Warrior of the Woods

Excuse me, but...

2006-01-18T07:02:00.000-08:00

Did anyone else notice that the Tokyo Stock market took so much of a dive today that they had to close it?

The immediate cause was an internet company, Livedoor -- but I have to wonder if this is just the first sign of brittle ice cracking, that maybe we're all standing on a thin sheet of false security, just one panic away from plunging into the abyss.

OK, now get back to making money for your employer, you lazy slacker!

(In other news, I may or may not start blogging again).

Two-minute Tour of Bush's America

2005-08-14T11:35:00.000-07:00

Once in a generation, a video comes along that changes the way you look at everything.

This is not that video.

But it is pretty durned good. Check 'er out, y'all! [Quicktime]

Via the ever-outstanding Root Cellar.

Casey and Cindy Sheehan -- American Heroes

2005-08-12T22:14:00.000-07:00

Hero

From CNN:

He was an altar boy, an Eagle Scout, a church youth group leader. That is what people remember about Casey Sheehan, the 24-year-old soldier whose death in Iraq has become a flashpoint for debate about the war since his mother began staging a peace vigil outside the president's ranch in Texas.

Among family and friends -- not to mention TV pundits, Internet bloggers and newspaper columnists -- opinions vary about Cindy Sheehan's demand to meet with the president to talk about why the U.S. went to war. Like others, they struggle with whether her determination to bring the war home honors or diminishes his choice to join the Army.

But those who knew the young man she so publicly mourns agree that if anyone is an appropriate face for the war's more than 1,800 U.S. deaths, it is Casey. He had a gentle but firm commitment to family, church and country, re-enlisting after the war started and volunteering for the rescue mission in which he and six others were killed last year.

[full story]

Hero

From the BBC:

The mother of a US soldier killed in Iraq, who is holding a roadside protest outside President Bush's Texas ranch, is gaining support from well-wishers.

Cindy Sheehan has received flowers and food from people who support her anti-war stance, and dozens have turned out to join her demonstration.

She is vowing to remain until she is allowed to speak to the president about his justification for the war.

...

"Before my son was killed, I used to think that one person could not make a difference,'' she told AFP. "But one person that is surrounded and supported by millions of people can be heard."

[full story]

Zero

From CNN:

President Bush's motorcade, en route to a political fund-raiser near his ranch, passed Friday by the site of Cindy Sheehan's Iraq war protest where more than 100 people had gathered to support her.

Sheehan -- whose son, Casey, was killed five days after he arrived in Iraq last year at age 24 -- held a sign that read: "Why do you make time for donors and not for me?"

It's unclear whether Bush, riding in a black Suburban with tinted windows, looked at the demonstrators as his caravan passed.

The motorcade did not stop.

...

He arrived at the fund-raiser before noon CT at a neighbor's ranch for a barbecue where he was expected to raise at least $2 million for the Republican National Committee, said RNC spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt.

Some 230 people were attending the fund-raiser at Stan and Kathy Hickey's Broken Spoke Ranch, a 478-acre spread next to Bush's ranch. All have contributed at least $25,000 to the RNC, and many are "rangers," an honorary campaign title bestowed on those who raised $200,000 or more for Bush, or "pioneers," those who have raised $100,000 or more.

[full story]

Charming, no? Cindy Sheehan contributed her first-born son, but I guess that doesn't count for much with the president.

Sigh...

Is it time to vote again yet?

More About Your Humble Blogger

2005-08-10T19:15:00.000-07:00

You scored as Chaotic Good. A Chaotic Good person is someone who has little intrinsic respect for laws or authority, seeing them as insufficient to sustain what's right. These people work according to their own moral compass which, while good, is not necessarily always aligned with that of society. Despite their chaotic tendancies, these people are good at heart.

Chaotic Good

80%

Lawful Good

70%

True Neutral

55%

Neutral Good

50%

Lawful Neutral

45%

Lawful Evil

35%

Chaotic Neutral

35%

Neutral Evil

30%

Chaotic Evil

10%

And I Vote

What is your Alignment?
created with QuizFarm.com

Bizarre Pleasant Surprise of the Week

2005-08-06T09:59:00.000-07:00

Rick Santorum has, uh, come out in opposition to President Bush's support for the teaching of "intelligent design." From Reuters (link will expire all too soon):

A leading Republican senator allied with the religious right differed on Thursday with President Bush's support for teaching an alternative to the theory of evolution known as "intelligent design."

Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, a possible 2008 presidential contender who faces a tough re-election fight next year in Pennsylvania, said intelligent design, which is backed by many religious conservatives, lacked scientific credibility and should not be taught in science classes.

Bush told reporters from Texas on Monday that "both sides" in the debate over intelligent design and evolution should be taught in schools "so people can understand what the debate is about."

"I think I would probably tailor that a little more than what the president has suggested," Santorum, the third-ranking Republican member of the U.S. Senate, told National Public Radio. "I'm not comfortable with intelligent design being taught in the science classroom."

Yo, preznit -- if Sen. Gay-Marriage-equals-Bestiality himself has reservations about intelligent design, maybe you should think again. Or would that be "think" in the first place?

Last Week's Winner...

Would have to be Bill Frist's bravely coming out in favor of federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. From CNN:

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist endorsed government-funded research on human embryonic stem cells Friday, breaking with President Bush and the religious conservatives he's been courting for a 2008 presidential bid. He drew praise from former first lady Nancy Reagan.

"It isn't just a matter of faith, it's a matter of science," Frist, a heart-lung transplant surgeon, said in a Senate speech. "The president's policy should be modified."

Ironically, Bush began opposing federal funding for embryonic stem cell research after being convinced a few years ago by, yep -- one Dr. William Frist, a prominent Republican Senator from Tennessee.

How come when Conservatives flip-flop, it's cool? But it is, it really is.

A really cynical guy might speculate that both of these pleasant surpises have something to do with politics. After all, Santorum faces re-election in 2006 and Frist is likely to run for president in 2008. But I'm not that guy. Not today, anyway.

A Kinder, Gentler Machine Gun Hand

2005-08-05T18:56:00.000-07:00

I just discovered Google's corporate motto, and okay -- it creeps me out.

Don't Be Evil.

I mean, if you have to remind yourself constantly not to be evil, I mean -- dude -- isn't that one step removed from proclaiming: "I will stop beating my wife"?

Do you think they can pull it off? I mean the whole not being evil thing?

[shudder]

Best headline of the whole damned summer

2005-08-01T10:18:00.000-07:00

Doughless Atkins Diet Goes Belly Up, New York Daily News, Monday August 1, 2005

Thank you, Daily News.

Slap Shots

2005-05-15T21:15:00.000-07:00

No plans for a draft? Then why are people being asked to volunteer for draft boards?

From Reading In The Dark:

Dear Diana,

I appreciate your interest in becoming Local Board Member with the United States Selective Service System (SSS). In order to proceed with this process please complete the SSS Potential Board Member Information Form. On the Oath of Office and Waiver of Pay page please complete just the top half.

Upon receipt of the completed forms, I will contact you by telephone to conduct an informal interview I appreciate your patriotism and interest in serving your community and your nation by serving with the Selective Service System.

Gratefully,

Think it's a joke? Not according to the Selective Service System: http://www.sss.gov/fslocal.htm

Says Diana:

That breeze you feel? is the draft.

***************************************************

CNN's Quick Vote Question, Saturday May 14, 2005:

"Are suspected al Qaeda members outside war zones legitimate targets for U.S. military strikes?"

As of about 7:00 PM Saturday, 85% of respondents said 'yes.' I didn't answer. Is this a war? If so, then why aren't we treating captured prisoners like Prisoners of War?

***************************************************

Do you think Free Trade is a good idea? If so, you're probably in favor of the proposed US-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).

From the San Jose Mercury News [requires registration; link may expire soon]:

Concerned about democracy? CAFTA, like NAFTA, authorizes foreign corporations to challenge U.S. laws and regulations that might stand in the way of profits. Using a similar ``investors' rights'' rule under NAFTA, for example, the Canadian company Methanex is protesting California's order to remove the carcinogen MTBE from our gasoline. No one questions that MTBE is a health hazard. The problem is that it's also a moneymaker for Methanex. If the United States loses the case, taxpayers will be liable for millions in damages, payable directly to Methanex.

Betcha didn't know that, didya? We need to demand Fair Trade, trade which improves worker and environmental protections, not which weakens or destroys them.

***************************************************

Finally, whatever happened to http://www.changingtheclimate.com/? That's Robert Lind's Website; he's the guy behind those "I'm Changing the Climate! Ask Me How." bumper stickers for SUVs. He (or at least his site) seems to have vanished. Anyone have a clue?

After these messages...

2005-05-10T21:43:00.000-07:00

So what's the single greatest obstacle to happiness in our society today?

And what can you do to rid yourself of it?

Well, the solution is quite simple -- and absolutely free!

Eliminate advertising from your life.

That's right -- advertising is the single greatest obstacle to happiness in our society.

Is that crazy?

You may think so at first, but check out my reasoning.

First, consider that most unhappiness comes from unfulfilled desire.

We want something we don't have. Then we work until we get it -- and what happens?

Are we then happy?

Only for a short time, until we are overcome by desire for something else. And the cycle continues....

We chase happiness the way a donkey chases a dangling carrot.

We are, of course, physical beings with real needs. We have basic needs, and we have more complex needs. Real needs. These come from within; the more we understand them, the better we are able to fulfill them -- and finally to transcend them.

But desire for things we don't need distracts us from fulfilling our true needs. We waste our limited physical, mental, emotional and spiritual energy pursuing things we don't need, leaving us exhausted -- and with our true needs unfulfilled.

Unnecessary desire is the root of most unhappiness.

Now, consider the purpose of advertising.

Someone has a product. You don't know anything about it. They want you to know about their product and for you to crave it. So they create advertising.

The advertising compels you to desire something you don't want, something you don't need.

By using well-known psychological tricks, they seek to confuse you, to make you believe their product will help you fulfill your real needs. Keep in mind, advertisers don't care about your needs; they care only about making you desire their product.

The purpose of advertising is to create unnecessary desire.

My advice to you is to avoid advertising whenever possible. Avoid commercial television and radio. Change the channel (or at least hit 'mute') when an ad comes on. Use a pop-up blocker or a browser with built-in pop-up blocking.

Turn off. Unsubscribe. Opt out.

See if you don't feel much better as a result.

You might argue that our entire society is based on advertising, that if everyone followed my advice, our economy would crumble. And you might be right. If so, we need a new basis for our society, a new model for our economy.

Artificial desire is a disease. Eradicating it would make us all a lot healthier.

I hope you take my advice, and that it helps you.

But hey -- you know what they say about free advice: it's worth what you pay for it.

Or maybe in this case it's priceless.

You decide.

:-)

And now a word from...no one in particular

2005-05-09T21:40:00.000-07:00

Friends, what I am about to tell you is nothing short of revolutionary.

It will change the way you think about everything.

Let me ask you a question -- just one question: what would you pay, if you could instantly eliminate the single greatest obstacle to happiness in your life today?

Would you pay $100?

How about $500?

$1000?!?

What if I told you that the cost of eliminating the single greatest obstacle to happiness in your life was just [absolutely nothing].

That's right! For the amazing, low, low price of only [absolutely nothing] I can tell you how to rid yourself of the greatest single obstacle to happiness in your life today!

How?

It's actually quite simple.

Tune in tomorrow....

