Forest

The Ottawa Valley

This was taken from the Champlain Lookout in the Gatineaus and overlooks the Ottawa Valley around Eardley



Click for a larger view

Why Does This Make Me Want to Get Out the Benny Goodman Records?

Is it an Urban Legend if it's True?

snopes.com is a well established web site that has investigated the veracity of hundreds of urban legends. While most urban legends fall into the category of imaginative storytelling, in some cases what sounds like a tall tale turns out to be true. Here are some examples of urban legends all of them are true except one. Can you spot it? I didn't think so.

Lemmings were induced into jumping off a cliff for this Disney nature film.

The Marlboro Man died of lung cancer.

Blood from KISS band members was mixed with the red ink used to print the first KISS comic book.

A vengeful co-worker made it his practice to urinate into the office coffee pot.

A lawyer demonstrating the safety of windows in a skyscraper crashed through and plunged to his death.

A Texas woman who cast her vote for all Democratic candidates discovered her ballot marked for Bush/Cheney.

The "Hanging man" in funhouse turned out to be corpse of an outlaw.

A golfer was fatally poisoned after chewing on his tee.

The "Dell Dude" lost his job because of a drug bust.

Kryptonite brand locks can be picked with ordinary Bic pens.

Porn star Marilyn Chambers appeared on the Ivory Snow box.

Joe Namath is not on the List

For your convenience here's a list from the U.S. Transportation Security Administration of prohibited items from flights on American flights >>.

As of the date of this posting it is okay to bring a Dell laptop on board (just leave the ammo at home).

Joe Namath Drunk

Just because it's a lazy Saturday afternoon here's a clip of a wasted Joe Namath saying he wants to kiss a female broadcaster.

10 years Ago

President wants Senate to hurry with new anti-terrorism laws

Montreal Trip, July 2006

Bits of Summer Part One

Bits of summer is a series of photos in which all the elements are taken from the same photo and arranged to take a look at things in a different way. Texture, colour, contrast and form are all put in a strip that gives the eye a new context with which to look.

Jack is Wild

Joe and the Evil -eyed Kite

Like a Rabbit in the Headlights

That's life, that's what all the people say.
You're riding high in April,
Shot down in May
But I know I'm gonna change that tune,
When I'm back on top, back on top in June.

I said that's life, and as funny as it may seem
Some people get their kicks,
Stompin' on a dream
But I don't let it, let it get me down,
'Cause this fine ol' world it keeps spinning around

I've been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate,
A poet, a pawn and a king.
I've been up and down and over and out
And I know one thing:
Each time I find myself, flat on my face,
I pick myself up and get back in the race.

That's life
I tell ya, I can't deny it,
I thought of quitting baby,
But my heart just ain't gonna buy it.
And if I didn't think it was worth one single try,
I'd jump right on a big bird and then I'd fly

I've been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate,
A poet, a pawn and a king.
I've been up and down and over and out
And I know one thing:
Each time I find myself laying flat on my face,
I just pick myself up and get back in the race

That's life
That's life and I can't deny it
Many times I thought of cutting out
But my heart won't buy it
But if there's nothing shakin' come this here july
I'm gonna roll myself up in a big ball and die
My, My

It's a melancholy day as we wind up the summer. That's okay I do melancholy well. To me melancholy is a kind of satisfied sadness. A sadness that deliniates the end of a moment casting it in the sunset glow of nostalgia.

This was the last weekend of 2006 that I will have spent at the cottage. All in all it was a great one. A summer thick with memories; those that run deep like gnarled roots of previous generations, and those that are new shoots of this season, and all twist and twine together weaving a new pattern that I can call the summer of 2006.

Yesterday was cool and breezy. The sky was vivid blue that struck me all the more in contrast to the gray and fluorescent lights of the office I've recently adapted to. A few ice cream clouds passed by, a raven or two spread her black wings and croaked, the scent of the red pine needles that blanketed the ground seasoned the air.

I enjoyed hearing my mother's stories of friends and family and strangers. Mom is of a generation before TV when story telling was a conversational skill. People today largely don't have the patience to engage in that I find.

