Monday, June 30, 2008

Illuminatus!

From the book Illuminatus! by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson (good stuff by the way):

"He was, in fact, characteristic of the best type of dominant male in the world at this time. He was fifty-five years old, tough, shrewd, unburdened by the complicated ethical ambiguities which puzzle intellectuals, and had long ago decided that the world was a mean son-of-a-bitch in which only the most cunning and ruthless can survive. He was also as kind as was possible for one holding that ultra-Darwinian philosophy; and he genuinely love children and dogs, unless they were on the site of something that had to be bombed in the National Interest. He still retained some sense of humor, despite the burdens of his almost godly office, and, although he had been impotent with his wife for nearly ten years now, he generally achieved orgasm in the mouth of a skilled prostitute within 1.5 minutes. He took amphetamine pep pills to keep going on his grueling twenty-hour day, with the result that his vision of the world was somewhat skewed in a paranoid direction, and he took tranquilizers to keep from worrying too much, with the result that his detachment sometimes bordered on the schizophrenic; but most of the time his innate shrewdness gave him a fingernail grip on reality. In short, he was much like the rulers of Russia and China."

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Curled Snail


Foggy mornings = snails!

Friday, June 27, 2008

Dylan Lyrics

An excerpt of "Idiot Wind" from Blood On the Tracks:

"It was gravity which pulled us down and destiny which broke us apart
You tamed the lion in my cage but it just wasn't enough to change my heart.
Now everything's a little upside down, as a matter of fact the wheels have stopped,
What's good is bad, what's bad is good, you'll find out when you reach the top
You're on the bottom."

-Bobby D

Smokey Sunset


All of the smoke from the wildfires has been making the sun look really weird. It's this muted RED color that makes it look like sunset even when it isn't. I tried to captures it yesterday, but doesn't really live up to the full scale of how it feels.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Crazy Storm


The first June lightning storm that I've seen happened last weekend, and sparked nearly 200 wildfires in Cali this week. Nuts!

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Two Quotes

So I recently subscribed to http://aphotoeditor.com/ just to see what it is like for these guys and get more info...anyway there was a great quote about magazines here. I hate most magazines in general but this guy/girl summed it up well-

"I look forward to the day when magazines can return to serving their audience and not the newsstand. Until then you’re stuck with 109, free, biggest, hot, ultimate, travel, toys, secrets, great, perfect, best, sex, abs, weight-loss, getaway, new, insider, easy, delicious, shortcuts, paired with a celebrity you keep seeing over and over on the covers of magazines."

The second is from Anne Sweet whom I'm dying to meet in person:

"But I'm learning that worthwhile doesn't always mean easy." -Anne Sweet

That's some good shit there.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Fribgridgit


I found this guy in an electronic version of an old Iron Man comic book. The ads are almost as entertaining as the comic. This guy is named Fribgridgit, and he appearantly traded his cloud skates for these Reeses Pieces.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Anyone Else Like This?

Quote from Pollan

This comes form "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan:

"Hybrid corn now offered its breeders what no other plant at that time could: the biological equivalent of a patent. Farmers now had to buy new seeds every spring; instead of depending upon their plants to reproduce themselves, they now depended on a corporation. The corporation, assured for the first time of a return to its investment in breeding, showered corn with attention-R&D, promotion, advertising-and the plant responded, multiplying its fruitfulness year after year. With the advent of the F-1 hybrid, a technology with the power to remake nature in the image of capitalism, Zea mays entered the industrail age and, in time brought the whole American food chain with it."

Hence high fructose corn syrup, livestock feed, and obesity.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Cedar Rapids Under Water

These pictures come from www.boston.com/bigpicture - the coolest new website I've found. Their goal is to report on world events through nice big full size pictures. They are really nice, some are quite breathtaking.





And of course wherever there is chaos...

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Word Origins: Dude



So I think I'm going to start a bit of a regular entry: "Word Orgins"

The first entry is the word Dude, a la Wikipedia:

"The term dude is an American-English slang word generally used informally to address a male individual, though it does have uses as a gender-neutral pronoun as described below. The word was once used primarily by young adults but has become a common slang term used in various age groups. The female equivalent, though rarely used, is dudette.[citation needed]

Dude is, under certain circumstances, gender-neutral. Mostly used by young men it has also evolved to be used by female members of the society.[1] "Dude" may also be used alone in a sentence denoting a feeling of surprise, happiness, disappointment, amazement or other emotions.[2] The word might also be used practically anywhere in a sentence in order to convey such sentiments in conversation. The cadence, volume and length of the word is also used to denote the feeling, such as a clipped "dude" for irritation, or a long "duuude" for amusement, surprise, or wonder.