All your base are belong to US

2005-05-08T20:47:00.000-07:00

From Jane's Defence Industry:

Defence expenditure in the US will equal that of the rest of the world combined within 12 months, making it "increasingly pressing" for European contractors to develop a "closer association" with the US, corporate finance group PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) says.

Its report - 'The Defence Industry in the 21st Century' by PwC's global aerospace and defence leader Richard Hooke - adds that "the US is in the driving seat", raising the prospect of a future scenario in which it could "dominate the supply of the world's arms completely".

The US defence budget reached US$417.4 billion in 2003 - 46 per cent of the global total.

....

What can I say about that?

Yeah, it's breathtaking. Maybe I should be glad that there's no global Manifest Destiny movement in this country.

Oh wait, there totally is.

The original Manifest Destiny was the concept, popular with US Americans in the 1840s, that we were on a mission from God to extend the US border from sea to shining sea.

Today, it's less a desire to do that on a global scale than a desire to spread 'democracy' and 'freedom' to the whole world. Our current president and his administration are strong advocates of this 'crusade.'

A truly free, democratic world is an idea I find attractive, but when it becomes such a valued end that all means are justified, that's where I get off.

By all means, I'm referring mainly to

Pre-emptive bombing and invading;

and
Discarding international law and agreements. Specifically on my mind right now is the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Yes, it's true that we're not the only nuclear power clinging to our nuclear weapons, but we are the only power actively developing new ones.

Even if our methods were lily pure, would this be the right goal for us to pursue? Surely our country isn't perfect yet, or even close.

Unless the goal is a nation of 'sheeple,' who do little but work and consume, without questioning (much less challenging) the policies of their corporately-financed political leadership -- in which case I guess we are pretty much perfect after all.

Forgive my cynicism, if you can. I need to stop playa hatin' the Bush administration and instead propose some solutions.

Okay, try this: instead of attempting to rule the world with tanks and warheads, let's create a truly just, equitable and sustainable society, one in which everyone's rights are honored, one in which the natural environment is cherished, one in which everyone has what they need and are satisfied with it. Let's build that, and then see if the rest of the world doesn't beat a path to our door.

What do you say?

Generation Gap Flash

2005-05-05T14:05:00.000-07:00

I feel no generation gap whatsoever with Generation Y.

Zero.

They do make me feel slack and old, but that's not their fault. And their celebrities -- well, I was going to say that their celebrities were somehow even more shallow and moronic than Generation X's -- but then I realized that the examples I was going to cite, Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, are both members of my generation. Shout out to my Gen X homies, yo!

Generation Y makes perfect sense to me. They seem to have effortlessly assimilated the best ideas of the Baby Boom generation after filtering them through our generation's BS detector. And they know how to do stuff, in teams even. They're functional, as opposed to dysfunctional.

Which is totally in line with what Generational Theory predicts.

Overall, I find Generational Theory to be a good theory. Patterns bestow meaning on history, and enable understanding. The four-cycle generational and event patterns fit the facts of history.

But I do have a few questions:

1. What about people who are out of step with their generation? For instance, in many ways, I've always felt kind of alienated from my alienated Gen X peers. I love to read, I hate consumerism (especially advertising) and I love thinking about the Big Questions. What role do we exceptionalists play?

2. Some parts of the country are 'ahead' of other parts, in terms of cultural/social/techonological trends; e.g. NYC and L.A. are years ahead of, say, Statesville, NC. I've noticed that fashions and political trends here tend to lag behind the national in a predictable manner. Do such 'time lags' have an impact on events?

3. Do great events shape generations, or vice-versa? Or both?

Recent posts have been kind of dry. We are aware of this issue and are taking steps to address it. Thank you again for reading Warrior of the Woods. Have a nice day.

:-)

Talking 'bout Regeneration

2005-05-04T22:09:00.000-07:00

"It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future."
- Yogi Berra

I'll risk looking stupid and make some predictions about the upcoming years. Not only that -- I'll give you a new way to view US history.

No extra charge.

William Strauss and Neil Howe wrote a book called Generations about fifteen years ago which made the following general statements:

American generations can be broken down into a four-part cycle
American history itself follows a four-part cycle

I'll explain, starting with history. Here's the four-part cycle, with examples from our recent history:

Crisis Era - e.g. the Great Depression and World War II -- Society's problems reach such a state that they can't be ignored or put aside any longer. Now all generations work together to face them head-on. This equates roughly to Winter.
Outer-Driven Era, e.g. the postwar (1950s) era -- Society has successfully faced its crisis and now it's time to enjoy life. And conform. Springtime.
Spiritual Awakening Era, e.g. the Flower Power (1960s/70s) era -- Youth find the culture of their parents unbearably bland, so they reinvent it. Summer.
Inner-Driven Era, e.g. the current era -- Society largely ignores and puts aside its tangible problems as it struggles to define itself in the wake of the Spiritual Awakening. Autumn.

That's a very simple version of the cycle.

Now for the players. Here are the four generational types, in above order:

Civic -- They do great deeds, but struggle with 'the vision thing.' This generation comes of age (i.e. reaches adulthood) during a Crisis Era.
Adaptive -- With the great deeds all done, they work to make society fairer. They come of age an Outer-Driven Era.
Idealist -- They dream the great visions, but have trouble with 'the reality thing.' They come of age during a Spiritual Awakening Era.
Reactives -- We play hard, but we also work hard; we get most of the blame and little of the credit -- and we call bullshit when we see it. We came of age during the current Inner-Driven Era.

By "we/us," I mean Generation X, those of us US Americans born between about 1961 and about 1982. Working backwards from us, the Baby Boom generation (birthyears 1943-1960) is Idealist; the Silent generation (1927-1942) is Adaptive; and the GI generation (aka the 'Greatest Generation,' 1900-1926) is Civic.

The next Civic generation is waiting in the wings of history. Their moment is almost here, but they don't have a good name yet. Some say 'Generation Y'; Strauss and Howe call them 'Millenials,' but whatever (they tried to call us 13ers -- because we're USA's 13th generation -- feh). The next generation's approximate birthyears are 1983-2001. Only time will tell for sure.

Predictions

What's likely to happen in the next few years?

Right now, we're figuratively in late Autumn, heading for Winter (not, I hope, a nuclear one). We're where we were circa 1915 in the last cycle. 9/11 is roughly analagous to the sinking of the Lusitania. I hope. More on that later.

Over the next few years, the Global War on Terror will likely be fought to a half-assed conclusion, with a lot of loose ends.

After that, we're due for an era similar to the 'Roaring 20s,' a period of economic prosperity and hedonism. The Baby Boomers will continue to argue amongst themselves about which Utopia to pursue: Pepperland, or Jesusland? There's likely to be some harsh cultural repression, a la Prohibition, and society will be even more fragmented than it is now.

Then, after several 'crazy' years, something big and terrible will happen. The funny thing is, it doesn't much matter exactly what terrible thing. Last time around it was a stock market crash, followed by a global economic Depression, followed by World War II.

This time, who knows? China invades Taiwan? North Korea strikes Japan? Nuclear Terrorism? Global Climate Change? Peak Oil? All of the above?

What's important is our reaction to the event(s). In the last Crisis Era, we united behind a strong, capable leader, fought our way through the Depression and then through World War II -- and emerged the world's leading power at the end of it.

We surmounted those great challenges well, partly because we were able to reach a national consensus, but mainly because all the living generations were 'aligned' correctly. In 1932, the Missionary Generation (that cycle's Idealists) were entering elderhood, and were perfectly positioned to provide moral guidance and big-picture vision; the Lost Generation (Reactives) were in midlife, just the right age to provide pragmatic tactical leadership; the GI Generation (Civics) were young, strong and eager for great collective challenges (the very young Silent Generation (Adaptives) obediently stayed out of the way).

That alignment comes along only once every 90 years or so, and it's due again around 2015. If we face a great crisis then(or a series of crises), we should do very well.

However, if history forces us deal with an earth-rending crisis much sooner than that, we could be in some trouble. It might be more accurate to say 'if we choose to treat events as earth-rending crises' -- because again, it's not so much what happens, as how we deal with it.

The classic US history example of a crisis that came too soon is the Civil War. The Transcendental Awakening (that cycle's equivalent to our Flower Power era) began in 1837. The Civil War started in 1860, only 23 years later. And ended Very Badly, with our country devastated both physically and spiritually. Obviously, the country hadn't reached any sort of consensus on the major 'values' issues of the day, especially slavery. Given a few more years, they probably would have reached some consensus and solved the problem much less destructively.

Less obviously, the generational alignment was completely dysfunctional. Yes, an Idealist generation (Transcendentals) provided the big picture, but instead of working together, the best minds of that generation worked against each other. Instead of pragmatic Reactive generals (who fight simply to win), we had Idealists there, too -- and winning wasn't enough for them -- they demanded the savage annihilation of the enemy. Insead of team-playing, Civic foot soldiers, individualist Reactives fought the battles.

Contrast that with the WWII cycle: the Missionary Awakening started in 1883; the Great Depression began 46 years later, in 1929.

1967 was the Summer of Love; it's already been 38 years since then, so our society should be ready for something major in just a few years. But we're not ready yet. We're still a deeply divided nation, with only the faintest hints of consensus starting to emerge. That's why I said earlier that I hope we treat 9/11 like the Lusitania, as opposed to Pearl Harbor.

I hope the GWOT doesn't turn into a WWI-style bloodbath, and I can't wait for flapper dresses to come back in style.

Just kidding.

When In Doubt, Dive In

2005-05-04T13:27:00.000-07:00

So I've been told.

I've also been told I need to write more. So I'll dive in.

[clears throat]

Uh, Music In My Head? Just a couple of songs lately. Song One is "Sugar (On My Tongue)" by Trick Daddy (with Lil Kim and several others). Awesome song. It sounded familiar right away, and I finally realized it's a remake of an obscure Talking Heads track. Sort of. Actually it's much better than the original.

As much as I don't want it to, the Runaway Bride story keeps draining my brainpower. I read somewhere (FARK.com, I think) that her family knows someone in power at CNN, and that's why they were able to get so much media attention.

And truly, Ann Telnaes hit it right on the head: http://www.ucomics.com/anntelnaes/2005/05/02/ (this link will expire around May 16, 2005).

'Events' like this, and like Michael Jackson's trial, are sort of the ultimate reality shows. I mean, they're really real. Sort of. If you've ever been interviewed for a newspaper or television story, you probably know what I mean. I've been interviewed for both, and in both cases, I was misquoted and edited to prove the reporter's point. And I was a very small fry. Makes me wonder about the level of distortion in bigger stories. But I don't think the 'public' wants to know that; I think they want to believe.

As for Jennifer Wilbanks (finally getting to the 'substance' of the story) -- didn't she, as an adult in a free society, have the right to 'run away from home' without telling anyone? Seems to me she did/does. Rude? Yeah. Inconsiderate, too, but not illegal. And if her family freaked and pulled strings to have the police make finding her a priority, if people in Duluth dropped what they were doing to comb the sewers for her? Well, those were their decisions, not Jennifer Wilbanks's. She's not a six-year-old child. Amber alerts are not issued for adults.

Of course, she did lie -- explicity -- to authorities several days after running away, and she could be liable for that, both criminally and in civil court. But I would think she'd only be liable for what was done on her behalf after her false reports.

The case is a bit of an onion, i.e. there are a lot of layers to it.

Another layer, below the legality of her running away, is of course why? I think anyone who's ever faced a big wedding can offer one obvious reason: it's scary. This huge event, thundering towards you, now completely beyond your control.... 600 guests. 14 bridesmaids. Of course, there could be other reasons. Did she realize she didn't love John Mason? Could she have been abused by him, or seen hints of such danger?

