Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Blogger and Boletes
Last weekend we went looking for Boletus edulis in the San Mateos southwest of here.
It was an amazingly bloggish crew-- us, MDMNM and Miss A., Mrs. Peculiar who also blogs as The Pumpkin King (Mr. P. is guiding in the Grand Canyon); and non- blogger saluki fan, artist, architect, and polymath Daniela Imre, another Magdalenian. Our core NM blog crew lacked only Labrat and Stingray.
Here we are all taking pix of each other-- photos by Daniela.
Mrs P. examines a prospect.
Me cutting a not very good specimen.
Non edulis 'shrooms.
We saw the odd local very black tassle- eared squirrels,a young melanistic redtail and a ferruginous hawk, and many pronghorn with babies, but only harvested enough for a rissot'. But with the festive case of wine brought by MDMNM, pounds of Trader Joe's cheese ditto, and Alaska salmon he caught and smoked himself, we had a royal feast and way too much fun. More at Sometimes Far Afield.
It was an amazingly bloggish crew-- us, MDMNM and Miss A., Mrs. Peculiar who also blogs as The Pumpkin King (Mr. P. is guiding in the Grand Canyon); and non- blogger saluki fan, artist, architect, and polymath Daniela Imre, another Magdalenian. Our core NM blog crew lacked only Labrat and Stingray.
Here we are all taking pix of each other-- photos by Daniela.
Mrs P. examines a prospect.
Me cutting a not very good specimen.
Non edulis 'shrooms.
We saw the odd local very black tassle- eared squirrels,a young melanistic redtail and a ferruginous hawk, and many pronghorn with babies, but only harvested enough for a rissot'. But with the festive case of wine brought by MDMNM, pounds of Trader Joe's cheese ditto, and Alaska salmon he caught and smoked himself, we had a royal feast and way too much fun. More at Sometimes Far Afield.
Enjoyable/ Interesting Links
Prarie Mary sent me pics of a white eagle picked up in Colorado, and now Carel Brest Van Kempen has has blogged it, along with other white raptors. Some feather whiteness appears to be deleterious-- it might not be a good idea to release it again.
The fearless Annie D. somehow found these amazing octopus chandeliers when looking at the Barbie sites (below.)
Russians. Apparently, the contest to name the greatest Russian may come down to either the last Czar-- or Stalin.
Derb finds unusual names in New Zealand when a 9 year old kid named "Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii" petitioned to have her name changed. They had apparently blocked some frivolous names (like "Sex Fruit") but allowed "Violence" (!) and "Number 16 Bus shelter".
Darren has some amazing photos of a leopard killing a croc, with links.
Pluvi is back! With ferrets!
The fearless Annie D. somehow found these amazing octopus chandeliers when looking at the Barbie sites (below.)
Russians. Apparently, the contest to name the greatest Russian may come down to either the last Czar-- or Stalin.
Derb finds unusual names in New Zealand when a 9 year old kid named "Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii" petitioned to have her name changed. They had apparently blocked some frivolous names (like "Sex Fruit") but allowed "Violence" (!) and "Number 16 Bus shelter".
Darren has some amazing photos of a leopard killing a croc, with links.
Pluvi is back! With ferrets!
"About Me"
Matt sometimes does searches that wouldn't occur to me, and last week sent two reviews of Querencia the book from two excellent blogs. First is from Terrie Miller in California, who also sent me the wonderful Bouchon cookbook. She writes in part: "To many of us, the love of wildlife seems directly opposed to the practice of hunting. But I’m starting to believe that hunting is not the problem…that our current mainstream culture is the problem, and that it’s perverted the ancient rite of hunting into another form of consumerism that is repugnant. That’s the topic of another post here someday…but Querencia and Eagle Dreams have played a part in my broadening view of these topics." I'd quote more but I am blushing as it is.
I will respect the privacy of the blogger "Nagrom" and not reveal his name but he has an excellent blog too, Rum and Donuts. I'm going to quote him at length because we actually know each other, though I didn't know he had a blog:
"I was raised "interesting". It did not seem so at the time, but what child ever really understands that their life may not be normal? It is in a nature of their very being to take whats put before them and run with it. What was put before me was a life in the outdoors, surrounded by art and books and guns, without other children, among the company of writers and cowboys, wetbacks and artists. And I thought that was how everyones life was.
(Snip)
"I have, through no organized intention, recently returned to some of the more interesting people of my childhood via literature. Now, I claim no particularly deep knowledge, connection, or friendship, with these men - Simply that I knew them, via my father, and ignored them in the way only children can adults.
Stephen Bodio was that weird guy with the dogs and falcons that my dad used to talk country living, guns and hunting with in the post office, gas station or coffee shop for what seemed like tedious hours to a six year old. I always knew he was a writer, but never really paid much attention until recently. While searching blogger several months ago I came across his excellent blog, Stephen Bodio's Querencia, much to my surprised delight. It has been a regular read ever since. At my parents home a few weeks ago, I was raiding their bookshelves for a few different volumes - Intending to borrow 10,00 Goddamn Cattle by Katie Lee, and Horseman Pass By by McMurtry, and whatever else I could lay hands on, I saw they had somewhere acquired a second paperback copy of Bodio's autobiographical work Querencia, so I nabbed that as well."
(Snip)
"As a writer who firmly believes, yet also struggles with the idea, that the best writing is done scared, done aching and afraid of whats on the paper but knowing it would be unhealthy to quit, I was fascinated and moved by Bodio's writing. Writing so freshly on the heels of a great loss, and detailing not the loss alone but the life before it, must have been both painful and healing, and it shows in the words, some of which simply bleed. Further, as a native resident of the small mountain community Bodio describes, more than the words of hope and sorrow bleed for me - People, places, events I knew, or have known, since childhood are described in loving detail. Seeing these individuals and things through the fresh eyes of Bodio, writing as the outsider coming in, was immensely pleasurable at the same time as it was often sad. Querencia has earned a permanent place on my bookshelf as a work of great love, and a documentation of a place and time that also exists somewhat in my own history, which is now gone."
All I can say is that his words moved me too, and thanks. He will be a writer to watch.
By the way, we'll have to fix away to sell them easily, but I now have the whole stock of the book.
I will respect the privacy of the blogger "Nagrom" and not reveal his name but he has an excellent blog too, Rum and Donuts. I'm going to quote him at length because we actually know each other, though I didn't know he had a blog:
"I was raised "interesting". It did not seem so at the time, but what child ever really understands that their life may not be normal? It is in a nature of their very being to take whats put before them and run with it. What was put before me was a life in the outdoors, surrounded by art and books and guns, without other children, among the company of writers and cowboys, wetbacks and artists. And I thought that was how everyones life was.
(Snip)
"I have, through no organized intention, recently returned to some of the more interesting people of my childhood via literature. Now, I claim no particularly deep knowledge, connection, or friendship, with these men - Simply that I knew them, via my father, and ignored them in the way only children can adults.
Stephen Bodio was that weird guy with the dogs and falcons that my dad used to talk country living, guns and hunting with in the post office, gas station or coffee shop for what seemed like tedious hours to a six year old. I always knew he was a writer, but never really paid much attention until recently. While searching blogger several months ago I came across his excellent blog, Stephen Bodio's Querencia, much to my surprised delight. It has been a regular read ever since. At my parents home a few weeks ago, I was raiding their bookshelves for a few different volumes - Intending to borrow 10,00 Goddamn Cattle by Katie Lee, and Horseman Pass By by McMurtry, and whatever else I could lay hands on, I saw they had somewhere acquired a second paperback copy of Bodio's autobiographical work Querencia, so I nabbed that as well."
(Snip)
"As a writer who firmly believes, yet also struggles with the idea, that the best writing is done scared, done aching and afraid of whats on the paper but knowing it would be unhealthy to quit, I was fascinated and moved by Bodio's writing. Writing so freshly on the heels of a great loss, and detailing not the loss alone but the life before it, must have been both painful and healing, and it shows in the words, some of which simply bleed. Further, as a native resident of the small mountain community Bodio describes, more than the words of hope and sorrow bleed for me - People, places, events I knew, or have known, since childhood are described in loving detail. Seeing these individuals and things through the fresh eyes of Bodio, writing as the outsider coming in, was immensely pleasurable at the same time as it was often sad. Querencia has earned a permanent place on my bookshelf as a work of great love, and a documentation of a place and time that also exists somewhat in my own history, which is now gone."
