Unabashed

Wild Horses Welcome

Canada welcomes wild horses from US >

Hasil Adkins

Rockabilly wildman Hasil Adkins passed away on Monday. Hasil was best known to members of my generation through the covers of his songs such as She Said performed by the Cramps. His funeral is being held Saturday April 30, 300 River Drive Madison West Virginia.
Bio>

Gouranga?

I was curious about this Gouranga thing as posted on EM's I'm Nobody--Who Are You? blog.

I found comments relating it to the Hare Krishna and Grand Theft Auto here on the Guardian >

Example I: I've see this myself and originally thought that it could be due to the game 'Grand Theft Auto', in which after running over a troupe of pedestrians 'GOURANGA' popped up on the screen. However, I remember seeing it a few years before the game cam out. As to what it means exactly, I have no idea whatsoever.

Daniel Lewis, Bolton UK

Example II:Gouranga is a Bengali word meaning 'golden-armed' and is a name of the incarnation of Krishna (God), who started the Hare Krishna movement in Bengal, India 500 years ago. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare Hare Rama, Hare Rama Rama Rama, Hare Hare

Harry, Leeds, UK

Sun and Rain

They were all sunny days in Boston. We spent our time in a many windowed room filled with gracious light. White linen drapes swelled with April air, the sails of a ship on our ocean. The last night there it rained through until morning. Since I returned to Ottawa I don't think there has been a day it hasn't rained. Even though I woke up to a blue sky and yellow sun, once again it's raining. It pours and it pours and the grass grows green and the blossoms are coming and the buds are plump on the branches of the bushes and trees. I saw the purple crocus today nested in the cedar; a sign of spring in the evergreen.

Step Into the Fire

Was the committee that signed off on the logo for the 2010 winter Olympics in Vancouver really so naive as to think there wouldn't be contoversy over "cultural appropriation" in using this Inuit inspired image? I withhold my own opinion but you cannot look at a first nations (or Inuit) cultural artifact without engaging in the political and ethical realms. Whatever the chosen design you can never make everyone happy, but this was a loaded choice from the start.

A Brief History of the Grapefruit

Grapefruit (Citrus paradisi Macfadyen)

The origin and significance of the name of this important fruit are obscure. According to Webber (1943), who made a comprehensive search of the literature, the earliest recognizable mention of grapefruit occurred in Barbados (West Indies) in 1750 under the name "forbidden fruit," from which the species designation, paradisi, was assigned in 1830. A few years later it was referred to in Jamaica as the "forbidden fruit or smaller shaddock." The first known use of the term grapefruit occurred in 1814, also in Jamaica, in which it was referred to as a special and smaller kind of shaddock whose flavor somewhat resembled that of the grape. It seems more likely, however, that the name was derived from the fact that the fruits commonly occur in small clusters rather than singly, as with most shaddocks (pummelos). Early in the present century, the name pomelo was proposed and for a time was used by American horticulturists. It was not accepted by the industry, however, and has now virtually disappeared. The Spanish name is toronja.

Almost certainly, the grapefruit originated in the West Indies, for it is not described in the old literature and was not known in Europe or the Orient until after its discovery in the Western Hemisphere. That it was derived from the pummelo is certain, but whether by somatic mutation or natural hybridization is not known. It is the opinion of the writer, based on observations of numerous natural hybrids of the pummelo in northeastern India, Sikkim, and eastern Nepal, that the grapefruit originated as a natural hybrid.

The attractive qualities of the grapefruit were early recognized and even prior to the time it was first referred to by that name in the literature it was said to be common in Jamaica and was probably known throughout the West Indies. It remained for Florida, however, to introduce this excellent fruit to the American consumer and to develop a commercial industry. This fact explains why, with the sole exception of Redblush (Ruby), all the grapefruit varieties of commercial importance have originated in Florida and apparently trace back to the original introduction.