Could she have some sort of mental illness? I think she almost definitely does. "Jennifer has some issues the family was not aware of." That's her uncle, quoted in this article. John Mason, the fiance, told CNN, the "only concern now is to get Jennifer well." Of course, just realizing that you're the story-of-the-century-of-the-week could be enough to traumatize a person severely.

Finally, why do we care? Some of you probably don't care, and for that I applaud you. We need another one of these distractions like we need a Face Eating Tumor.

And yet...I can't help but think a lot of the fascination centers around the whole woman-as-possesssion aspect of marriage. Sure, laws that grant husbands ownership status have been off the books for many years, but the attitude remains, and I think it's one of the leading causes of friction in modern marriages.

More obviously, we all face decisions with serious consequences. Once we commit to one course of action, we usually experience some post-decision dissonance, but we hardly ever reverse course on such decisions. Jennifer Wilbanks took the other road. And look where it got her.

There's a lot more to this. $100,000 for a wedding? Doesn't she owe at least an apology to those people who crawled through sewers? Doesn't she owe a major apology to Hispanics, for tarnishing their image? And one I keep coming back to, over and over again: out of all those people -- friends, family, bridesmaids, clergy -- wasn't there even one person Jennifer Wilbanks could talk to about this before she ran off?

What we have here, is failure to communicate. Wouldn't you agree?

Oh, and the other song in my head?

"Albuquerque" by Weird Al Yankovic. Of course.

It's Linky, It's Linky

2005-04-20T07:26:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the stories that I've bookmarked over the past couple of weeks.

BBC: Pile-up as berg hits Antarctica

An iceberg the size of Luxembourg has smashed into another vast slab of ice that juts out from Antarctica.

Scary. That's what Global Climate Change really looks like, kids. My fellow kids, I should say, lest anyone think I'm pontificating...

PC Mag dot com: Analysts: Merger Works for Adobe, But Customers May Suffer

"Adobe can now say $1,000 for Photoshop, and companies and designers won't have any other choice. Look at Microsoft. Once you get really big like that, nothing matters."

I love Photoshop, but I hate .pdf files. Worse than any other file format. They steal a ridiculous amount of system resources, take forever to load, and are much less user-friendly than most other document formats. What's wrong with good ole HTML, anyway? And come to think of it, Photoshop has many of the same memory/slowness drawbacks. And now the guys that bring us all this misery (dare I say it) rule ze vorld. Mwahahahahahahaha...

CNN: Einstein's legacy, like the universe, keeps on expanding

Nice bio piece in honor of the 100^th anniversary of Einstein's "Miracle Year."

I think I'm supposed to stop with three. I believe the human mind can't deal with more than about three major points. But I'm having too much fun. Actually, I'm spring cleaning my bookmarks closet. So, look at the rest of these later, I guess.

BBC: Happy moments 'protect the heart'

Every moment of happiness counts when it comes to protecting your heart, researchers have said.

A team from University College London said happiness leads to lower levels of stress-inducing chemicals.

They found that even when happier people experienced stress, they had low levels of a chemical which increases the risk of heart disease.

Smiles, everyone, smiles! Doestn't the guy in the picture look like he's having an aneurysm, or something?

CNN: Students end six-day hunger strike

Students advocating for better pay for Washington University contract workers have ended a six-day hunger strike...

Students elsewhere have been making similar demands. A hunger strike for workers rights at Georgetown University ended last month.

Students at Yale University, Columbia University and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst were expected to stage protests this week for contract extensions, union representation and higher wages for graduate workers.

"It's absolutely part of a national movement that students are becoming more aware of their dependence on the exploitation of workers," said Washington University sophomore Joe Thomas, 19, spokesman for the Student Worker Alliance, which coordinated the protests at the college.

Thank god these kids are bringing this issue into public consciousness. Labor is the foundation of our society, and many wage laborers are, essentially, exploited.

CNN: It's not easy living on Dork Street

TeeHee.

Statesville (NC) Record and Landmark: Dachshund dash shows who's top dog

Link will expire, like, really soon.

It was a weiner dog rampage in Mooresville on Saturday as the first dachshund race toddled through town.

Yeah, I live in Dorkville! Actually, it's kind of charming here, if you can look past all the right wingnuts.

It's not all fun and games here, though. This was in today's paper:
Local soldier dies in Iraq

Summer Lipford held the picture of her son and stared at his smiling face. She clutched the picture of Pfc. Steven Sirko of Statesville, taken just before his deployment to Iraq, and chanted “he should have made it back,” hugging the picture against her chest.

The article says he died in his sleep (heart attack or something), but the obituary says he died "in the line of duty." Regardless, it's a tragedy. I mourn along with Pfc. Sirko's family, although I didn't know him.

BBC: Google maps give fresh perspective

Yeah, this isn't creepy at all...

The detail in some of the Google photos is impressive - putting zoom at the highest level lets you pick out individual houses and even cars.

Almost any address has a satellite photo version but Keyhole has tried to calm privacy fears by pointing out that the photos are at least six months old.

In other news, nude sunbathing has suddenly become a lot less popular....

BBC: Broadway dancer, 101, in new show

A 101-year-old dancer who first appeared on Broadway in 1918 is to perform at the New York theatre where she began her career.

Aged 14, Doris Eaton Travis was in the famous Follies show run by Florenz Ziegfeld - regarded as Broadway's first glittering song and dance extravaganza.

She will be back at the New Amsterdam Theater to perform in the 19th Broadway Cares fund-raising gala on Monday.

C'mon. What could possibly be more charming than that? And yes, she did play a startlingly similar role in Man on the Moon. "I've got spurs that jingle, jangle, jingle..." Remember?

You may have noticed, I've been largely skipping the political. Bad case of indigestion or something. But I'm still paying attention.

CNN: UN must reform or die, says Rice

You tell me which she prefers. Actually, she doesn't offer one concrete proposal. Her comments in the article sound like something from the Chinese foreign ministry.

"As important an institution as it is, one has to say that there are some things that are not so great about the United Nations right now.

"Everybody recognises that, and we've got to fix it.

"It is no secret to anyone that the United Nations cannot survive as a vital force in international politics if it does not reform."

The funny thing is, I agree with Dr. Rice. Kind of. Only, I'm sure she would balk at creating a mechanism to override a Security Council veto. That's the kind of reform the UN needs. She's basically saying it needs to do what the US tells it to do. Feh.

CNN: MIT students pull prank on conference

In a victory for pranksters at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a bunch of computer-generated gibberish masquerading as an academic paper has been accepted at a scientific conference.

...

To their surprise, one of the papers -- "Rooter: A Methodology for the Typical Unification of Access Points and Redundancy" -- was accepted for presentation.

...

"Rooter" features such mind-bending gems as: "the model for our heuristic consists of four independent components: simulated annealing, active networks, flexible modalities, and the study of reinforcement learning" and "We implemented our scatter/gather I/O server in Simula-67, augmented with opportunistically pipelined extensions."

Har har.

Wired: NextFest: The Shape of Things to Come

Dropping science with all the cool new shiznit. We got yer flyin' car, right here.

Here are two articles on 'safe blogging,' both from CNN:

Tips on how to blog safely

A is for Anonymous First, the "no duh" warning: don't post any pictures, reveal your name or even confess you work for, say, an unnamed weekly newspaper in Seattle. "(I)t's clear that you work in one of two places," cautions the guide. Posting using a pseudonym is smart but, if you think using "Leanne" when your name is Annalee is a good idea, think again.

Avoid getting fired for blogging

4. Don't hide it from your boss: [Pete] Quintas [CTO of a company that produces blogging software] says you should be honest about your blogging and ask your employer if it is OK to do. "I would consider it analogous to asking your employer: 'I have been invited to speak on a panel at this industry conference; can I participate?' "

Okay, the two articles contradict each other. To be fair, the first article's talks about blogging in general, and the second specifically discusses blogging about work. The advantage of blogging anonymously is that you have the freedom to say whatever the F*** you want. So there. But the downside is that you lose credibility. Who knows whether you know what you're talking about? [Clicky Linky - go on, you know you want to] Of course, if you're anonymous, you can choose one day to reveal yourself. But you can't go the other way. To digress slightly, I think it's just a matter of time before the first truly great blog whistleblower scandal, you know when someone will blog about their company secretly dumping nuclear waste in the Hudson, or whatever.

BBC: Blogging from East to West

What should we make of blogging? Is it simply the latest internet fad, a truly democratic tool for change or, as some have suggested, a vehicle for mob rule? David Reid finds blogs are rocking the boat both East and West.

Interesting, in-depth article about blogging, and its different meanings in different political climates.

Washington Post: (Science) Fans More Violent After Wins

Link may expire in the near future.

When sports teams lose important games, police worry that fans will unleash disorder and mayhem to express their frustration. But a new research study suggests that victory is a more potent cause of fan violence than defeat.

...

"Levels of self-confidence, assertiveness or patriotism which may be heightened following a win are important factors," wrote Cardiff researchers V. Sivarajasingam, S. Moore and J.P. Shepherd in a paper they published last week in the journal Injury Prevention. "Winning prompts celebration, a key component of which is alcohol consumption, and prompts the formation of crowds of intoxicated individuals, making interpersonal physical assertiveness more likely."

I'm glad the crowd in Chapel Hill was so nice. You know, when we WON THE 2005 NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP--WOO HOO!!! Really, really nice.

BBC: Google to start 'video blogging'

Search engine firm Google is to begin an experiment in "video blogging", according to co-founder Larry Page.

Mr Page told a conference in San Francisco that the company would be archiving people's video clips, starting in the next few days.

Dude, hurry up!

CNN: Florida to allow use of force even outside home

Gov. Jeb Bush said Tuesday he intends to sign a bill that would allow people who feel threatened -- even on the street or at a baseball game -- to "meet force with force" and defend themselves without fear of prosecution.

Yeah. Now they can shoot you if you look at them funny. Another good reason never to go to Florida again.

Another from the local paper: Gas prices guzzle public service budgets

This link will expire almost immediately.

The rising fuel costs have come at possibly the worst time, said Lee Darnell, the director of Iredell County Emergency Medical Services.

February was the busiest month in the 30-year history of EMS, with crews responding to more than 1,000 calls, Darnell said. In March, call volume exceeded 1,100.

“There’s really no way to cut back on driving, so we’ll have to cut back somewhere,” he said.

Thanks, President Bush! Yeah, I do blame him and his idiotic wars, and his idiotic energy policy.

Hey, ya gotta blame somebody.

Or, do you?

ContraCosta Times: Is anyone responsible anymore?

Link may expire soon.

Simple and direct like the man who put it there, it was a bold statement that summed up his approach to leadership and represented a value of the generation that helped him build a new America after World War II.

"The Buck Stops Here," said the no-nonsense sign on President Harry Truman's desk.

Today, it sits in a Missouri museum. And with it perhaps the sentiment it represented.

It was more than a slogan. The notion of accepting responsibility without passing the buck or blaming others when things went wrong was central to the work ethic and moral tone of the time.

By contrast today, almost none of the leaders of the country's great institutions ever step forward and take responsibility for failure or even honest mistakes.

It is sometimes imposed by others, notably juries, but less so by the broader American society and virtually never invoked voluntarily in politics, business, religion or popular culture.

It's true. Nothing is anyone's fault anymore. I wonder why that is? Hmm... I don't know, but just don't blame me.