All I can say is that his words moved me too, and thanks. He will be a writer to watch.
By the way, we'll have to fix away to sell them easily, but I now have the whole stock of the book.
Food Links
Chas sent this rather odd Wired link on eating pigeons. Why odd? I'd say the tone of disbelief and humorous near disgust:
"When you look at a pigeon, you might see a dirty, rat-like bird that fouls anything it touches with feathers or feces, but I see a waste-scavenging, protein-generating biomachine."
(Big snip)
"But as part of this 65 percent not-kidding thought experiment, let's assume that there's nothing horrifically bad about eating pigeon.
"Really, all pigeons need is a re-branding. Just as the spurned Patagonian toothfish became the majestic Chilean sea bass and the silly Chinese gooseberry became the beloved kiwifruit, pigeons can merely reclaim their previous sufficiently arugula-sounding name: squab."
The idea that nobody eats pigeon is remarkable to say the least.
Reid sent this interesting NYT story about burgers in Paris. It made me feel a bit ambivalent, as many things Parisian do. Some of them sound delicious, but the pretension!
"“It has the taste of the forbidden, the illicit — the subversive, even,” said Hélène Samuel, a restaurant consultant here. “Eating with your hands, it’s pure regression. Naturally, everyone wants it.”"
Uuuh.. yeah.
"“It’s not just a fad,” said Frédérick Grasser-Hermé, who, as consulting chef at the Champs-Élysées boîte Black Calvados, developed a burger made with wagyu beef and seasoned with what she calls a black ketchup of blackberries and black currants. “It’s more than that. The burger has become gastronomic.”"
Whatever you say, Frederick.
"When you look at a pigeon, you might see a dirty, rat-like bird that fouls anything it touches with feathers or feces, but I see a waste-scavenging, protein-generating biomachine."
(Big snip)
"But as part of this 65 percent not-kidding thought experiment, let's assume that there's nothing horrifically bad about eating pigeon.
"Really, all pigeons need is a re-branding. Just as the spurned Patagonian toothfish became the majestic Chilean sea bass and the silly Chinese gooseberry became the beloved kiwifruit, pigeons can merely reclaim their previous sufficiently arugula-sounding name: squab."
The idea that nobody eats pigeon is remarkable to say the least.
Reid sent this interesting NYT story about burgers in Paris. It made me feel a bit ambivalent, as many things Parisian do. Some of them sound delicious, but the pretension!
"“It has the taste of the forbidden, the illicit — the subversive, even,” said Hélène Samuel, a restaurant consultant here. “Eating with your hands, it’s pure regression. Naturally, everyone wants it.”"
Uuuh.. yeah.
"“It’s not just a fad,” said Frédérick Grasser-Hermé, who, as consulting chef at the Champs-Élysées boîte Black Calvados, developed a burger made with wagyu beef and seasoned with what she calls a black ketchup of blackberries and black currants. “It’s more than that. The burger has become gastronomic.”"
Whatever you say, Frederick.
Around the Web...
Back from a great weekend of wildlife watching, mushroom hunting, and eating and drinking with bloggers- more below (Or rather, above). But first let me catch up with the news, serious, unserious, amusing and distressing...
On our perrenial concern, AR, anti hunters and so on: the LAT does a fawning profile of Wayne Pacelle. Apart from the obvious two thing come to mind. First is his attitude to his girlfriend's cat. She says: "He just lets her be. So, of course, she just crawls on the counters and he lets her crawl up and sit on his chest. If he needs to work, he'll ask me to remove her."" I second Matt in finding that creepy!
Second: doesn't that whole crowd in the photo look like they are in dire need of cheeseburgers?
Anti- hunting: Vladimir Beregovoy sent a link to New York Post story on a proposed "Animal Rights" curriculum for New Jersey schools.
" "The Zargon Connection" is part of a free "Humane and Responsible Teachers" curriculum designed for grades pre-K-9. Created by the New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance (NJARA), the package includes classroom exercises, activities and lesson plans. These documents include NJARA advice like discouraging field trips to zoos and aquariums because they "perpetuate the belief that it's acceptable to imprison animals."
"One of NJARA's issues is the killing of wildlife for management or sport, and the Zargon Connection is the educational tool they want teachers to use - on sixth graders. It is a science fiction story in which Earth is invaded by Zargonians-aliens that hunt and eat human beings for sport.
(Snip)
"Occasionally, in a technique known as baiting, Zargonians will set up a fast food restaurant or pizza parlor and burst in on us while we eat, with their street sweepers blazing." "
Meanwhile, another uncomprehending anti weighs in in the Seattle P. I. (HT Tom McIntyre.) It is one of the worst rants I have seen yet.
"Speaking of happiness, there are many things that make me happy: visits from out-of-town friends, unsolicited hugs from my daughter, Kozy Shack Chocolate Pudding. But one thing stands out from all those warm and fuzzies, and that's when hunters are attacked by the animals they hunt.
(Snip)
"Call me callous and hard-hearted, but I can't help but cheer on the animal that defends its life against the human dressed up in clothes that resemble shrubbery armed with the high-powered rifle, night-vision scope, GPS unit, tree-stand, animal scents and alcohol-fueled macho bravado.
"Recent headlines that have given me great pleasure include:
"Hunter injured by rhino," "Mountain lion pounces on local hunter" and "Swedish hunter attacked by elk."
(Snip)
"And you know how hunters are. Once they get the big green light to overhunt, they are eager and more than willing to do so. Hey, bring the kids! Junior's old enough for his first kill."
Yeah, she knows how hunters are. BTW, she is described as a comedian.
From the same paper, Wendy Parker sent this story on the roller pigeon breeders who killed raptors. There is now an amendment to the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty in the works to make killing a protected bird a felony. I think this is overkill-- it has been illegal for years. Rebecca has a better and more thoughtful idea.
"Pigeoners lose hundreds of birds a year to hawks. Some racing pigeons may be worth tens of thousands of dollars. Even the rollers, not worth much more than a couple of bucks a piece, constitute thousands of dollars in birds, feed and labor not to mention love. The pigeoners have no great solutions for how to manage their two greatest foes, Cooper’s hawks and falcons. USFWS will neither allow them to trap the birds for relocation nor do they offer help to figure out how to live with raptors in their backyard. It is a challenging quandary. It is, in fact the sort of problem-solving that would be a worthy challenge to some talented avian trainers. In the smallest component the behavior to decrease is the raptor grabbing the pigeon."
RTWT.
Veganism is bad for the environment, says Wesley Smith.
(And isn't it always the veggies and antis who sound intolerant? Ever hear a carnivore say something like the PETA supporter he quotes: " When actress Jessica Simpson recently wore a T-shirt bearing the words “Real Girls Eat Meat,” the animal-rights zealots pounced. “Jessica Simpson might have a right to wear what she wants,” a PETA spokesperson said, “but she doesn’t have a right to eat what she wants...")
Enough gloom! Next, food; then, fun & cool stuff...
On our perrenial concern, AR, anti hunters and so on: the LAT does a fawning profile of Wayne Pacelle. Apart from the obvious two thing come to mind. First is his attitude to his girlfriend's cat. She says: "He just lets her be. So, of course, she just crawls on the counters and he lets her crawl up and sit on his chest. If he needs to work, he'll ask me to remove her."" I second Matt in finding that creepy!
Second: doesn't that whole crowd in the photo look like they are in dire need of cheeseburgers?
Anti- hunting: Vladimir Beregovoy sent a link to New York Post story on a proposed "Animal Rights" curriculum for New Jersey schools.
" "The Zargon Connection" is part of a free "Humane and Responsible Teachers" curriculum designed for grades pre-K-9. Created by the New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance (NJARA), the package includes classroom exercises, activities and lesson plans. These documents include NJARA advice like discouraging field trips to zoos and aquariums because they "perpetuate the belief that it's acceptable to imprison animals."