Other, older definitions of dude exist; a particularly well-dressed male or one who is unfamiliar with life outside a large city. These definitions may go hand-in-hand, hence the phrased definition "An Easterner in the West" (United States).[3]

One of the earliest books to use the word was The Home and Farm Manual, written by Jonathan Periam in 1883. In that work, Periam used the term dude several times to denote an ill-bred and ignorant, but ostentatious, man from the city."

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Who Killed the EV1?

So I just saw some pieces of the movie Who Killed the EV1?, and I've never been more disillusioned by the automotive companies ever. We HAD the technology for a 120mi+ electric car in the 90s, and we let it slip through our fingers. Now look at how things are going...the truely sad thing is that it was b/c they couldn't make as much money selling them b/c they are a superior product. Less moving parts, less things to break, meaning less parts to sell. Its the same old shit all over again, make shit products that people throw away and buy new. So very very sad.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

A Santa Cruz Man





So this guy rolled up while I was taking pictures of the wildfire. He was as in awe of the awfulness of it as I was. So we talked a bit, I could tell he had a hard life, but man was he full of energy and life. Made me feel like if he could make it all these years, and still be happy and have a positive attitude that I can face anything. I hope I bump into him again so I can give him one of these pictures.

Boonie Doon Forest Wildfire


Sonoma Train



Tuesday, June 10, 2008

McCain Sucks

This guy seriously wants us to have a military-industrial complex forever!

"He promised a thorough review of the budgets of “every federal program, department, and agency,” the results of which would be posted on the Internet. During that review, he said, there would be a one-year pause in so-called “discretionary spending” increases, except military spending and veterans’ benefits."


EXCEPT FOR MILITARY SPENDING!!!! AAAHHHAHAAAA

Yeah I bet that means that he's going to bump up the spending on things like education and infrastructure and cut down the nearly 800 billion we spend on the military each year yeah? Same old shit...

Marriage Sex

From this NYTimes article on an interesting experiment- married couples doing it every single night for 101/365 days in a row:

"According to a 2004 study, “American Sexual Behavior,” by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, married couples have intercourse about 66 times a year. But that number is skewed by young marrieds, as young as 18, who couple, on average, 84 times a year."

O
MG- I'm never getting married. That's like one day in six, and I bet that's like 75% during ovulation, so 3/4 of the time you're gettin nothing- boooo! Although 1/6 is way the hell better than what I'm averaging- damn it...

“There’s a strong relationship between rating your marriage as happy and frequency of intercourse,” said Tom W. Smith, who conducted the “American Sexual Behavior” study. “What we can’t tell you is what the causal relationship is between the two. We don’t know whether people who are happy in their marriage have sex more, or whether people who have sex more become happy in their marriages, or a combination of those two.”

I
've been saying this for years. If there something wrong with the sex life, there's something much deeper wrong with the relationship.

Shoshana Bulow, a psychotherapist and certified sex therapist in Manhattan, pointed out that sex is a lot more complicated than frequency. “There’s all sorts of reasons people lose interest in sex with their partner — disappointments, life cycles, financial issues,” she said. “Just having it isn’t going to resolve those.”

O
h I beg to disagree Miss Burlow. It helps reduce stress for one, and I don't know about ya'll but I am certainly more clear headed after getting laid. This allows a person to re-evaluate all those life stressors, specifically, maybe it'll help you to take yourself a little less seriously...

Monday, June 09, 2008

Gas Prices

Ok, so, 10 gallon tank, just cost nearly $50 to fill.

Pissed? Yes, however, we deserve it.

This is what we get for electing G.W.BUSH into office.

The End.

Sunday, June 08, 2008

The Cactus' Offering of Love to the Desert

Lyrics are from Kimya Dawson and Antsy Pants — "Tree Hugger" on the Juno Soundtrack. It was just too fitting to pass up the opportunity.