I'm going to try to blog more regularly from now on. Not quite this much, but you know, more than lately.

Cue "Imperial March"?

2005-04-19T10:08:00.000-07:00

[Listen while you read]

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has been elected pope, and will hereafter be known as Pope Benedict XVI.

There's a lot that concerns me about the new 78-year-old pontiff. Remember the whole 'no communion for pro-choice politicians' thing? You know, which cropped up kinda sorta right before the 2004 Presidential election?

That was his idea.

Yeah.

More 'good news for hardliners' from that declaration:

Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. For example, if a Catholic were to be at odds with the Holy Father on the application of capital punishment or on the decision to wage war, he would not for that reason be considered unworthy to present himself to receive Holy Communion. While the Church exhorts civil authorities to seek peace, not war, and to exercise discretion and mercy in imposing punishment on criminals, it may still be permissible to take up arms to repel an aggressor or to have recourse to capital punishment. There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not however with regard to abortion and euthanasia.

Well, isn't that...conveeeenient?

Oh, and he used to head the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith--more familiar to you probably by its former name: The Inquisition.

I'm just glad I'm not a Catholic. Man, where's Father Guido Sarducci when you need him?

[addendum, 6:32 PM]

Two thoughts come to mind after a little reflection:

Give the guy a chance. He could surprise everyone. Not likely, but it's best to keep an open mind.
He's...old. So he probably won't be Pope very long. An interim Pope. To follow John Paul II with a reformer--in other words, with someone who would have worked against many of the things John Paul II held dearest--would have been something of a slap in the face to the memory of that well-loved man, and to his many supporters. I don't think Ratzinger/Benedict XVI is going to be nearly so well-loved, and following him with a progressive/reformist pontiff will likely be much more palatable.

Perhaps instead of the Imperial March, an intermezzo would be more appropriate....

Reflections of Lucy

2005-04-18T21:10:00.000-07:00

My friends Ian and Tessa are now Dad and Mom. Welcome to Earth, Lucy Kent Blake-Williams!

Read a beautiful post Ian wrote about that

Inevitably, I've been thinking a lot about that. There are four of us, good friends since university. I'm the only one not married yet. Ian is the first to become a father.

The child is beautiful!

What makes a newborn more lovable than the rest of us, though? On the one hand, it's intuitively obvious, and evolutionarily necessary. Newborns are helpless, for one thing, and vulnerable, and so natural selection would seem more than just likely to favor strong protective, loving emotions towards babies.

In a more poetic sense, babies are all potential, a big bundle of stem cells, with a capacity for change the rest of us only had. Likewise, while a lot more of our future is genetically determined than we like to admit, and while randomness (chaos) plays a big role in what becomes of us, a lot of our 'fate' is our own doing, and the infant has a much broader range of future choices and possibilities than the rest of us do.

Again, this is probably so obvious to most as to be completely unremarkable.

But bear with me, if you can, because I've always seemed to be on a different page than most folks in regard to human reproduction. I once asked a woman who wanted to be a mother just why she wanted to be a mom, and she couldn't give me an answer. I still don't know if that was because she considered the answer too obvious, or whether it was too obscure.

I mean, I know why the human race needs babies, that much is obvious, but as to why any given individual wants to reproduce.... It's instinctive, I think.

Most people, I think, assume parenting will make them happier than remaining childless, despite ample evidence to the contrary. [Link One] and [Link Two] But really, I think most people just don't really consider that they have a choice.

In a different vein, Lucy's arrival has made me aware that, not only babies, but each one of us humans is, well, divine. Each one of us was, on the day we were born, the most important person to at least one other person (their mother), and probably to a host of others. Each one of us was that bundle of stem cells, and we all faced that seemingly-limitless horizon of possibilities with the zen-like awareness that comes naturally when you see everything for the first time.

My point is that, we're still that person. We are - each one of us is - every bit as special and important as we obviously were to our mothers on the day we were born. Each one of us is capable of great change, and faces a world full of possibilities. It's right there in front of us. We just have to see it the right way, always as if for the first time.

Thank you, Lucy, for helping me to see that!

The Southern Part of Heavenly Joy

2005-04-08T15:57:00.000-07:00

Click here to see my photos from Chapel Hill on Monday, April 4, the day we won the NCAA Men's National Basketball Championship. My pictures don't do justice to the day, but maybe they'll give you some idea.

I don't have but a couple from the celebration itself. I did shoot a bunch of video, but that'll have to wait until Google gets the video blogging thing going....

The Numbers Game

2005-04-04T05:52:00.000-07:00

I feel inspired by this thought from my friend xtcian's blog:

By age 5, I'd already categorized all the single-digit numbers in terms of personality, and used them all day to satisfy some bizarre trains of thought. In my head:
1 = alone
2 = love
3 = erased the last bad thing
4 = luck
5 = bad luck
6 = bad luck for others
7 = good luck for others
8 = saving grace meant for rare usage
9 = erased the last whole cadre of things

I, too, have always associated personalities with numbers:

1 = Perfection and/or solitary strength and/or new beginning
2 = Duplicity and/or togetherness
3 = Strength and/or masculinity
4 = Femininity and/or weakness
5 = Grace and/or gracefulness
6 = Human weakness
7 = Perfection (divine and/or earthly)
8 = Excess
9 = Ending, termination, annihilation (sort of the 'Shiva' of numbers)

I never gave this a moment's thought until I'd

Smoked a lot of pot
Dropped a lot of acid
Read Joseph Campbell's The Power of Myth

...all circa 1991.

I'd be very interested to know your "personal numerology." Mine is based (loosely) on various things I've read over the years--and on my own experience. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, right?

Sail Away, Sail Away, Sail Away

2005-03-23T07:12:00.000-08:00

That's what I'm going to do for the next few days. Assuming you can accept a slightly-distressed Ford Taurus as a sailboat, and Interstate higways as a sea. Anchors aweigh!

As for yesterday's post on Terri Schiavo, it seems people are talking about this sad affair even more than they're talking about the possibly-even-more-pathetic Michael Jackson abuse trial affair. I've learned a lot in the last twenty-four hours, and I realize that, once again, I was talking somewhat out the side of my neck.

Well, my heart was in the right place (I tried to imagine what I'd want in her position, assuming I retained even the faintest glimmer of consciousness), but I didn't realize the courts had, with no exceptions, accepted that Michael Schiavo was expressing his wife's wishes accurately. I know next to nothing about family law (though now I want to learn), and I had no idea of the significance of his testimony about his wife's wishes. And pretty much everybody agrees that this is the way things should be.

So it really does look more like a rare opportunity for the Right to stake a claim to the title "defender of the helpless," which I'm sure they hope will gloss over the fact that they routinely kick the helpless in the teeth.

In case you think I'm just ranting, consider only the 100,000 Iraqi civilians who'd probably still live and breathe but for the bombing and invasion; or, consider those Americans driven to bankruptcy by medical bills, because we don't have a civilized health care system. Thanks to the new bankruptcy bill, many of them will likely choose suicide over debts they'll never be able to pay. Charming, no?

On a brighter note, my one-man movie festival continues!

In the last week, I've seen the following:

Topsy-Turvy
The Outlaw Josie Wales
Amadeus
The Italian Job
Band of Brothers
Mean Streets
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

And I've been reading Patrick O'Brian's The Golden Ocean.

Ain't I got excellent tastes, though? Ain't I the very model of the modern Major-General?

Sentenced to Life

2005-03-21T07:05:00.000-08:00

Bear with me while I try to get my head around the Terri Schiavo case.

I'm probably going to piss somebody off here, but so be it. There's no way I can please ~~both~~ all of you all of the time. [insert weak smiley here]

First--I beg you, if you're considering taking your own life--please read this article about Golden Gate Bridge suicides right now:
http://newyorker.com/fact/content/?031013fa_fact

Excerpt:

Survivors often regret their decision in midair, if not before. Ken Baldwin and Kevin Hines both say they hurdled over the railing, afraid that if they stood on the chord they might lose their courage. Baldwin was twenty-eight and severely depressed on the August day in 1985 when he told his wife not to expect him home till late. "I wanted to disappear," he said. "So the Golden Gate was the spot. I’d heard that the water just sweeps you under." On the bridge, Baldwin counted to ten and stayed frozen. He counted to ten again, then vaulted over. "I still see my hands coming off the railing," he said. As he crossed the chord in flight, Baldwin recalls, "I instantly realized that everything in my life that I’d thought was unfixable was totally fixable—except for having just jumped."

Still, I support the right to die. If an adult, in his or her right mind, truly considers life no longer worth living; if they consider the issue rationally, discuss it with those who love them, and reach the same conclusion--then I believe they should be allowed to terminate their own life.

Similarly, I believe adults should be able to decide, in advance, that they be allowed to "die with dignity" should they end up in certain situations (e.g. if they should end up in a persistent vegetative state).

Anyone who believes they will wish to die under certain conditions should put it in writing. Diana blogged about living wills today, and in her post offers excellent links to online resources that make it easy for anyone to make their wishes known in a legally-binding way.

As with the stories from failed suicide attempts, I imagine a lot of people who think they'd want to die in certain situations feel very different when they actually find themselves in those situations, and they aren't able to express their new opinion. That's why I don't have a living will. But I believe we should be allowed to consider these things for ourselves, and to do what we believe is right for ourselves.

I don't believe the Terri Schiavo case is a good one for resolving these issues. She didn't put it in writing, and while I don't necessarily doubt Michael Schiavo's motives for wanting to let her die, I also don't necessarily think we should just take his word for it that she really does want to die. There's no way to know what Terri Schiavo originally wanted, and there's no way to ask what remains of her, so I think it's wiser to keep her alive.

Which is not to say that I'm with the Republicans on this one.

As Diana discusses in this previous post, the Republican position would be a lot more logical if they weren't in favor of killing so many poor people with the death penalty. This cartoon by Ann Telnaes illustrates another good reason to be cynical about the Republican position.

So, I'll bet I've managed not only not to please everyone--I wouldn't be at all surprised to find I've managed to piss everybody off!

Story of the Week, Month, Year, Decade...

2005-03-18T09:00:00.001-08:00

Possibly the story of the century?

Stocks Extend Losses, Oil Hits New Record

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks extended their losses on Wednesday as crude oil futures set an all-time high on the New York Mercantile Exchange...

The era of cheap oil is ending, and its ending renders the US economic model obsolete. If we want continued prosperity, we have to find a new model, one not dependent on fossil fuels. This requires conservation now, and ongoing efforts to develop "alternative" energy sources, such as wind, solar and nuclear fusion.

Alternately, we can live in denial, prolonging the inevitable at terrible cost. We can steal oil from major oil-producing countries by taking them over using military force, and, like a cocaine addict who can't find his next fix, we can snort up even the dust from the carpet in hopes of not having to come down quite so soon. Unfortunately, while we do have the most powerful military in the world, we're not invincible. And wildlife refuges aren't as tough as carpets.

Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge may cause permanent, irreparable damage, and endanger 20 species of mammals. If as much oil is found as oil industry experts predict, then in ten years after drilling begins, the US may get as much as 4% of our oil from ANWR. That's expected to reduce the price of gasoline by 0.3%, or less than 1 ¢ per gallon at today's prices.

We could easily save that much just by simple conservation--we wouldn't even have to [shudder] drive more fuel-efficient cars. Make sure your tires are properly inflated, folks.

And fasten your seat belts.

Quizzage

2005-03-16T07:13:00.000-08:00

Which File Extension are You?

via Bluetealeaf.

More, you say?