According to Ziegler and Wolfe (1961), the introduction in Florida was made by Count Odette Phillippe, a Frenchman, who settled near Safety Harbor on Tampa Bay in 1823 and brought with him seeds or seedlings of the grapefruit and other citrus fruits from the Bahama Islands. Webber (1943) states that the introduction occurred about 1809 and quotes a pioneer grower of that district who in 1892 reported that the citrus materials in question were said to have come from Cuba. Whatever the facts may be, it was from this introduction that the commercial grapefruit industry of the world developed. The Florida commercial industry, however, had its beginning about 1885, by which time trial shipments made to Philadelphia and New York had met with a favorable reception and demand for nursery trees was developing. Commercial production elsewhere was not undertaken until some decades later in California, Arizona, and Texas and more recently in other parts of the citricultural world.

from Horticultural Varieties of Citrus BY ROBERT WILLARD HODGSON

Fun With Satellites

You can punch in almost any address in North America and get a satellite image from google.


This is my neighbourhood


This is the cottage on the Ottawa river, very green. The river itself is 3 or 4 miles wide.

And yes I looked up your address too!

Massachusetts Springtime

"Give me your peanuts and you can ride on my back!"




"There is the man who broke a dragon's heart"

Hocus Crocus

A few weeks ago I was walking on Parliament Hill and I took some pictures of the wild crocuses that had come out to signal the arrival of spring. Thinking of Leslie, I took one that had become detached from it's stalk, intending to press it and send it to her in a letter. I forgot about it in my pocket. I met Leslie for the first time in person on April 14th 2005. When we met she gave me a silver box and inside was a purple crocus that she had picked and pressed to give to me. Neither one of us knew that the other had done the same. Since we first began communicating last summer there have been many such moments of coincidences, parallels and commonalities. I put the crocus in this frame that hangs above my bed.

orbs

And I wanna climb that hillside again, with you

Westward

yesterday on the bus from Boston to Montreal I met a man from Bridgeport Connecticut. He was on his way to British Columbia to meet a woman he had met over the internet (the dreaming fool!). A three and a half day journey. He reminded me of Homer Simpson. He was a large man and he carried a New York Yankees pillow with him and a large brown paper bag filled with chips and crackers. He called this his food bag. He was really nervous about crossing the border, so of course they paid special attention to him. He was worried that they would take his apples and strawberries since you have to claim any produce you are bringing across the border. Seems he was convicted of trespassing in West Virgina as a young man. They did let him cross the border food bag and all.

When we got to the bus terminal in Montreal he declared, "This is just like New York. Do they steal your bags here? You set your bag down for one second in New York and it is gone." I told him to be reasonably cautious, but that I had lived here for 10 years without incident.

We rode the same bus from Montreal and I swear without hyperbole he looked out the window gazed on the city and said "This looks just like an American city. You have cars and buildings and everything!"

Springtime in Boston

I don't suppose there is any point in being coy about this but as Anzo used to proclaim "a picture is worth 1000 words"

Leslie

Boston

A Little Bit of Annick

Annick s Doorstep


My Italian Barbers in Montreal


Annicks Fruit


Annick

Ottawa Bound

I am in Sophie s living room of her second floor apartment. A bee is hovering outside the window. He is plump and fuzzy. What is he looking for up here? Last year I came to Boston to visit Sophie and had a wonderful time with her and exploring a new city. Soon after I moved to Ottawa. Since I left Montreal my life has steadily moved ahead. New opportunities seem to be at every corner. This week I have arrived at a pivotal place in my life. Whatever happens next things will never be the same for me because of what I have learned and experienced.

Sparrow Dream

Ah poor sparrow, the day is short and the sun cannot shine more than one day. Home he goes past Alpha Centurai, a wink for Saturn and one last swirl through the atmosphere before landing snug and sound in his nest.

And yet he saw her. Her feathers lie among his own, even as he spreads his wings. Time to sleep and dream, dear sparrow, but what dream could ever match this flight.

The Continuing Adventures of Sparrow

Beyond the moon and among the stars. Who knew a bird could fly so high? More mysterious was that for every spiral glide, for each soaring pirouette there was another whose trail intersected and circumscribed his course as he sailed around the sun.