The flower said "I wish I was a tree"
The tree said "I wish I could be a different kind of tree"
The cat wished that it was a bee
The turtle wished that it could fly really high into the sky
Over rooftops and then dive deep into the sea

And in the sea there is a fish
A fish that has a secret wish
A wish to be a big cactus with a pink flower on it

And in the sea there is a fish
A fish that has a secret wish
A wish to be a big cactus with a pink flower on it

And the flower would be its offering of love
To the desert and the deserts so dry and lonely
That the creatures all appreciate the effort

Et le jackalope a dit
Je voudrais être un yeti
Pour voler dans la nuit
Et m'en aller loin d'ici
Mais le yeti a dit
Je voudrais être un monstre marin
Pour pouvoir rentrer dans la mer
De tous les requins

And the rattlesnake said "I wish I had hands
So I could hug you like a man"
And then the cactus said "but don't you understand?
My skin is covered with sharp spikes
That'll stab you like a thousand knives
A hug would be nice but hug my flower with your eyes"

Till the flower said "I wish I was a tree"
The tree said "I wish I could be a different kind of tree"
The cat wished that it was a bee
The turtle wished that it could fly really high into the sky
Over the rooftops and then dive deep into the sea

And in the sea there is a fish
A fish that has a secret wish
A wish to be a big cactus with a pink flower on it
And in the sea there is a fish
A fish that has a secret wish
A wish to be a big cactus with a pink flower on it

And the flower would be its offering of love to the desert
And the deserts so dry and lonely
That the creatures all appreciate the effort

The Northern Most Mission - Sonoma Downtown






Ok so yes this has been a blogasm but what can I say, these pictures are rocking. Plus, I've discovered how amazing the Unsharp Mask is, yes Dave I know you know, but everyone else please check it out. It really bumps up the sharpness of every picture you take w/o adding noise (at the lower level settings).

More of the Cali Coast Near Russian River






So here is the cove that we should have dove. Looks pretty lively. Lots of kelp. Should make for good ab diving. You'll notice the tiny people with their inner tube rafts. Also, it was pretty choppy on this day and woulda made for some tough hunting conditions. On the way back, the seals were sunning themselves and messing with the 'yakers. They'd swim under the water near a kayaker and then pop up, and swim around looking at the silly monkeys trying to be in the waters that they call home. Also, please note how big of a difference a polarizer makes.

Sonoma Coast





Sonoma isn't really on the coast. These are pictures of Bodega Bay, a place directly west of Sonoma. It has been really hot this weekend and my allergies have been going crazy!

Punked, Hosed, Screwed, Weekend Stolen

So this weekend I was going to take my second attempt at abalone diving. I got a new ab iron, I got some licenses, I got a great new oceanic snorkel, and took my beautiful almost brand new wetsuit. I drove nearly 3 hours from the south bay up to Sonoma to stay the night at Doug's parents house. We got up t 5am to make it to the ocean by 8am for the low tide (after some breakfast). Took some pictures on the drive up, and then we found the spot and started unpacking the gear and getting ready. I start putting my wetsuit on, and as I'm getting it over my hips, I hear what sounds like the zipper slipping down with a bit of a pop. Not thinking much of it, I reach back to grab the zipper string to finish putting it on. No string...can't seem to feel the zipper...I ask Doug to zip me up please, he says, "Uh, dude, there's no zipper." Apparently, this zipper completely broke into two halves. The wetsuit is FUCKED, my abalone diving weekend is FUCKED, I just wasted my time getting up here, my money getting the licenses, the gas money, etc. Totally FUCKED!


I'm so pissed, I just wrote BARE the company that makes the wetsuit a pretty heated email. I think I'm going to re-write it to tone it down a bit as they actually have a lifetime warentee on the suit. Totally hosed.

Anyway, we walked around, took a look at the site, did some hiking around, and then headed back. I was so drained I passed out on the ride home. Later we went and got some food with Doug's parents and checked out downtown Sonoma.

Friday, June 06, 2008

A Santa Cruz Morning




On my way out the door I saw this snail making his way across the entrance way on the porch and I though it would be a good time to snap off some quick pictures this morning.

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Weekend

More flowers are on the way, also I might have gotten a descent sunset pic, but my computers are currently in a shall we say facelift process...