Which OS are You?

Too Much Information

2005-03-14T20:34:00.000-08:00

I'm beginning to think that the reason I'm finding it hard to write anything about politics (or related topics), isn't burnout.

And it certainly isn't that there's nothing going on!

Rather, I think the exact opposite is true, and that that is precisely the problem. Far too many issues, and, like the Three Stooges all trying to walk through a door at the same time, they just get all jammed up.

Here are a few examples from the past few days:

Each one--and at least twenty other stories I've casually bookmarked in the last seven days--is worthy of a full, well-reasoned and -researched blog entry.

Too. Fucking. Much.

Maybe tomorrow, I can start in earnest. Maybe tomorrow I can pick one of these and break it down to try to make some sense of it--but for now, here are five songs you never heard, but should have stuck in your head:

Nicola Conte - "The In Samba"
The Las - "Son of a Gun"
Sinéad O'Connor - "I am Stretched on Your Grave"
Kirsty MacColl - "Innocence"
Blues Traveler - "All in the Groove"

These are all just off the top my head; I could easily name twenty more of them, too.

Now that I think about it, you're pretty hip. I'll bet you know all of those songs by heart. Still, I'll bet even you can't get your head around all that's going on right now.

I mean, that'd be freaky.

I fail to see the (Vanishing) Point

2005-03-10T19:20:00.000-08:00

This evening, I watched the "cult classic" film, Vanishing Point.

At risk of revealing myself to be an uncultured barbarian: I Don't Get It; I'm not sure I buy into this film as a great work of art.

Then again, I keep thinking about it, and before long I'll probably want to see it again.... Isn't that a key feature of art, that it requires appreciation?

Having listened to some of the director's commentary, I get the distinct impression he didn't know what he was doing when he made the movie. A lot of the craft is good--for one thing, the desert visuals are amazing--but I don't think Sarafian knew what he was trying to say with the film (if anything).

What does the film say??? On one level, it's a simple car chase movie. Very simple, so that even Smokey and the Bandit or Cannonball Run seem complicated by comparison. On another level, it's a deep psychological drama that keeps the viewer asking "Why?" Read another way, it's a Christ allegory: the hero does the right thing all his life (as revealed in flashbacks), and yet is utterly destroyed. Or you could read it as a sort of John-Henry-versus-The-Machine (which, in a way, is another variation on the Christ theme). Or as 60s-Youth-Culture-versus-The-Establishment. You could probably read it dozens of different ways.

And the acting would still be good, the camera work would still be good, the whole thing would still seem dated and you'd still be left wondering whether the stark minimalism was an intentional effect or just because the director didn't know what he was doing.

Does intent matter? No. What matters, when deciding whether something is art, is whether the result is something special, and I guess I can't deny that, ultimately, Vanishing Point is something special, even if I can't say what exactly.

Bottom line: interesting, maybe fascinating, beautiful at times, but ultimately not quite enjoyable. And it's art, damnit.

This Week's Movies, and other Trivia

2005-03-09T21:16:00.000-08:00

In the past seven days, I've seen

- Superman: the Movie (1978)
- The Hot Rock
- Frenzy
- Never Cry Wolf
- North by Northwest

Also, I still have a constant stream of music in my head.
Some recent examples:

Dave Matthews - "Some Devil"
REM - "Everybody Hurts"
General Public - [eight of the ten songs on All the Rage]
Dead Kennedys - "Police Truck"

I guess it wouldn't be stream of consciousness if it made total sense, would it?

That's about all I have to write about now. I just can't muster the enthusiasm/righteous anger for a proper political rant, and I haven't been backpacking for about ten days now. I did see some wonderful friends this weekend, and I did walk about ten miles on the beach, both of which were powerful medicine for my soul.

I may go backpacking this weekend, and maybe I'll get angry enough about something to hold forth. I mean, there are many things that I keep thinking should be making me that angry.

In lieu of a rant from me, check out these examples for yourself:

Ah, well. Nothing for it but to watch another movie....

The Road to (and from) Damascus

2005-02-28T19:48:00.000-08:00

Friday afternoon, I drove northwest into the mountains.

I wanted to do a 2-night backpack on the most famous of American footpaths, the Appalachian Trail (AT). I decided to start my trek in "Trail Town, USA," the sleepy hamlet of Damascus, Virginia. The town provides free long-term parking just yards from the trail.

Following the directions on the Web site, I called the Damascus Police Department, and the friendly desk officer jotted down my information.

The drive up was beautiful; the only thing that bothered me was that I might have started a little too late. I'd intended to arrive just early enough to hike out of town a mile or so and set up camp in the woods before sundown. Well, I almost made it!

From the parking lot (elevation 2,000 ft), I followed the trail back through the picturesque downtown, then along US Highway 58 for a short distance before heading up into wooded hills. As the light was fading, I went only as far as the first likely ridge, then scampered up it to what I hoped would be a flat top.

I was in luck, and managed to find a good spot among the Fraser fir, scotch pine and oak trees. I set up a bear bag system, set up my tarp and made coffee before twilight faded out around 6:45 pm. Elevation: 2,450 ft.

I could just barely hear the highway down below, and an occasional barking dog from the houses outside town. In the dark, I cooked and ate dinner, tried to drink a little vodka but decided I didn't want any, hung my food and then crawled into the sleeping bag around 8:00 pm.

The night was clear and mostly still. I'd pitched the tarp to fend off a west wind; but one of the drawbacks to ridgetop campsites is the increased likelihood of multi-directional upslope breezes. I woke several times to what felt uncannily like someone blowing on my face--if someone's breath could be 20° F! But otherwise, it was a quiet, restful, long night.

I got up around 7:45 am, boiled water for tea and grits, ate, drank my tea, packed up and headed out from camp around 9:45, a bit later than I'd wanted, but not too bad. The biggest time-consuming pain in the ass was de-icing the frosty tarp, but I saved a little time when I realized it's faster to scrunch up the tarp and then shake it out than to methodically scrape it, section by section.

On the way down to the trail, I stopped for a few moments to watch, high overhead, as about five crows tried to chase off a turkey vulture by "buzzing" it and making a lot of noise. The turkey vulture ignored them and continued to circle gracefully with seeming effortlessness.

The well-designed, easy-to-follow trail ascends steadily around a ridge, through a forest of laurel, evergreens and a variety of deciduous trees. I saw a few downed trees that appeared to have been pawed thoroughly by bears fairly recently, but otherwise very little evidence of wildlife.

Around 2,800 ft, the trail reaches a ridgeline, then ascends steeply for a bit before cresting around 3,100 ft and descending as steadily as it ascended. A little snow remained in shady spots, but mostly the trail surface was dry with lots of rocks.

The trail drops down to a creek, and Highway 58, around 2,250 ft. I filled my water bottles from a side creek, then I passed a couple of retirement-age fellows dayhiking just before crossing the road around noon.

For the next couple of miles, the AT parallels the Virginia Creeper Trail and a large creek (small river?). The trail climbs and dips as it hugs the east side of the valley before diverging from the Creeper and climbing steeply up a big hill.

I had deliberately done no research, so that the trail would be a complete surprise. I'm not sure this was the best plan. I found I still had expectations, but, since my knowledge of the area was sketchy, my expectations were way out of proportion to reality. Result: dissatisfaction.

I knew the trail north of Damascus entered the Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area, then crossed Whitetop, Virginia's second-highest mountain at 5,520 ft, before passing close to Virginia's highest mountain, Mt. Rogers (5,729 ft). So I wasn't surprised to see those familiar peaks across the big valley as the trail started climbing; but, as the day wore on and the peaks didn't seem to get any closer, I began to feel let down.

In fact, the trail meanders among many ridges and valleys as it zig-zags its way up to the high country; Whitetop is something like twenty trail miles from Damascus, Mt. Rogers another eight.

After leaving the creek, the trail switchbacks steeply up a rocky hillside, providing increasingly long vistas of the big pastoral valley. I found myself sweating in the afternoon sun, even after removing my jacket. I passed a couple of well-bundled young guys, backpackers, coming down the hill. They told me the trail "turned a corner" shortly ahead, and that after that I'd be on the colder north side of the hill.

The trail keeps switchbacking up, until topping out around 3,750 ft just below the top of the big hill. From there, it does turn north, contouring down to a saddle, then switchbacking up a shorter ascent to an exposed ridgeline, then following the ridge down and finally back up again.

It was indeed cooler on the north side, and again, I saw a dusting of snow in shady spots. For some reason, I started thinking about General Public's 1984 album All the Rage. I was surprised how much I remembered, and also surprised how well songs like "Never You Done That" and "Where's The Line" fit with the landscape and my mood.

As I descended from the rocky top of the exposed ridge, I passed a group of about ten Boy Scouts and two adult leaders, taking a break. Their huge packs and cotton clothing suggested a cold night ahead.

Aside: I've been studying "ultralight" backpacking methods for the past few years, and I've started using a lot of the techniques and gear.

A few examples:
I used to carry a fairly lightweight tent; including the groundcloth, it weighed almost 5 pounds. Now I use a tarp, which, including groundsheet weighs about half as much.
My old synthetic fill sleeping bag weighs 4 lbs; my new down bag weighs 2 lbs.
My old open-cell foam, "self-inflating" sleeping pad weighs 2 pounds; my new closed-cell pad weighs 5 ounces.
That pad also fulfills the function of a frame in my new Gossamer Gear G4 pack, which weighs 1 pound; my old Lowe Alpine Contour IV weighs a ridiculous 6.5 pounds.

I used to carry a gasoline stove (and fuel) and a stainless steel cookpot, weighing in at almost 5 pounds total. Now I carry a homemade alcohol stove, and cook in a one-liter aluminum mug; including fuel for up to twelve meals, and a cozy, my complete kitchen weighs less than 2 pounds.
My pack for this trip, fully loaded with food, fuel and water, weighed 24 pounds, not "ultralight" by a purist's standards, but considerably lighter than what I used to carry a couple of years ago.

I learned a lot of this stuff from WhiteBlaze.net, an online gathering place for Appalachian Trail thru-hikers (and wanna-bees like myself).

After I passed the Boy Scouts, the trail dipped to a saddle, then rose again, following a ridge up to its tip. I saw a perfect campsite just at the point where the trail turns right to begin switchbacking down the hill.

I wanted to finish up early enough to ensure getting back to Damascus by a reasonable hour on Sunday. Now it was 3:00 pm, pretty early to stop for the day, but then again...I decided to stop. I figured I'd gone about 12 miles. I checked out the site and found the partially-cleared area extended a considerable distance, to well out of sight of the trail. Elevation: 3,470 ft.

I saw several flat places to set up my tarp and a cluster of rocks that would make a good "kitchen." I found many suitable trees for bear bag hanging. I took off my pack, then followed the ridge out to its tip, a couple of hundred yards past camp, and found it descended steeply to Highway 58. Beyond the highway, I saw a smallish lake. I realized I needed water, and that I hadn't seen a stream since coming up from the river valley.

I went back up to camp, set up my tarp, set up my bear bag system, made coffee. I poured enough water for dinner into my cookpot, put on my jacket, grabbed my water bottles, and descended the ridge to the road. I discovered that a trail crossed the road at that point; not the AT, but something called the Beartree Gap trail. On the other side of the road, it led towards the lake (Beartree Lake, it turns out), so I followed it.

Soon it ended at a paved loop trail around the lake. I followed the loop to the other side of the lake, passing a few strolling folks and even a couple of fishermen. The small stream feeding the lake flowed clear and swift, so I filled up my water bottles from it, attracting a curious stare from one stroller, so I smiled at him. He moved on.