Sparrow in Orbit

Can a sparrow really fly this high? It s a long way down but I can see the whole world from up here. Today I might just fly to the moon.

Upward Spiral Swooping Swallow

Montreal didnt feel like home this time, thats good because its not anymore, but it was nice to be there for a night anyway. It was extremely cold and windy. I went to wait for Annick in the pub and had a pinte of Coups des Grisoux. I have to say I had forgotten what a smoky bar is like and I donèt miss it at all. I was actually having a hard time breathing. Still its Montreal. It was great to see Annick and have a visit. The sparrow soars today.

Joyful Elipse

gonna turn into a sparrow and fly away. back in one week.

What's Up Doc?

The hits on this site have suddenly shot way up. They've more than doubled since last Monday and stayed that way all through the week. Today I had my highest day of hits ever. Weird, especially since it seems to be all random search hits.

Notwithstanding

We have a strange little piece of legislation in this country known as the notwithstanding clause. It allows parliament or provincial governments to over-ride the constitution. Conservative party leader Stephen Harper is publicly opposed to same-sex marriage, however it is generally understood by legal experts that the constitution does protect the rights of same sex partners to the same benefits as those in heterosexual unions. This has been understood to include the right to legally recognized civil union.As john pointed out it is not explicitly stated in the Constitution but as it has been interpreted over the years the intent is recognized that you cannot discriminate based on sexual preference. The Globe and Mail is reporting that the only way that Harper can prevent same-sex legislation from passing would be to invoke the notwithstanding clause which is always an extreme thing to do. Then again the man just might be an extremist. We will see.

Horns in the Sky

The moon is thin and pointy this evening. It looks like horns. I didn't have my camera but this picture I whipped up in photoshop approximates it. I could see Orion's belt and lot's of other bright stars.

I walked Luna up to Parliament Hill again today, but this time I brought my camera. I was surprised and a bit disappointed to see that the huge ice flows that were in the river yesterday had completely vanished.

Walk to Parliament Hill >

I took these pictures while Luna lay in a really intense sunbeam. I then reduced the black levels to get this dramatic effect.

Today I walked up the hill and sat in the summer pavilion. From there I could see the span of the Gatineaus and the river clogged with ice even as the spring burst into flowers and lazy sunsoaked dreams all around it. People like Luna even if she is warry of them. I had a few good conversations. There was a protest in front of the parliament. An east Indian gentleman walked past me wearing a sign that said in black bold letters on white bristolboard "Defend Marriage and Freedom" I smiled at him because it was such a nice day and I immediately regreted it when I realized what he was there for. FREEDOM. Freedom to tell other people what to do, freedom to deny people rights that are in the constitution. Freedom to define the world by what makes me comfortable even if it means denying other people dignity. It was interesting that not far from us were statues of the women, (Nelly McClung being the best known)who fought for the PERSONS ACT. That eventually recognized womens right to vote. It was a long hard fight that seems to have an obvious conclusion to us now, but that wasn't necessarily the case.

Phone Call Saturday Night

Bird

There are so many birds here compared to where I lived in Montreal. The noise outside my window is busy with twitters reep-cheep-cheeps and raw-caw-caws. Curious I looked up a few bird facts for the Ottawa Valley.

Barely 200,000 birds can survive the depths of winter here. But, some 5 million arrive to breed in the spring. That results in 10 million birds, Valley born all, by the end of summer. And, about 100 million birds migrate south over our heads each fall

from: Enjoying the Birds of the Ottawa Valley

List of Ontario Bird Species >

Juniper

ju-ni-per n.

Any of various evergreen trees or shrubs of the genus Juniperus, having needlelike or scalelike, often pointed leaves and aromatic, bluish-gray, berrylike, seed-bearing cones.

[Middle English, from Latin iuniperus.]

To see a juniper tree in your dream, signifies happiness and wealth out of disappointments, sorrow and depressed conditions.