"One of NJARA's issues is the killing of wildlife for management or sport, and the Zargon Connection is the educational tool they want teachers to use - on sixth graders. It is a science fiction story in which Earth is invaded by Zargonians-aliens that hunt and eat human beings for sport.
(Snip)
"Occasionally, in a technique known as baiting, Zargonians will set up a fast food restaurant or pizza parlor and burst in on us while we eat, with their street sweepers blazing." "
Meanwhile, another uncomprehending anti weighs in in the Seattle P. I. (HT Tom McIntyre.) It is one of the worst rants I have seen yet.
"Speaking of happiness, there are many things that make me happy: visits from out-of-town friends, unsolicited hugs from my daughter, Kozy Shack Chocolate Pudding. But one thing stands out from all those warm and fuzzies, and that's when hunters are attacked by the animals they hunt.
(Snip)
"Call me callous and hard-hearted, but I can't help but cheer on the animal that defends its life against the human dressed up in clothes that resemble shrubbery armed with the high-powered rifle, night-vision scope, GPS unit, tree-stand, animal scents and alcohol-fueled macho bravado.
"Recent headlines that have given me great pleasure include:
"Hunter injured by rhino," "Mountain lion pounces on local hunter" and "Swedish hunter attacked by elk."
(Snip)
"And you know how hunters are. Once they get the big green light to overhunt, they are eager and more than willing to do so. Hey, bring the kids! Junior's old enough for his first kill."
Yeah, she knows how hunters are. BTW, she is described as a comedian.
From the same paper, Wendy Parker sent this story on the roller pigeon breeders who killed raptors. There is now an amendment to the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty in the works to make killing a protected bird a felony. I think this is overkill-- it has been illegal for years. Rebecca has a better and more thoughtful idea.
"Pigeoners lose hundreds of birds a year to hawks. Some racing pigeons may be worth tens of thousands of dollars. Even the rollers, not worth much more than a couple of bucks a piece, constitute thousands of dollars in birds, feed and labor not to mention love. The pigeoners have no great solutions for how to manage their two greatest foes, Cooper’s hawks and falcons. USFWS will neither allow them to trap the birds for relocation nor do they offer help to figure out how to live with raptors in their backyard. It is a challenging quandary. It is, in fact the sort of problem-solving that would be a worthy challenge to some talented avian trainers. In the smallest component the behavior to decrease is the raptor grabbing the pigeon."
RTWT.
Veganism is bad for the environment, says Wesley Smith.
(And isn't it always the veggies and antis who sound intolerant? Ever hear a carnivore say something like the PETA supporter he quotes: " When actress Jessica Simpson recently wore a T-shirt bearing the words “Real Girls Eat Meat,” the animal-rights zealots pounced. “Jessica Simpson might have a right to wear what she wants,” a PETA spokesperson said, “but she doesn’t have a right to eat what she wants...")
Enough gloom! Next, food; then, fun & cool stuff...
Monday, July 28, 2008
You Can't See Me
I've been meaning to post this picture of a masterful camouflage job for all you reptile lovers out there. One of my crew members took this shot of a flat-tail horned lizard while we were in the field in the Yuha Desert in Imperial County. The state of California lists these guys as a "Species of Special Concern" and the BLM and Forest Service list this as a "sensitive species". Not listed as an Endangered Species yet, but the US Fish and Wildlife Service is considering it for listing, I believe.My photographer said the critter's camouflage was so good she almost stepped on it. Glad she didn't.
Problems in Pompeii
The Italian government is taking measures to save the ruins at Pompeii from deterioration, and has declared a year-long state of emergency for the ancient Roman city. Approximately 2.6 million tourists visit Pompeii annually, and the pressure of all those feet pounding through the place, vandalism and exposure to the elements has the ruins falling into ruins.
This reminded me of a post I did a couple of years ago on another World Heritage Site that is being "loved to death", Machu Picchu.
This reminded me of a post I did a couple of years ago on another World Heritage Site that is being "loved to death", Machu Picchu.
Why I Haven't Been Posting Much Lately
My apologies, but getting this draft report prepared on our fieldwork in the Imperial Valley has taken most of my attention. I'll be picking up the pace soon.Tuesday, July 22, 2008
All News is Local
Our friend Annie in Virginia shared a story today about the outsourcing of copy editing services by American newspapers to companies in India. Like much such outsourcing, the reasons for this seem logical: there's more and cheaper labor available and no cost in product transport. For their part, Indian company reps seem typically polite and competent---the good and ready servants to global economy they've become.
It's a win-win, right? We get cheap, readable news, and national newspapers stay afloat a few months longer in their long sink.
Well, not so winning for the readership, as Poynter Institute scholar Roy Peter Clark writes: "It pains me to say that the bean counters who have proposed this move have added insult to the injury of being laid off. They seemed to have reduced the craft of copy editing to its most basic functions without attention to what will be lost, including cultural literacy, institutional memory and knowledge of the community."
Clark continues by citing some of the arcana of American cultural literacy he'd like our copy editors to know.
"...I need them to know that a Florida cracker is not something you eat, and that it may or may not be offensive to some readers. I need a Rhode Island copy editor to know that you don't dig for clams; you dig for quahogs, a word of Indian origin -- American Indian. I need copy editors who know that Jim Morrison of The Doors went to St. Pete Junior College, that beat writer Jack Kerouac died in St. Petersburg, Fla., but is buried in Lowell, Mass."
Here, here! We want our news to be from here! (Forget for a moment that Indian copy editors could Google anything along these lines about as well as writers in Lowell, Massachusetts.)
Of course I agree. I want a lot more stuff I handle to be from here.
But I think relatively few readers will notice outsourced copy editing these days. We're accustomed to reading news (if we do) on the Internet, which posts liberally from numerous international English language sources, and which carries also a lower standard of editing born of distribution speed and ease of correction (if they bother).
What we're talking about here is whether there is still a viable market for local news, which begs the question, Are there still any viable locales?
I think there are, but I wonder if the locals can still be convinced to agree.
The thing I love about the high price of gas is that my neighbors are complaining; notably, they are complaining to each other, because by and large they are hanging out more in the neighborhood. I'm pleased and surprised that it only took a couple bucks extra per gallon to bring this about.
I live in a pretty big neighborhood of several hundred homes. We've made some good friends here, street to street, with a social network stretching about 4 blocks from our house: walking and biking distances, even for the kids. We share afternoon coffee and beers and tomatoes and childcare with our friends. We share game, since most of us hunt and all of us eat meat. We borrow pools. We cook out every weekend, somewhere.
We complain about the price of gas, but I think we're having more fun together lately.
Is this typical? Do you think other neighborhoods (our ersatz modern villages) are starting to behave in a similar fashion to ours? I hope so. It would be a big shot in the arm to the return of the local, as a viable concept. It might even start, in neighborhoods large enough, a brushing off of the homeowners' association newsletter (or more likely, the website). There might be a few writers around, people who stay in the 'hood all day, and with increasingly more company as the economy continues to tank and daycare and soccer camps become too expensive. Maybe there will be a market, too, for this local news.
Look for this. Look for a resurgence of the local paper (or at least, of local news in some media) as more people are forced by high prices to stay put and thus to care about what's going on around them.
In such a market, I doubt an Indian outsourcing company could compete so well.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Thanks to...
Terrie Miller, for Keller's Bouchon cookbook, and Mike for Walter Jon Williams' new novel. Reviews and food photos forthcoming...
And Terrie, we'd be happy to take you hawking.
And Terrie, we'd be happy to take you hawking.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Trinity
Stingray has an un- PC post on the anniversary of the first atomic bomb here.
I wrote to him:
"Slightly irrelevant tale: I was at the site (October opening I think) and some hippies had set up an altar with a Shiva figurine on it ("I am become Shiva, destroyer of worlds".)
"A ranchy- type woman was walking by with her kid, pointed at it, and said "That's what radiation'll do to ya-- give you extra arms and legs".
"New Mexico as we all know is a Land Of Many Cultures."