After filling up, I made my way back along the paved trail to the Beartree Gap trail, then back across the road and up the ridge to my camp. It was only about 5:30. How nice to have everything done, to be able simply to chill out!

Looking for something useful to do, I dug a "cathole" for my morning latrine (that made life so much simpler the next morning, that I decided to make this part of the evening camp chores from now on).

I washed up, cooked dinner and ate it. I ate some chocolate and drank some vodka. I hoisted up my food. I watched the sun set and saw the clear, pale blue sky fade through shades of red into purple into black. I went to bed about 7:00 pm.

Heeding the call of nature later in the night, I saw a big full moon rising over Mt. Rogers. A few thin, high clouds had rolled in, creating a soft halo effect. The 180° view from the tip of the ridge was huge and majestic. Okay, wow!

Again, upslope breezes chilled me a little, but nothing major. I slept well, with only a couple of weird dreams (not as weird as last week's), and I woke easily around 7:15 am. As I prepared to make breakfast, the wind picked up, becoming a steady 15-20 mph breeze with higher gusts. This made cooking more challenging. I found I had to use more fuel to boil water for tea and grits. Annoying, but no big deal.

The temperature was about 25° F; I looked at my little windchill chart and realized that it really did feel like about -5° F. Okay. I wasn't particularly cold, though. I hadn't bothered to put on my fleece jacket, but I was wearing fleece pants over my thin nylon wind pants, and a thinnish two-layer GoreTex jacket over my longsleeve coolmax t-shirt. With my windproof fleece hat and gloves, I was pretty well-protected.

Aside: In winter, I carry the following extras:
Windproof 200-weight Polartec fleece gloves and hat (instead of non-windproof 100-weight glove liners and balaclava)
GoreTex shell mittens
Neoprene facemask.
Okay, the facemask is overkill, but I'm a wimp about sleeping cold. I hate having to choose between
my nose feeling like a block of ice; or
tucking my head inside the sleeping bag, thus getting the bag good and wet.
The facemask, which weighs less than 1/2 oz anyway, keeps my nose warm. So sue me if I'm soft.

If it had gotten colder or windier, I could have put on my fleece jacket, put the wind pants outside of the fleece pants, put my GoreTex shell mittens on, and, as a last resort, I could have donned my neoprene facemask and cinched the hood of my jacket closed, until only a thin viewing slit remained. With that gear, I think I could be fairly comfortable sitting around at -20° F--but I'm not that eager to find out.

I was packed and on the trail by 9:15 am. I found, however, that my main joy this day would be in moving faster, and getting back sooner, than I'd expected. Despite being surrounded by so much natural beauty, all I wanted was get home! Take a hot bath, listen to General Public, maybe talk on the phone or check out the Oscars.

Don't ever you go too far away from me girl
(Never you done that)
Don't ever you go too far away,
Don't even think of saying it
Don't ever you go too far away from me girl
(Never you done that)
Don't ever you mention certain words about--No! No!

Up the ridge, down the other side, up steeply to the rocky, windy crest, then down. The sign at the cutoff for Saunders Shelter says 9.5 miles to Damascus...

Take another step, try another play
Maybe another drink would take the edge off

Up around the last climb, then steeply switchbacking down into the valley. Running now--pause to tighten up the pack straps--then running again, just letting gravity carry me down, watching each footfall carefully...

I'm trying not to slip
Trying to get a grip
But each time we kiss, you're the perfect stranger
So they say,
Don't ever you go too far away from me girl....

I stop running when I see another backpacker ahead. He steps aside for me, asks about the trail ahead. I tell him he's got some climbing to do. He has very long hair and a shockingly long beard for someone in his 20s...I should have asked him if he was a thru-hiker...early in the season for it, but...

Tired all day, can't sleep at night
Out of control since you've been in my sight
Day in, day out, it's such a fight
Till you hold me close and say that it's
Ah-ah-alright
Don't ever you go too far away from me, gi-i-irl...

Down, down through the valley, much faster than expected. 11:30 and I'm at the road. Short break then begin the ascent. Moving up faster than expected. Contouring around the ridges, finally reaching the ridgeline. Another break. Yesterday's little bit of snow is gone. Down now, running again, contouring down, finally past Friday night's camp. 1:30 pm. Crows still making noise but I don't see them. I stop running before heading down to 58. Back into town, this time I follow the Creeper when it splits off to the left. About the same distance, but a different view. Crossing Laurel Creek, behind the business district. The town seems asleep on Sunday afternoon. Mostly cloudy now. Over Beaverdam Creek. Turn left at the junction. Follow the oddly-gravelled AT past the park with its bandstand, past the replica trail shelter and its prominent "No Camping" sign, under the "Welcome to Damascus" sign and there I am at the car. 2:15 pm.

A pretty good hike, even if all I wanted from it was for it to be over. I drive home a different way, going 20 miles out of my way for a favorite Chinese buffet. Ah! Rice, chicken, seafood, vegetables.... Yum!

Then home, a warm bath, hang all my gear to dry and air out. Talk on the phone, watch a little of the Oscars, check out the sleet/snow/rain mix outside, listen to a little music....

(Never you done that)....

Discord

2005-02-27T17:50:00.000-08:00

I'm listening, for the first time in about 20 years, to General Public's 1984 album (CD, whatever) All the Rage.

Anyway, when I tried to play along on the guitar, I realized they'd used European tuning, different from American tuning. To play along, I'd have had to re-tune my guitar, then tune it back to American when I was finished. I decided it was just too much trouble.

No wonder it's so hard to achieve global consensus on major issues--we don't even agree on what an "A" is.

Patience

2005-02-24T22:32:00.000-08:00

We didn't "Free Arash and Mojtaba."

From the BBC:

An Iranian weblogger has been jailed for 14 years on charges of spying and aiding foreign counter-revolutionaries.

Arash Sigarchi was arrested last month after using his blog to criticise the arrest of other online journalists.

Mr Sigarchi, who also edits a newspaper in northern Iran, was sentenced by a revolutionary court in the Gilan area.

His sentence, criticised by human rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders, comes a day after an online "day of action" to secure his release.

Iranian authorities have recently clamped down on the growing popularity of weblogs, restricting access to major blogging sites from within Iran.

A second Iranian blogger, Motjaba Saminejad, who also used his website to report on bloggers' arrests, is still being held.

On the surface this feels like a loss.

But consider two points:

This is just round one.
Although the imprisonment of anyone for speaking freely is a shame and a disgrace, if this proves to be a rallying point for future collective action by bloggers, then a larger victory can be won than simply the freedom of two bloggers. This could go down as the moment the blogosphere began to know its own strength. (For a rough historical analogy, see what the Hetch Hetchy fight did for environmentalism almost a century ago.)

Have a good weekend. I'm off to the woods again. Yay, me!

Free Arash and Mojtaba

2005-02-22T05:42:00.000-08:00

From the Committee to Protect Bloggers:

THE COMMITTEE TO PROTECT BLOGGERS ANNOUNCES ITS FIRST CAMPAIGN: Free Arash and Mojtaba

Let’s show the world what the blogging community can do when it unites.

Two of our own are in prison. Bloggers Mojtaba Saminejad and Arash Sigarchi are being detained by the Iranian authorities. (See below for their stories.)

Here’s what you can do.

First, download the "Free Mojtaba and Arash" banner to your blog and link it back to this post. No one in the blogosphere should be unaware of Mojtaba and Arish.

(Thanks again to our member Alan for this banner.)

Second, if you are in the United States, contact either the Representative at the Iranian Interest Section of the Pakistani Embassy or the Ambassador to Iran’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations. (Iran has no embassy in the United States.) Here is the contact information.

Dr. Mohammad Javad Zarif
Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran
622 Third Ave. New York, NY 10017
Tel: (212) 687-2020 / Fax: (212) 867-7086
E-mail: Email the ambassador
Iranian Representative
Embassy of Pakistan
Interests Section of the Islamic Republic of Iran
2209 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W.Washington, D.C. 20007
Email the Interests Section

If you are outside the U.S., as many of you will be, you can contact either the Permanent Representative to the United Nations or the Iranian ambassador in your own country.

Because distinct, individual messages are more effective than form letters, we will only provide suggestions.

Be respectful. Bloggers are known for speaking their minds with a minimum of preciousness. But you are writing diplomats, not other bloggers.
Make reference to Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Iran is acting in defiance of this global standard.
Write a letter in addition to an email. It will amplify your voice and come on, your printer is like three feet from you. Besides, when was the last time you went outside?
Later, rinse, repeat. Do not just write once and forget about it. Keep on top of Arash and Mojtaba’s stories. Write and email repeatedly. Keep the pressure on.

In addition to your efforts, the Committee will contact both the Iranian Interests Section and the office of the Ambassador to the Permanent Mission. We will report back to you with what we find out.

It’s up to us, no one else. Let’s take responsibility for our own and show the world bloggers are a force.

You know what to do....

I Went

2005-02-21T19:52:00.000-08:00

I finally made it to the woods for a four-day, three-night backpacking trip. Solo. Winter. Not just in a wilderness area, but in two wilderness areas. So there.

Actually, it was great, one of the best outdoor experiences I've had so far.

Day One: (Thursday)

I drove up to the mountains, and spent about an hour scouting by car for 1) a good place to ford the West Fork of the Pigeon River and 2) the trailhead for the Green Mountain Trail.

Didn't find the trailhead, though I did find two spots that might have been the trailhead. I did find a reasonable crossing, so I decided to start my loop by crossing the river. Elevation: 3,080 ft.

Crossing the river wasn't too hard, after I accepted the idea of wading a short distance in knee-deep 35° water. Most of the crossing was rock-hopping, with only a little wading. Most of the wading was in swift, but very shallow, water; the knee-deep part was nearly still. But to dip my foot in the cold water, though! I had debated whether or not to bring sandals for just such a crossing, and I was glad to have brought them, to be able to put on dry socks and boots after drying my feet on the other side.

A short scramble up a steep bank and I was on the Fork Mountain Trail. I walked maybe two-tenths of a mile, then went steeply uphill offtrail to an area which looked promising for campsite locations. A short while later, I'd found a perfect spot. Elevation: 3,450 ft. I made myself a cup of cowboy coffee (I know cowboys don't usually drink coarse-ground vanilla coffee, but just call it poetic license), and set up my tarp.

By this time, the sun was fading fast, and the sunny-but-breezy day was giving way to what promised to be a clear, cool, breezy night. A short distance from my little camp, I found a good tree for bear-hanging my food bag, set that system up, then cooked my dinner there and ate it.

Why do dehydrated Thai sesame noodles taste so good in the woods? Life's mysteries... Ah well, I followed that with a little chocolate and a wee dram of rum, then off to bed was I, at the late, late hour of 8:00 pm. It actually does seem late when it's completely dark, when you're starting to shiver a little and the wind is blowing. A warm sleeping bag, out of the wind inside a well-pitched tarp is a mighty fine place to be.

Aside: backpacking in winter involves only three main elements: walking, sleeping, and camp chores. This time of year here, it's light enough to travel by about 7:30 am and fully dark by about 6:45 pm. That gives you 11 hours and 15 minutes. Subtract the time it takes to do the evening camp chores, and you have about 9 hours. Subtract the morning chores, and you're down to about 7 hours. Which is plenty long enough to walk in one day when you're in shape like I'm not.