The most valuable medicinal qualities of juniper are as an antiseptic, especially in treating cystitis and kidney problems, as a diuretic, a carminative (ie for treating digestive upsets) and for easing muscular or joint pain in chronic conditions such as gout, arthritis and rheumatism.

As an incense or "smudge" in most rituals of purification, including the blessing of houses and other buildings and for dedicating new working areas and temples; for animals (eg welcoming and dedicating new familiars); and for purifying people, for example baby-blessing ceremonies, initiations etc. A small bunch of twigs or a few berries in a pouch can also be hung in the rafters of a building or over the lintel of the doorway as a longer-term protection.

Gin originated in Holland in the late 17th century and was brought to England by the returning soldiers around the turn of that century. It had been created as a medicine by a Dutch chemist, who had distilled from grain a spirit that he flavored with juniper berries. It was thought to have real medicinal properties, so it was sold only in druggist shops.

Western juniper provides food and cover for a variety of bird and mammal species. It is browsed to some extent by mule deer and elk. In parts of California, mule deer feed on small amounts of western juniper during winter and spring.

The very first glacial period of the Pleistocene meant the end of conifer trees (except Juniper bush) on Iceland.

Wicks made of 1/4-inch juniper branches were used in many of the 130 hand lamps found in Lascaux.

Many of the earliest prehistoric people lived in or near the pinon pine and juniper
forests which furnished them food, fuel, and wood for shelter or utensils.

Compiled at random from various web sources.

After the Rain

It rained all day yesterday and I spent a good deal of my time in it. I wasn't dressed for it and came home last night half frozen. Today was sunny with an damp earthy smell and fresh winds and ice cream clouds. Now that spring is here the sky seems to have opened up. Tonight it's clear and stars shine sharply. I can't wait for the cottage season. It won't be long until I'm sleeping by the water under the pine scented night air.

Rideau Trail Expansion

John sent me this picture that I assume he took with his new cam-phone in a n elevator in Dallas. Says john:"I thought I'd stumbled onto the Rideau trail on the way to my room." In case you missed it the Rideau trail trademarked logo is a red upward pointing wedge.

Dr. Croctupus

The crocuses have bloomed on parliament hill today. Through the ages people have wondered whether the plural of crocus should be croci, you know like octopus, octopi, and such, since it has a latin origin, but hey we speak English not Latin so it's crocuses. If it's good enough for horticulturalists, it's good enough for me. Despite being sunny and warm all day the sky turned steely gray and took on a glow that warns of a storm coming. It did start to rain while we were out for our evening walk but it was light and refreshing, just like Tab.

Firefox Foiled By Fiendish Flim-flam Foisters

One of the great thins about the firefox browser was how it blocked annoying pop up adds. The fiends who devise such things have been hard at work in order to circumvent pop-up blocking. Seems like that's twice as annoying because now they are actively disregarding my preference not to see such material, whereas before it was annoying by default. Firefox is developing a patch to deal with the new generation of pop-ups and so it goes the eternal battle of heaven and hell rages on.

The Hood

This is part of the Valley. That's Quebec on the north side of the Ottawa River with the Gatineau Hills running alongside. They are rocky old hills covered with pines. Along there base are farms that run down the gentle slopes to the river banks. On the south side of the river is Ontario. There is a ferry that takes you from Fitzroy Harbout acroos to Quyon. There use to be many ferries that traversed the river but this is the last one still in use. We take it sometimes to go to the cottage. There has been talk of building a bridge since my father was young. If you didn't want to take the ferry you would have to drive to Ottawa cross into Hull and drive back. Or you could drive west to Renfrew and cross the dam at Portage-du fort. One of my favourite beers in the world, Sgt Majors Pale Ale has it's base here. Morrison Island is a consevation area with trails open to the public. A few weeks ago Dave and I visited there and walked along the river bank (red line). We will go back in May and hike the islands themselves. One of my Uncles lives in the area as does my grandmother who will be 91 this summer. I want to post some pictures of the area but I have to get going.

Sunday Evening Phone Call