I wrote to him:
"Slightly irrelevant tale: I was at the site (October opening I think) and some hippies had set up an altar with a Shiva figurine on it ("I am become Shiva, destroyer of worlds".)
"A ranchy- type woman was walking by with her kid, pointed at it, and said "That's what radiation'll do to ya-- give you extra arms and legs".
"New Mexico as we all know is a Land Of Many Cultures."
More Links
Patrick's link in the comments below got broken but I think THIS may have been it.
In my youth I once had a romance with a woman whom I initially impressed by telling her she reminded me of Emma Peel. Unfortunately the resemblance was only to her looks...
In my youth I once had a romance with a woman whom I initially impressed by telling her she reminded me of Emma Peel. Unfortunately the resemblance was only to her looks...
And (on a linked subject?): what is it with these po- mo Barbies??
I mean, the leather n' lace ones have a certain.. appeal (though for kids?!)
But what is with the Pooper Scooper Barbie, complete with... poop, apparently?
Or The Birds Barbie, with attacking crows?
UPDATE: Annie D sends in a YouTube commercial for Poop Barbie.
BirdBrain's New Hood
Shunkar's training continues well. He just got fine new hood from Ken Hooke. His is fairly conventional but Ken does an amazing range, including Asian styles.
Lost Kitty
Paul Domski mailed me this poster under the head of "Why City People Shouldn't Move to the Country":
Around the Web...
Busy, but there are so many good and horrific things to link to, on the Usual Suspects and more and worse...
First, Asia. Look at this map from Strange Maps (courtesy of Rod) showing the "real", ie Han, China as an island. All those places in the ocean to the north and west-- Tibet, Xinjiang, "Manchuria", various tribal states in the southwest- are vassals of the Han Empire.
Which continues its environmental meltdown. Why don't more enviros wake up to the fact that China is doing a lot worse than we are?
Mongolia, though perpetually threatened by Han ambitions, is a cheerier place.Here, Peculiar reviews the movie Mongol, and links to a Tim Cahill piece on a trip there he and others took a few years ago. And our friend Sari from Finland, founder of Tazilist, sends this haunting YouTube video of Mongol throat singing and "moron kurs", horsehead fiddles (that is pronounced "murun" BTW.)
Dogs: Henry's dogs are on TV.
Writing: Liz Hand, author of this wonderful book among others, remembers Tom Disch.
Evolution: Darwin Central has a good post against "I" D here. So with the facts on his side, why in HELL does PJ Myers do things like THIS?? I'm with Freddie. And by the way-- why does he pick specifically on a church which has no problem with evolution and never has? Surely he would do better with, say, "desecrating" a... Koran? Don't hold your breath- apparently he was against the Mohammed cartoons. A brave dissenter...
In cheerier evo news, Emile at World We Don't Live In links (with an awful pun) to new evidence on how flounder "moved" their eyes. There ARE "intermediate" forms. He also links to Laelaps for more-- and if you go to his home page you will find, below this post, one on a fossil "louse" that may have clung to Dino feathers or Pterosaur fur.
Conservation: in typical Government fashion, we pay to save the ferret while simultaneously killing off its prey base. The State-- "what it cannot do?" (Bonus points for knowing that quote.)
Good new "country living" blog here.
Guns. Massachusetts has an idea: make guns too expensive for all but the rich. At some point, will it be an act of civil disobedience to own a gun (Mass.) or breed a dog (California)?
Pure fun. Diana Rigg is 70 smokes, drives fast cars, and finishes off a bottle of wine every night. She is also a fan of fly- fishing. And she still looks good. Any other old Avengers fans out there in Q- Land?
John Derbyshire recently discovered funny Russian names, of which there seem to be many. I emailed him on the great 20th century Russian ornithologist Dementiev, author of the indispensable Birds of the Soviet Union. He posted this selection from Byron's Don Juan, which includes the following (and much more):
"Still I'll record a few, if but to increase
Our euphony: there was Strongenoff, and Strokonoff,
Meknop, Serge Lwow, Arséniew of modern Greece,
And Tschitsshakoff, and Roguenoff, and Chokenoff,
And others of twelve consonants apiece..."
Finally for now: sober mice are depressed mice!
First, Asia. Look at this map from Strange Maps (courtesy of Rod) showing the "real", ie Han, China as an island. All those places in the ocean to the north and west-- Tibet, Xinjiang, "Manchuria", various tribal states in the southwest- are vassals of the Han Empire.
Which continues its environmental meltdown. Why don't more enviros wake up to the fact that China is doing a lot worse than we are?
Mongolia, though perpetually threatened by Han ambitions, is a cheerier place.Here, Peculiar reviews the movie Mongol, and links to a Tim Cahill piece on a trip there he and others took a few years ago. And our friend Sari from Finland, founder of Tazilist, sends this haunting YouTube video of Mongol throat singing and "moron kurs", horsehead fiddles (that is pronounced "murun" BTW.)
Dogs: Henry's dogs are on TV.
Writing: Liz Hand, author of this wonderful book among others, remembers Tom Disch.
Evolution: Darwin Central has a good post against "I" D here. So with the facts on his side, why in HELL does PJ Myers do things like THIS?? I'm with Freddie. And by the way-- why does he pick specifically on a church which has no problem with evolution and never has? Surely he would do better with, say, "desecrating" a... Koran? Don't hold your breath- apparently he was against the Mohammed cartoons. A brave dissenter...
In cheerier evo news, Emile at World We Don't Live In links (with an awful pun) to new evidence on how flounder "moved" their eyes. There ARE "intermediate" forms. He also links to Laelaps for more-- and if you go to his home page you will find, below this post, one on a fossil "louse" that may have clung to Dino feathers or Pterosaur fur.
Conservation: in typical Government fashion, we pay to save the ferret while simultaneously killing off its prey base. The State-- "what it cannot do?" (Bonus points for knowing that quote.)
Good new "country living" blog here.
Guns. Massachusetts has an idea: make guns too expensive for all but the rich. At some point, will it be an act of civil disobedience to own a gun (Mass.) or breed a dog (California)?
Pure fun. Diana Rigg is 70 smokes, drives fast cars, and finishes off a bottle of wine every night. She is also a fan of fly- fishing. And she still looks good. Any other old Avengers fans out there in Q- Land?
John Derbyshire recently discovered funny Russian names, of which there seem to be many. I emailed him on the great 20th century Russian ornithologist Dementiev, author of the indispensable Birds of the Soviet Union. He posted this selection from Byron's Don Juan, which includes the following (and much more):
"Still I'll record a few, if but to increase
Our euphony: there was Strongenoff, and Strokonoff,
Meknop, Serge Lwow, Arséniew of modern Greece,
And Tschitsshakoff, and Roguenoff, and Chokenoff,
And others of twelve consonants apiece..."
Finally for now: sober mice are depressed mice!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
THomas Disch: 1940- 2008
The poet, critic, and science fiction writer Thomas Disch died last week, a suicide. He was brilliant, unclassifiable, unemployable, and poor, despite having written some odd best sellers-- the quintessential freelancer.
He was facing eviction from his last home after the death of his long- time companion, and in bad health. He was still writing funny acerbic things two days before his death, and has a novel coming out.
I often found his fiction funny but bleak. His poetry rhymed and scanned-- unpopular these days; in a just world he would have been as well known as, say, Larkin.
He was one of the best critics around, and one of the few whose work I keep-- with Dana Gioia, the only contemporary poetry critic. My copy of The Castle of Indolence has about fifty dogears marking quotable lines. (He was a fan of Frederick Turner, another brilliant but neglected writer.)
Obits and recollections here (the Times), here (First Things (HT John Farrell ), and here (many links, including amazingly a good one from Kos-- that both first Things and Kos mourn him says a lot.)
And a bit from Vorpal Sword on the freelancer's plight:
"Disch came up at a time when you could, having established yourself, make a living as a writer when you’d built up enough of a “pad” of novel royalties, and were selling regularly.
