Gipper, you betcha!
     And having two multi-millionaire corporate ladies [one, we should remember, knowingly compromised release of sensitive information about people so blatently that she was ousted as HP's CEO] only made my cynicism temperature rise even higher.
     And the blatant pandering to the hapless evnagelicals - not the James Dobsons, but the men and ladies who scrimp and save to give their tithes to that ilk - was so, so lame, but not unexpected.

websites I've stumbled upon

2008-08-04T01:16:00.004-04:00

Interesting Bloggers |
Dave Greten: Mr. Greten's verbal meanderings go all over the place, from a capsule observation of a helmet-less biker text messaging while cruising about, rattlesnake hunting to a video of country guys painting a crosswalk on a road that probably doesn't need one. Making the mundane entertaining.
Homeless Man Speaks: "The word from the street" apparently written, uploaded and entered by two itinerant men, Tony and Phil. It's beautifully constructed, as a ton of links related to the lives of homeless people, and provides a perspective that's fresh and pleasant given the circumstances.
Motorcycle Philsophy: A biker who writes about his personal experiences riding motorcycles, being in riding clubs, hanging around biker bars, rallies, and taking long rides through the countryside. He tosses in some explanations about life, and why we exist on this planet and sometimes raises questions about who is really "hardcore" when it comes to motorcycling.

Many bikers in the USA talk about living the motorcycle lifestyle, but only a tiny few truly do. Even though we ride our motorcycles as often as we can, we're still fair-weather riders to a lesser or greater degree. We choose to hold on to our cars because sometimes it gets too wet or too cold outside. Sometimes we elect to set our groceries on the back seat of our car, instead of bungee-cording them to our motorcycle. Just how hardcore are we?

institutional abuse

2008-07-25T13:22:00.007-04:00

Esmin Green was killed on 19th June 2008 in the psychiatric emergency room of Kings County Psychiatric Hospital. She was waiting for a bed after haiving been involuntarily committed.
     She died sfter waiting in the area for approximately 24 hours before collapsing on the floor. It was almost an hour before any hospital personnel gave her any attention. It was captured on the hsopital's video surveliiange cameras.
     According to CNN reports, hospital personnel falsified records stating that "Ms Green was up and went to the bathroom" and was "sitting quietly" even though she had not been moving but was lyig on the floor. The surveillance camera, instead, showed her on the floor, unmoving, while people walked around and past her.
     Perhaps ironic is that Kings County Hospital, on its own website, proudly touts how it has spent $140 million dollars [US] adding to and improving the psychiatric emergency room and building a new multi-storey behavioral health inpatient unit on the campus only this year. Too bad funds weren't similarly dedicated to staff training and face-to-face care.
     New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, when asked of the incident. said: "I think what they said was, 'Oh well people sleep on the floor all the time and I didn't pay any attention.'" Some staff attending the emergency room were fired from their jobs for inattentiveness, but, in fact, they abetted in committing murder by neglect.
     Tonight, prayer vigils will be held in her memory at various places on the globe, including in front of Kings County Hospital in New York City.

Where: Kings County Hospital Center, Psychiatric Emergency Room, Building G. 606 Winthrop Street Brooklyn, NY 11203
Date: Today: July 25, 2008
Time: Demonstration begins at 5 PM, Candle Light Vigil, 8:30 PM

Other vigils are to be held in Eugene, Oregon [at 6th and Willamette Avenues] sponsored by MindFreedom.org, the State House in Boston Massachusetts [from 6 to 8 pm, sponsored by a Massachusetts based patients' right group MPOWER; at the Centre for Addition and Mental Health, 1001 Queen Street, Toronto, Ontario, CANADA [1 to 3 pm} and at 16 Mano Close, Thornbury Heights, Rochestown, Ireland [7 pm to 8 pm]

firestorms

2008-06-30T01:31:00.003-04:00

The Mendocino fires in and around Ukiah have me particularly concerned because I know folk in the Greenfield Ranch compound. Not surprising I've not heard from them. I know if it were me, calling acquaintances around the nation would be the least of my priorities. But I hope and pray they are alright, hat they are safe, and their home -and homestead- are safe as well.

advertising

2008-06-30T00:42:00.004-04:00

Heinz know that mayonnaise hold families together. Although they have pulled an advert from British television, they have managed to keep it online.

"HEY!!! Ain't you forgettin' sumpthin?"