So, seven hours of walking, four hours of chores and thirteen hours of sleep? Yep, pretty much. Thirteen hours in the sleeping bag, at any rate. As a certified sleepaholic, I think this is one of the hidden gems of winter backpacking.

Day Two: (Friday)

With the wind still shaking the trees outside, I found it easy to be lazy. Eventually, I got up, fixed some tea, packed up some of my stuff, boiled some water for grits, packed up some more of my stuff, then ate the grits.

Aside: they were the worst grits I'd ever eaten. I didn't know why until this morning, when I realized they were quick grits, not instant as I'd thought. Makes a difference!

After breakfast, I packed up what remained, made my way down to the trail, and off I went. 10:15 am. The trail soon turned steeply uphill, following a creek for a little while before leaving it to switchback (still steeply) up to a ridgeline.

Aside: I filled my water bottles from the creek. I don't filter or treat water from streams if I know there's no agriculture, industry or habitations upstream. I've never been sick. I believe giardiasis and similar backcountry ailments are usually caused by bad hygiene, not bad water. Your mileage may vary.

I carry two bottles: one is a standard one-liter plastic soda bottle, the other is a 2.5 liter hydration pack bladder. I made an insulated pouch for the hydration bladder so the water won't freeze. So far, it's worked. I used to carry a nalgene bottle until I realized it was something like 5 times as heavy as a soda bottle. The soda bottle works fine. I keep it inside my pack as my "reserve."

When the hydration pack is empty, I know I have one liter remaining and it's time to find some more water. 3.5 liters is just right for two hot beverages, two hot meals, and seven hours of walking.

Not long after the trail reaches the ridgeline, it turns sharply and follows the ridge until it dead-ends into another ridge, at an old road.

That's where I got a little "confused," if I may borrow from my fellow Tar Heel Daniel Boone. The map indicated that the trail turned sharply south at this point. The old road, (built by loggers over a hundred years ago and now overgrown but still recognizable) went north and south. So I turned right and went south on the old road. For quite a while (at least 30 minutes) this seemed to have been the right choice. Then the road ended at the top of a cliff.

Aside: trails in wilderness areas aren't supposed to have blazes or signs, so you have to be at least fairly good with map and compass to get around (or travel with someone who is). Many states totally fudge the no-blazes-or-signs rule, but North Carolina plays it almost entirely by the book. They do make exceptions for the Appalachian Trail (AT), and the Mountains to the Sea Trail (MST), but even along those routes, blazes and signs are scarce through wilderness areas.

I looked for something that looked like a trail heading south from the cliff, but there was nothing. I looked left off the trail; I looked right off the trail, but there was nothing. Okay, maybe that faint trace to the left was something. It led uphill, which was more-or-less in line with what the map indicated. I knew it wasn't the trail, but now I knew the road wasn't the trail, either, so I hoped the trace would lead me to the trail faster than backtracking would.

Clearly, I reasoned, I should have turned left on the road. It would have gone north briefly before curving south. It should now be paralleling this route, and if so, it would be uphill from here. So up the trace I went. Soon the trace disappeared, but I continued on the same compass bearing and to my delight, a few minutes later I came to an old road! Yes!

The road went north and south. I went south again. Makes sense, right? Guess what? About five minutes later, the road ended at, yep, a cliff. I looked left. I saw a path. I followed it to a Really Good View. Where it dead-ended. I backtracked. I looked right. I saw a steep descent along the top of the escarpment with no trail (or even trace) evident. Hmmmm....

I headed back along the road, past the trace, past a huge tangle of fallen trees (apparently years old, not an encouraging sign) until I came to a second old tangle of fallen trees, at which point I decided my best bet was to backtrack all the way back to the trace, back down the trace to the old road, back along the road, past the trail junction--and see where that got me.

Since I did have a good spot for it, before I headed down, I quickly triangulated my position, using two of the area's more famous high points as reference points. (I hadn't done this exercise in a long time; I found it reassuring that it came back so naturally.) I found I was approximately at the point where the trail turned 180° from north to south. Great.

So I backtracked to the trace, then back to the other old road, then back 30 minutes to the trail junction. And beyond. This did seem more like a trail and less like a road. After about 5 minutes, it curved around 180° to head south. After a few more minutes, it came to a very familiar old tangle of fallen trees. What the?!? I worked my way around the tangle and sure enough, I soon came to the other tangle and from there to the cliff edge. Again. Great.

I reflected that there were many good campsites here, and that getting back to the car would be no problem, unless the river rose significantly, but the weather was not-a-cloud-in-the-sky sunny. So, I reflected, things could be worse. I took my lunch break. I enjoyed the view and the warm sun. I snapped a few pictures.

After lunch, I backtracked the road, looking carefully for any path, however faint, that might diverge from it. Not long after the second tangle of trees, I found it: a faint, but distinct path, almost impossible to spot from the other direction. It skewed off from the road and headed to a different spot on the cliff--where it made a steep, but fairly easy, descent. Then it led south onto what appeared to be the main Fork Mountain ridgeline. Success!

The rest of Friday's hiking was easy, up a well-designed, easy-to-follow trail to the top of Birdstand Mountain and finally onto Fire Scald Ridge, where the fire scars are gone, but a huge grassy meadow remains. After a brief scout for a good campsite on the trail ahead proved futile, I decided to make camp in the meadow. Elevation: 5,220 feet. I set up my tarp in a flat space between two trees on one side of the meadow, and cooked/ate/hung my food on the other side of the meadow.

The site was open to the southwest, so I had a great view of sunset and a nice, long twilight. Still, I was in the sleeping bag by 8:00 pm. I had wandered for over 2 hours; I'd covered a grand total of 6 miles of my loop so far. For a final insult, I realized I had only 16 oz of water, so I wouldn't be able to cook a hot breakfast in the morning. Oh, well, nothing for it but to sleep. Soundly.

Day Three: (Saturday)

Who needs a hot breakfast, anyway? I got warmed up by de-icing the tarp. I'd expected a windy night, but instead it had been mostly still. The temperature had fallen to 15°, not too cold, but cold enough that I wasn't in any hurry to get up. Fire Scald Ridge was between me and the sun, so while the rest of the visible world bathed in sunlight, the meadow stayed shaded until well after 8:00 am. A heavy frost had coated the tarp in a thick film of ice, so I put on my waterproof mitten shells and scraped it off by hand. This was a pain in the ass, but it worked.

While I waited for the sun, I ate my trail food: sesame sticks (spicy, of course) and a gorp mix I've been eating since I was a Boy Scout, raisins, honey-roasted peanuts and M&Ms. Washed down with a single swig of water. Yum. I was packed and on the trail by 9:30 am.

The trail follows the shady side of Fork Mountain, ascending gently through a world coated in moss and frost for about a mile and a half, until it junctions with the Ivestor Gap trail just below Ivestor Gap. Just before the junction, I came to a small, but vigorously-flowing stream, where I gratefully filled up my water bottles.

At the Ivestor Gap junction, I left the wilderness and entered the Pisgah National Forest. After taking in the huge view, I headed south in bright sunshine along the somewhat-famous Art Loeb trail, which ascends steadily to the top of Tennent Mountain (6,040 ft, it has a great 360° view), then descends a little before ascending again to the top of Black Balsam Knob (6,214 ft, it has an even better view--and a good deal of wind).

Here I took some pictures, and a quick lunch break, ducking down behind the summit rocks for a break from the steady wind. I put on sunscreen, and donned my shades, and checked the map. I was amazed to see that I'd already walked as many miles as I'd covered the previous day! I saw that most of the rest of today's walk would be either almost-level or downhill.

With a spring in my step, I made my way along the trail, across a fire road, through a beautiful "enchanted forest" of balsam fir, up slightly, then turning west on the MST, skirting a dizzing cliff line above the Blue Ridge Parkway. A few thin clouds began to slide in from the west.

Having heard the view was spectacular, I decided to make the short detour to Devil's Courthouse. I passed a stream on the way and was surprised by an older German couple as I
filled my water bottles again. They asked me about my previous night; I asked them about the weather forecast. They said it was supposed to rain late Sunday, which was the same forecast I'd heard Thursday.

As the sky clouded over, I followed the MST as it meandered north of the Parkway through a diverse forest, around the side of a minor peak, and then steeply down a valley beside a swiftly-flowing, cascasding stream to cross NC Hwy 215 where the stream joins Bubbling Spring Branch.

I formulated a plan A, a plan B and a plan C for Sunday. Plan A would be to follow the MST into the Middle Prong Wilderness Area, to the "old and obscure" Green Mountain Trail, and along that back to the car. Plan B would be to follow the MST just a bit further to a trail I'd hiked last year; it would make for a shorter, easier walk back. Plan C was to walk 10 miles down highway 215.

Having formed the plans, I started singing to myself, something I do fairly often on long solo walks. A large German Shepherd dog startled me in the middle of "The Happy Wanderer" (corny, I know, but it's such a good walking song that it keeps popping into my head when I fall into a certain rhythm). The dog belonged to a young, heavily-bundled couple, with whom I exchanged friendly greetings. I wandered happily across 215 and into Middle Prong Wilderness.
The MST crosses Bubbling Spring Branch, parallels the road briefly, then heads west, ascending to the foot of Mt. Hardy, which I'd considered climbing if time had permitted. I decided I didn't have time to climb it if I wanted to make it out of the woods before sunset on Sunday.

Saturday was almost done. It was late afternoon, I'd covered a lot of miles and now I just needed a good campsite. I passed a meadow, then another, but it was still too early to stop. I passed a wonderful area of Balsam fir, then just before it was time to stop, I passed a marginally-acceptable site in a small clump of trees at the top of short, sharp hill. I went ahead a little further on the trail, but seeing no good sites, I ended up backtracking to the hillside spot. I'd traveled over 12 miles today. Elevation: 5,180 ft.

The site was a little small, which made setting up my (fairly huge) tarp a little tricky. There was exactly one human-body-sized flat place, so that's where the groundsheet and sleeping pad went. I had coffee, then dinner. The only good tree for bear-bagging was, unfortunately, just a few yards away, but I'd eaten my dinner well away from camp, so I wasn't too worried. By 7:30 pm, I was on my way to sleep.

Day Four: (Sunday)

I woke with a start around 3:00 am. Something hitting the tarp! Okay, not a bear. Rain? Sleet? It turned out to be rain mixed with sleet. Lovely.

I managed to get back to sleep, but I had bizarre dreams. In one of them, Johnny Depp and Benecio del Toro were trying to kill me. They had rifles and were chasing me around the Arboretum on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus. I kept taking cover behind trees, benches--anything to deny them a clear shot. Finally, Depp had me cornered. I charged him, grabbing the rifle barrel. We wrestled with it and he managed to get the muzzle into my mouth. Before he could pull the trigger, I got it out of my mouth. I was stronger than he was, and was able to put the the muzzle into his mouth. I saw his finger tightening on the trigger--he was going to kill himself! I pulled the muzzle out of his mouth and, with a defeated air, he released the rifle in disgust and slinked off. His hair had become tangled and ratty; his face was blue--not blue like a dead person, but blue like a smurf or like Krishna.

The dream, and a stronger burst of rain/sleet woke me up around 5:30 am. Why would Johnny Depp want to kill me? Why would he want to kill himself? What an odd dream. It still doesn't make sense, but it is really weird to me that I had the dream on the morning of the day Hunter S. Thompson shot himself (Depp played Thompson in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas; his co-star in that was Benecio del Toro). Just plain weird. I had another odd dream, too, involving people I know so I'm not going to discuss it.