Down around the bend there has been a large log home with well kept grounds and log fences all along the perimeter. By the size of it it clearly belongs to someone with money. Last spring the father of the family that lived there shot himself. The story is that he was a wealthy stock broker. They say that he and his wife, once took a trip through Montana and saw a home that they loved. The cabin, the cottage, the ranch, that they built in Bristol along the Ottawa River was a replica of that Montana home. The couple had two daughters and all the milestone family events took place there. Weddings, anniversaries, graduations. As a stock broker the man made a fortune, and lost a fortune and made yet another. They say. The cottage home with it's waterfront and private beach is up for sale. It's the last house on the Pine Lodge road just on the other side of the Charlie Russell Canal, but that's another story as storytellers say.

Songs of a Season

Here are the songs of the season:

1. Summer's CauldronGrass:XTC
2. Buggin': Flaming Lips
3. Summer Blowin' Town: Ron Sexsmith
   
4. Silver & Gold: Neil Young
5. Kathy's Song: EvaCassidy
6. Love's Been Good to Me: Johnny Cash
7. Going to California: Led Zepplin
8. Hissing of Summer Lawns: Joni Mitchell
9. Incinerate: Sonic Youth
10. You're My Best Friend: Queen
11. William it Was Really Nothing: The Smiths
12. Take A Chance With Me: Roxy Music
    
    
    
    

"Well I love you in the autumn most of all, when the leaves come tumbling down"

It seems that the golden age of blogging has come and gone for the Glob and Wail, however the Glob is still a 'place'I am fond of. It will be around for some time even if it means I don't make daily entries anymore.

It's been a memorable summer. Tonight I can feeling it winding down. It's a chilly drizzling Sunday evening and I realize that soon I'll be starting my third fall in Ottawa. Autumn has always been my favourite season. More so now, as it was two autumns past that the paths of Leslie and I came upon a common road. Those were days of exploration for me in my new city, walking along the Rideau river, cascades of coloured tree-tops tops set against an icey blue sky-sea where disinterested clouds sailed to invisible empires. Among the reeds I saw two swans and thought of Yeats and the Wild Swans at Coole and in my ear ran verses from Pagan Streams and It was the time of the Autumn Mix and "Things Will Never Be the Same", and they weren't. But that was all to come still, though it all had been set in motion. The music said something about ourselves that the other appreciated and so did the changing leaves and the wind, and the moon

In those days we discretely wrote a single mail each week. Sunday nights I would take Luna for an extra long evening walk along the tree lined streets with their old manors and the smell of burning wood on the cool air. Those nights I anticipated a reply from Leslie and more often than not my anticipation was met with fulfillment. Then came hand written letters and I think at that point I let myself dream dreams that came true.

I know that spring is the time of renewal, as is New Years which falls in the depths of winter, but for me it is autumn. Autumn brings me back home. It is the season of reflection. A time for me to appreciate everything good that has happened and to start anew. A time to look back on summers glow and prepare for the long dark winter by harvesting all the warm and comforting things that make our lives meaningful.

Let the Golden Age Begin, let the full moon rise, let the circle be unbroken,

Up on a hill, as the day dissolves
With my pencil turning moments into line
High above in the violet sky
A silent silver plane - it draws a golden chain
One by one, all the stars appear
As the great winds of the planet spiral in
Spinning away, like the night sky at Arles
In the million insect storm, the constellations form
On a hill, under a raven sky
I have no idea exactly what I've drawn
Some kind of change, some kind of spinning away
With every single line moving further out in time
And now as the pale moon rides (in the stars)
Her form in my pale blue lines (in the stars)
And there, as the world rolls round (in the stars)
I draw, but the lines move round (in the stars)
There, as the great wheels blaze (in the stars)
I draw, but my drawing fades (in the stars)
And now, as the old sun dies (in the stars)
I draw, and the four winds sigh (in the stars)

There's a rhythm under the song
And it beats for the old and the young
And it pounds in the back of the sun
It's the sound of one drummer, one drum

There's a rhythm, it's subtle yet strong
And it moves all the wallflowers on
To the dance floor that holds everyone
To the sound of one drummer, one drum

Dance, for the time marches on
Off to a war that can never be won
To the heartbeat of drums

There's a rhythm not cruel or kind
Though you feel that it's left you behind
Is it justice or you that is blind
When you don't see it coming, how come?