"...Straight home from work, sweet cheeks!"

Watch the Heinz Deli Mayo ad which shows two men kissing. It is the ad agency AMV BBDO's first work for the brand. I already wrote to thank Heinz corp for their surprising inclusiveness.

thanks to : Ron's Log for finding this.

cusine

2008-06-25T22:01:00.008-04:00

In this day and age of herbs fresh picked from the garden to cook with, the pre-packaged spaghetti spice concoction Spatini got taken off the market some time last year, a product I [or my parents] have used in cooking since 1963.
     Since I live some distance from grocery stores, I tend to buy in bulk. As a result, it wasn't until today that I learned the only place I can now pick up a box is on e-bay, an option I don't consider particularly efficient [or desirable] when buying powered spices. Nonetheless, I put a bid on one of the offerings that does not seem out of line compared what I remember paying in the past.
     Spatini's removal from market shelves has prompted an irate response from other users, many of whom report having been faithful adherents to Spatini's unique taste for 30 years or longer. As noted above, I include myself in that crew.
     Spatini's faithful have circulated an online petition asking Lawry's to resume making the spice mix. Others have posed what they think are close approximations of the old Spatini mix recipe [see Glenna Anderson Muse's version, for instance].
     Another anonymous recipe suggestion is as follows:

1 beef bouillon cube (crushed with kitchen mallet) or 1 tsp of bouillon
1 and 1/2 teaspoons 10x sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon ground oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground thyme
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
pinch of ground black pepper

(apparently this is the amount that's in one packet)

     Lawry's spices [a subsidiaryof Unilever NV] made their own spaghetti sauce blend, which I have tried but never thought it compared to Spatini. I've also since purchased some McCormick blend but have yet to find out if the finished flavor comes close. And I plan on trying Ms. Muse's concoction in the near future.
     But my guess is that none of them will compare. So I have dutifully signed the petition in the remote hope that Lawry's will re-market the stuff. Thy could sell it in boutique eateries, along with Kraft dinners [something I've actually seen for sale at a very chi chi shop in Montreal].
     [UPDATE 6/30/08] In ten hours I'll know whether or not I got outbid on my effort to get some of this product.

flowers

2008-06-24T08:10:00.007-04:00

"We do very well by the flower. They are pleasures to the senses,
the sustenance of their fruit and seeds, and the vast store of new metaphor.

"But as we gaze into the blossom of the flower, we find something more: the crucible of beauty,
if not art, and maybe even a glimpse into the meaning of life.

"For look into a flower and what do you see? Into the very heart of nature's double nature - that is, the contending energies of creation and dissolution, the spring toward complex form and the tidal pull away from it.

"Apollo and Dionysus were names the Greeks gave to these two faces of nature, and nowhere in nature
is their contest as plain or as poignant as it is in the beauty of a flower and it's rapid passing.

"There, the achievement of order against all odds and its blithe abandonment.
There, the perfection of art and the blind flux of nature. There, somehow, both transcendence and necessity.

"Could it be that - right there, in a flower - the meaning of life?"

Michael Pollan, from The Botany of Desire copr. 2001

wilderness preservation

2008-06-23T04:30:00.006-04:00

"Most men, it appears to me, do not care for Nature and would sell
their share in all her beauty, for as long as they may live, for a stated and
not very large sum. ...It is for this very reason that some do not care for these
things that we need to combine to protect all from the vandalism of the few."

Henry David Thoreau, from the essay Huckleberries, 1861

water

2008-06-15T13:12:00.009-04:00

Progress is being made in our transition from a shallow dug well and a new 670 foot [204 m] deep artesian well.
     The well we have been using [that's it on the right] has, for probably over a century, served the household adequately. The walls are blocks of Portland sandstone and it's only 12 foot [3.65 m] in depth; we know it has gone dry in the past, but we can track only a half dozen times since the 1960s. Until last autumn, when itwas dry for four months, it had been dry no longer than a few days. Four of those six dry times have been in the last ten years. We figure a drilled well was due.
     Basically we had no competition for the water in our near-surface aquifer. All our immediate neighbors have had drilled wells for years. But we've also known that we live very close to the bedrock surface. Even one corner of the house, on the cellar level, has a "floor" of ledge. It is that ledge the drillers augured down through to eventually find about four separate veins bearing potable water that can supply us with about 4 gallons per minute.
     So now the ground water we rely upon is much deeper underground and not just the surface water table.