"Make no mistake, writing for a living is tough when you’re a freelancer, because you’re constantly applying for new “jobs.” Every story, every essay is a new submission. Time moves, and deadlines constantly loom. You hope you have a book that’s paying sufficient royalties, and perhaps a few steady columns — because writing money comes according to no set timetable (save what is convenient for the publisher) and a regular paycheck from a magazine is good for paying one’s rent.
"Paying one’s rent becomes a constant obsession for the free-lancer, and Thomas Disch was a free-lancer for most of his adult life."
(snip)
"In the end, the writer’s life is finally about making that next month’s rent. The business has become all but impossible for the “mid-list author” — them what sells enough books to turn a profit, but not enough to be of much interest to them publishing houses."
He was facing eviction from his last home after the death of his long- time companion, and in bad health. He was still writing funny acerbic things two days before his death, and has a novel coming out.
I often found his fiction funny but bleak. His poetry rhymed and scanned-- unpopular these days; in a just world he would have been as well known as, say, Larkin.
He was one of the best critics around, and one of the few whose work I keep-- with Dana Gioia, the only contemporary poetry critic. My copy of The Castle of Indolence has about fifty dogears marking quotable lines. (He was a fan of Frederick Turner, another brilliant but neglected writer.)
Obits and recollections here (the Times), here (First Things (HT John Farrell ), and here (many links, including amazingly a good one from Kos-- that both first Things and Kos mourn him says a lot.)
And a bit from Vorpal Sword on the freelancer's plight:
"Disch came up at a time when you could, having established yourself, make a living as a writer when you’d built up enough of a “pad” of novel royalties, and were selling regularly.
"Make no mistake, writing for a living is tough when you’re a freelancer, because you’re constantly applying for new “jobs.” Every story, every essay is a new submission. Time moves, and deadlines constantly loom. You hope you have a book that’s paying sufficient royalties, and perhaps a few steady columns — because writing money comes according to no set timetable (save what is convenient for the publisher) and a regular paycheck from a magazine is good for paying one’s rent.
"Paying one’s rent becomes a constant obsession for the free-lancer, and Thomas Disch was a free-lancer for most of his adult life."
(snip)
"In the end, the writer’s life is finally about making that next month’s rent. The business has become all but impossible for the “mid-list author” — them what sells enough books to turn a profit, but not enough to be of much interest to them publishing houses."
Top 10 Dumbest Lists
Reid forwarded a link and a wink with this story: 10 Dumbest and Smartest Dog Breeds
Needless to say the list itself (a silly, rehashed non-story) deserves no comment; and equally needless to say, we all jumped in eagerly to comment on it.
Steve wrote in first:
Vladimir responds: "I have both now, Laika and three Tazy (Saluki). They all are smart dogs, but not necessarily obedient; being smart is not the same as being obedient, of course."
After taking a minute to flip through the breeds pictured, Steve says of the so-called dumbest:
Rebecca spoke up next, almost starting another kind of rowe: "The smartest dogs I've worked with have been mutts. Take away specialization and you've got a better problem solver. I could make an accipiter big falcon comparison here, but I won't. ;-)"
I added:
Here was Prairie Mary's take, agreeing part-ways with Rebecca:
Finally Patrick, grouchily:
Needless to say the list itself (a silly, rehashed non-story) deserves no comment; and equally needless to say, we all jumped in eagerly to comment on it.
Steve wrote in first:
I don't even have to LOOK. Oriental sighthounds, like other primitive breeds, always come out "dumb" on these lists because they aren't"biddable". But try seeing them solve their own problems-- or live with one and watch it train itself. (Remember I have also trained "smart" lurchersand sheepdogs as well as bird dogs-- NONE learns as naturally as a real i.e., "Country Of Origin" AKA unspoiled, hunting stock) saluki.
Show Afghans and some modern salukes-- what Libby calls "supermodels"-- are a whole 'nother story, which is why I have Kazakh and John Bedouin dogs.) John will doubtless have more to say when he gets back from Europe.
I am curious about all of you others' opinions-- I'm forwarding this toVladimir too, as his Laikas are also "primitives" with minds not unlike tazi-salukis (which he also has.) Patrick (as an owner of very different dogs) and Rebecca (as a pro trainer)--?
Vladimir responds: "I have both now, Laika and three Tazy (Saluki). They all are smart dogs, but not necessarily obedient; being smart is not the same as being obedient, of course."
After taking a minute to flip through the breeds pictured, Steve says of the so-called dumbest:
At least it was an Afghan!But Aboriginal Affies, taigans etc are just like COO salukis, only even fierier (and more aloof and less biddable.) I still hope to get a taigan-blooded dog from K'Stan for my strain (from Shakula-Vladimir knows.)
The rest is as I expected. Shepherds which are fairly smart but biddable do well. Retrievers most which are dumb and biddable also do well (goldens areas dumb as rocks, Labs almost, Chessies... pretty smart but not there BECAUSE INDEPENDENT. Primitives (chows, basenjis) do poorly in these tests. Don't really
know the modern show chow but the ones around here are smart but independent.
Ditto the Africanis breeds like basenjis.
Pekingese and beagles are genuinely dumb (most scenthounds have smart noses, but...) Pekes and the poor show bulldog can barely exist or be born without aid-- who can tell about their brains, really? Mastiffs are a sort of degenerate descendant of flock protection dogs, which tend to have rather one-track minds.
Rebecca spoke up next, almost starting another kind of rowe: "The smartest dogs I've worked with have been mutts. Take away specialization and you've got a better problem solver. I could make an accipiter big falcon comparison here, but I won't. ;-)"
I added:
Brian Plummer defined canine intelligence as "trainability" which has its merits but I think is too narrow. But any list based on show breeds and without consideration of field work is bound to be off. This list seemed to be about "which dogs looked smartest in this one picture."
Certainly the most apparently intelligent dogs I've spent time with (subjective observation of course) are border collies and australian shepherds; these were dogs you could basically speak to in English and expect full compliance and evident understanding. They were attentive and would regularly (and correctly) intuit your next move.
Quick story to illustrate: We were hawking rabbits in Amarillo, TX, with a mixed pack of dogs in tow including a border collie, a whippet, a black lab and a pointer (all working dogs) and we came to a gated fence. The lab and pointer and my whippet all crowded to the latch area of the gate, bumping into each other but at least knowing which side of the gate to crowd around (pretty smart, huh?). The collie was smarter: He simply sat down about 3 feet from the gate and watched the other dogs vie for position. When I opened the gate, the first three dogs banged their heads together in a mad rush to get by, and the collie just walked through like a person.
Some of the least compliant and attentive dogs I've worked with were pointers and springer spaniels, FWIW.The sighthounds are always placed near the bottom of these lists, but never (we should note) by people who work with them. My past and current whippets have been smart in the sense of compliant and observant and quick to learn new tasks. But they are also game-oriented and "uncontrollable" at the times you might expect them to be.
Having just spent 4 days with my parents' show-bred borzoi, I expected to meet a truly dumb dog. But not so. Their Barrie is a sensitive and observant animal who changes his behavior to suit his differing relationships with each family member (he is clearly the alpha animal in the house but gives Dad polite respect in public), and he figured me out pretty fast as the one of our group who was not buying his BS. He adjusted his behavior in my case too. He is a dog I could work with I'm sure.
Here was Prairie Mary's take, agreeing part-ways with Rebecca:
"I'm gonna go with the Seven Sister colleges here and say 'all comparisons are odious.' 'Smart' is as variable in dogs as in humans, mostly because humans define the term. A dog that's smart in one context is stupid in another and that's the point of breeds: to fit the context.
"All-purpose mutts, looked at as individuals, are the Swiss Army Knives of dogdom. Sometimes a mongrel gets the best of the mix and sometimes they get the worst. Stupidest dog I ever knew was half English Sheepdog and half show afghan. Both halves were the worst of the breed.
"Sadie was her name. She warn't no lady."
Finally Patrick, grouchily:
"And the NUMBER ONE DUMBEST BREED IN THE WORLD is .... the human being.Who else wants to comment? How can you resist? Was your favorite breed lumped in with the slow starters? Did the editors miss anything important here? (Of course they did!)