Montreal July 2006

Life in the Valley

Dog Vacation

Classy

Chomping down on a buttered roll Bush avoids choking and gives his plan for peace in the middle east.

Hot and Breezy

It's crazy how hot it feels even with this strong wind. The wind is like an autumn wind. It howls and shakes the trees but nonetheless the air is what you get when you open the door to the oven. Leslie called from O'Hare a little while ago. The air conditioning in the airport has been down for a week.

Off to the airport in one hour. It's so easy to get to the airport in Ottawa. Down Laurier and straight up Bronson and voila!

Leslie Will Be Here Soon

These are long days. I get up at 5:30, start work at 7:30 and get home at 5:00. However tonight Leslie will be here. Unfortunately it's one of the hottest days of the year. It's been as high as 45C in Boulder so she should be able to handle it.

I can't wait for September not only because of you know what , but also because this god awful dog killing heat will be gone. I am not a warm weather person by any means. I like a nip in the air and an evening chill. So does my honey.

Dead Insects I Have Known

Delayed Growth

I've fallen behind in the herb documentation. The Basil is far larger than what you see. I'll try to catch up next week when Leslie is here!!! Maybe we will make pesto of it.

Satisfaction

On the one hand it's really strange to go from just getting by to being comfortably middle class overnight. On the other I worked very hard to develop the skills I have and have accumulated alot of experience over the last few years. In that regard things are going as planned. It's very satisfying to have made the shift. This really has been the year where everything has come together. I get paid fulltime to do what I love, with full benefits. It's sweet as the kids say.

And to boot, Leslie will be here this time next Monday. Of course the two things are related. It's great to have money.

Changes

Big changes in Shamus world. I have a new fulltime permanent position as web designer/graphic designer for a well established local company. It's going to be a nice change from the freelance world. Other big news forthcoming this fall.

Today's New Species

There are so many species being discovered each month that I wouldn't blame you if you thought that I was making them up. Todays new species is a snake from Borneo. It's venomous and changes colour just to make it more interesting. "A reptile expert says he put the one-and-a-half foot long reddish-brown snake into a dark bucket. When he went to get it a few minutes later, he says it was almost entirely white."

I probably should also mention that 160 new species were discovered in the Rubehos Mountains of Tanzania recently during a survey undertaken by the World Wildlife Federation. Among the newly catalogued species are the Mountain dwarf galago (a type of bush baby), the red duiker (an antelope), a new species of frog, two kinds of chameleon, the checkered elephant shrewand an assortment of birds.

This Weeks Species

I might as well just change this to the New Species Blog. Yesterday 10 new species of sea spider were discovered and the day before 3 new species of Lemur from Madagascar were established based on a few years of genetic analysis.

Another Sister?

The Herban Gardener

I put a CD at the base of the Basil for scale.

Magic Castle

This is a really interesting optical illusion using a javascript mouseover.>>

Following the instructions a black and white image of a castle appears in colour so long as you don't move your eyes. The second you move your eyes the colour vanishes form the image.

I'd Vote if I Could

I don't know how I ended up on the Democratic Parties mailing list, but every now and then I get e-mails from Howard Dean and Tom Mahon. This is why I don't trust background checks to be accurate. In any case this one came today

MEMORANDUM

TO: James MacDougall
FROM: Tom McMahon, Executive Director, DNC
RE: 50-State Strategy Results

Per Governor Dean's request, I have put together a few facts and figures for you on the successes of the 50-state strategy. I have made one last-minute addition to this memo -- at the end you will find excerpts from a USA Today profile of our 50-state strategy in action in my home state of Nebraska. It ran on Wednesday as we were preparing this message for you.

I wonder who else has my name?

