30/01/2012

A few words before sleep

Once again, I crank the wheel and roll the page forward. It's night, 9:01 to be exact. Was. That is all.

25/01/2012

Sirenia Shadows

After watching this video from Build by Wildman forwarded by M. Lee, I'm thinking it would be a step up to come back as a manatee or dolphin. Also, nice track from Palace Of The Innocents by Glitch Mob.


Sirenia Shadows from Built By Wildman on Vimeo.

20/01/2012

Happy Squirrel Appreciation Day


If you've been thinking about baking a peanut cake for the neighborhood squirrels, today's the day. It's Squirrel Appreciation Day.

I decided that a good way to appreciate squirrels would be to register the Bird Park with the National Wildlife Federation. That would make it a certified wildlife habitat but when I got to the final step the NWF wanted twenty bucks. Plus, I travel a lot and being Mother Nature to a world has to be a full-time job. Ah well. Maybe later.

Anyway, happy Squirrel Appreciation Day. Now go appreciate some squirrels.

19/01/2012

Outtakes, San Francisco 01.12

San Francisco
San Francisco from Oakland Hills
Head & Dragon
Chinatown conversation
Kwong Cheong Tai
SF Chinatown
Angry Bird & Co
Angry Bird & Co.
Woman in Black
Woman in black, SF Chinatown
Thalia
Chinatown apartment bldg.
AA Cafe
AA Cafe, SF Chinatown
Dragon Buddha
Buddha and dragons

17/01/2012

Stop SOPA and PIPA.

503: Service Unavailable

Fade to Black.

On Wednesday January 18, 2012 thousands of sites, including Wikipedia, Craigslist and this outpost border crossing will be dark. This is in protest because the US Senate is considering internet censorship bills, SOPA & PIPA. If either one of these bills passes, your favorite sites could disappear forever.

PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) would put anyone in legal jeopardy who linked to a site anywhere online that had any links to copyright infringement. And Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) would, to put is simply, completely gut and unmake the Web.

We don't want the world that would leave us in. If you don't want it either, visit AmericanCensorship.org for instructions on contacting your Senator. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has more information on this and other issues central to our freedom online.

This is the largest online protest in history. Join in by blacking out your site and urging everyone you can reach to contact Congress now.

For more info also go here, here, here and here.


PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.




16/01/2012

News at 3:52 PM

Time to roll this thing forward. We're in So. Oregon at the moment and driving to the Bay Area in  the morning. More family business. A couple of years ago M. Lee's sister had a sudden, baffling break with reality. For her own safety, we had to move her out of her apartment and into assisted living and ever since, and till death do us part, we must monitor her care. It's been a couple of hard years for her but the good news is lately things have been getting better. New meds, thanks entirely to M. Lee who never gives up.

Generally this is a turn around trip but this time, after such a sad Christmas, we're staying a few extra days for some RnR. We've rented a house by Lake Temescal in N.E. Oakland. It's a million dollar place M. Lee found on AirBnB. It costs less than it would to stay at our usual crappy, noisy, worn out motel. If you haven't heard of airbnb, check it out. It's definitely a game changer.

Oh, and happy Martin Luther King day. BTW, what's up with it being in January? January is a crappy time to have a Day. Who wants to go to a BBQ in January?

10/01/2012

Moment before dawn

Burfi by Srivalli
6:43 AM: Breakfast is out. The world is quiet. The Bird Park emerges from the dark. I am waiting for the birds to arrive. This morning there is burfi.

7:16 AM: Even the grackles came.

07/01/2012

Jean-Paul Sartre Cookbook

Marty Smith
.
Credit goes to M. Lee for digging up this article posted by Paul Vincent Spade, Professor of Philosophy at Indiana University. I did a little research on its author Marty Smith. Seems he's currently playing guitar for the Portland band Slutty Hearts. The Free Agent, one of Portland's many fine but unfortunately now defunct alternative newspapers, published it in 1987 and Utne Reader, now Utne, republished it in 1993. Maybe to appreciate it you have to be a depressive type like me but I think it's hilarious.


01/01/2012

Happy New Year!


Buon 2012!
Thea Bella, Madonna of the Bath

Even in this sad time there is light and joy. Thea and her Mom are visiting us for a few days. Funny how I so naturally think of my daughter as her mom but there you have it. The generations roll on and so do the years so here's to all Raphael's angels. Felice anno nuovo!