"Television producers and press editors keep coming up with these kinds of lists, and humans, unimpeded by any real experience and possessing incredibly short attention spans and shallow memories, keep "click and treating" when this kind of stink is delivered right to their feet. The result: every day is 'groundog day' for humans, and stink follows them from one end of the earth to the other."
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Update
After posting the link to Ruhlman on food below I went and caught up on the miles of quite wonderful comments.
I like "fussy" pro Mike Pardus's comment among many others (good for "writer" as well.)
"Hi, y'all.......It's nice to see that things settled down a bit since Michael posted my comments on initial post.For those of you who are still pissed off at me, I owe an explanation.
"Being a cook is my identity, probably more so, even, than being a parent. If you ask "what do you do?" or "what ARE you?" I answer "I'm a cook" or, maybe, "I teach cooking".
"I also drive a pick-up to work - that does not make me a "trucker"
"I have a garden, but I'm not a "farmer"
"I've published articles and co-authored books - and gotten PAID for it, but I'm not a "writer"
"I cook...at home, at work, when I'm on vacation or visiting friends. It's what I do when I'm sad or lonely or happy and full of energy, and if I cook for you in my home or yours, it's the best way I can express friendship and love.
"If I ask you "what do you do?"....what's you're first response?......if it's "I'm a cook", then you probably are."
For the record, I LIKE knowing what the real technique is even if I sometimes, even often, take a shortcut. That way you know what you are doing (and ,maybe what you are missing.) That doesn't make me a pro chef but I think I'm a cook.
The post has also made me update my wish list. If anyone buys me one of these I will cook for them if they ever visit Casa Q-- but then I would anyway.
I'd even cook for this guy, seen here with Libby. Probably game....
(Actually, I am cooking a recipe from him tonight.)
I like "fussy" pro Mike Pardus's comment among many others (good for "writer" as well.)
"Hi, y'all.......It's nice to see that things settled down a bit since Michael posted my comments on initial post.For those of you who are still pissed off at me, I owe an explanation.
"Being a cook is my identity, probably more so, even, than being a parent. If you ask "what do you do?" or "what ARE you?" I answer "I'm a cook" or, maybe, "I teach cooking".
"I also drive a pick-up to work - that does not make me a "trucker"
"I have a garden, but I'm not a "farmer"
"I've published articles and co-authored books - and gotten PAID for it, but I'm not a "writer"
"I cook...at home, at work, when I'm on vacation or visiting friends. It's what I do when I'm sad or lonely or happy and full of energy, and if I cook for you in my home or yours, it's the best way I can express friendship and love.
"If I ask you "what do you do?"....what's you're first response?......if it's "I'm a cook", then you probably are."
For the record, I LIKE knowing what the real technique is even if I sometimes, even often, take a shortcut. That way you know what you are doing (and ,maybe what you are missing.) That doesn't make me a pro chef but I think I'm a cook.
The post has also made me update my wish list. If anyone buys me one of these I will cook for them if they ever visit Casa Q-- but then I would anyway.
I'd even cook for this guy, seen here with Libby. Probably game....
(Actually, I am cooking a recipe from him tonight.)
Things to come..
(To keep my nose to the grindstone...)
Book reviews. EXCELLENT new book on why the Mega- Predators are ecologically vital. Science, new and rediscovered (hint: Leopold's Kaibab redux.) "Whale killers." Science as well as emotion, written not typed, and re- wilding too!
More reviews: Evolution vs ID, Matthiessen's Florida (still unfinished), Chinese wolf novel ditto. Oldish heavy book that seems to prove Central Asia hand Owen Lattimore's innocence of Soviet spying. Tim Mackintosh- Smith on Ibn "Battutah" as he spells it. Old Afghanistan (what the HELL happened anyway??) I can always read...
Book reviews. EXCELLENT new book on why the Mega- Predators are ecologically vital. Science, new and rediscovered (hint: Leopold's Kaibab redux.) "Whale killers." Science as well as emotion, written not typed, and re- wilding too!
More reviews: Evolution vs ID, Matthiessen's Florida (still unfinished), Chinese wolf novel ditto. Oldish heavy book that seems to prove Central Asia hand Owen Lattimore's innocence of Soviet spying. Tim Mackintosh- Smith on Ibn "Battutah" as he spells it. Old Afghanistan (what the HELL happened anyway??) I can always read...
Links
According to this story in the Telegraph the most aggressive breed of dog is the dachshund. Lily would not be surprised-- she is almost suicidally brave defending herself.
Interestingly, Sir Terence Clark tells me that, while he was attending the Saluki Congress in Finland last week, a report was given that Germany has passed new "temperament" laws for dogs above a certain size, ones so restrictive that most primitive breeds (Laika, huskies), Oriental sighthounds (saluki, tazi) and herding breeds will not be able to pass and will be neutered. Be VERY afraid of the "Safety Society". (And no, there are not enough numbers in obscure breeds to fight this.) If I find a link I will add it later.
Science/ art: My favorite incomprehensible Japanese Paleo- Art blog has some cool new pix up of my favorite Pleistocene mega- predator, Arctodus simus yukonensis. (Good article on the bear here.) I haven't the slightest idea what the text says-- Isaac?
New blogs. One, scientific, may be on the most specific topic I have yet seen, and of interest mainly to hard - core bio- nerds (I love it); BdellaNea is all about LEECHES.
The other is the new blog for Overland Journal, which at the moment is featuring Jonathan and Roseann Hanson's real- time adventure in the Maasai country.
Food: what kind of recipes are "deal breakers" for you? I'm inclined to agree with Carol Blythe, who said " I was actually more offended by many of the commenters on the article on the NYT site. Chopping parsley or whisking an egg are dealbreakers? What the fuck is wrong with people?"
More food: Rod Dreher interviews Michael Pollan, at The American Conservative no less. I like cross fertilization. Let me once again plug Pollan's The Omnivoire's Dilemma, my favorite, and also The Botany of Desire, that covers among other things the apples of Kazakhstan.
"Dr Buzzo" at Depleted Cranium examines bad public- land solar schemes and why they are bad. I agree entirely. He is not against sane spending either-- hit "home" and check out his defense of (and plea for) Arecibo.
LabRat in particular has been on a roll lately and you should really just check Atomic Nerds daily. But this smackdown of AR terrorists is as good as it gets ( I also like the term "cocknozzle"-- one of the many delights of reading the nerds is that they are intellectually and morally rigorous while being VERY funny.)
Sheer idiocy (shading inexorably into "Doom" of course.) Some people in Wales call in the MOON as a UFO.
"I just need to inform you that across the mountain there's a bright stationary object."
"Control: "Right."
"Caller: "If you've got a couple of minutes perhaps you could find out what it is? It's been there at least half an hour and it's still there." "
Of course there is always a proper bureaucratic response.
" "A police spokeswoman said: "This was a recent example of an inappropriate 999 call to South Wales Police." "
Meanwhile, in England, a man who detains a burglar who assaulted him is charged with assault (the burglar went free.)
Finally, this left my head spinning. That 21 % of atheists believe in God is strange enough, but that is only part of it....
Interestingly, Sir Terence Clark tells me that, while he was attending the Saluki Congress in Finland last week, a report was given that Germany has passed new "temperament" laws for dogs above a certain size, ones so restrictive that most primitive breeds (Laika, huskies), Oriental sighthounds (saluki, tazi) and herding breeds will not be able to pass and will be neutered. Be VERY afraid of the "Safety Society". (And no, there are not enough numbers in obscure breeds to fight this.) If I find a link I will add it later.
Science/ art: My favorite incomprehensible Japanese Paleo- Art blog has some cool new pix up of my favorite Pleistocene mega- predator, Arctodus simus yukonensis. (Good article on the bear here.) I haven't the slightest idea what the text says-- Isaac?
New blogs. One, scientific, may be on the most specific topic I have yet seen, and of interest mainly to hard - core bio- nerds (I love it); BdellaNea is all about LEECHES.
The other is the new blog for Overland Journal, which at the moment is featuring Jonathan and Roseann Hanson's real- time adventure in the Maasai country.