Krakatoa

This evening I saw an interesting program about the explosion of Krakatoa in 1883 of the coasts of Java and Sumatra. Here are some of the incredible facts associated with the event as related in the program Krakatoa: Volcano of Destruction

- the explosion produced a tsunami with waves up to 40 metres in height
-it was so loud that people 30km away were deafened temporarily
-it produced a sound so loud it was heard on the West coast of Africa and in the Australian outback.
- it affected the tides as far away as Europe
- it expelled so much ash into the atmosphere that it cooled the climate for years afterwards
- it exploded with a force equal 200 megatons of TNT
- the volcanic column spewed ash up to 35 miles in the sky
- sound waves travelled around the globe 7 times
- 12 square km of island disappeared in the explosion
- over 36,000 people died from its effects

The volcano exploded again in 1927 and is once again growing at a rate of about 15 feet per year.

New Species Update

As if it weren't enough that we are discovering new species of animals with great frequency, a new species of butterfly has been bred in the lab. Normally cross species hybrids are not able to reproduce such as is the case when a mule is born from horse/donkey crossbredding. In the case of the butterflies Heliconius melpomene was crossbred with Heliconius cydno to produce Heliconius heurippa a distinct species from either of the other two butterfly species.

As the BBC article points out, this is significant for understanding evolution in that instead of one species branching into diverse species, in this process two distinct species diverge into a third.


Other recent finds include
8 new species discovered in a cave in Israel >>

Six new frog species discovered in Guyana>>

Four new fish species discovered off Australian coast >>

New species of sea slug discovered off of Florida >>

Herbs Keep Growing

Week 05: June 05 2006

Bad Thoughts

This year edge asks prominent thinkers in a variety of fields to respond to the question: WHAT IS YOUR DANGEROUS IDEA?

The history of science is replete with discoveries that were considered socially, morally, or emotionally dangerous in their time; the Copernican and Darwinian revolutions are the most obvious. What is your dangerous idea? An idea you think about (not necessarily one you originated) that is dangerous not because it is assumed to be false, but because it might be true?

You will find ideas here that are obviously controversial, at times absurd and often as intriguing as they are infuriating. Non of the participants here can said to be light weights in the thinking department.
some of the ideas put forth:

- The purpose of life is to disperse energy
- More anonymity is good
- The human brain and its products are incapable of understanding the truths about the universe
- Brains cannot become minds without bodies
- Science Must Destroy Religion
- Science encourages religion
- Bacteria are us

New Species of Hammerhead Shark Discovered

Maybe I just wasn't paying attention before but it seems like every other day a new animal species is identified. Today it's a new species of hammerhead shark off the coast of South Carolina. In my opinion the bounty of new species being identified is related to our ability to penetrate into new areas but also in the way we identify species now using DNA analysis as a determinant. At one time a species was primarily categorized by observable physical characteristics. Now that we are looking at the genetic level differences that were not apparent are being noticed. Such is the case with the identification of the new hammerhead species.

New Species in Northern Scotland

The BBC reports that over 1,000 new species have been discovered in the Cairngorm Mountains of Scotland.These include fungi, insects and plants.The Scottish Natural Heritage who undertook the survey said that "the incredible diversity was partly a result of the ancient Caledonian forest, which provides a refuge for many species not found elsewhere."

Net Neutrality Rejected

I don't know what the recent rejection of the principle internet neutrality at the Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement Act (Cope Act) discussions clause means for the future of the internet but reading this BBC article definitely puts some concerns on the table >>

The debate over net neutrality nows moves to the senate, so if this at al concerns you now would be a good time to speak up I suppose.


It's pretty funny how they manage to get a picture of Alyssa Milano to accompany the article.

Short Story

Short Story continues >>

more>>

Day of the Beast

To mark this very special day here is a compilation 666 related things:

www.666.com

The Beast: Aleister Crowley

Iron Maiden:The Number of the Beast

The Mark of the Beast Paranoid Conspiracy Mumbo Jumbo

666 superstitions

616

Dixie Chicks More Popular Than Bush

Dixie Chicks >>