So yeah, I had a crazy weekend. Some of the details are still a little fuzzy, however, I think I have most of it straight. I went up to San Fran this weekend to attend a house warming party of my friend Lisa girlfriend of Matt Paul (both Burners). I swung by the Mission and picked up Sophia, and then headed over to near Golden Gate park where their apartment is located. People started filtering in, there was food and booze, and sick beats- good times all around. I had some great conversations with people, including an amazing comment by Sophia that I think about relationships in terms of what the different needs of the sexes are (like emotional vs. physical approval), and should not apply that metric to the whole thing because it really shouldn't be about needs period.

The party peaked around Midnight, and I had planned to stay the night there because of a wedding to go to on Sunday in the North Bay. So yeah, that's what I did I slept there...woke up the next morning...got a shower, breakfast, some new shoes for the wedding (forgot mine but these are suade!), and then hit the road to Richmond for the wedding.

I'm retarded and got it stuck in my head that the wedding was at 2, but it was actually at 1- I'm an ass. The funny thing was I got there for the receiving line, and could have played it off like I was there the whole time. However, those of you who know me understand that it was eating at my soul, and I had to confess. They weren't pissed though, both people are pretty chill, and had a really relaxed wedding. When I arrived, I found a couple of people I knew and started talking to them. One of them was this girl Bridgette who is now at grad school in Mississippi. Well, I found out that she had road the train basically from Santa Cruz, and was planning on doing the same to get home. I was going to SC down the 1 to catch the sunset on a beach, so I offered a ride which she gladly accepted. Unbeknown to me, she was basically drinking wine through a straw and ended up being 'that guy(girl)' at the wedding, you know the one who drank way too much. Yeah.

So fast-forward to the last hour or so of the wedding- she's really really drunk now, and appearantly her ex-boyfriend, Ryan, was also in attendance and she had some things that she needed to get off her chest. So, little Bridgette is sitting on a bench with Ryan, pretty much yelling at him, sloshing her glass of wine all over the place. The wedding party needed to vacate the premises by no later than 5:30, so I started trying to uh collect her by 5ish, to say goodbyes and whatnot. Well those two are still having an intense conversation (if you can call it that, it was pretty one way) so I kept waiting. Finally around 5:30 I enlisted the help of Jeff/Sara (the newlyweds) and managed to get her moving, and out to Ryan's (ex-bf) truck to get her bag and whatnot. Well, she started in on the guy again, so I sat in my car and read Harry Potter while keeping an eye on her. Finally, unable to take anymore (it was 6:30 by now), I said, "Ok so I think that you guys have gotten enough taken care of, how about we postpone this discussion to the phone at a later date?" and managed to get her into my car and outta there.

Within about 20 minutes she was completely passed out cold in my passenger's seat.

The weirdly funny thing was the way in which she passed out and decided(not) to position her legs was to sprawl them sideways across the car onto/into my lap. At first I was trying to just keep them out of the way of the gear stick and away from my crotchal region, however, she was determined to keep her foot precariously close to my reproductive machinery. I was just waiting for her knee to jerk and take me out, and possibly her with it, but luckily that never happened. Any weird stretching managed to occur in the opposite direction. So anyway, she's passed out, I drive over the Bay Bridge, through San Fran (again), and out to Pacifica down Hwy 1 to Santa Cruz.

She's clearly cold in her wedding garb, so I pull out my Man-Bear coat from the back seat where it tends to live, and cover her up. Cruise down the 1 as the sun is setting. She's still passed out by the time I get to La Honda/Pescadero (like 1hr-ish from SC- probably 2 hours from the wedding) when I stop to take pictures of the sunset. It was a pretty nice sunset with low clouds to catch some light (but no high ones unfortunately). I'm chillin, enjoying the sunset, when sure enough- she's alive! Comes out of the car in my Man-Bear coat looking all frazzeled. "All I remember is the end of the wedding and now I'm on the ocean wearing this amazing coat!" I then proceed to tell her about all of her debauchery at the wedding, of which she can't remember the last 30-40 minutes, anything from us getting into the car, or passing out sprawled all over the place. It was good laughs, I gotta say, and totally worth driving a drunk girl home.

All in all, I had a great time, meeting some great people, and feeling my soul refreshed at the fact that other people really do enjoy my particular brand of company. I will add in some funny pictures to give some visual aids to the story.