Food: what kind of recipes are "deal breakers" for you? I'm inclined to agree with Carol Blythe, who said " I was actually more offended by many of the commenters on the article on the NYT site. Chopping parsley or whisking an egg are dealbreakers? What the fuck is wrong with people?"
More food: Rod Dreher interviews Michael Pollan, at The American Conservative no less. I like cross fertilization. Let me once again plug Pollan's The Omnivoire's Dilemma, my favorite, and also The Botany of Desire, that covers among other things the apples of Kazakhstan.
"Dr Buzzo" at Depleted Cranium examines bad public- land solar schemes and why they are bad. I agree entirely. He is not against sane spending either-- hit "home" and check out his defense of (and plea for) Arecibo.
LabRat in particular has been on a roll lately and you should really just check Atomic Nerds daily. But this smackdown of AR terrorists is as good as it gets ( I also like the term "cocknozzle"-- one of the many delights of reading the nerds is that they are intellectually and morally rigorous while being VERY funny.)
Sheer idiocy (shading inexorably into "Doom" of course.) Some people in Wales call in the MOON as a UFO.
"I just need to inform you that across the mountain there's a bright stationary object."
"Control: "Right."
"Caller: "If you've got a couple of minutes perhaps you could find out what it is? It's been there at least half an hour and it's still there." "
Of course there is always a proper bureaucratic response.
" "A police spokeswoman said: "This was a recent example of an inappropriate 999 call to South Wales Police." "
Meanwhile, in England, a man who detains a burglar who assaulted him is charged with assault (the burglar went free.)
Finally, this left my head spinning. That 21 % of atheists believe in God is strange enough, but that is only part of it....
Apologies
I seem to be doing this too much; that is, apologizing for lack of content. I think this (often) is an uneasily split- personality blog. Sometimes I am a link aggregator, sometimes a photo blogger; and sometimes I expose my own personality a bit.
Trouble is, when I most "need" to do that is when I least like to-- when I am down.
I know good things are happening-- the baby falcon for instance. And the constants-- Libby, dogs New Mexico, garden-- are fine as ever. But depression knows no easy rules and it is sitting on my head like Phillip Larkin's toad (well, OK, that was "work", which is related...)
Work is stuck. I have a partly- completed book out from my agent-- she says because of publisher- editor vacations not to expect a reply until "at least" August.
The lawsuit over last book is still up in the air (and I have to trust to an out- of- state unpaid volunteer lawyer if it comes to a head.)
No magazine work on tap.
Several checks due.
Agent doesn't want to see fiction (may not want me working on it--?-- unclear.)
Add to this screaming arthritic everything, aggravated endless sinus infection, and general sleeplessness. Our good doc left for Austin 9 months ago, and we have so far had two tries at new ones that say either "live with it' or (literally) "I don't know, what do YOU think?" Add near house arrest because the 20 year old truck is not only expensive to run but getting so balky that we don't dare drive it to Albuquerque (we borrow) and it gets a bit old.
So I wait, and once in a while complain. At least I am old enough to realize that this, like everything else, will pass.
I promise no more about this until at least fall. And will follow up with good links and a promise for some good book reports if I get a bit of energy...
Trouble is, when I most "need" to do that is when I least like to-- when I am down.
I know good things are happening-- the baby falcon for instance. And the constants-- Libby, dogs New Mexico, garden-- are fine as ever. But depression knows no easy rules and it is sitting on my head like Phillip Larkin's toad (well, OK, that was "work", which is related...)
Work is stuck. I have a partly- completed book out from my agent-- she says because of publisher- editor vacations not to expect a reply until "at least" August.
The lawsuit over last book is still up in the air (and I have to trust to an out- of- state unpaid volunteer lawyer if it comes to a head.)
No magazine work on tap.
Several checks due.
Agent doesn't want to see fiction (may not want me working on it--?-- unclear.)
Add to this screaming arthritic everything, aggravated endless sinus infection, and general sleeplessness. Our good doc left for Austin 9 months ago, and we have so far had two tries at new ones that say either "live with it' or (literally) "I don't know, what do YOU think?" Add near house arrest because the 20 year old truck is not only expensive to run but getting so balky that we don't dare drive it to Albuquerque (we borrow) and it gets a bit old.
So I wait, and once in a while complain. At least I am old enough to realize that this, like everything else, will pass.
I promise no more about this until at least fall. And will follow up with good links and a promise for some good book reports if I get a bit of energy...
Sunday, July 06, 2008
NYT on NM Cockfighting
I am sorry, but I think this article on NM's anti- cockfight crusade can be quoted to make its own argument against the ban.
"After two weeks of preparation, 150 officers, backed up by a helicopter, slipped into this sleepy desert town. Their focus was not illegal immigration or drug smuggling, but a less pressing crime: cockfighting."
(Snip)
"Some police officers in this state say the pressure for stepped-up enforcement from the animal rights lobby has become so intense that resources are being diverted from more serious crimes, like drunken driving and amphetamine abuse.
"For years the state’s governor, Bill Richardson, a Democrat, avoided the issue. In 2006, Jay Leno ridiculed him on the “Tonight Show,” for saying there were strong arguments on both sides of the issue.... But in March 2007, Mr. Richardson signed the measure outlawing the sport. He was widely criticized as only getting behind the legislation because he was then running for president.
“You can’t go on the national stage and have people find out you have no problem with a bloody sport,” said Sheriff Darren White of Bernalillo County, where officers issued citations for two cockfighting misdemeanors in a raid on June 21."
[Ed. note: White is a known AR advocate who is against hunting and for mandatory spay neuter among other things.]
"“New Mexico is on the verge of having a modern culture,” said Heather Ferguson, the legislative director for Animal Protection of New Mexico, an animal-rights lobbying group. Ms. Ferguson said a newly established animal cruelty hot line was receiving about 90 calls every two weeks."
"As public support rises, so do costs. The Chaparral raid cost the four counties involved more than $25,000, officials said. And several high-ranking police officers, who asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to talk to reporters, said that while they oppose cockfighting they are frustrated at how politicians are disproportionately emphasizing the crime."
“We don’t even investigate misdemeanors on other crimes,” one officer said. “We laugh at these investigations.” Of one cockfighting raid he said: “We wasted $10,000 on a recent misdemeanor. I’d rather use that for a D.U.I. checkpoint and take 20 people off the road in the three hours and save lives over chickens. I feel good when we save chickens, but whoop-de-do, a misdemeanor?”
(Snip)
"For 16 years, Richard and Louisa Lopez operated a 310-seat cockfighting arena at their farm in Luis Lopez, N.M. The $30,000 they earned annually from the operation helped subsidize their farm expenses, and send their children to college. Last month, they used the arena for their family reunion and a baby shower.
" “We don’t have money to buy diesel sometimes,” Mr. Lopez said. “And this is the place that kept my farm going.”
"In January, the courts dismissed a suit by the New Mexico Gamefowl Association claiming economic devastation. Ms. Gojkovich, the animal control investigator, was hardly sympathetic.
" “You need to go find a job at Wal-Mart,” she said."
Or maybe sell out to developers? THAT'd be Green...
I believe Ms. Gojkovitch is a recent immigrant BTW.
Also BTW: all "seized" roosters are immediately killed. And not eaten. I'm sure they enjoy that more than fighting.
For the record, I do not keep chickens, nor do I support dogfighting. HT Annie H.
In related developments, Peculiar links to an article with an interesting quote:
""Now that Plum Creek is getting out of the timber business, we're kind of missing the loggers," said Ray Rasker, executive director of Headwaters Economics, a nonprofit that studies land management in the West. "A clear-cut will grow back, but a subdivision of trophy homes, that's going to be that way forever.""
Oh well- as Moro says in a comment, "Trophy homes don't last forever either, heh heh heh." Nature bats last.
"After two weeks of preparation, 150 officers, backed up by a helicopter, slipped into this sleepy desert town. Their focus was not illegal immigration or drug smuggling, but a less pressing crime: cockfighting."
(Snip)
"Some police officers in this state say the pressure for stepped-up enforcement from the animal rights lobby has become so intense that resources are being diverted from more serious crimes, like drunken driving and amphetamine abuse.