Could the campsite have had some kind of psychic resonance? I don't really believe in such things, but I don't think I'll ever camp there again!

I woke to a "crystal palace" of icy limbs and icy everything else around 7:30 am. I decided to skip the hot breakfast again, to just get on the road as soon as possible. Literally the road--Hwy 215, I decided, was the only sensible plan given the weather. By 8:30 I was on my way down the MST. With my instep crampons, traction wasn't an issue, but without them, I think I'd have had a very hard time.

Walking ten miles along a paved highway in cold rain sounds horrible, but I enjoyed it. The rain settled into a steady drizzle and there was no ice underfoot after I reached the road. I hardly saw any cars. I considered trying to flag one down, but decided I'd come for a walk, so I might as well have one! I enjoyed the views along the road, as it followed the creek until it was joined by enough other creeks to be called a river.

I made really good time. I'd expected to go something like 2 mph, but instead I went something like 3.5 mph. Towards the end, I found what I'm fairly sure is the Green Mountain trailhead. I reached my car about 3 hours after leaving camp. I'd walked 10 and a half miles today, making over 28 total. I would have liked to have made a longer loop, but the difficult routefinding on Friday had shown me the wisdom of contingency planning. Similarly, I'd have liked to have walked the Green Mountain trail, but it'll be there another day.

My main "goals" were to get outdoors for 3 nights, to walk a long way in nature, to see beautiful things, to stay out long enough to synchronize myself with the rhythms of nature. And to make it back alive and well.

Mission Accomplished!

Astute readers will note

2005-02-16T20:53:00.000-08:00

If you're paying attention, you know that I should be freezing my butt off somewhere in the NC mountains right now. Instead, my butt is parked in front of a computer.

That's right, I still haven't gone.

Damned weather forecasts! Today was supposed to have brought rain (it didn't).

See, rain in winter is Very Bad. It can kill you, as in dead. It's much worse than snow for creating hypothermia. This is why I HATE North Carolina winter weather. Even in our highest mountains, it's been warm enough this winter that most storms have produced rain. After the storms, it cools down, say to about 10° F, and it gets windy. Result: instant hypothermia--just add hiker. Alternate scenario: it snows, but then it warms up dramatically. Then it cools down again. Result: ICE.

Joy, oh joy. Why can't it just get cold and snowy and then stay that way until, say, May or so? This seems to work fine for New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. They get one mud season, we get about ten. Ah, I shouldn't bitch. At least I don't live in Florida.

I'm going tomorrow. Damnit.

Time Machine

2005-02-16T20:21:00.000-08:00

Today's headlines are about what I'd have expected when Bush became President in 2001.

Here are a few from Yahoo's Top Rated Stories:

Study: War on Poverty Sees More Hungry, Homeless
Despite a war on poverty that began more than four decades ago, the ranks of the hungry and homeless in the United States are increasing even as government funding declines, a study released on Tuesday found.
U.S. Interceptor Missile Fails to Launch in Test
President Bush's planned ballistic missile shield suffered another setback on Monday when an interceptor missile again failed to launch during a test of the U.S. missile defense system.
War budget request loaded with extras
The Bush administration asked Congress on Monday to provide $82 billion to cover unbudgeted costs in the global war on terrorism, but the request includes funds for a long-planned military reorganization and for activities such as tsunami aid that are seemingly unrelated to terrorism.
Study: Homeless Shelters, Food in Demand
Many homeless shelters and soup kitchens faced with more requests for emergency services are turning people away because they lack the beds, food and money to meet the demand, says a survey from an advocacy group for low-income Americans.
AP: Donor Was Promised Ambassadorship
A big Republican donor goes to his governor and senator, saying he was told by President Bush's chief fund-raiser he'd be getting a plum ambassadorial appointment but it wasn't delivered. The senator takes his case right to the top of the White House.

Of course in early 2001, I'd have been, like, "Dude--global war on terrorism? Tsunami aid? WTF!?" But poor people getting shafted while Republican cronies and pet, half-baked military boondoggles are well-funded--I mean, no surprise.

Well, I'm not here to Bush bash. I have nothing against him as a fellow human being, and as Howard Dean pointed out recently, we aren't going to win back the hearts and minds of our countymen if we're only against Bush and not for anything of our own.

So what are we for?

Personally, I'm for social justice, for preserving and improving the environment, and for shrinking the gap between haves and have-nots.

Can we build a big tent with that?

Blogging for Popcorn

2005-02-14T19:40:00.000-08:00

Stone Mountain (the North Carolina one) was great. Mom, dogs and I all had a great time Saturday. I took a bunch of pictures and eventually I'll do something with them.

The weather was at least as rotten as the forecast yesterday and today, and I feel good about NOT HAVING GONE on my extended backpacking trip. I'm going tomorrow. Really.

Not much to report. Valentine's Day and my love's so far away. Still, I do feel warm and fuzzy about the whole thing.

I might as well just admit it: I've watched more movies in the past couple of weeks than I think I watched all last year. Well, a lot of movies anyway. I'll try to list them in no particular order.

- Traffic
- Strangers On a Train
- The Fog of War
- 21 Grams
- Knife in the Water
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
- Leaving Las Vegas
- A Boy and His Dog
- Better Off Dead
- My Big Fat Greek Wedding
- Do the Right Thing
- The Guys
- The Fortune Cookie
- A League of Their Own
- Sayonara
- Mr. and Mrs. Iyer
- High Noon
- American Beauty
- Grosse Pointe Blank
- A Shot in the Dark
- Real Genius

I'm sure I missed a few, but you get the point--a LOT of movies.

I'd seen several of them before, and I was at least as surprised by my reactions to some of the ones I'd seen as I was by my reactions to the ones I saw for the first time. In particular, I was surprised how little I enjoyed A Shot in the Dark, when I'd remembered it as hilarious, possibly as the funniest movie I'd ever seen. 21 Grams and The Guys both surprised me positively, both with their emotional power. I was further surprised to learn that The Guys was made in 2002, too close in time to its subject, I'd have thought, to make such an eloquent and appropriate movie.

And Ian, having finally seen Real Genius, I agree with you that it's a great film. Just think how different my life might have been had I seen it when everyone else did. Okay, not very different. Never Mind. But why didn't I see it then? Probably I had it confused with Weird Science.

Maybe it's appropriate that I also learned how to make real popcorn a few days ago, REAL popcorn, you know, the kind that tastes like butter--because it's actually slathered in actual butter?

Popcorn! Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to watch Unforgiven.

The Simple Joy of NOT GOING

2005-02-12T07:45:00.000-08:00

I didn't go backpacking because the weather forecast sucks: temps just above freezing with rain and strong wind, followed by temps well below freezing and stronger wind. So I'll go for a day hike today at a nearby state park with the dogs (nice weather today), and Tuesday I'll go deep into the woods.

Briefly

2005-02-11T07:36:00.000-08:00

Just to clarify briefly before I hit the road, the 9/11 attacks were terrible crimes. The fact that the US government and Western corporations have also committed great crimes doesn't change that, or even mitigate it. It does explain the 9/11 attacks though, and give a roadmap to preventing future violence against us. What goes around, comes around--and every single US citizen with the vote is guilty to some degree.

On the one hand, Ward Churchill's tone and language do little to bridge this country's gap between left and right. He pisses people off by speaking bluntly and dramatically. On the other hand, had he used less provocative language, we wouldn't be talking about this. In his recent speech at CU, Churchill says we should thank Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter and the other conservative pundits who attacked him, for bringing attention to him and his ideas. Similarly, we should all thank Ward Churchill for starting this conversation.

Now, to the woods.

I'll Jump Right In

2005-02-10T22:45:00.000-08:00

Since this web log picks up where my first one leaves off, I'm won't risk boring you with a lengthy intro. I'm here to discuss events in my life that I consider worth remembering, and events in the larger world that merit further examination.

As to the former, tomorrow I go for a 3-night/4-day solo walk in two wilderness areas in the North Carolina mountains. I'd planned to start today, but the likelihood of 100+ mph winds tonight convinced me to put it off one day.

As to the latter, I just watched about an hour of video of Ward Churchill speaking at the University of Colorado in Boulder, clarifying remarks of his that have inflamed an explosive controversy. For now the video is available here, but that's probably only for the next couple of weeks. The text is available here.

Much about Mr. Churchill invites controversy. He claims to be a Native American, and to have seen combat in Vietnam, but the American Indian Movement (AIM) denounces him, and I've seen a few conservative challenges to his military service. I don't know the facts, so I'm not going to judge.

His credibility isn't the issue here, anyway. Analysis, not factual assertions, put him in the recent spotlight. It comes down to two words: 'little Eichmanns.' That's how Churchill referred to the corporate employees who died in the World Trade Center towers on 9/11; he compared them to the Nazi functionary Adolf Eichmann. In his own words:

I said...that the "technocrats of empire" working in the World Trade Center were the equivalent of "little Eichmanns." Adolf Eichmann was not charged with direct killing but with ensuring the smooth running of the infrastructure that enabled the Nazi genocide. Similarly, German industrialists were legitimately targeted by the Allies.

Churchill asserts that American corporations and the US government commit crimes against humanity comparable to those committed by the Nazis. I find it hard to refute the point. Over the years, we've overthrown democratic governments, we've propped up repressive regimes, we've enforced sanctions and we've waged wars. In so doing, we may have killed more than the Nazis killed. I will offer the qualification that the Nazis were intentionally trying to eradicate an entire race of people, just because of who those people were, while the great Western military/corporate juggernaut kills in the processes of making money, and of creating conditions favorable for making more money. So--the Nazis meant to kill; we didn't/don't mean to kill, but mistakes are made, shit happens, and people die. Still, he's right: the US government and American corporations have a lot to answer for.

Churchill also claims that the employees of those corporations (he calls them 'technocrats') are as guilty of the same crimes as the companies they work for. This is a lot harder to swallow. Are employees responsible for the actions of their employers? Given the level of conglomeration in today's business world, and the pace of mergers and acquisitions, can employees even reasonably be expected to know everything their employers are doing (or even who their employers are)? In this age of downsizing and outsourcing, can workers afford to be so choosy as to refuse, or walk away from, a good job?

Churchill makes a strong distinction between the towers' 'technocrats' employed by major corporations--wittingly or not, active parts of the mechanisms of empire--and the "children, janitors, food service workers, firemen and random passers-by" who were also killed in the attack. He points out that the US military certainly would have considered the Iraqi equivalent of the WTC (and its technocrats) to be legitimate military targets; innocent people (e.g, firemen) killed in such an attack would have been written off as collateral damage.

He's right again about that.

He sums up with this:

The bottom line of my argument is that the best and perhaps only way to prevent 9-11-style attacks on the U.S. is for American citizens to compel their government to comply with the rule of law. The lesson of Nuremberg is that this is not only our right, but our obligation. To the extent we shirk this responsibility, we, like the "Good Germans" of the 1930s and '40s, are complicit in its actions and have no legitimate basis for complaint when we suffer the consequences. This, of course, includes me, personally, as well as my family, no less than anyone else.

Yeah, We the People, right? Technically, we're responsible for all the actions of our government--after all, we elected 'em.

So, this is my new blog. I'll try to make it worth your while to drop by. Oh--about the name: it was the first thing that popped into my head. I'm not a 'warrior' in any hawkish sense. I'm willing to stand up and fight, if necessary, for what I believe, but I'd rather win without fighting. Still, Warrior of the Woods--has a nice ring, doesn't it? And the acronym: WoW!

Enough for now. Time to pack for the woods. I should be back Monday or so.