"For years the state’s governor, Bill Richardson, a Democrat, avoided the issue. In 2006, Jay Leno ridiculed him on the “Tonight Show,” for saying there were strong arguments on both sides of the issue.... But in March 2007, Mr. Richardson signed the measure outlawing the sport. He was widely criticized as only getting behind the legislation because he was then running for president.
“You can’t go on the national stage and have people find out you have no problem with a bloody sport,” said Sheriff Darren White of Bernalillo County, where officers issued citations for two cockfighting misdemeanors in a raid on June 21."
[Ed. note: White is a known AR advocate who is against hunting and for mandatory spay neuter among other things.]
"“New Mexico is on the verge of having a modern culture,” said Heather Ferguson, the legislative director for Animal Protection of New Mexico, an animal-rights lobbying group. Ms. Ferguson said a newly established animal cruelty hot line was receiving about 90 calls every two weeks."
"As public support rises, so do costs. The Chaparral raid cost the four counties involved more than $25,000, officials said. And several high-ranking police officers, who asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to talk to reporters, said that while they oppose cockfighting they are frustrated at how politicians are disproportionately emphasizing the crime."
“We don’t even investigate misdemeanors on other crimes,” one officer said. “We laugh at these investigations.” Of one cockfighting raid he said: “We wasted $10,000 on a recent misdemeanor. I’d rather use that for a D.U.I. checkpoint and take 20 people off the road in the three hours and save lives over chickens. I feel good when we save chickens, but whoop-de-do, a misdemeanor?”
(Snip)
"For 16 years, Richard and Louisa Lopez operated a 310-seat cockfighting arena at their farm in Luis Lopez, N.M. The $30,000 they earned annually from the operation helped subsidize their farm expenses, and send their children to college. Last month, they used the arena for their family reunion and a baby shower.
" “We don’t have money to buy diesel sometimes,” Mr. Lopez said. “And this is the place that kept my farm going.”
"In January, the courts dismissed a suit by the New Mexico Gamefowl Association claiming economic devastation. Ms. Gojkovich, the animal control investigator, was hardly sympathetic.
" “You need to go find a job at Wal-Mart,” she said."
Or maybe sell out to developers? THAT'd be Green...
I believe Ms. Gojkovitch is a recent immigrant BTW.
Also BTW: all "seized" roosters are immediately killed. And not eaten. I'm sure they enjoy that more than fighting.
For the record, I do not keep chickens, nor do I support dogfighting. HT Annie H.
In related developments, Peculiar links to an article with an interesting quote:
""Now that Plum Creek is getting out of the timber business, we're kind of missing the loggers," said Ray Rasker, executive director of Headwaters Economics, a nonprofit that studies land management in the West. "A clear-cut will grow back, but a subdivision of trophy homes, that's going to be that way forever.""
Oh well- as Moro says in a comment, "Trophy homes don't last forever either, heh heh heh." Nature bats last.
Friday, July 04, 2008
Independence Day
From the Mullenix homestead on the Georgia side of the Chattahoochee River, about half way up the state's western border, Happy Independence Day to all. We've got four generations milling about today, all eating hotdogs, hogging the pool and chasing the borzoi around to make him drop the sunscreen.
I hope everyone is spending the day with family and friends, enjoying all the good home places that are left.
Cheers to All
and Happy Fourth!
I hope everyone is spending the day with family and friends, enjoying all the good home places that are left.
Cheers to All
and Happy Fourth!
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Breed Names
From Luisa at "Lassie Get Help" comes this irresistible compendium of breed names from actual registrations. I have heard "Datsun" for "Dachshund" myself. But how about "Winner " or "Weiner Boy" or "Doxin" for that breed? Or "Pet Bull" or "Pul Bill" or "Pit Bowl"? How about "Crocker Spaniard" or "Shit Zoo"? More and worse-- RTWT!
More Links
Is this chameleon the shortest- lived vertebrate? Chameleons rarely live long in captivity-- perhaps this is less because of bad treatment than genes! HT Lauren.
A wolf shows up in northern New Mexico. I know some will find it suspicious that it arrived on Turner land, but there is no biological reason why not. For what its worth there are rumors of near- black wolves down here too, though it is not a color associated with the Mexican subspecies.
A page on birds from an interesting new site on taxonomy and cladistics. I followed it from Chas.
An excellent update and overview of "Out of Africa" theory from Smithsonian.
LabRat at Atomic Nerds hits another one out of the park. This one is on how you have to learn the basics, like history's "Kings and dates and Battles", before you can understand subtle arguments, in this case over evolution.
"Biologists get very, very frustrated with attacks on evolution, because they’re in a position where they long ago absorbed so many dull facts about biology that the overarching pattern of evolution becomes obvious...It requires a deep knowledge of anatomy, of phylogeny, and a bunch of other biological minutiae that aren’t learned except by students who’ve decided to make biology a serious priority. It’s very easy to forget that a biologist has the ability to see these patterns all over every aspect of biology- it isn’t just in context, it IS the context- but for most people, the concept of evolution is just another “fact”- and even worse, one described as a “theory”, which in common parlance means “a guess” and in science means, roughly “the context to a larger body of facts”. The “theory of gravity” isn’t a guess about gravity, it’s a term meaning “all that is currently understood about gravity”."
NPR interviews our old friend Patrick Hemingway on the occasion of his eightieth birthday. Some characteristic rue and humor from a grand old man, but I wish they could have asked more intelligent questions. The family furniture line? Does he read his father's books on planes?! I'd have been ashamed to be so banal, especially as Pat is one of the great raconteurs of all time. HT Peculiar, who knew him when he was a child in Bozeman.
(Patrick was trained as a wildlife biologist, not merely a "safari guide"as the interviewer says. Speaking of the idea that all reality is constructed, or that science is entirely subjective and culture- bound-- see evo above-- Pat would say in irritation "so these people think that if they jumped out the window they might fall up? He also once observed that Islamic fundamentalists flew on airplanes, not on flying carpets.)
Sorry for light posting-- I shall return!
A wolf shows up in northern New Mexico. I know some will find it suspicious that it arrived on Turner land, but there is no biological reason why not. For what its worth there are rumors of near- black wolves down here too, though it is not a color associated with the Mexican subspecies.
A page on birds from an interesting new site on taxonomy and cladistics. I followed it from Chas.
An excellent update and overview of "Out of Africa" theory from Smithsonian.
LabRat at Atomic Nerds hits another one out of the park. This one is on how you have to learn the basics, like history's "Kings and dates and Battles", before you can understand subtle arguments, in this case over evolution.
"Biologists get very, very frustrated with attacks on evolution, because they’re in a position where they long ago absorbed so many dull facts about biology that the overarching pattern of evolution becomes obvious...It requires a deep knowledge of anatomy, of phylogeny, and a bunch of other biological minutiae that aren’t learned except by students who’ve decided to make biology a serious priority. It’s very easy to forget that a biologist has the ability to see these patterns all over every aspect of biology- it isn’t just in context, it IS the context- but for most people, the concept of evolution is just another “fact”- and even worse, one described as a “theory”, which in common parlance means “a guess” and in science means, roughly “the context to a larger body of facts”. The “theory of gravity” isn’t a guess about gravity, it’s a term meaning “all that is currently understood about gravity”."
NPR interviews our old friend Patrick Hemingway on the occasion of his eightieth birthday. Some characteristic rue and humor from a grand old man, but I wish they could have asked more intelligent questions. The family furniture line? Does he read his father's books on planes?! I'd have been ashamed to be so banal, especially as Pat is one of the great raconteurs of all time. HT Peculiar, who knew him when he was a child in Bozeman.
(Patrick was trained as a wildlife biologist, not merely a "safari guide"as the interviewer says. Speaking of the idea that all reality is constructed, or that science is entirely subjective and culture- bound-- see evo above-- Pat would say in irritation "so these people think that if they jumped out the window they might fall up? He also once observed that Islamic fundamentalists flew on airplanes, not on flying carpets.)
Sorry for light posting-- I shall return!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)